I’m sure you all have heard of the movie that came out recently in the theaters called “Left Behind.” As you may know, it is from a book series that has been around for quite a while actually, by a Christian author named Tim LaHaye. In case you’re not familiar with the story line, the basic premise is that there is a divine event called the rapture in which all Christians mysteriously disappear and the series deals with the people on earth that are left behind to deal with the tribulation events.

Well, at the risk of offending some of you, I think that may make for entertaining novels or movies, but I believe it’s bad theology. Or more precisely, bad eschatology. Just for the record, I don’t subscribe to the rapture theology, but I do believe in the second coming of Christ, and I do believe in the resurrection of the dead.

Now I say all of that, not to start a fight with anyone over their pet doctrine, but because I wanted to title my message today, “Left Behind,” and I wanted to disassociate it right away from that book series. But the Biblical context for “left behind” that we are going to look at today is found in this passage which recounts for us the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I’m not going to try to somehow turn this into a sermon on the end times, but rather I want you to consider the ramifications of Christ’s resurrection. Because Christ’s resurrection is the keystone of our faith.

Paul makes it clear in 1 Corinthians that Christ’s resurrection sets a precedent for our own resurrection. So it is important that we understand how that works. Look at 1Cor. 15:20-24, “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.” Notice the phrase, “first fruits.” Christ is the first fruits in regards to the resurrection. That means He was the first to be raised from the dead to a glorified life. And as He was raised, so will the dead in Christ be raised.

If it were not for Christ’s resurrection, then Christianity would be of no consequence. All that Jesus came to teach about the kingdom of God would have been invalidated if He had not risen from the dead. The ministry of Jesus would have been a failure. If He had not been raised from the dead, then atonement would not have been enacted for sins. If He had not been raised from the dead, then His sacrifice would not have been deemed sufficient by the righteous Judge. In fact, if He had not been raised from the dead, then He had not been sinless as we had hoped, nor was He the Son of God. Paul goes on to say in I Cor. 15:17-19 “and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”

So no wonder that His followers were disillusioned after His death. It’s no wonder that they were scared and holed up in a room hiding out from the rulers of the Jews. In spite of all that Jesus had prophesied concerning His death and resurrection, they were totally unprepared for it, and were completely without comprehension of it’s meaning. As far as they were concerned, everything that they had believed about Christ and the kingdom of God had gone down the drain when Jesus was arrested and crucified.

But conversely, what His resurrection signified was everything. It was hope of the greatest magnitude. It may have still taken them a little while for His followers to grasp the full implications of it all, but the fact of His resurrection meant hope. It meant assurance of salvation. It meant forgiveness of sins. It meant victory over death. No wonder the disciples were filled with power after the Holy Spirit came upon them and no wonder that they were bold to preach the gospel even at the cost of their lives. Because they now knew that their Savior, the Lord Jesus, had the power over death. He had the keys of death and Hades. He had triumphed over sin and the devil. And now, because they were His, there was no fear of death for them.

You know, obviously great technological advances have been made in the last 2000 years. We can do so many things today; cars, airplanes, traveling to the moon, instantly able to talk by computer to people thousands of miles away. Incredible technology is available to our modern society that would have been unimaginable for the average person 2000 years ago. But one thing technology has never been able to overcome, and they never will. Despite all the advances of society, mankind still cannot escape the hopelessness of death.

In fact, I believe that part of the reason for the hopelessness we see so often evidenced in our youth today is that though technology has made pleasure and fulfillment of our passions and entertainment more rapidly available, yet ironically it only serves to enable the average young person to find out by age 20 what it took our grandfathers a lifetime to find out: that the temporary pleasures of this world are unfulfilling and without the hope of eternal life there is no point to life at all.

So though the story of the gospel is 2000 years old, still the resurrection is a message that should resonate with every man, woman and child. Because the fact is that death has to still be faced by every person as Heb. 9:27 says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” But the hope of the gospel is that though Jesus died as a man, the just for the unjust, yet He rose again as the first fruits of those that believe in Him. He died and rose again so that man might have the hope of life after death.

So I want to look at the resurrection today from the perspective of what Jesus accomplished through it. Rather than just regurgitating the historical narrative, I would like to try to bring out a series of simple truths that can be framed through the lens of what Jesus left behind. When Jesus rose from the dead, He left behind some things. And in so doing, His resurrection reveals certain things we can leave behind as well, as He is the first fruits. And as He was, so will we be.

To start with, when Jesus rose from the dead He left behind the darkness. Look at vs. 1, “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.” One of the saddest sights I have ever seen was passing by a graveyard at night I noticed a grave marker here or there illuminated with a little light. As if the surviving relatives were trying to give some measure of comfort to the bones and dust kept there inside the coffin. But I am afraid that there is no light that can reach six foot down through the darkness inside that coffin, except one. And that is the light of the world that is Jesus Christ. Through His resurrection Jesus vanquished the darkness.

Isaiah 9:2 says, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” John said that Jesus “was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.” So the first simple truth that is established because of the resurrection is that Christ has vanquished the darkness of the shadow of death. He is the light of the world that gives light and life to all who believe.

Secondly, when Jesus rose from the dead He left behind the Sabbath and all the ceremonial laws that had been a burden to the Jews. Peter referred to these ordinances in Acts chapter 15 as a yoke that neither they nor their fathers had been able to bear. Notice vs. 1 says, “on the first day of the week…” As I pointed out last time, Jesus body lay in the tomb on the Sabbath day. His body kept the last Sabbath under the Old Covenant but His Spirit was alive and about the Father’s business in Paradise. But with the resurrection of Christ on the first day of the week, the early church put away the Sabbath celebrated the day of resurrection in the new covenant as the Lord’s Day.

The Sabbath, and all the attendant ceremonial laws were foreshadows of what was fulfilled in Christ. We saw earlier how Christ was the fulfillment of the Passover Feast. We don’t keep the Passover today, because it was fulfilled by Christ who was the Passover Lamb. Today we keep Communion, or the Lord’s Supper. If you remember Christ changed the Passover to the Lord’s Supper in the upper room on the night before His crucifixion. And similarly, the Apostles changed the observance of the Sabbath to a celebration of His resurrection on the Lord’s Day.

Paul said in Colossians 2:16-17 “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day– things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” So the resurrection of Christ left behind the ceremonial laws, the dietary laws, the Sabbath and festival laws, the sacrificial laws, all of those things which were a mere shadow of what was to come, that is Christ who fulfilled those foreshadows. Now Hebrews tells us, we no longer need the shadows, for the fullness is now realized in Jesus Christ.

Thirdly, in His resurrection Jesus left behind an open tomb. Vs. 2, “And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.” What does the open tomb signify? It simply signifies that Jesus has made a way to escape death. Paul tells the Corinthians that for those who are in Christ Jesus, death will not have dominion over them, but Christ has given us the victory over death. 1Cor. 15:51-54 “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.”

Fourthly, when Jesus rose from the dead, He left behind His grave clothes. John 20:6-7 adds some more detail to Luke’s account. John said “Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.”

Why do the gospel writers bother telling us about the grave clothes and the face cloth? I can assure you it was not to lend some sort of credence to the fairy tale of the shroud of Turin. But I would suggest that it is a picture of leaving the trappings of the old man in the grave and the new life that comes through Jesus Christ. Isaiah 61:10, “I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness.” So therefore, according to Eph. 4, those that are in Christ Jesus are to lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, (the old corrupt, dead garments of the flesh) and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

Paul likens it to being awakened from the dead. Rom 13:11-14 “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

Fifthly, when Jesus arose from the dead, He left behind witnesses. Vs. 4-7 “While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”

At the birth of Christ we saw many appearances of angels, heralding His birth to the shepherds, announcing His birth to His parents and various people. Now at His resurrection it is only appropriate that we see angels attending this occasion as well. In the various gospel accounts, there are descriptions of angels sitting at the foot and the head of where He had lain, there are descriptions of angels as young men, there are descriptions here in Luke of angels in dazzling apparel. And some cynics that would point all of that out as some sort of discrepancy of the gospels. But what I think is actually going on here is that for a short time at the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the veil between this world and the spiritual world is pulled back, and there are seen angels all over the place, appearing and then reappearing. Appearing in various forms. But their purpose is to minister to Christ’s followers. That is the purpose of angels. Hebrews 1:14 tells us that angels are “all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation.” So they appear to announce the good news to the confused an bedazzled group of followers of Christ.

And they are not the only witnesses. Paul says in I Cor.15:3-8 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”

And because of those witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, we too are to be witnesses to the world of the good news of the gospel. Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Sixthly, when Christ arose from the grave He left behind the dead. Note vs. 5, the angels said, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen.” This question points to such a fundamental misunderstanding that men have concerning death. You need to understand something; death is not a state of being, it is an act. It is not a condition, it is a transition.

Contrary to what some people think, and even what one old hymn seems to teach, Jesus did not lie dormant in the grave for three days. There is an old hymn we used to sing when I was a boy called “Low in the grave He lay.” Well, His body laid in the grave. But I can tell you this for certain; Jesus wasn’t there. Jesus told the thief on the cross, “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

In 1 Peter 3:18 we read that “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison.” So though He was in Paradise He was able to speak to those in prison, that is Hades, and proclaim victory over sin and death.

The Bible teaches that there is a first death: it is appointed unto every man once to die, but there is also a second death. Everyone participates in that first death. But as Jesus illustrated in His death and as He also described in the story of Lazarus and the rich man, though their body is in the grave yet in their Spirit they are alive in either Paradise or Hades.   But for the Christian there is no fear of the second death. Rev. 20:6 says, “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” So by resurrection we shall escape the second death just as Christ did. But for those that have rejected Jesus they are held in prison, which is Hades until the judgment. And then they too will be resurrected. Rev 20:13 “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”

But for those that have believed on Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they too will leave behind death and enter into everlasting life.

Finally, the resurrection of Jesus left behind despair. The last time we saw Simon Peter He was in despair. He had denied the Lord Jesus three times at His trial. He then abandoned Jesus, after having boasted that He would never fall away, He would never desert Jesus. And yet before that very night was over he had denied Christ. Peter, who was the strongest, the bravest, the most ardent in His faith. Peter, the man Jesus said He would call Rock. Peter, who would be the foundation of the church of Christ, had fallen away from Christ, swearing fiercely and denying Him three times. And afterwards in the pit of despair Peter went out and wept bitterly.

But now, when the women came back to the mourning disciples with the news that Jesus wasn’t in the tomb, the angels said He was risen, while the rest of the disciples were unbelieving, Peter got up and ran for the tomb. Vs. 12 “But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.”

Why did Peter run? I suggest Peter ran because he wanted more than anything to have his heart of despair taken away. He wanted more than anything to see His Savior. He wanted more than anything to know the joy of forgiveness for betraying His Master. I think Peter ran to the tomb crying in a mixture of hope and repentance. I can imagine Peter with tears streaming down his cheeks running through the streets in the early morning, praying aloud, “O God, if Jesus is truly risen I will never, ever leave Him again. If you will just forgive me I will serve Him with my life until the day I die!” I can only imagine the fervor and the passion that this news awakened in Peter.

I think Luke makes a colossal understatement when he says that Peter finding no body there, but only the linen garments, went away to his home marveling. I think as he considered the implications of the empty tomb Peter suddenly had joy where there had been nothing but despair and suddenly had hope when there had been only discouragement.

Ladies and gentlemen, I wonder how many of you today find yourself mired in despair over your denial of Christ? How many of you have denied Christ by what you have said, or by your actions, or by your lifestyle and now find yourself living in discouragement? I want you to know that the resurrection of Jesus can give you hope. I want you to know that Jesus sought Peter out before His ascension and let him realize reconciliation with God. Jesus gave Peter a new mission. And Peter went on to preach the first message after the resurrection and 3000 souls were saved that day. He went on to be the first pastor of the very first church. God had a plan for Peter. So no matter how badly you might think you have messed up, no matter how many times you may have denied Christ, you need to remember that Jesus came to save. He rose from the grave to provide reconciliation with God. And that reconciliation is available today to you as well.

Listen, God is not the God of the dead who have no hope, but of the living. Christ rose from the dead to redeem you from the captivity of sin, and set you free. Heb 2:14-16, 18, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. … For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”

The story of the resurrection is that there is hope in Jesus Christ available for you today. That we might live no more to die in our sin, but to have life in Christ, and to have it more abundantly. I pray that today you might find the peace that comes from being right with God. Jesus is waiting. Won’t you run to Him? He will meet you and forgive you and take away your despair and leave you marveling at His grace, even as He did with Peter.

As I have alluded to many times before, Luke has an interesting way of arranging and presenting his historical account in such a way as to present an underlying allegory or symbolism that teaches a fundamental doctrine or principle of Christianity. And in today’s passage, I think we see that illustrated in the burial of Christ. The symbolism in this passage of the burial of Christ presents for us the doctrine of sanctification.

The doctrine of sanctification is one of the most essential doctrines of the gospel, but unfortunately also one of the most overlooked doctrines. Modern churches today tend to eschew teaching sanctification for fear of appearing legalistic. But I would simply remind you of what the author of Hebrews has to say about how important a doctrine it is; Heb. 12:14 says, “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

Yet in spite of that declaration, I would dare say that the majority of people in church today would be hard pressed to be able to aptly define sanctification. I believe that this account of Jesus’ burial by Joseph of Arimathea will enable us to come to a Biblical understanding of this essential doctrine. So to that end we will look at three principles of sanctification presented in this passage; sanctification realized, sanctification symbolized, and sanctification multiplied.

First though, let’s establish the context of this account. As Jesus hung on the cross, we have seen several reactions to the crucifixion. We saw out right scorn and ridicule and hatred from various members of the crowd. But we also have seen at least two conversions; that of the thief on the cross, and the centurion. Both of these men were saved as a result of the effect of the crucifixion. However, the thief on the cross was a deathbed confession, if you will. He went to Paradise within hours of his salvation. And as to the centurion, we don’t have any more information available in scripture as to what became of him after the cross.

And there were two other groups represented there that day; the crowd which went away, returning home, lamenting the death of Jesus, and the women and acquaintances that stood afar off, watching from a distance. Now of the two latter examples, you will remember we said the crowd symbolized people who had an emotive response to the death of Christ, but they went back to their previous way of life. They were not saved, but they went away sad, without hope. And then there were the women and acquaintances that stood at a distance. You will recall that I identified these people as being disciples but wanting to stay as far away as possible from the cross and still be ok. They are examples of people today that want the assurance of Christianity, but they don’t want to get too carried away with it. Don’t let it become embarrassing. Don’t let it dominate your life. It’s what we used to call in management the 20% that will get you the 80%. Doing the least possible for the greatest possible result. That categorizes most Christians, I am afraid. Walk down the aisle, say a prayer and then you’re good to go to heaven when you die. Maybe try to come to church now and then if it doesn’t interfere with your golf game.

So that’s where we left it last time. Though we have seen some people saved, seen the thief enter into Paradise, we’ve seen nothing of sanctification. Everyone has either been just saved or saved but standing afar off or even deserting Jesus. So the Holy Spirit prompts Luke to introduce to us a new character by the name of Joseph of Arimethea as an illustration of the process of sanctification realized. That introduces the first point; sanctification realized.

Now perhaps we should start with an explanation of what sanctification is and how it fits into salvation. There are three stages to salvation. The first is justification; the act of grace, whereby God imputes to the sinner Christ’s righteousness in response to his faith. God transfers our sin to Christ and Christ’s righteousness to us. That is called justification.

