Desertion or Discipleship?
Notes
Transcript
Good morning Church! Happy Mother’s Day. If you have your Bible and I hope that you do, please turn with me Mark 14:43-52. Mark 14:43-52. We are at the betrayal of Jesus Christ. For years, the life of Christ has moved ever onward to this moment in human history. Jesus Christ is Plan A to redeem humanity and there is no plan B.
Have you ever felt betrayed or abandoned? I’m going to be real vulnerable with you guys. There’s not a worse feeling in the world than when someone lies about you. Especially someone that was trusted. Someone that you thought had your back. In 2014, I faced massive amounts of division at a church I served regarding the doctrines of grace. This passage was a tremendous source of comfort for me. Mark 14 shows us how Jesus faced betrayal yet trusted God’s plan, teaching us to do the same.
I learned that I can’t yet suffer perfectly. When accusations are made, I don’t want to be silent— I want to speak up and defend myself! And yet here I see in Christ’s example how to trust the Lord and stand firm even when faced with tremendous loss.
Let’s all stand together in honor of God’s Word as we read Mark 14:43-52
43 And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” 45 And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him. 46 And they laid hands on him and seized him. 47 But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. 48 And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” 50 And they all left him and fled. 51 And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, 52 but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.
Immediately after Jesus gets finished praying and while He is teaching the disciples and encouraging them to remain awake and watch and pray Judas returns to Jesus. And Mark reemphasizes the fact that Judas is part of that inner circle of disciples who are numbered as the Twelve. These are the men that lived with Jesus, ate with Jesus, received special insight into the parables from Jesus. These men all reaffirmed their dedication to Jesus just a couple hours ago and all of them said that they would die for Jesus. And here comes Judas. The other Gospel authors call him, “The Betrayer” because Judas