The second stage of our salvation is the process of sanctification; the act of dying to sin and living for Christ. That is what is so vividly illustrated in baptism. We are buried with Christ to sin, and raised with Christ to new life in the Spirit. We are dipped under the water as a symbol of death, being buried, and raised up out of the water as symbolic of a new life in the Spirit. We die to the old man, and are raised as a new creation. Old things are passed away, all things become new. 2Cor. 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” We die to the old way of life, and start living out what we have been reckoned to be spiritually.

The third stage of our salvation is glorification. The act of being transformed from our old body to a new body at the resurrection of the dead or when Christ shall appear. This is when this fleshly body will be changed, when this mortal shall put on immortality, and we shall live forever with the Lord, when we shall see Him face to face and be made like Him, to receive our inheritance to rule with Christ.

Now those three stages of salvation must happen or there is no salvation. You can’t eliminate any one of them. For instance, you can’t eliminate glorification. Paul said in 1Cor. 15:19 “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” If there is no eternal reign with Christ, then we are of all men most to be pitied. Glorification is absolutely essential to salvation or there is no hope in this life. And the same can be said about the other two; justification and sanctification. We must first be made holy so that we can then live holy lives. One cannot exist without the other.

So as Luke comes to the end of the crucifixion, I believe he includes this account of Joseph of Arimethea in order to illustrate how sanctification is realized. Because in all the other examples we have seen here, sanctification is not evident. But as we have said, it is essential and I think he sees the burial of Christ as a perfect metaphor for what comprises sanctification.

Now in vs. 50 he introduces Joseph of Arimethea. Nothing has been known of this man before this text. And yet all the gospel writers include him in their accounts. Each of the gospel writers include something about him which helps us to get a complete picture of who this guy was. If you put them all together we understand first of all that he was rich. He donated a private tomb in a garden for the burial of Jesus. This would have been an appropriate burial site for a king or very wealthy individual. And furthermore, the gospels tell us he was a prominent member of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the 70 members of the Jewish ruling society that made up what was like the high court of Judaism. They were the ones that had conspired to put Jesus to death along with the High Priests. But what Luke and the others tell us was that Joseph did not consent with their plan of action.

But what is most significant about this man was as Luke said he was a good and righteous man who was waiting for the kingdom of God. Luke says good in the sense of spiritual goodness, and righteous – “dikaios”, the same exact word used in verse 47 of Christ. “Certainly this Man was righteous.” Jesus was righteous and Joseph was righteous. Jesus was righteous by nature, and Joseph was righteous by grace. We don’t know when it happened, but it was the same righteousness. If you’re righteous, you have the same righteousness as Christ does. That’s what Paul says in Philippians 3:9, “not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.” So, Joseph is righteous as Jesus is righteous, only in Joseph’s case it’s a gift of grace. Joseph has been justified by faith through grace.

But there is a caveat that John adds in his gospel. He says in John 19:36 that though Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, he was a secret one, for fear of the Jews. Joseph may have been justified, but he was still holding back in his discipleship. He was following from afar. He might even have been at the cross with those women, those acquaintances that stood afar off at the crucifixion. He feared the Jews, that would be the Sanhedrin. He was afraid of being ostracized. Like a lot of Christians, he wasn’t open about his faith at his work. He was afraid of what it might cost him. He didn’t want to be seen associating with Jesus openly, because it might cost him politically, or socially, or economically.

But there is something that happens to this man as he witnesses the crucifixion of Christ. When so many others abandoned Jesus in this hour, this man found himself drawn there by the sovereignty of God. And as he witnessed the death of Christ I think he was convicted by the Holy Spirit. As he saw Jesus die on the cross, it prompted him to ask himself if he was willing to die for his faith as well. Not necessarily to die on the cross, but to die to the fear of criticism, die to the fear of losing prestige, power and social standing, to die to the allure of the world.

I don’t know what it is, but there is something about a person that goes bravely to their death that sometimes serves as a catalyst for those that are holding back in their faith. If you read Fox’s Book of Martyrs there are several documented examples of people witnessing the execution of a Christian who came to the knowledge of saving faith in that moment, and then take their place alongside the victim to be burned at the stake as well. They were inspired by the commitment of the martyr.

Somehow, as Joseph witnessed the courage of Christ on the cross, the compassion of Christ for His enemies, and the conquest of Christ in His victory cry, “Tetelestai!” “It is finished!” He was moved to a realization of his need for a greater consecration of his faith in his own life.   Mark says that immediately upon the death of Christ, Joseph mustered up his courage and went to see Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body. That was a greater act of courage than what we might imagine. Undoubtedly he met some of his colleagues there from the Sanhedrin who had just been asking Pilate to break the victims legs so that they would not hang there on the Passover. His courage to walk into Pilate’s praetorium meant an end to the secrecy of his discipleship, and probably meant an end to his position as a judge in the Sanhedrin as well. And not only that, but he had to identify himself as a friend of Jesus to the Roman governor, the very man who had sentenced Jesus to death.

So not only does he identify with Jesus life and teaching, but he identifies with His death. And I think this is the picture that Luke wants us to see. The way of sanctification is the way of death. Dying to the world. Dying to whatever it is that separates us from Christ. Col. 3:3 says, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Therefore, Paul says in vs. 5, “consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.” Joseph realized that only by dying to the world could he gain the sanctification that comes from following in Christ’s footsteps and so he courageously stepped out in faith and asked for the body of Christ. And what we can take from his example is that sometimes the process of sanctification can take a while. That’s why we call it a process of sanctification. There may be times when there seems to be little evidence for a person’s salvation. But if God is in them, then there will come a time when God moves them to a greater consecration of their lives.

Then look at vs. 53 and we see sanctification symbolized. “And [Joseph] took it down [that is the body of Jesus] and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.” I want you to think about the physical act of Jesus dying for a moment. Picture Jesus hanging there on the cross. Around 3pm He cried out, “Father, into your hands I commit My Spirit.” And he breathed His last. Jesus died. His last breath went out like a sigh and He was dead. His lifeless bloody body hung there by nails. Just try to imagine that for a moment. The Son of God, lifeless, dead, hanging there. A corpse on a cross.

What a tragic, horrible picture. It would be the saddest picture that ever existed except for one thing: Jesus wasn’t there anymore. Look back in the text at what He said, “Into your hands I commit My Spirit.” He released His Spirit from His body. What was hanging there was the flesh and blood that once clothed that Spirit, but Christ’s Spirit was alive and in Paradise. 1Peter 3:18-20 says, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.” What Peter is talking about is that immediately upon His death, just as Jesus told the thief on the cross, His Spirit was in Paradise.

Paradise was described by Jesus at an earlier time as Abraham’s bosom, the place where Lazarus went after dying to be comforted with his people, even as his master, the rich man was sent to Hades. And Jesus related how there was a great chasm between the two destinies. Some think that Paradise is the upper chamber and Hades the lower chamber, and that somehow in this spirit world they are able to communicate and observe, but they cannot cross over. Peter says though Jesus’ body was hanging upon that cross, and then laid in a tomb, yet in His Spirit He was alive and He went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison. Jude says specifically that these spirits were the disobedient angels that were bound in the lower dungeons of hell until the judgment day. Jesus went and proclaimed victory over sin and death to these fallen heavenly hosts. Col. 2:15 says, “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”

There is much that we could say of Jesus in the lower regions of the earth but I cannot take the time to discuss it all today. But I want you to consider the symbolism of His burial. And one thing that is touching on our discussion of sanctification is the picture of Jesus being dead in the flesh, and being made alive in the Spirit. That is the picture of sanctification. When we enter into the process of sanctification, we consider our bodies as dead, voluntarily crucifying our flesh and it’s passions, so that we might be made alive in the Spirit to walk in the Spirit.

When you are born again, the Holy Spirit is given to you in full measure. So there is no process of getting more of the Holy Spirit. We don’t need to seek what some call a second baptism. Because the very nature of salvation is that we are baptized with Christ into death. 1Pet. 3:21 “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you–not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience–through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Peter’s not saying water baptism saves you. He makes that clear. But it is a reference to the mortification of the flesh as we appeal to God for forgiveness of sins.

So the way to a sanctified life in the Spirit is not to get more of the Spirit, but to crucify more of the flesh. Scripture speaks of that crucifying of our flesh as either circumcision or baptism. In Col. 2:11-14 Paul uses both metaphorically; “and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” Sanctification then is the putting to death the deeds of the flesh so that we might live in the Spirit and do the deeds of the Spirit.

Note also vs. 54, “It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.” It is noteworthy that God planned it so that Jesus body was in the tomb on the Sabbath Day. This is a pivotal point in the gospel. It is the last day under the old covenant, and so you see everyone trying to make all these preparations for the Sabbath so that they don’t do any work on it. Technically the Sabbath started at sundown on Friday evening. And so they are all working to get Jesus off the cross and buried and then get home before sundown so they don’t break the Sabbath. But look at what Jesus is doing. His body, which represents the old man under the first covenant, is dead in the tomb, resting. His body is keeping the last Sabbath under the law. But in the Spirit Christ is alive and moving. He is about the Father’s business. He is the perfect picture of dying to the flesh and being alive in the Spirit.

It reminds me of John 5, when Jesus was accused of breaking the Sabbath because He was healing on the Sabbath, and Jesus answered them, ““My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” The principle of the Sabbath as a day of rest is this; the rest that is found in Christ is resting in the finished work of Christ for our justification, and resting in the power of Christ working in us for our sanctification, and resting in the hope of resurrection for our glorification. It’s not that we don’t keep the moral laws of God anymore. We never could. But now the law of God is written on our hearts and on our minds so that our desire is to please God, so we keep His commandments not because of the law but because of love. Jesus said, “if you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

Heb 4:9-11 says, “So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.” Our Sabbath rest is found in diligent obedience to the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God convicts us and leads us through the Word of God. Vs. 12 continues to that effect, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Finally, one more point; sanctification multiplied. Besides the obvious benefit of sanctification to the one being sanctified, there is another benefit and that is to the people to whom you influence by your consecration. We already saw that multiplication effect on Joseph as he witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus which was the ultimate act of sanctification. But now Joseph as well multiplies that effect by influencing others through his sanctification. One person in particular is of special note, but we have to look elsewhere to see it. John 19:39-40 “Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.”

You remember Nicodemus in John chapter 3 who came to Jesus by night, secretly, so as not to be seen, to enquire of Jesus the way of salvation. And though John did not indicate in chapter 3 that Nicodemus was saved on that occasion, yet obviously he was later converted. John also said he was a ruler of the Jews. That would have most likely made him a member of the Sanhedrin as well. I cannot help but imagine that these two men were companions in their secret discipleship. And now that Joseph has bravely come forward to claim Jesus’ body, Nicodemus is also inspired to join him in preparing Jesus body.

And notice also the women that follow them to the tomb and watch their preparations of His body and where they laid Him. They go back home to prepare more spices for His embalming that they will do on Sunday morning after the Sabbath. I believe the devotion of Joseph and Nicodemus were an encouragement to these women as well as they see them take a bold stand for Christ.

And folks, I would just offer their example to you today as an encouragement as well. If our goal is to see the kingdom of God multiplied on the earth then we need to see some men and women come out of the shadows and make a public stand for Christ. The best way to be a testimony for the gospel is to live a sanctified life as an example to others. Let me warn you though it’s not going to come without a cost. These men put their lives, their careers and their finances on the line for the sake of the kingdom of God. They took their eyes off the reward of the world and were looking for the reward in the kingdom of God. The sacrifices of their careers, the sacrifice of their positions in society, the myrrh and spices that they bought, the linen wrappings and the tomb in a garden that no man had ever been laid all came with great price. But if it were possible to question these men today even in their rest in Paradise if the reward of a sanctified life were worth it, I’m sure that they would say it was worth it all.

In Hebrews 11 we see several OT saints lifted up as examples of sanctification for us to follow. Heb. 11:24-26 identifies one of the most famous, “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.”

I pray that the death of Christ will have a similar impact on your life even as it was on the life of Joseph of Arimathea. Maybe you have been saved at some point of your life, but you have languished in your zeal for the Lord. Maybe you have been embarrassed to take a stand as a Christian. Maybe you have been too attached to the things of this world. I pray that today you will consider the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and the example of the saints that have gone before us and decide that starting today by the grace of God you are going to renounce the world and consider the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasure of this world. To take up your cross and follow Jesus, no matter what the cost.

In closing, I would like to read to you chapter 12 of Hebrews which exhorts us to live a life of sanctification. Heb. 12:1-14 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

It’s amazing that in spite of Christmas being a celebration of the birth of Christ, essentially celebrating Jesus’ birthday, the enemy is doing everything he can to detract from the true meaning and diminish people’s recognition of what it is all about. I can’t imagine that our culture would tolerate the kind of animosity that is happening today towards Christmas if it were a celebration of any other historical or religious figure’s birthday.

But even so, Christmas is still a very popular holiday celebrated the world over. However, I’m afraid that even when we recognize Christmas for what it truly is, the birth of Jesus, we still often fall short of understanding the real reason for the season. It’s not too difficult to be sympathetic towards a little baby being born on a cold night in a manger because there is no room for them in the inn. It’s somewhat easy to be sentimental about young mother and father taking refuge in a stable and having a baby and lying him in a manger. It’s a beautiful story, a story that evokes compassion and sympathy and sentimentality. And if we leave it there, then that is all that it is. A sentimental story. A story that has a sad ending. A poor baby who grew into an innocent man who went around doing good, who died as a martyr at 33 years of age.

The fact is though that the story may begin in sympathy, but it ends in triumph. What seemed to be the untimely, sad end of Christ’s life as we look at chapter 23, is actually the triumph of the ages. It is the greatest victory of all time. . The real reason for Christmas, the reason that Jesus came to earth as a baby in a manger, was to go to the cross. Jesus came to earth to die on the cross, to defeat the enemy, to take away the sting of death, to purchase reconciliation for man with God by offering Himself as a sacrifice at Calvary.

There is no doubt that Jesus was an actual, historical figure who walked the earth 2000 years ago. Historians agree that this is an undeniable fact. And yet simply believing this fact will not save you. And to the same extent, there is no saving grace in having a sentimental feeling towards Jesus as a baby in a manger. There is no saving grace in having sympathy for an innocent man being put to death on a cross.

And today’s passage illustrates that fact very well. As we look at Jesus walking through Jerusalem to the hill outside the city called Calvary, the Place of the Skull, there is a crowd following Him. It is made up of Roman soldiers, the high priests and scribes, members of the Sanhedrin, and the mob that called for His crucifixion before Pilate. But as this crowd winds through the narrow city streets, it attracts a large crowd of what we might call sympathizers. People that may have been attracted to Jesus at some point during His ministry. Many of them may have been there when He came into town just a week before riding on a donkey, and offered up their voices to cry “Hosanna!” along with the rest of the multitude. And included in this crowd, Luke tells us in vs. 27, are some women who were mourning and lamenting for Him.

Now at first glance this could be viewed in a positive light. These women obviously had some sense of the injustice of this act perpetrated on an innocent man. They must have had a certain fondness for the person of Jesus. They were sympathetic towards His suffering. After all, I’m sure they had heard of the kind things He had done in healing the sick. They had some sort of sentimental feelings towards Him as a person. They had compassion for the fact that this kind, gentle man who had done such good things had been arrested and wrongfully accused, sentenced to die and was now beaten and bruised and bloodied, walking through the city on His way to the cross.

These women were sympathetic to Jesus’ condition. They were feeling sorry for Him. They had sentimental feelings about Him and so they mourned for Him. They were wailing as was the custom of that day to wail for the dead or dying. Their emotions were running high. Their tears were flowing. And I would think that many of us if we were there that day would have thought such sentimental expressions of sympathy were appropriate. I suspect that very similar emotional expressions are a part of many contemporary worship services even today and might be considered to be honoring to Christ.

But Jesus does something extraordinarily unexpected in response to their sympathy. He rebukes them. Even though He has been beaten repeatedly in His face, lashed 39 times with a barb tipped whip until He is literally at the point of death, hasn’t eaten or drank in many hours and suffered a sleepless night at the hands of His enemies, He turns around to these women that are mourning and lamenting for Him and rather than thanking them for their sympathy or acknowledging their sentiments, He uses what little strength He has left to rebuke them. Now that is an extraordinary thing and worthy of our consideration.

Let’s look at what He says in vs. 28, “But Jesus turning to them said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.’” Now how are we to understand this? Is Jesus just snapping at these poor women because He is under a lot of stress and their wailing is getting on His nerves? Or rather is Jesus is still teaching, still concerned about the needs of others, even in this moment of agony? I would have to say it was the latter. Jesus uses this opportunity to teach one final lesson before the cross. Even in the midst of all the anguish that He is going through at that moment, He is not thinking of Himself, but of them.

So we must ask ourselves, why does Jesus tell the women not to weep for Him? Well first of all, Jesus tells them not to weep for Him because He had come into the world to go to the cross. They did not understand what was happening. This wasn’t a tragedy that required their sympathy. He was fulfilling His purpose. When Jesus prayed the night before in the upper room He prayed as recorded in John 12:27 “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.” Jesus suffered the humility of coming to earth as a baby in a manger so that one day He would deliberately make that walk to Calvary to die on the cross. It was the purpose of His incarnation. Hebrews 2:9 says, “But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” Jesus tells these women not to weep for Him because this is no unfortunate circumstance, but rather He is deliberately going to His death to die in our place so that we might live.

Secondly, Jesus says do not weep for Me because He knows what is actually happening. The women think that this is some sort of tragic coincidence and so they wail and mourn. But Jesus knows that what is happening is not some cosmic accident, but the divine plan of God. Not just the crazed actions of angry men, but the predetermined plan of God. Peter would later characterize this day as fulfilling the plan of God when He preached on the day of Pentecost, saying in Acts 2:23 “this [Jesus], delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.”

Thirdly, Jesus tells them not to weep for Him because He knows that what He does will glorify the Father as nothing else can ever do. His sacrifice for our sins glorifies the Father, because it manifests God’s love for the world in the most exquisite way possible. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him shall have eternal life.” The love of God for sinners required Him to offer up His only Son on a cruel cross so that He might save us from death.

Jesus understood what love meant. Those women along the road that day did not understand love. They understood sentimentality. They understood emotionalism. They understood sympathy. But they did not understand love. However, God understood love and He demonstrated agape love to the fullest expression by offering up Jesus on the cross for us. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God does not demonstrate sentimental or superficial love for us, but sacrificial love, by offering His only Son to die in our place.   That is how we are to understand love. Not in terms of emotion, or in terms of sentiment, but in terms of sacrifice. 1John 4:19 “We love, (we understand love) because He first loved us.”

Fourthly, Jesus tells them not to weep for Him because He knows the consequences of the cross. For Him, the joy set before Him was more than worth the sacrifice. In John 12:31 Jesus said concerning His impending death, “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” The consequence of the cross is that sin is defeated, Satan is thrown down and the sting of death is taken away. He knows what the victory means. That if He is lifted up on the cross on Calvary’s hill, He will draw all men to Himself that they might be saved. The sacrifice is well worth the victory.

Col. 2:13-15 “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.” That is a reference to the rulers, the powers of darkness, the spiritual forces of wickedness in high places spoken of in Ephesians 6. Jesus triumphed over them at the cross, shouting out in victory “It is finished!” Jesus knows the consequences of the cross, therefore He tells the women not to weep for Him. This is no accident, this is His destiny, the divine plan of God set before the foundation of the world so that men might be reconciled to God and nothing will stop Him from completing His mission.

So Jesus says to the women who were lamenting Him, “Don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children.” Why such a rebuke? Why does Jesus take what precious little energy He has left to offer this stirring rebuke to these well meaning women? Well, the answer is simple. He says weep for yourselves because you don’t really know who I am. Weep for yourselves because of your ignorance concerning Me. And weep because of your ignorance for your own condition. Weep for your sins, for your own guilty condition before God.

James 4:8-10 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” Jesus tells these women to weep for themselves and for their children because that is the way of repentance, and the way of repentance is the path to righteousness before God. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

Secondly, weep for yourselves and your children because you don’t understand the judgment of God is coming upon you. Jesus had warned the citizens of Jerusalem in Luke 13:34-35 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it! Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'”

They did not understand that they were putting to death the very Son of God. They did not understand that God would pour out His wrath upon them for their rejection of His Son, just as Jesus had prophesied, that the kingdom would be taken away from them and given to others who would make good use of it. And in AD 70, we know that Rome entered Jerusalem and massacred hundreds of thousands in one day and burned the city and the temple. Children were dashed to the ground as their mothers watched in horror as the day of judgment came upon Israel for it’s rejection of the Messiah.

Jesus says weep for yourselves and for your children, for the days are coming as prophesied when such a horror will fall upon Jerusalem that they will say “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed. Then they will begin TO SAY TO THE MOUNTAINS, ‘FALL ON US,’ AND TO THE HILLS, ‘COVER US.’ It would be better to be barren in those coming days of judgment than to see the destruction of your children. And the terror of those days would be such that men and women would call out for the mountains to fall on them and destroy them, rather than fall into the hands of the soldiers.

Jesus says weep for yourselves and your children, because if they do these things when the tree is green, what will they do in the dry. That means that if they do this to the innocent, meaning Himself, then what will they do to the impenitent and rebellious? What will happen to you who reject the Savior of the world? If they crucify the Holy Son of God, then what punishment is deserved by those that rejected Him? Listen, if you die in your sins, after so magnificent a sacrifice was offered for you, then you deserve to suffer the terrors of hell for eternity. Jesus suffered and died such a horrible death so that He might taste death for us. But if we reject Him and His offer of salvation, then the cross is of no use to us. It merely condemns us to a greater condemnation, because we trampled underfoot the blood of Jesus Christ. We considered it worthless.

So weep for yourselves because of the ignorance of the world who doesn’t understand that they are lost and will perish for eternity without Christ. Weep for yourselves and for your children because they did not understand their need for the cross. Listen, the sentimentality and sympathy of men can be a detriment to your discipleship if you believe that suffering and sacrifice are not part of God’s plan for you. Not understanding how God uses suffering to conform us to the image of Jesus, will impede your discipleship and cause you to question the purpose of God.

Probably the greatest skateboarder of the 1970’s, which was really when skateboarding started to become popular, was a guy named Jay Adams. I remember seeing him in the skateboarding magazines when I was a teenager. He rose to world wide fame at a young age as part of the Zephyr skateboard team which was from Dogtown, an area near Venice, Ca. Jay was a natural talent and a real innovator of what has became modern skateboarding. But like a lot of people from that era, Jay became involved in drugs and partying from a young age. As he got older, that lifestyle led him into crime and street gang violence and he ended up spending a lot of time in prison. But the amazing thing was about 10 or 12 years ago Jay Adams became saved. I remember hearing about it when my son and I were in Hawaii at the time. Jay showed up at a Bible study and some of our friends were there and they heard his testimony.

But not long after that I heard that Jay was arrested and put in prison again, presumably from an old outstanding warrant. I must say even though I really wanted to believe Jay was truly saved, I wondered about his salvation. From time to time though I ran across something in a magazine or on the internet that he said or did which gave me hope. Eventually he got out of prison, and he seemed to be doing ok. He was married, had a family and he experienced a resurgence in his career. Hollywood even made a movie about Dogtown and he was featured prominently in the story. But then in August of this year, just as it seemed Jay’s life was finally getting together and things were working out, he died of a heart attack while surfing in Mexico on vacation with his wife. He was 53 years old. It seemed like such a tragedy.

Then just the other day I happened to come across a video of Jay’s memorial service. It was held at a large church in Los Angeles. Hundreds of people were in attendance which included a large number of older skaters who had been his friends. These guys were some of the most hard core looking guys you could imagine. All tattooed up and a lot of them with pretty gnarly backgrounds. And there were two pastors that preached at that service as well as a testimony given by another professional skater named Christian Hosoi, who was also a born again Christian. It was really amazing to hear their stories about the Jay Adams that they knew that had been transformed by the power of Christ. One pastor read several letters written by Jay while in prison in which he talked at length about how God was changing him daily as he studied his Bible. And as I heard these three men’s testimonies, I was happy to be confirmed in my hope that Jay Adams was truly a man of God. He wasn’t perfect, and he did stumble on more than one occasion, but he had been saved and transformed by the power of the gospel.

But there was still the nagging question of why would God take this man, just when his life seemed to be getting on track, especially considering how his life could have been effective at reaching a lot of people. Why did God take him now? And the answer came in a couple of verses from one of the messages; Isaiah 53:10-11 “But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. 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.” What that says in a nutshell was this; by the death of One, many were made righteous. And though that verse is talking about Jesus, it also applies to Jay’s life. By his death, many were made righteous. At the conclusion of that service, the preacher gave a simple invitation and a dozen old friends of Jay’s came up to the altar to receive Christ. God often uses suffering and trials which seem incomprehensible to us, for the good of the kingdom of God. Our part is to trust Him that He knows what is best and yield ourselves to be used by Him.

Now there was one other person on the road to Calvary that morning that did see the value of the cross. And I believe that person is given here as an illustration of what it means to understand the significance of the cross. That person was Simon of Cyrene. Luke doesn’t tell us a lot about this man, but we can find mention of Him in other scriptures which helps us to understand who he was. He was probably a Jew, living in what is now known as Libya, in Northern Africa. He was undoubtedly in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover. So he would have been a God fearing Jew that had come from the country into Jerusalem to worship God.

And though we are not told a lot about this man at this point, we do know that he was pressed into service by the Roman soldiers to carry the cross of Christ. This happened just before Jesus spoke to the women along the road. Perhaps Jesus was so weakened by the flogging and the beatings that he had endured, along with a sleepless night and the loss of blood and so forth, that they wanted to be sure that Jesus made it to the cross without dying along the way. Or maybe they wanted to get there quicker and so they picked out a strong looking passerby to carry the cross of Jesus so they could get along with their business.

But the scripture is careful to tell us that after taking up the cross Simon followed behind Jesus. And here we have a picture of what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. This guy is following his own plan and purpose, and then one day he is suddenly face to face with Jesus Christ, and he takes up his cross and follows Him to Calvary. Jesus made the cost of discipleship clear earlier in Luke 9:23, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” He said in Luke 14:27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” And again in Matt. 10:38, “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”

Listen, Jesus never offered a cross-less salvation. He never offered a blood-less Christianity. Modern Christianity today wants to present a blood-less, cross-less Christianity where all the sacrifice was done by Christ so that we can be forgiven and then get on with our life. Come as you are and stay as you are. Get your get out of hell card and carry on. But Jesus never teaches that. He teaches that just as He went to the cross, so we are to take up our cross and follow Him. Faith in Christ’s death on the cross produces our justification, which in turn produces our sanctification which requires crucifying our flesh and it’s desires and obeying the Spirit of God. Gal. 5:24 “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Gal. 2:20 tells us what that looks like; “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” In other words, I no longer live for myself, no longer live like my flesh, my passions tell me to live, but I live now as the Spirit tells me to live. I crucify the passions of my flesh and let Christ live through my body. That is the picture that we see in Simon the Cyrene leaving the path that he was following, and picking up the cross and following Jesus.

Now I’m sure someone will say, “well Roy, that’s a nice illustration, but how do we know that Simon the Cyrene became a believer? He’s just some poor guy who carried the cross of Christ, but we don’t really know what became of him.” Well, actually there are a couple of indications that he was a believer, and furthermore his family came to believe in Christ. When Mark writes his account of this event, he includes the information in Mark 15:21 that Simon was the father of Rufus and Alexander. The point being that the church Mark was writing to would have known these two brothers as they were a part of their congregation. Furthermore, Paul mentions Rufus in Romans 16 and his mother who also was a Christian and esteemed by the apostle. So we can be sure that this experience on the road to Calvary was a life changing experience for Simon as he followed Jesus, carrying His cross.

Unlike the superficial women that lamented Jesus on that walk, Simon undoubtedly came to say, as the centurion did when witnessing Christ at the cross, “truly this was the Son of God.” He came to understand the purpose of Christ’s crucifixion as he shouldered the cross of Christ and followed after Him. And as such he is a great illustration for us of someone who has entered into the fellowship of His sufferings.

Paul, talking about the fellowship we have in the sufferings of Christ describes what it means to take up your cross and follow Jesus in Phil. 3:8-11, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

I will close today by asking you a question. What effect has the cross of Christ had on you? Does it just evoke a feeling of sympathy? Does the person of Christ, or the birth of Christ produce only sentimental feelings? Listen, Jesus Christ doesn’t ask for, nor does He desire our sympathy. The cross of Christ is designed to produce in us repentance. Weep for yourselves and for your children. Let His example of love for us become our expression of love for Him. Not a superficial sentimentality, but a sacrificial love for Christ which considers everything that I once considered gain as loss, in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus.

What use is it to gain the whole world and lose your own soul? What shall a man give in exchange for His soul? The answer is everything. I surrender all. I completely surrender my heart to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He is worth it all. Whatever loss I have to surrender in this life is worth it for the sake of Christ. Can you say that this morning? Have you wept over your sinfulness? Have you trusted in Christ as your Savior? Have you experienced forgiveness for your sins? I pray that today is the day of your salvation and that no one here would reject the offer of salvation purchased by the blood of the Son of God.

What will you do with Jesus? That is the question of the ages. It is the question that every person of every age must answer for themselves. It is in this scenario played out here in the final chapters of the gospel of Luke that we see one person after another faced with the question of “what will you do with Jesus?” See, it is not enough to simply believe that He exists. All the players in this last act of the ministry of Jesus certainly believed that He existed. But they all must decide not if He is, but who He is, and then what they will do with Him.

So far Luke has presented a long cast of characters who had to answer that question. And sadly, as we continue to look at three more today, there is a uniformity in their answers.   They all reject Him. We saw in the last chapter to start with that Judas, one of the 12 apostles rejected Him, which resulted in him betraying Christ for 30 pieces of silver. He not only rejected Him, but in the end He valued Him as worth no more to him than a slave – 30 pieces of silver being the price of a slave.

And then we saw the rest of the disciples reject Him as well in the Garden of Gethsemane. When the soldiers and the lynch mob came in the middle of the night, for a moment they attempted to put up a brave front and fight, and then they took off into the darkness. They all deserted Him.

Then we looked at Simon Peter, the staunchest, bravest disciple of them all. Possibly the closest to Jesus. And yet he too rejected Him. Peter ended up sitting by the fire of the soldiers who arrested Jesus and before the night was over he denied even knowing Him three times.

Then we saw the rejection of the high priests and Sanhedrin, the elders of the Jews. They made up the religious ruling parties of the Jews. They asked Jesus flat out if He was indeed the Son of God. Luke 22:70, “Are You the Son of God, then?” And He said to them, “Yes, I am.” And their answer was to blaspheme Him and hit Him in the mouth and call for His crucifixion.

Now today we will look at three other responses to this question; “What will you do with Jesus?” We see first of all Pilate, a Gentile, the governor of Rome. Secondly, we see Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee. He was not a Jew, but was an Idumean, who ruled over the region of Galilee. And thirdly, we will look at the crowd, the multitude, made up of the mass of people who were gathered in Jerusalem for the Passover.

So the account begins by saying that the whole body got up and brought Jesus before Pilate. The whole body relates to the Council of the Elders spoken of at the end of chapter 22. The high priests, the scribes and the 70 members of the Sanhedrin. You will remember they had arrested Jesus in the middle of the night in the Garden of Gethsemane and held two bogus trials. The first was at the house of the high priest to try to find something that they could indict Him for. But they knew that was not a legal trial, so they reconvened again at dawn in their chambers so that it would be official. And all that they had determined in their trials was that they wanted to put Him to death. They had not found witnesses that could agree on anything, but they still wanted Him dead. However it was not legal under Roman law for the Jews to put someone to death. That is why they usually resorted to stoning people that they found guilty of blasphemy or some other serious crime. However, they don’t want to stone Jesus because they feared the people. They didn’t want to be seen as responsible for putting Jesus to death. He was still a popular figure. So their plan was to have Rome put Him to death. So as soon as it was light, they all went down the street a block or two to Pilates court to charge Him with crimes against the Roman government, thinking that they would put Jesus to death.

They wouldn’t enter Pilate’s court though because they did not want to defile themselves by entering a Gentile establishment. So Pilate came out to them. He must have been stunned to see the entire Jewish council standing there in the street at the crack of dawn. That was undoubtedly an unprecedented thing and signaled to Him that they were seriously agitated about something.

So they essentially bring charges of insurrection before Pilate, which they were certain would be worthy of the death sentence. They said, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.” All of which was an outright lie, by the way. They don’t want to defile themselves by entering a Gentile building, but they don’t mind defiling themselves by bringing false charges against an innocent man.

So now the question comes to Pilate; “what will you do with Jesus?” We could spend an entire message just on Pilate himself. The other gospels have more to say about him than Luke gives us here. But what we see in a nutshell, especially in this first response, is that Pilate wants to duck the question. He doesn’t want to have to give an answer. He doesn’t really want to deal with Jesus.

He asks Jesus if indeed He was the King of the Jews. I’m sure that was a mocking, sarcastic question. Pilate was the governor of Rome. He was over the entire region. He had certainly heard of Jesus. He knew what Jesus was going about doing. He may not have understood what Jesus was teaching, but he certainly was not so naïve that Jesus could be the King of the Jews and he would not know it.

But surprisingly, Jesus answers his sarcastic question anyway. Jesus answers, “It is as you say.” John’s gospel adds some really important details here that reveal the mindset of Pilate. In John 18:34-38 it says Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”

Now that reveals the dilemma of Pilate. He desperately wanted to avoid this conversation about truth and the kingdom of God. He wanted to avoid having to deal with the question of the ages, “what will you do with Jesus?” And now Jesus takes this sarcastic, mocking question of Pilate and turns it around into a challenge. What will you do with Jesus? What will you do with the truth?

Pilate’s answer in the short term was to send Him away to Herod. He wanted to duck the question. And how much like Pilate are so many people in the world today. They don’t want to deal with the question of what to do about Jesus. They want to avoid thinking about such things. How can you know, they ask? What is truth, they ask? How can you really believe the Bible, they say? They want to avoid the question of what to do about Jesus. They want to live out their lives without conflict, without having to choose, without having to decide anything. They are classic examples of burying your head in the sand and hoping that when you take it out again the situation will have somehow been taken care of. They would rather have others do the heavy lifting about theology. They would rather have a form of religion, but deny the power of it. They just want to be left alone to live life as they see fit. So like Pilate, they want to pass on that question. But like Pilate, they will not be able to be left alone for long. One day every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, either now resulting in your salvation, or one day in judgment resulting in damnation. But everyone must one day answer that question; “what will you do with Jesus?”

So then we turn to the second character in this passage who is confronted with the question of “what will you do with Jesus?” And that is Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee. He happened to be in Jerusalem for the Passover at this time. Even though he is not a Jew, he has a vested interest in keeping the Jews happy. His father was Herod the Great, the one that had all the babies under two years old killed in Palestine after Jesus was born. These guys were like a mafia family or something. They did great public works to buy the loyalty of the people, but actually they were a murderous, treacherous lot and the son Herod Antipas is no exception.

Herod Antipas was the one who had John the Baptist put to death, if you will remember. Herod had a great ball and the daughter of Herodias his wife danced before them. And Herod in a state of drunken lust tells her that she can have anything she wants, up to half his kingdom. She goes back to ask her mother what she should ask for, and her mother tells her to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. The reason that Herodias hated John the Baptist so much was because John had rebuked Herod publicly for taking Herodias when she had been the wife of his brother Philip and then divorcing his present wife and marrying her. John the Baptist had the audacity to tell Herod that what he had done was a sin, and so Herod had John arrested and put in prison.

Yet interestingly, Herod liked listening to John. Mark 6:20 tells us that “Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him.” But as we know, even though Herod knew that John was a righteous and holy man, even though he knew he was a prophet from God, he had him put to death to please his wife, to try to cover up their sin.

Listen, nothing makes people more mad than rebuking them of their sin. Nothing makes people madder than preaching about sin. Some people asked me the other day what we could do to grow our church. If I simply stopped preaching about sin I’m sure we would have a much bigger church. The world hates to be told that what they want to do, what they think is ok to do is sin. And yet the faithful man of God will preach the truth about sin, because unless a man is convicted of his sin he will not repent, and if he doesn’t repent of his sin he cannot be saved. We must come to understand God’s wrath against sin, in order to comprehend why a loving God would send men to hell. And we must understand that sin is an affront to a holy God, to understand why God would send His Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty of sin. Sin is not a peripheral doctrine that can be overlooked, but sin must be dealt with. However, the world doesn’t want to hear about it, and they hate whoever dares to convict them of it.

So here is the deal with Herod. This is a man who had heard the truth. He had listened repeatedly to the preaching of John the Baptist. The text says that he was very perplexed, that means he was convicted of his sin. But rather than repent of it, he had locked John up in prison and then executed him to stave off the anger of his wife. Then later on, when Jesus’ fame was spreading around Galilee, Herod’s guilt caused him to wonder if John had come back to life somehow. So he had been hearing about Jesus for 3 years and wanting to see Him.

Notice vs. 8, “Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him.” So Herod was curious. He wanted to see Jesus produce a miracle. He wanted to see something sensational. But it wasn’t going to make him a believer, it would just satisfy some venal desire on his part to see Jesus dance on the end of his puppet strings.

So finally Herod gets his chance. Verse 9 says that he questioned Jesus at some length. And yet Jesus answered him not a word. Listen, there are a lot of people in the world today that would like to see some manifestation of God. They brazenly say that if God wants them to believe in them, then God is going to have to do a miracle. And God’s answer to them is exactly what Jesus’ answer to Herod is. Nothing. God does not have to prove Himself to anyone. In fact, He will not. God’s name as He delivered it to Moses in the burning bush was “I Am.” God doesn’t start out in Genesis with a long list of reasons why we should believe in Him. The Bible doesn’t offer a course in apologetics. Genesis 1:1 simply and boldly states; “In the beginning, God…” And Jesus doesn’t waste anytime defending Himself either. A few hours before when Jesus was in the Garden He asked the mob, “whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” And Jesus answered them with just two words, “I Am.” And they fell to the ground at the power of that name. Jesus is the Son of God, and it is incumbent upon man to believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those that seek Him.

Herod is faced with the Son of God, and yet when he questions Jesus, He does not answer him a word. Herod had all the testimony that he was going to get. He had the testimony of John the Baptist. He had recognized his preaching as the truth and yet he had his head cut his head off. But it’s not that Jesus doesn’t give Herod a second chance. The fact is that Herod had already decided what he would do with Jesus. It says in Luke 13 that Herod had decided to kill Jesus. He was seeking Him to have Him killed. Herod rejected the Son of God because he did not want to be convicted of his sin. He did not want to repent of his sin.

And that is shown in the actions of Herod now that he has an audience with Jesus. When Jesus doesn’t dance when Herod calls, when Jesus doesn’t perform a miracle to satisfy the vanity of Herod, then he shows his true colors. He mocks Jesus. Vs. 11, “And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate.”

So when Herod is faced with the question of the ages, “what will you do with Jesus?” he mocks him, he treats him with contempt, dressing him in a king’s robe as some kind of sick joke and sends Jesus back to Pilate. That is what the atheists and agnostics and God haters are doing today. They mock God. They sneer at God. They have contempt for all things holy. And yet in reality their motive is not some superior intelligence, but that they love their sin and refuse to repent of it. John 3:19 Jesus said, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.” And I am afraid that many people in our community will never receive anything more from God than the preaching of the word of God. We preach the truth of God’s word here, plain and unadulterated. And yet, like Pilate, they have rejected the truth. They seek some sort of sign, some sort of miracle from God, but God has said in 1Cor. 1:21 that by the foolishness of preaching men will be saved.

So Herod sends Jesus back to Pilate, and that also introduces us to the third group of characters in this passage, and that is the crowd, the multitude. Throughout Jesus’ ministry He had been followed by the multitudes. They were an ever changing, but constant presence in His ministry. He miraculously fed them on at least two occasions. They heard His messages. They saw Him perform many miracles. They had the privilege that Herod and Pilate did not have. Herod wanted to see miracles and did not. But the multitudes saw many miracles. And just a week earlier they had followed Jesus into Jerusalem calling out “Hosanna!” and throwing down palm branches in His path as He rode into town on a donkey. Popular opinion was high at that time. Their expectations were high. The crowds fed off that popularity and the expectation of even greater miracles, perhaps even the prospect of Jesus taking the throne of David. They are moved by the tide of emotion, they are aroused by public sentiment and popular approval. And they now this fickle crowd has gathered at the sight of this mob of soldiers, the condemnation of the high priests and scribes, and the judgment of the 70 elders of the Sanhedrin. And their affections are swayed by the force of that religious persuasion to join them in their condemnation of Jesus.

Vs. 13 “Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people.” That would be the gathering crowds, the multitudes, many of them the same people that just a few days earlier had shouted hosanna are now in this crowd that is being driven by the resentment of the religious leaders. And so in the space of just a few days, we see the fickle crowds allegiance switch from calling for Him to be King, to calling for Him to be crucified.

And the amazing thing is that Pilate is still doing his best to wash his hands of the whole affair. He says three times, “I find no guilt in this man.” And yet the crowd, spurred on by popular opinion calls ever more for His crucifixion. Pilate even offers to scourge Jesus. That was typically 39 lashes with the cat of nine tails, a bull whip tipped with glass and barbs that cut the back of Jesus to shreds. He brings Jesus back out again before the people and offers to release Him, but they call out for him to release instead a man named Barabbas, who was a notorious murderer and criminal.

Vs. 23, “But they were insistent, with loud voices asking that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail.” I’m afraid that we are entering a period in our culture today when Jesus has lost whatever superficial popularity that He might have ever enjoyed. There was a time when the popular culture respected Jesus, at least on the surface. There was a time when the Bible was respected as holy and righteous. When men feared God. But those days are practically gone in today’s society. The same multitudes that called out to God in prayer meetings all across this country after the horror of 911 have now tossed every mention of God out of schools, public arenas, out of the military, out of political circles. God isn’t wanted anymore. Public opinion has shifted dramatically from a superficial acceptance of Christianity to downright animosity. To be a Christian today is to be hated by everyone. And even many religious organizations have joined in denouncing truth and righteousness as bigoted and narrow minded. The political correctness of our society demands that there can be no truth. Tolerance is the new righteousness. The voices of the Christ haters have become louder and louder. It drowns out reason. They don’t want to listen to reason. Evil is venerated and righteousness is demonized. Hatred for all things Christian has become all the rage now.   Denouncing Christ is popular. And more and more people are joining in with the throng every day. It is a sad time to be a Christian. Many of us are like Pilate, we are afraid to buck the crowd. We are afraid of popular opinion. And so by our unwillingness to stand up for Christ we participate in His crucifixion.

So Pilate now is faced again with the question of what to do about Jesus. Herod mocked Him and scorned Him and ultimately wanted Him dead. The fickle multitude has turned against Him as well, and they call for His crucifixion. And now Pilate must answer that question, “what to do about Jesus?” He had wanted to avoid it. He wanted to pass on that question. But in the face of all of this opposition, he finally succumbs to the pressure of popular opinion and seals his own fate for eternity. Vs. 24, “And Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted. And he released the man they were asking for who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but he delivered Jesus to their will.”

Listen, have you answered that question today for yourself? “What will you do about Jesus?” Have you been trying to duck that question? Have you really been trying to avoid answering it? Or are you like Herod? Have you answered that question already? Is your heart already hardened? Have you considered the choice of continuing in the pleasures of sin or the repentance of sin and made the choice to reject Jesus Christ? Have you hardened your heart against the preaching of the truth of God’s word? Or perhaps you have been like Herod in the sense that you are waiting for God to show you some sort of sign from heaven in order to prove that He exists before you will believe in Him.

Unfortunately, God is not obligated to answer that demand. But rather God makes His own demand in Hebrews 11:6. He says that “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” God sets the requirements, not us. And He requires that we come to Him in faith, believing that He is. The Great I Am. He is, and He is the rewarder of those that seek Him.

Or perhaps today you are like the crowd that followed Jesus when things were going good. When the food and miracles were happening they were excited about the benefits of following Christ. When Christ was popular you went along with the crowd. But when the way got difficult, when popular opinion began to change, the crowd quickly turned against Him. When Jesus didn’t perform in the way that you thought that He should, did you desert Him? Did you turn against Him when He failed to meet your expectations? Did you reject Christ when you found out what it really meant to follow Him? To worship Him? To serve Him as King?

Listen, I don’t know your heart today. But God knows. He sees your heart, He knows your motivation. He knows your disappointments. He knows your doubts. He knows your fears. And yet He still loves you enough to willingly go to the cross for you. He loved the murderous, fickle crowd enough to pray even as they were nailing Him to the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Listen, Jesus went to the cross for Judas, but Judas wouldn’t repent. He went to the cross for the Sanhedrin, but they would not repent. He went to the cross for Pilate, but Pilate would not repent. He went to the cross for Herod and he would not repent.

And Jesus went to the cross for you as well. The question for you today is, “what will you do with Jesus?” The Bible says, if you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Jesus went to the cross and paid the penalty for our sins, so that we might be given His righteousness. That transaction is made possible by believing in Him, who He is, and what He came to do. As He told Pilate, He is a King. He came to be King of your life. What will you do with Jesus? Will you bow before Him now, in faith and repentance so that you may receive His salvation? I pray that today is the day of your salvation.

I’ve often jokingly said that I discovered panic attacks. And I’m only half kidding when I say that. Almost 18 years ago I went through a period where I had debilitating panic attacks every day for about 3 years. I may make light of it sometimes now, but I can assure you that panic attacks are no laughing matter. So along the way I learned something about panic attacks. And one of the things I first learned was that when you have a panic attack, your body wants to respond in one of two ways; fight or flight. That is the automatic response of your nervous system when it gets stimulated to the degree of a life threatening situation. Your adrenaline starts pumping, your breathing starts becoming shallow, and your heart is pounding. Your body basically is trying to prepare you for either fight or flight. If there really is a survival situation going on, then that kind of natural nervous response might enable you to react in a way that would help you to save your life. But when there is not a life threatening situation, then it is a horrifying feeling to have suddenly come over you and it can be difficult to shake off.

It’s difficult because at that time, your body does not respond to reason. It is responding to feelings. Though there is no real threat, your nervous system suddenly goes into hyper drive and the effect can be debilitating. It doesn’t mean that you are a coward. You might be as brave as the next guy in a threatening situation, but it’s that something triggers your nervous system and your mind becomes like a scratched 33 rpm record that keeps repeating and repeating the same what if scenario and causes your nervous system to rev up to the breaking point.

As we look at this story today, I don’t think that Peter and the other disciples necessarily had a panic attack, at least like the kind that I just described. But I do think that the principle of how we respond to fear is applicable to some extent to both situations. Peter and the disciples had a legitimate life threatening situation that was suddenly thrust upon them. Jesus had been warning them that something like this was coming, but it was so unreal to them that they had fallen asleep in the garden.

The setting was the middle of the night in a dark wooded olive grove. They were sleeping out in the open. They were exhausted. It had been one stressful thing after another with Jesus for a week now, ever since they entered Jerusalem. And suddenly they are awakened by Roman soldiers with lanterns flickering in the darkness surrounding them. They have clubs and swords. The well known enemies of Christ, the chief priests and the elders were there with their officers of the temple. It was sudden, it was frightening, and it was alarming.

So at first the disciples reacted just as the psychologists say is normal under those circumstances in a life threatening situation. They get ready to fight. Remember in the upper room Jesus had said that if they didn’t have a sword they should buy one, and they said they had two of them. That was enough, Jesus said. Now they are facing this mob in the middle of the night, and it makes perfect sense why Jesus said they should get a sword. So they say, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” And before Jesus can answer vs. 50 says that one of them struck the slave of the high priest with the sword and cut off his right ear. Now Luke doesn’t say who that was, nor do Mark or Matthew. And the reason that they don’t identify the person responsible was that it was undoubtedly a capital offense to strike the servant of the high priest. But John who writes his gospel after Peter is long dead does identify him in John 18:10 “Simon Peter then, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave’s name was Malchus.”

Now there were 11 disciples with Jesus that night, and some have raised the possibility of another one or two people with Jesus as well. But the mob has them vastly outnumbered. So Peter is certainly courageous. He had boasted earlier in vs. 33 “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!” He knew that regardless of how many soldiers and henchmen the chief priests had, that he and the Lord was a majority. So I can imagine that all the disciples were kind of in the same mode. Peter was their leader, so they would follow his example.

But then Jesus does something really contrary to everything they could have imagined. Jesus says in vs. 51, “’Stop! No more of this.’ And He touched his ear and healed him.” And then Jesus turns to the chief priests again and said, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against a robber? While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours.”

From the disciples point of view, this must have been astounding. Jesus heals this servant of the high priest and then basically gives himself up to be arrested by this lynch mob in the middle of the night. He says this hour and the power of darkness is yours. He surrenders Himself into their hands to be arrested and taken away. And I think this is where the situation goes from being astounding and incomprehensible to terrifying.

Peter had actually in his boast earlier alluded to what might have been the key to their response to this sudden turn of events. Peter had said, “with you I am ready to go both to prison and to death.” With Jesus in all His power Peter was brave enough. But without Jesus Peter and the disciples didn’t know what to do. It was terrifying. Jesus had been the visible power of God in their midst for 3 years. He had been able to do anything, from walking on water to raising the dead. They had plenty of confidence when He was with them. But now, to submit Himself to the mob, to say that in this hour He would surrender to the power of darkness was incomprehensible. It was so unbelievable that it was terrifying.

And so that terror produced the second type of response to fear, and that is flight. Mark 14:50 “And they all left Him and fled.” That’s the second natural response of the body to fear; you take flight. All the disciples took off, probably in 11 different directions. We know according to Mark’s gospel that a young man, probably John Mark himself, was with them, and he was seized by the officers, but he escaped by pulling free of his covering and running away naked. So we can assume that all the disciples took off in fear for their lives, narrowly escaping arrest.

Peter, even more so than most. For he had struck a man with the sword and cut him. And that man happened to be Malchus, the slave of the high priest. So Peter had much to fear. In fact they all did, because Jesus is not acting like they thought He should. They expected Jesus to do more of what He did when the soldiers had first entered the garden. He had gone towards them it says in John 18:4-6 “ and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He said to them, “I am He.” And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them. So when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.” That’s the kind of Jesus they would follow anywhere. Able to knock soldiers to the ground with just a word.

But when Jesus seems to surrender Himself to them, and then allows them to arrest Him and lead Him away that is something that the disciples cannot understand. In spite of everything Jesus had told them, they somehow still expected that He was going to enact a physical kingdom at this time, and it would mean the overthrow of Rome and Jesus would take the throne of David in Jerusalem and they would sit at His side and judge the 12 tribes of Israel in this new kingdom of God.

I remember what was the catalyst for my panic attacks. For me it was unexplainable medical issues. It was the fear of something unknown, that was beyond my comprehension, that was unexpected, unexplainable. That kind of situation prompted my psyche to go into panic mode. And I think that happens in the garden to some extent. Something unexpected happens. Something incomprehensible. Something that seemed to counter to their doctrine, to their faith. And it caused them all to stumble, to even fall in their faith.

Folks, I think there are some parallels in this event to what often happens in our lives as believers. We come to know the Lord, we come to something of an understanding of the doctrines concerning God, and then circumstances suddenly test our faith to the breaking point. Our doctrine founders. We don’t understand why this is happening. God seems to have broken His promises. God didn’t do what we thought He was supposed to do, when He was supposed to do it. Someone we loved didn’t get healed. Someone we prayed for didn’t get delivered. The money we desperately needed by Friday to pay that bill did not come, even though we prayed fervently for it. And we go from faith to fear in a moment. And in that fear we find ourselves reacting in the flesh in one of two ways; fight or flight. And both of those ways are the wrong way we are supposed to respond. They are the response of the flesh, rather than the response of the Spirit.

That is why I am so insistent that our focus here at the Beach Fellowship is on the teaching of sound doctrine. There is a lot of false doctrine out there that is appealing. We want to believe it. It appeals to our flesh, to the pride of life. It sounds like the kind of God we think God is supposed to be. And yet when life’s trials come along and God doesn’t perform as you have been taught and assured that He would, you are left with the options that either God doesn’t love you, or you don’t have enough faith, or the word of God can’t be trusted. So you find your faith foundering, in danger of shipwreck.

Well, to Peter’s credit, he tries to get back on track. He fled like everyone else, but then he must have doubled back and followed at a distance to see where they were taking Jesus. And they go to Annas’ house, the father in law of Caiaphas, who was the high priest. There they begin an unlawful trial, a pretrial really, of Jesus to see what they could indict Him with.

Peter manages to get let into the courtyard, and John’s gospel says it was because John was known to the high priest, he might have even been related. And so John is also secretly following Jesus, and somehow Peter gets word to him to help him get in. So John speaks to the servant girl and she lets Peter in, and he goes over to the fire in the courtyard which the soldiers are warming themselves by. That’s a pretty daring move on the part of Peter, wouldn’t you say?

I see a lot of commentators disparage Peter on this night as some sort of coward. I don’t see that at all. I see a man that is brave enough, but he is acting and relying on his bravery, on his cunning, on his strength to not fall away. He is confident in that strength. And yet we will see that his strength is not enough.

Back in our text starting at vs. 25 we see the progression of Peter’s failure of faith. Peter’s self confidence in his natural ability had led him to fight. And that had backfired when Jesus had stopped him and healed the servant’s ear. That resulted in uncertainty, a failure of doctrine if you will, that caused him to take flight with all the other disciples. They were scattered in every direction. So now we see Peter come back, but he is hanging outside by the fire with the men who had arrested Jesus. The uncertainty of Peter’s faith has induced him to hang out with the wrong people. He is at the fireside of the enemies of Christ.

How many times do we find ourselves as Christians hanging out by the fire of the enemy? Especially at times when our faith is the lowest, we often end up seeking the comfort of the world. The familiarity of the old friends, the old hangouts. Our faith is shaken by some circumstance that we aren’t expecting, and rather than it driving us to God, we allow it to steer us back to the world. We skip a few church services. We say we’re trying to figure some things out. We need to take a break. Whatever the excuse, we find ourselves by the fire of the unbelievers, finding comfort in wrong associations.  As Christians, God never calls us to sit on the sidelines. That is where we get in trouble. David sat on the sidelines when his army went out to battle and began his fall from faith with a woman named Bathsheba. And it too went from bad to worse because he wasn’t where he was supposed to be.

Remember what Jesus had said to Peter in the upper room? He said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” And Peter’s response was, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!” Well, now the devil was sifting Peter like wheat. Satan was going to exploit all the holes in Peter’s theology, all the fault lines in Peter’s faith. Peter had thought he was strong enough to handle Satan. But we should never underestimate our enemy. When Satan moves against Peter, he only has to use a little slave girl to do undo him.

Vs. 56-57, “And a servant-girl, seeing him as he sat in the firelight and looking intently at him, said, ‘This man was with Him too.’ But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.” Peter had been ready for the big battle. He had been ready to go to war with Christ at the head of an army. He was ready for the big things in the kingdom, or so he thought. But this little girl completely caught him off guard. For some reason, he suddenly was afraid. He could probably see Jesus in there, bound and tied, getting repeatedly slapped in the face and spit upon. And he just couldn’t believe what was happening. It didn’t fit in with Peters theology. And all of his bravado went out the window when this little maid comes up to the fire and says in front of these soldiers you’re one of His disciples.

You know, the thing that reveals our true nature is involuntary response, not a planned response. Your character isn’t shown by what you prepare to do, it’s manifest by what you’re not prepared for and how you react to that, that involuntary reaction. That reveals which nature you are living in. It’s those things that catch us off guard that reveal the real weakness of our hearts and shows us who we really are.

You know, when Satan comes after you, it’s not going to necessarily be with big things. We probably have our guard up in those areas. It’s the little things that catch us. Maybe it’s skipping our devotions. Or like Peter, sleeping when he should have been praying. It’s the little things that take us further and further away from the Lord until we find one day that we are so far away that we are actually denying Him by our lifestyle or our in our actions or our words.

So to summarize the next few verses, Peter makes another denial to another servant girl, then an hour later he made yet a third denial to a man who according to John happened to be a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off. So there is a steady progression from faith to fear to fighting to flight, and then from sitting with the enemy to denying Christ, not once, but three times.

And there is one more element to that progression that Luke doesn’t include but Matthew and Mark both do, and that is that Peter begins to swear and curse to emphasize his denials, to try to prove to them that there is no way he could be a disciple of Christ. You know the way you talk when you’re away from church reveals your heart. The kind of language you use reveals the nature of your heart. Matt. 15:18 says, “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.”

So Luke says as Peter was still speaking, the cock crowed. Jesus had said in the upper room to Peter that before this night had ended and the cock crowed, Peter would deny Him three times. And as the cock crows, Peter looks up and sees the Lord looking at him. And it says he went out and wept bitterly.

How in the world could Peter ever sink to that depth? How could a Christian ever reach the point of denying Christ? I will tell you one thing, if Peter could deny Christ, we all are vulnerable as well. So let’s review the path he took to denying Christ as a lesson for us. First, over confidence based on his feelings. Peter felt he could handle temptation. He felt as if he could follow Christ anywhere. He was confident in his emotional attachment to Christ. He relied on his feelings. And secondly, he disregarded the Word of the Lord. He didn’t think the warning applied to him. He didn’t take the Word of God seriously. He rejected reproof. He ignored the voice of the Lord. We cannot ignore the Word of God and survive the onslaughts of Satan. And the third step was prayerlessness. He rested instead of praying. He slept instead of watching for temptation. Spiritual indifference leads to ruin, lack of prayer leads to disaster.

And then the next on his path to failure was independence. He acted on his own. He didn’t need to seek God’s will. He didn’t wait on the Lord, he acted independently in his own strength. That got him into a situation that was out of God’s will. And finally, the fifth step was compromise. He followed Jesus at a distance, he sits by the fire, he mingles with the crowd that was the enemy of Christ. He reminds me of Psalm 1:1, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful,” He walked in, he stood around and finally he sat down. And he sat among the scornful. He took a seat in a compromising place. And compromise led to defeat. Peter’s strength was no match for Satan’s schemes.

But thankfully Peter’s story does not end in his denial, but in his repentance. In Judas’s story we looked at last week ended with his remorse and then he went out and hanged himself. There was no real repentance. But Peter went out and wept bitterly and he repented and was restored. And that’s the difference between a Judas and a Peter. Both will sin, but one will be repentant and restored and the other will be damned.

There are three aspects presented here that make up Peter’s repentance. The first is the prayer of Christ. Remember Luke 22:32, Jesus said, “Peter, Satan desires to have you but I have prayed for you that your faith fail not.” You know why Peter’s faith didn’t totally fail? Because the Lord had prayed for him. Peter was kept by the power of God. Listen, the reason that we stay saved is not because of our strength to hold onto God but because the Lord holds onto us. He didn’t hold Judas because He never had Judas. But He held Peter. God remains faithful even when we are faithless, for He cannot deny Himself.

Secondly, the repentance of Peter was brought about through the look of Christ. What kind of look did Jesus give Peter? Was it a look of condemnation? Was it a look that said “you sorry traitor you!” Or was it a look that said “I told you so, I knew you couldn’t stand, I told you that you would fall.” No, I don’t think it was that kind of look. I think it was the look of love, a look of total compassion. A love that loved us even when we were yet sinners, a love that was willing to die in our place so that we might be saved. It was a look that pierced Peter’s heart and conscience. Romans 2:4 says that the kindness of God leads us to repentance.

Thirdly, Peter’s repentance was brought about not only by the prayer of Christ, the look of Christ, but the word of the Lord. It says in vs. 61, “And Peter remembered the word of the Lord….” The word of the Lord convicts the heart of sin. Heb. 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The Holy Spirit, working through the word of God, convicts the world of sin and righteousness and judgment.

Peter’s response to the word of God was repentance. And that repentance brought about restoration. God is always ready to restore the repentant heart. David says in Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” See, God worked even in the denial of Peter for His good. Peter wept that night in brokenness before God. And a broken heart is the kind of heart that God delights in. Peter had thought his independence was his strength. But now he realizes that his independence had been his greatest weakness. God often has to break us of our independence in order to bring us to repentance so that we might be able to learn dependence upon the Lord. Then we might be able to say with Paul in 2Cor. 12:9-10, “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.”

Our brokenness and dependence on Christ should cause us to keep our eyes on Him, trust totally in His promises and stand firmly on His word, not reacting according to fear or the flesh, but remembering that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He will strengthen and keep us by His great power, no matter what may come our way as long as we lean upon Him. Let us pray.

Before I became a preacher I used to be an antique dealer. And as such I sometimes spent a lot of time around auction houses. The typical situation was I would usually get there some time before the auction started to preview the material. And then at an appointed time, the auction would begin. Since I was a specialty antique dealer, there were usually only a few items in the sale that I was interested in. The items were numbered according to lots. And sometimes the item you wanted was maybe lot 150 or 250. That meant you had to wait for the auction house to go through 150 lots or more before they got to the item you wanted to buy.

When they finally got around to the items I was interested in, I was usually chomping at the bit. I had a number in my mind that I thought the item was worth. But chances are, by the time I had driven to the auction, and then hung around for 3 or 4 hours, I was determined to buy it at almost any price. And when the auctioneer started that singsong chant I usually didn’t even know for sure what price I was bidding at. I just kept lifting my bid card up until I got it. By that time, the adrenaline was pumping, the desire was as high as it could get, there was the competition of the bidding war driving me on and I was willing to pay any price to get what I wanted.

Perhaps in that respect, auction houses are a good analogy for our lives. Sometimes we are so conditioned to go for it all, to reach for the best, to be all that we can be that we can get so caught up in chasing our dreams in life, that we are willing to give everything to get it. But there was a downside to buying antiques in that kind of environment. And that was when you took the item home from the auction at the end of the day and gave it a really good looking over, oftentimes you discovered that it may not have been as good of a piece as you hoped for. Maybe in the excitement and confusion and heat of the moment, you paid way too much for it. I think that is where they came up with the term buyer’s remorse. And at that point, you are sorry that you bought it, but there is nothing you can do about it then.

I guess there is a point in which all of us have our price that we are willing to pay to get what we think is the best out of life. And oftentimes that comes with great sacrifice. But the million dollar question today though is what is your price for Christ? Jesus said in Matt. 16:26, “What will a man give in exchange for his soul? For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”

In the familiar passage we are looking at today, we see one such man that sold his soul for 30 pieces of silver. It was certainly a paltry price for Christ, and it was really a paltry price for one’s soul. Yet it is typical of the kind of deal that the devil makes with us. He gets us so pumped up, so excited, so focused on the singsong call of this world that we find ourselves paying far too much for far too little. And if not for the grace of God, we might find ourselves like Judas, examining what he got in that exchange after it’s all over and finding it wanting. Wishing desperately that he could undo the deal that he had made.

Judas’s betrayal of Christ is a well known story, both to Christians and non Christians alike. It is a tragic tale. And if we are not careful it is possible to so vilify Judas that it becomes impossible to identify with him. His is the most hated name in history. It becomes easy to see him as the archetypical villain that we think we are safely far removed from.   However, I am afraid that there is much in Judas that we all can identify with. So rather than trying to just retell the story, I would like to focus on certain characteristics that we might find common to us and applicable to the church at large. There are three points that I would like us to consider; the person of Judas, the price for Christ, and the place for repentance.

First of all, let’s look at the person of Judas. Who was Judas really? Very little is actually said about him in the three years of Jesus ministry until we get to this last week of Jesus life before Calvary. Nothing is known of how he came to follow the Lord. But here is what we do know. It says in vs. 3 and in vs. 47 that Judas was one of the twelve. Twice Luke emphasizes that. It wasn’t simply to identify him from other people named Judas, because Judas has a last name, Iscariot, which would have better served that purpose. I believe it is to emphasize his relationship with Jesus.

This is someone hand picked by Jesus to be a part of His inner circle. He was a man who from all outward appearances seemed to be of impeccable character. He was not just one of the 70, that second tier of disciples that Jesus commissioned at a later point in His ministry. This was one of the original 12 apostles. He had been a part of Christ’s ministry from the beginning. Hand picked by Christ, called to be a part of His inner circle, to be taken into His confidence.

This was a man that had not only been called and commissioned by Christ, but he had been empowered to perform miracles in Christ’s name. He had preached the gospel in Christ’s name. He had taken a personal hand in the ministry. He had undoubtedly taken part in baptism’s of new disciples. When Jesus passed out the bread and the fish it multiplied in the basket that Judas carried as he handed it out to the waiting multitude.

Certainly, he had preached the gospel so that many had been enlightened by his testimony, and even miraculous powers had been given to him, so that at his word the sick had been healed, deaf ears had been opened; and the blind had been made to see. He had even cast out demons in Jesus name.

Judas was a man of great privilege. He had more than likely heard every message that Jesus had given. He had been privy to the explanations of the parables that Jesus gave to the disciples in private. He had slept out under the stars with Jesus and the disciples on many nights. He had eaten with them. He had suffered with them. He had gone through violent storms on the sea with the disciples in the boat when Jesus stilled the storms.

But even more disconcerting, Judas was a friend of Jesus. In Matt. 26:50 it says when Judas came to Jesus in the garden, Jesus said, “Friend, do what you have come for.” Some commentators have tried to make light of this salutation. But in Psalm 41:9 David reveals the deep nature of this friendship by saying, “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.” My close friend, in whom I have trusted!   This was no casual acquaintance, but a trusted friend.

Psalm 55 adds even more pathos to this travesty of trust. Psalm 55:12-14 “For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, Then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me, Then I could hide myself from him. But it is you, a man my equal, My companion and my familiar friend; We who had sweet fellowship together, walked in the house of God in the throng.”

Their closeness, their friendship was symbolized in a kiss. In vs. 47, it says that Judas approached Jesus at the head of the throng to kiss Him. This act may seem strange to us today, but in that day it was a common greeting among friends and acquaintances. There were many types of ways a man might approach another with a kiss. Inferiors would have kissed the back of the hand or the palm of a hand in the ancient world. Slaves kissed the foot. Kissing the hem of the garment expresses great reverence. But a customary kiss on the cheek, a full embrace was a sign of closeness, intimacy and warm affection between equals. Judas was considered a close, trusted friend of Christ.

I wonder how many of those attributes of Judas might be claimed by us. One thing that should have become clear as we considered Judas’s attributes; if someone like Judas could betray Christ then no one is exempt from that temptation. I wonder how many trusted people in the church, officers, ministers even, people of impeccable reputation, are yet betrayers of Christ. No one should take comfort in the fact that they are in some ministry, or in some great work of the church, even in positions such as pastors or missionaries. Jesus warned in Matt. 7:22-23 that “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.’ To have a great reputation in the community or even in the church, but have a false heart before the Lord, is to stand on the brink of hell.

How many of us have sung “what a friend we have in Jesus” on Sunday, and betrayed that trust on Monday in the office or on the jobsite. Jesus said in John 15:14 “You are My friends if you do what I command you.” And in 1 John, the Apostle tells us what that friendship demands. 1John 2:3-5, 15-16 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him, the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. …”

The question that Judas should prompt in us is have we betrayed our love for Christ with a false kiss of affection while living a life of disobedience? Have we said we loved God but in fact sold out to the world? John continues in vs. 15 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”

James 4:4 says, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” I’m sure all of us recoil at the thought of betraying Christ for a few dollars like Judas did, yet I wonder how many of us have betrayed Christ for friendship with the world? Judas followed Christ for three long years, but he stopped short of following Him to Gethsemane. He stopped short of Christ’s prayer in the garden, “not my will, but Thy will be done.” He had betrayed the friendship and trust of Christ for the friendship and mammon of the world. So let us be very careful of ourselves, lest we crucify the Lord afresh and put him to an open shame by betraying him by our selfish conduct, by loving the world more than Him.

Secondly, let’s look at the price of Christ. Back at the beginning of the chapter in vs. 4 we read that Judas went to the high priests and offered to betray Jesus to them for a price. And in Matt. 26:15 we read, “Judas said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him.” In Exodus 21:32 the law stated 30 pieces of silver to be the price of a slave. It’s inconceivable that the King of Heaven was worth no more to Judas than the price of a slave.

In Zech. 11:13 it says, “Then the LORD said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.’ So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD.” What a price for the Lord. Someone once said, “This is not the way people generally trade; they should tell their own price.” But not Judas. He came to the high priests and said name your price. For three long years he had waited, anticipating a big payoff for following Christ. But the financial payoff never came. And now in the fever of temptation and the emotionally charged moment of treachery, he was willing to take whatever they would give him in exchange for his betrayal.

Judas’s sin was the love of money. He loved the money of this world more than he loved God. The love of money was evident in the fact that he carried the money bag. In John 12 we read that he reviled the woman named Mary who broke an expensive jar of ointment and lavished it on Jesus feet. He claimed that it would have been better used for the poor. But John said in John 12:6, “Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.” Her extravagant love was a dramatic contrast to the calculating, selfish love of Judas. Surely we think that is a betrayal that is beyond us today.

But I would simply remind you of what Malachi 3:8 says, “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.” Vs. 10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”

Sadly, I believe, that of all those who betray Christ, those persons for whom there is the least hope are those whose God is their money. You may reform a drunkard; and even a backslidden Christian who has abandoned his body to lust may repent from it; but the man who is enamored with money can hardly be saved. Jesus said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

It is not money, nor the lack of money, but the love of money which is the root of all evil. It is not getting it; it is not even keeping it; it is loving it; it is making it your god; it is living for it, and not forsaking it for the cause of Christ, but being ready to sacrifice what is godly for the sake of worldly mammon. Yet what a tragedy, to gain the whole world and lose your own soul.

I don’t care what people may tell me. I don’t care how much they claim to love Jesus. How much they may claim to have done for Christ at some time in the past. I need only to watch their present actions, to see what they put in front of Christ to know where their affections lie. And I know this to be the truth; that very few people are willing to sacrifice their job for the body of Christ. There is no more sacred cow in Christendom than a person’s livelihood. For far too many professing Christians today career comes first. Money is number one. Church is relegated to whenever it is convenient. God is put on a shelf until an emergency arises.

I’m afraid that some people’s religion is grounded on that one question which Judas asked of the high priests that night -“What will you give me?” That is the question of the modern evangelical. I could pack a church building by teaching a series on what financial benefits there are to Christianity. The concern of the church today is all about what does it benefit me here and now? That is the theme of almost every television preacher. How Christianity will enrich your life. How you can have your best life now. How you can reach your personal fulfillment right here.

Jesus said, If you are going to be my disciple you have to take up your cross and follow Me. He is talking about sacrificing your life here on earth for glory in the hereafter. But that was not the message Judas wanted to hear, and it is not a popular message today. It’s a good way to empty a church. But it’s the truth of the gospel. And when we sell our soul for a bloodless, no-sacrifice version of the gospel, then we betray the precious blood of Jesus Christ which was shed for us that we might die to the world and live for God. The late John Stott said; “It is a wonderfully liberating experience when the desire to please God overtakes our desire to please ourselves. True freedom is not the freedom to live life for myself, but freedom from myself in order to live for God and for others.”

Yet I’m afraid that there are some professing Christians who will sell out Christ for the smallest piece of silver in our currency. They are tempted to deny the Lord, tempted to act in an ungodly way, though what they might gain is so meaningless, so worthless it almost insignificant. How many have betrayed Christ for the price of just a single night’s fun. Just a one night stand. Things that have no lasting value. Just a fleeting, momentary thrill.

I am so fearful for our young people today who are being overwhelmingly tempted through the modern media to betray Christ, to sell out Christianity for the momentary pleasures of the world. I can only urge them to reconsider from my own experience; that after wasting years of chasing the lie of the devil I found that what I had sold everything for was not worth nearly what it cost me. When I found myself finally in a destitute condition and examined the life of sin that I had traded the peace of God for, I wished I could undo it. I wished I had not been so quick to barter Christ away for the momentary pleasures of sin that didn’t last.

Back in the eighties, in the big hair days of rock music, there was a group called Night Ranger which had a one hit wonder with a catchy tune I sometimes heard on the radio. The song was called ironically enough, “Sister Christian.” And the lyrics expressed concern for this young girl that wanted to give in to the siren call of the lust and the desires of the world. The chorus says, “you’re motoring, what’s your price for flight? In finding Mr. Right?” And whenever I heard that song, I was always struck by that question: Sister Christian, what’s your price for flight? What’s your price for freedom? What price are you willing to give for the life you want to live? The devil is selling freedom but it only ends up being captivity to sin that destroys the soul and the body. True freedom is only found in Christ. As John Stott said, True freedom is not the freedom to live life for myself, but freedom from myself in order to live for God and for others. We have to die to our selves in order to really live.

Well, I pray that no one here falls into the same temptation that Judas fell into. His desire to live his life his way ended up with his betrayal of the Son of God. But Matthew 27 tells us that when he realized what he had bartered away he found no joy in it, but rather found despair. Matt. 27:3-5 “Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ But they said, ‘What is that to us? See to that yourself!’ And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.”

And that brings us to the last point; the place for repentance. Listen, the real tragedy was that Judas could have repented of his sin. Jesus gave him ample opportunity to repent before the Passover, during the Passover meal, and even in the Garden of Gethsemane. But he didn’t repent. However afterwards he did feel sorrow. He felt remorse. But it wasn’t a godly sorrow, but it was a sorrow that leads to death. Rather than repentance he merely wanted to rid himself of the consequences of his sin. Folks, the man who repents of consequences does not truly repent. The murderer may have remorse in view of the electric chair but not of the crime of murder, but that is not repentance at all. Human law measures sin by it’s consequences, but God’s law does not. God measures by the heart’s intent.

The air traffic controller who failed to provide a safe line of approach to an airplane and caused an accident is criminally guilty of dereliction of duty and responsible for the lives that are lost. But the fact that he had often done something similar before and never had it result in an accident does not make him less guilty in the eyes of God. We do not measure sin by the consequences but repent of them as the sin they are in God’s eyes.

Unfortunately, lately I seem to have much experience dealing with people who are caught up in some crisis caused by the consequences of their sin. They come with tears and remorse and a desire to make things right. But the truth is that they really only want God to eliminate their consequences. They are not really repenting of their lying, or their stealing, or their drinking or their drugs, or their fornication. And that is evident because as soon as the tears are dry and the crisis is past, they go right back to the same vices that got them in trouble in the first place.

Listen, I purposefully painted a picture of Judas this morning that looks uncomfortably a lot like most of us. I would dare say that all of us have a price, something that is so important to us we will betray Christ for it. Many of us have betrayed Jesus for one thing or another at some point in our lives that had very little worth once we have seen it in the light of the truth. And I would hope that there is remorse for that betrayal. But I pray even more that there is repentance for that betrayal. And I will assure you of this, that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Satan will whisper in your ear that you are not worthy of forgiveness. That you are not worthy of Christ. And to that you say, “You’re right.” Because Christianity has never been about being worthy of forgiveness. Jesus came to seek and to save those that were lost. He came even to die for the Judas’s of the world. He came to restore and forgive those that repent of their sins. We are all sinners. And but for the grace of God we would all end up like Judas, despairing of hope. But there is hope in Christ and there is forgiveness of sins for those that are not just sorry for their circumstances, but sorry for their sin and willing to surrender to Christ as Lord of their life.

As I was thinking and trying to prepare for this message this week, I found myself wondering how I could present this passage in such a way that it would make a difference. Not to just prepare a message that after it was all said and done we might say, “well, I learned a little bit about Peter, I learned a little about what happened in the Upper Room, but so what?” I mean, why are we here this morning, to just learn a few facts about the Bible? To just fulfill some sort of societal obligation we may feel to go to church?   How does this affect my life on Monday morning? What is all this – church, preaching, what’s it really about?

As I considered this passage, I ultimately came to question the purpose of the church. I’m afraid that the church today, with all it’s embellishments as an institution has lost it’s sense of identity. And in the process, I think Christians have lost their sense of purpose. But the Bible teaches that Christians and the church are not supposed to be separate entities. The Bible teaches that Christians are the church, we are the body of Christ. We are the visible manifestation of the kingdom of God. And yet I’m afraid that those words mean very little in contemporary Christianity today. Because we have lost sight of the church’s purpose, it’s origin, it’s history and don’t know why we are here or where we are going.

One of my favorite memories from childhood is of attending an outdoor theater in the Outer Banks of North Carolina called the Lost Colony. It is one of the longest running musical plays in the United States, 77 years and still going strong today. It tells the story of the first colony of pioneers to settle near what is now Manteo, NC, and the birth of Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the new world.

It seems that I must have attended that play at least 8 to 10 times as I grew up. It became something of a prerequisite of summer vacation. The smell of mosquito repellent and the sound of crickets in the evening always brings back memories for me of the Lost Colony even to this day.

If you ever get a chance to see the play I would highly recommend it. The script incorporates broad Christian themes and features prayers and songs written about God and thankfully still presents them without apology, all these years after it was first written. I hope it continues to do that.

So when the lights go down on a summer night and the first characters step out of the evening gloom into the spotlight, one of the first to make his appearance is that of Old Tom, the town drunk.   The play’s opening scene is set in England, and Old Tom is kicked out of the local tavern for not having enough money to pay for his beer. Old Tom is a caricature of some of those early pioneers, common folk that did not own land, and had little prospects of a bright future in England, who were willing to leave their motherland for a fresh chance in the New World.

Throughout the play, Old Tom provides some periodic comedic relief in what is a sort of tragic tale of how the first colony was formed in England by Sir Walter Raleigh, and arrived in the new world to establish a fort near Manteo on the waters of the sound. Soon afterwards, Eleanor Dare, who was the daughter of Governor John White, gave birth to Virginia Dare, the first English child born in America.

But life in the colony was difficult. After suffering a number of setbacks with their crops and skirmishes with some of the native Indians, the colonists sent Governor John White back to England in the summer of 1587 for supplies. However, because of the war with Spain, Governor White was unable to return to Roanoke Island for three years. When he finally returned, the colony had vanished, leaving only one clue as to their whereabouts: the word “CROATOAN” carved on a post. The fate of those first colonists remains a mystery to this day.

Of course, the details presented by the play during those three years is a matter of speculation. But it ends with a ragtag remnant of the colonists rallying together and marching out of the colony in search of yet another new land while singing a hymn. One of the last speeches is given by Old Tom who had been somewhat transformed after enduring the trials this colony of pioneers. He says, “O Roanoke, O Roanoke, thou hast made a man of me!” Even though he too suffered through years of desolation and hardships with the colony, he emerges at the end of the play as having been forged by those trials into one of the stalwarts of this remnant band of colonists that bravely head out into their unknown future.

As I reflect on that play, I think we can see some parallels between those early colonists and the church. We can look at the Lost Colony is a metaphor for the church in the sense that as they were called and sent by the Queen of England to be colonists to America, so we are called by God to be His ambassadors, to be colonists so to speak in a hostile world. We are ambassadors of the kingdom of God. God has selected us, called us, and sent us to go into the world and be His representatives, to make disciples, to establish His kingdom in the world. And while I don’t want to take the analogy too far, I do see a parallel between those early colonists and Christians. Like Old Tom or many of those early colonists, we had very little credentials to recommend us for the work of the kingdom. But Christ called us, He changed us, and He has commissioned us and sent us to be His disciples to a hostile world. And in the process of enduring the hardships and trials of our calling, we have been transformed by the power of the gospel. And that is the message and the hope that the church is to share with the world.

I think Jesus was trying to present that principle to some extent that night in the Upper Room. This ragtag band of disciples He had called from the fringes of Jewish society. There wasn’t a blue blood among them. Not a single one of them were from the elite religious ruling parties. Most of them were common fishermen, unlearned, unschooled. A pretty rough lot. Peter, who was the natural leader of the group, was a brash, outspoken burly guy with a temper. Thomas was a doubter. Matthew was an ex tax collector who was viewed as a traitor to his countrymen. James and John were two brothers who were always trying to elbow their way to the preferred side of Jesus at the expense of everyone else. Simon the Zealot was probably a revolutionary. Judas was a thief and a traitor. The rest of them were so nondescript that they might best be described as Paul reminds us of what we are, that there were not many mighty, not many wise, not many noble in that ragtag group.

Out of all the great people in the world, all the wealthy families, all the royalty in the world, all the intellectuals in the world, Jesus chose these 12. These were the men that God chose out of all the people in the world to bestow the special privilege to be part of Christ’s intimate circle. These would have the privilege of eating, sleeping and traveling with Jesus for three years, 24/7. Most of them owned little more than the clothes on their back. Much of the time they had little to eat, and slept outdoors in the open. I’m sure they did not look like much from outward appearances.

Yet these unlikely looking prospects were called to be Christ’s Apostles. According to Ephesians 2:20 they would become the foundation for the church. Now that is important. Because when we consider what the church is, and what the purpose of the church is, this principle of the apostles being the foundation is essential to a correct understanding. What exactly then is the church? I think this passage gives us a clue in vs. 28-30, “You are those who have stood by Me in My trials; and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Now just before Jesus made that statement you will remember that the disciples were squabbling over which of them was the greatest. They were still expecting somehow the imminent, physical fulfillment of the kingdom of God and they were elbowing one another aside for the choicest seats, the places of influence, the positions of power. They still somehow expected that Jesus was going to overthrow the Roman government and restore the throne to Israel and take His seat there, ruling the world with a rod of iron. And they expected to be His ministers in that new government. Lot’s of OT prophecies such as Isaiah 9 pointed to that government which shall rest upon His shoulders and there will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.

And it would seem as though Christ is talking about that physical kingdom in vs. 29. This is what the disciples had been waiting for. Jesus said that God had given Him the kingdom, and now He was giving them the choice positions in the kingdom. He is giving them 12 thrones to rule over the 12 tribes of Israel. They must have been ecstatic to think that it was finally becoming a reality.

We know, of course that they misunderstood Jesus’ meaning because in less than 24 hours He was crucified and within a little more than a month He had ascended into heaven. And here we are 2000 years later and Jesus hasn’t yet come back as He promised. So what then was Jesus talking about? Well, I think the verse immediately following this statement offers a clue to get us thinking on the right track. Jesus turns to Simon Peter in vs. 31 and says, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Now I think that the clue is the name Jesus calls Peter. He calls him Simon. Do you remember when Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter? In Matt. 16:18 Jesus said to Peter whose given name was Simon Barjona, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” I think that first of all Jesus calls Peter Simon to remind Him of what He said here in Matt. 16:18. “Upon this rock I will build My church.” Upon the foundation of the Apostles I will build my church.

Secondly, let’s consider the word church: Ekklesia; the Greek word for church. It means literally “called out ones.” An assembly of people called out by God, a gathering, a company of Christians, the body of Christians throughout the earth.  Now that is the Bible dictionary translation. But let me state it plainly as plainly for you as I can. The church is the visible manifestation of the invisible kingdom of God. Let me say it another way, the church is the invisible kingdom of God made visible.

To go back to our metaphor, to the native Indians England was invisible. They had never been there and could not imagine what it was like. But the colonists represented England. They carried the flag of England. They claimed territory for England. The colony was under the rule of England. So, in effect, the visible kingdom of England was this tiny colony in America.

In the same way then the church is the visible manifestation of the invisible kingdom of God. Folks, I think that principle should be revolutionary. Because it ties together what is often viewed as disparate themes in the Bible into a cohesive unit. I think people have been thrown off very often because sometimes the kingdom is referred to as the kingdom of God and other times the kingdom of heaven. And when they hear the word heaven and conclude that it is a reference to something in the future, some vague reference to heaven. But it is a simply a means of referring to the church. Jesus said, the kingdom of God is near you. He was standing in their midst when He said that. He went about preaching that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. The titles were synonymous. Interchangeable. They both indicate that the reign of God whose throne is in heaven over all the universe, is at hand. It was right here because Christ it’s king was here. And Christ presented the way to enter the kingdom. He was teaching the characteristics of it’s citizens and how it operates on earth.

When we understand this it should be revolutionary. The church is not a building. It is not an institution. It is a kingdom. It is the reign of Christ in the hearts of His people. You don’t join the church by getting dunked under water or by signing on a form or agreeing to follow certain rituals. You join the church by coming into the kingdom of God. And you are born into the kingdom of God by submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. You turn your life over to Him and allow Him to reign, to live no more according to your former desires of the flesh, but to live according to the Spirit of Christ who now dwells in you and leads you and teaches you through God’s word.

That is why Jesus said in Luke 22, I give you a kingdom. As My Father has given Me the kingdom, so now I give it to you. You are going to reign with Me. Because you have suffered in My trials with Me.

Folks, have you considered that God has chosen to give you the kingdom? Jesus said in Luke 12:32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.” You underestimate your calling, ladies and gentlemen. You are not called to visit church. You are not called to attend church. You are called to be the church. You are called to inherit the kingdom of God. To rule and reign with Christ. And God has called you here just as surely as Christ called the 12 to Him, that we might be His ambassadors. That we might establish His kingdom on the earth. That we might proclaim the good news to a hostile world; that Christ has made it possible for every person, every nation, every tribe to enter the kingdom of God. It’s not something you gain through heritage, it’s not just for the rich, or just for the elite, or just for the religious. God has chosen to make it possible for everyone who believes in Christ, and are willing to allow Christ to rule over his or her life to be a part of the kingdom of God. And that reign of Christ in our hearts is what makes the kingdom of God visible to the world as we are the church.

You know, in the play The Lost Colony, Old Tom didn’t start out looking like anyone you would want to entrust anything to. But by the end of the play, he had become, even to his own surprise, someone that others had begun to lean on. And so it is with the church. God chooses some unlikely candidates to be testimonies of His grace. We see that in the disciples. These squabbling, sometimes selfish disciples were chosen to be the foundation of the church. I wonder if God has chosen some of you sitting here this morning to be the foundation of this church? I wonder how you would react if you realized that God was counting not just on me, or on the guy sitting on the other side of the room, but on you to carry the ministry of the kingdom to this community? Would you step up? Would you submit yourself to the Lordship of Christ and focus all your energies upon carrying out the ministry that God has given you? I would suggest that God has indeed chosen you for just such a task. And a heavenly host is watching with bated breath to see if you will take up that mission. We sometimes complain that we don’t see God working in the church, and yet perhaps the truth is that we are the people that God has chosen to begin the work.

God has chosen to give you the kingdom. He has chosen you to administer it, to be His ministers. Yet it’s not a job without hardships or adversity. It is a hostile world that we have been sent to. We have a powerful enemy that wants nothing more than to destroy the church and anyone that takes up it’s banner.   Jesus said, “Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat…” I don’t know for sure why Jesus called Peter Simon and not Peter. But I do know that Simon was his given name. It was his human name. A Hebrew name. It means to hear. Rev. 2:17 says that to those that overcome Jesus will give a new name. But I think when God gives us a new name it is a name of promise. It is not necessarily what we are, but what we can become through faith in God. Abraham is a good example of that. He was named Abram, exalted father, and was renamed Abraham, a father of a multitude. It was a name of promise. A name of faith in what he would be.

So perhaps Jesus uses Simon’s given name as a not so subtle reminder of the weakness of his flesh. Now in the earlier reference in Matthew where Jesus gives Peter his new name, Jesus says his new name was Peter, which means rock, and He says upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Now Jesus says, Satan has demanded permission to sift him like wheat. Thank God He gives us the promise before He allows the peril. The promise that God would not allow the gates of hell to prevail against him. Jesus goes on to say that Peter would temporarily fall, but that he would return, not because of his own strength, but because Jesus would pray for Him. Vs. 22, “but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” I think the emphasis needs to be noticed here; I will build My church. I have prayed for you. The key to spiritual victory is in Christ’s power to keep His promises.

We know from the scriptures that God does allow Peter to be sifted like wheat. We sometimes wonder why God allows us to undergo trials, don’t we? Why do we have to suffer? What is the point of tribulations? I think we get some insight here in this verse. First of all, let’s consider what it means to sift like wheat. Sifting was a way that the farmer separated the wheat from the chaff. All the harvest was put through a sieve which was shaken vigorously until all the chaff had fallen out and the good grain was left. So we can conclude that God allows the sifting and shaking in our lives so that the chaff, the undesirable stuff gets winnowed out and the good fruit remains.

We sang about a similar thing while ago in our hymn “How Firm a Foundation”. “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, my grace, all sufficient shall be thy supply. The flame shall not hurt thee, I only design. Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.” God allows trials to refine us, to clean out the excess, the dross, the impurities, so that we might be fruitful as we represent Jesus.

Hebrews 12: 26 teaches the same principle. “And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN.” This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.”

What God wants to burn or shake out of our lives is our self reliance, our self interests, our pride, so that we might be of greater service to the Master. And I would secondly suggest that this principle includes a shaking and refining of the church, to get rid of the dross, the chaff, so that the grain might remain and be useful. The visible church has both wheat and chaff in it; saints and sinners. I believe God wants to purify His church. He doesn’t want impurity in the church. He doesn’t want false teachers and false doctrine confusing the message of the kingdom. And so I believe though the gates of hell are unleashed against it, the true church of God will not fail, but only be refined, so that we might offer up to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe. Take a look at church history. There has never been a time of real, true revival without first a time of testing, of persecution in the church. God uses what Satan means for evil, for our good, to purify the church and make her useful for the kingdom.

Note next that Jesus says what Peter will do when he returns. One he has returned, he will strengthen his brothers. That’s the other pillar of the church. On the one hand we are reaching out to the world with the good news of the gospel, but on the other hand we are holding up the heads of our brethren. Paul makes it clear in 1 Cor. 12 that the church is the body of Christ. And each of you are a vital part of that body. You were chosen, designed to be part of the body of Christ. Now understand something, we are talking about a local body, and that body is part of the universal church of Christ. I hear people claim to be part of the church, but they only acknowledge the universal body of the church. They feel no responsibility to the local body. That is not what the Bible teaches. It teaches that you are individually part of a local body, and that local body is part of the universal church. You need to find your part in the local body of believers. This is the kingdom of God focused on a local community. And you were chosen to be part of that.

Paul laid out the format of the church in Eph. 4:11-13 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

So the saints under the leadership of the pastor are to be edified, that is taught and built up into maturity, so that they can do the work of service. And the work of service is two fold, one reaching out and the other reaching in. As Jesus told Peter, strengthening one another. You know I try to work out. I don’t do it as much or as efficiently as I should as I’m sure you can tell. One of my problems is that I try to work on a specific muscle like my shoulders. But I don’t see much results. And what I’ve found out by studying is that I also need to build up the surrounding muscles that support that particular muscle if I’m going to really make any significant gains. I need to develop my core because it supports my back which supports my shoulders. They all are interdependent.

And that is sort of the way the body of Christ works. We need each other. We need to support one another. That can happen in a lot of ways. But in it’s most simplest terms, it happens as we come together as a body on a weekly or biweekly basis. We need to get beyond the elementary stages of attending church when it’s good for me. And realize that we attend because it is good for others. We are the church. Christ has commissioned you to be the church. He is depending on you. Others in the church depend on you. So let’s act as if we are an important vital part of this church and God is counting on us, others are counting on us, and we have a job to do.

Unfortunately, Peter is being full on Simon at the moment Jesus tells him this. He is full of bravado and a sense of his own self sufficiency. He is like a lot of us when things are going good. We think we can stand any trial, no problem. We think we can handle the devil and temptations, no problem. We are so confident in ourselves, that we think we can dismiss the church, we don’t really need anyone else. We certainly don’t think we need to be preached at.   Don’t need a preacher yelling at me, thank you very much. I’m perfectly capable of remaining faithful to the Lord.

Peter essentially said, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death! I don’t know about the rest of these guys, but I’m good. I am a rock. I am an island. Though everyone else falls I won’t fall.”   Listen, sometimes I think it is easier to imagine dying for Christ than it is to live for Him. A lot of us can muster up some bravado when we imagine a great dramatic scene where we are forced to renounce Christ or die. But we know from Peter’s example that sometimes our greatest denial of Christ comes not in a courtroom but in community. How often do we deny Christ simply by abandoning His body? We deny Christ by refusing to take up our responsibility to His church.

It’s interesting that now Jesus calls him Peter. He says in vs. 34, ““I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.” I think that this time Jesus calls him Peter because He wants to reaffirm Peter’s faith. When that cock crowed in just a few hours time, Peter would look up from that campfire of the enemy and see the Lord looking at him and he would be so ashamed that he had failed him. Peter would remember what Jesus had said to him. And so Jesus calls him Peter now because it is his name of faith. Jesus is reminding him that he is a rock. That Christ will build his church upon the foundation of the apostles and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. That is where the faith comes in. That God could use someone as flawed and faulted as Peter to be the foundation of the church, the visible manifestation of the kingdom of God, the physical representation of Christ. This man? This man who denied Jesus three times?

Obviously the answer is yes. God did ultimately use Peter in a magnificent way. He was able to strengthen his brothers. He is able even today to strengthen the body of Christ not only by his example, but by his letters. Peter is a great testament to the grace of God who deigns to use flawed men and women to build the kingdom of God. That is able to even take our great failures and turn them into triumphs.

If God can use Peter in such a great way after denying three times that he even knew Christ, then he can certainly use men and women like you. I don’t know about you, but I have failed Christ so many times in my life. I’m not proud of it, by any means. But I am grateful to the kindness and compassion of God that never failed me. 2Tim. 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”

Listen, I don’t know whether or not you have denied Christ in your life. Maybe you haven’t said it outright, but maybe by your actions you have denied Him. Maybe by your lifestyle. Maybe you’re guilty of denying Him lordship of your life. Maybe you’re holding onto certain areas that you don’t want Him to rule over. I hope that if you are convicted of that this morning then you will take this opportunity to repent and ask God to create in you a clean heart and renew a right spirit within you. Because God wants to use you. Christ is interceding for you so that you might be restored into useful service for Him.

And then finally, I hope that all of you that have confessed Jesus as Lord will consider what part God has designed you to be in the kingdom of God, the church. God has a plan and a purpose for you. One is to be a part of a church that reaches out to a lost world with the good news of Jesus Christ. And secondly to be a part of the church that reaches in to help support the rest of the body. God has commissioned you to be a part of His kingdom, to be His church. I hope that you will prayerfully consider how you can serve this body in service to the Lord.

The first three gospels of the New Testament are what we call the synoptic gospels. They each present the story of Christ incorporating a number of similar events and all follow a similar sequence. But as we have noticed in our study of Luke up to this point, Luke tends to present his information in such a way as to emphasize certain principles of the gospel that he wants to stress through his particular arrangement.

This passage before us today is no different. Luke has deliberately included some things of this last discourse in the upper room and left others out because he is primarily concerned with emphasizing certain important principles. He is not merely presenting a biography of the life of Jesus – none of the gospel writers are. That’s why they are called evangelists. That means that they are presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is their goal in writing their respective gospels. They may have different perspectives; Luke was a Gentile whereas Matthew was a Jew, for instance. But their goal was the same. To present the gospel of Jesus Christ. So in a sense, each of them are preaching a message. The thing for us to do is to correctly interpret that message as they delivered it.

I see in this passage before us Luke presenting three portraits in this upper room that illustrate three categories in relation to the truth of the gospel. The three categories are the sinner, the saints and the Servant. They represent three possible responses to the message of the gospel.

The first portrait in this passage that we will look at is the sinner, and that is Judas. He should not need an introduction. He is the quintessential picture of a sinner. Actually, we looked at him a couple of weeks ago when we studied the first 6 verses of this chapter. I mentioned then that the most tragic thing about Judas was stated in vs. 3, which says that he was one of the 12. He was part of Christ’s inner circle for three years. He heard every message from the greatest preacher that ever lived. He witnessed the greatest miracles that the world has ever seen. And yet Judas becomes a traitor. It’s one of the great tragedies presented in the scriptures.

The question that brings to my mind is how did this happen? How did a person that was so privileged turn away from the truth about Christ? And furthermore, even if you can accept that he turned away from Christ, how did he go from being a disciple, to rejecting Christ, and then to conspiring to murder Christ? How does that happen?

At first that prospect boggled my mind. How a follower of Christ could not only turn away from Him, but turn against Him, eventually actually hating Him enough to conspire to murder Him. But after thinking about it, I realized that it is not that difficult. Actually, I would suggest that is a natural progression in the life of an unbeliever. They progress from some sort of professed interest in Christianity, to a rejection of the truth, and then to a hatred of the truth and anyone involved in proclaiming it. And that hatred can then easily morph into a diabolical plot to kill or destroy those people that dare to convict them of sin. Everyone that rejects Christ is capable of that.

Jesus often made that connection. For instance in Luke 11:23 “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.” The point He is making is that there really is no middle ground in regards to real Christianity. You are either for Christ or you reject His truth. And if you reject His truth you reject Him.

The devil loves to tell us that we can choose a less controversial form of Christianity. That we don’t need to go to extremes. That we can accept some of the truth of the Bible, but we don’t have to accept everything. But Jesus says there is no middle ground. You are either for Him or against Him. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” You cannot separate the truth of Christ from Christianity. It is the purview of God alone to decide what truth is, what sin is, and what sin is not. God alone decides how He will be worshipped. And God has expressed that truth in His word.

So when you reject the truth you actually end up hating God. You hate the fact that His word convicts you. So you put yourself in the place of God and decide what is wrong or what is right as if you were god. And so you hate anything or anyone that attempts to show you the truth of God’s word. Paul says in Rom. 8:7 it is “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” And James as well makes it clear that the sinner is at war with God. James 4:4 “You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”

There is no middle ground. You are either for Christ or against Him. But you might say, “Ok, but Judas isn’t just a normal sinner. He goes beyond that. He was entered into by Satan.” Yes, he was. But that too is something Christ associates with all sinners. Jesus said in John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

John expands on that principle in 1John 3:8, 10. He says “the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. … 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.” So the principle then is simple, a sinner who has rejected the truth and conviction of God’s word is not a child of God, but a child of the devil. And his deeds prove it. If you are a child of God, then you will do the deeds of your Father; you will practice righteousness. But if you are a child of the devil, then you will do the deeds of your father. You love evil because your heart is evil.

The point that we need to conclude from Judas’s example is that sin is not an innocuous thing. Sin is opening one’s heart to Satan. Sin is an affront to God. It does injury to God. Sin offends the holiness of God. To say that you have no sin is to make God a liar. To continue in your sin is to trample underfoot the blood of Jesus Christ, to scorn it, to consider it worthless. And unrepented of sin is an open invitation to Satan to take dominion over you, to enslave you and make you his servant of unrighteousness. It is no wonder then that Judas is presented as the ultimate example of a sinner.

Yet, what a tragedy. This man had every opportunity to repent. Jesus gives him another opportunity here in this passage. Right up to the last minute Jesus is giving Judas a chance to repent. And we can learn from Jesus in this passage how we as Christians should approach the sinner.

Someone said to me the other day, “we need to show the love of Christ to the sinner.” Yes, we should. But how do we do that? By coddling them in their sin? By accepting their sin? By telling them that they don’t need to worry about their sin? No, God forbid. That isn’t love. Showing the love of Christ to the sinner is to tell them that they are lost and doomed to judgment because of their sin. But Jesus has paid the penalty of God’s judgment by offering Himself as a substitute on the cross. Showing them the love of Christ compels me to tell them that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to die on the cross. But whosoever calls upon Him in repentance and faith will be saved from the wrath to come. Urging them to repent is love. Telling them that their sin is not sin is not love. Far from it.

Jesus gave Judas a chance to repent. First He let Judas know that He knew about his sin. Jesus confronted Him. Vs. 21 “But behold, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table.”   And then He told him of the judgment to come upon him for his sin. Vs. 22 “For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!” But Judas hardens his heart and does not repent. The other gospels say that he tried to blend in with the other disciples by facetiously saying, “Is it me, Lord?” even as they were doing. He knew, and he knew that Jesus knew, but he was trying to save face by faking innocence.

The Bible doesn’t tell us for sure what the sin of Judas was that he wouldn’t repent of. But we can make an educated guess. He had the money bag. And he used to pilfer money from the bag. So we know he loved money. He was in it for the money, for the position, for the prestige that he had hoped would come from his association with Christ. His sin was the same sins that we all are guilty of; the lust of the flesh. 1John 2:16 tells us “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.” The root of all sin is pride. It was pride that caused Satan’s fall. It was pride with which Satan tempted Eve. The Bible says that pride goes before a fall.

So whatever manifestation Judas’s sin took, it’s basic root was pride. And in harboring that sin, refusing to repent of that sin, it metastasized to the point of allowing Satan to come in and eventually control him that so he was an instrument of Satan to destroy Christ. And Judas’s sin ultimately destroyed him as well. That is the natural progression of sin.

The second portrait is a group of characters that we encounter in this passage – the disciples. And they were a group of characters. Not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble, as Paul said in 1 Cor. 1:26. Just 11 ordinary men. Flawed, fleshly, and nothing to commend them to become this extraordinary force that would soon turn the world upside down. Except for one thing. The power of Christ. These 11 ordinary, flawed men, were sinners saved by grace. God had chosen them to be His instruments. They had left all that they had in the world and followed Christ. They had been saved by faith in Christ. And that made them saints. The Bible makes it clear that saints are believers. Sinners that have been sanctified through repentance and faith in Christ.

Paul makes that evident in 1Cor. 1:2 “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.” Saints is not a title of those that are dead, but those that are made alive in Christ Jesus. Those that have been born again into the family of God. Eph 2:19 “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household.”

But as we see in this passage, the fact that you have believed and become a saint, part of God’s household, does not eliminate the presence of the old flesh. We are still in our bodies, still in the flesh, and still prone to the desires of the flesh. And nothing illustrates that principle better than these 11 disciples. When Jesus says that one of them was going to betray Him, they all start asking who it was. Some even say, “Surely it isn’t me, is it Lord?” They couldn’t imagine that Jesus could possibly be talking about them.

Kind of reminds me of some of my sermons when I start talking about sin. I see some people start looking around the crowd a little uneasily, wondering who I could be talking about. “Certainly not me. Hey, don’t look at me. I wouldn’t do such a thing.”   But the disciples reveal that they aren’t far from Judas’s sin. Even though they are saved the root of pride is still there and it becomes evident in the next verse. In vs. 24 they seamlessly transition from discussing who might betray the Lord to discussing who was the greatest among them. “And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest.”

So even though they have been saved from the penalty of sin, there is still a process going on where they are being saved from the power of sin. That’s what we call the process of the sanctification of the saints. These disciples have the same human weaknesses that Judas has. They are giving in to the sin of pride.   “Oh, I could never betray Christ!” But in their hearts they have already displaced Him from the throne and climbed back on the throne themselves.

Folks, as we look around this room today and think we could never betray Christ, we need to look closely at our own hearts. We may not have many here today that are guilty of some gross sin like conspiring to murder. But all of us are guilty of taking care of number one. We all are prone to the sin of pride. We all have to be on guard against dethroning Christ, of wounding others for the sake of our pride.

James says in chapter 4 that our conflicts can be traced back to pride. He says we don’t get our prayers answered sometimes because we ask with selfish motives. He says in vs. 6 that “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” The opposite of pride is submission. Submit therefore he says to God. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” In other words, stop trying to love the world and love Christ. That is double mindedness. Furthermore, James shows us the relation between pride and the devil. He says resist the devil, resist the temptation to be proud and self serving and the devil will flee from you. But Judas harbored his pride, and Satan saw it as an invitation.

James continues his admonishment against harboring pride by saying, “Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.” That means recognize your sinfulness and then repent of it. Don’t just be sorry for your sin when you get caught in it, but mourn over your sin. That is the proper attitude of repentance. And then James says, “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

All of our boasting in our possessions of this world, all our boasting about our business acumen, our ability to make money, to make a profit, James says is arrogance. It is pride. Such boasting is evil. And he concludes that chapter by saying in vs. 17 that sin is not only what you do, but what you don’t do. “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

So what is the right thing to do? What is a Christian supposed to be like? Well, Jesus is the example and portrait of the third character which is a servant starting in 22. He presents Himself as a servant as an example of how we are to be now that we are in Christ. James rebukes us for being self serving; that is the essence of pride. Jesus exhorts us to serve one another as unto Christ.

Listen, this is what is fundamentally wrong today with people’s attitude towards church. You hear people say they went to church. Or ask where do you go to church? The perspective is that church is something you attend where you are served, rather than a place you go to serve. The Biblical principle of church is that you not only go to be fed, but submit to become a part of it, a vital body part that serves the other parts which is necessary for them to be able to function so that the whole body is healthy.

Jesus illustrates that for the disciples with a comparison. First He compares the world’s way with God’s way. He says “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’” In other words, the world serves in such a way to make sure they bring credit to themselves. They do their good deeds to be seen of men. We name hospitals after benefactors. We have banquets to honor people who give large sums of money for civic needs.

But Jesus says that is not the way the church is to do things. Vs. 26, “But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.” The contrast that Jesus is making here is the contrast between self serving pride or humbly submitting in service to God.   It starts with the church leadership, but it’s to be carried out through the church body. It means putting other people’s needs above your own. Putting other’s well being above your own.

Vs. 27, “For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.” The obvious answer to the disciples earlier discussion of which of them was the greatest was Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God. And yet He lowered Himself from the throne of heaven to become one of His creation, to be a servant for us.

Isaiah 53:11-12 “As a result of the anguish of His soul, [God] will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.”

Listen, we need to comprehend what it meant for Christ to humble Himself. We need to understand that not only did He do so for our salvation, He humbled Himself for our example, that we might follow in His footsteps. This is how God has designed the kingdom to operate.   This is the purpose of the church. So we are to humble ourselves in service even as Jesus humbled Himself to be a servant. For as Jesus said, a servant is not above His master.

Paul establishes that principle in Phil. 2:1-8 “Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 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.”

So here is the progression of the gospel then as outlined in this passage; sinner, saints, and then servants. Like Judas, we are all sinners, in opposition to God, enemies of God, doing the works of our father the devil. But when the truth of God convicted us of our sin, we repented of our sins and had faith in Christ to forgive us our sin. We are spiritually born again as children of God. But though the wrath of God towards our sin was poured out on Jesus Christ, we still have a battle going on between the flesh and the spirit. We have been born again in the Spirit, but we are still living in the flesh. Our victory over sin comes from putting to death the desires of the flesh. Instead of serving ourselves, by the strength and conviction which God now supplies through the Holy Spirit we serve God. It is a battle sometimes. Our flesh will continue to want to rise up again and again, seeing to serve ourselves, to satisfy our pride. But we must die daily, crucifying the flesh and it’s evil desires through confession and repentance. That is how we walk in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit is not some mystical, goose bump inducing experience. It is day by day dying to the flesh, so that we might live in the Spirit. Rom. 8:13 “for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

So that is the progression, we go from sinner to saint, to servant. We emulate Christ’s example by humbling ourselves and serving the church. Eph. 5:25, “Even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” We too give up our lives to serve the church, to serve Christ.

And then finally there is a promise for those that follow that progression. Jesus says in vs. 28 “You are those who have stood by Me in My trials; and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Now though this promise is specifically tailored to the disciples there that evening, it is a promise that can be generally applied to us as well. All who suffer for Christ here on earth will be glorified with Him when He comes in the fullness of His kingdom. God has granted the kingdom to Christ. It’s a spiritual kingdom that is manifested on earth as the Church. The citizens of the kingdom are those that have placed Christ on the throne of their hearts. But one day Christ will physically come back for His church as a bridegroom comes for his bride. And on that day, we will be seated at the marriage supper of the Lamb in the eternal reign of Christ in the new heavens and new earth.

And though the 12 disciples are given the specific honor of reigning over the 12 tribes of Israel, all those saints who have persevered to the end will receive a crown, and sit on thrones with Christ. Rev. 3:20-21 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

Listen, I want to encourage you today, even as Christ encouraged His disciples on the night before He was crucified. He knew that the disciples would soon go through trials for His sake. He knew that they would suffer for His sake. And so Jesus says this to them to encourage them. He wants to give them a hope that extends beyond the temporal thrones, temporary greatness that they were squabbling over, and which Judas had stumbled over. Jesus wanted to give them a glimpse of the glories of the kingdom and the eternal reign in glory that God has promised to those who love Him.

So I want to encourage you as well. The time is short. Some of you are going to suffer for Jesus Christ if you continue as His disciple. To some extent we are all called to suffer the trials that Jesus suffered. At the very least, if we are going to really follow Him all the way, we will suffer the loss of our pride. We will suffer the loss of some of the worldly prestige and honor that could be ours if we abandoned the principles of Christ. But take courage. Even as Jesus overcame the world, so we are going to overcome this world. I pray that you overcome the temptation to forsake Christ for temporary money or fame or glory. That like Paul in Phil. 3:7-11 we may say, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”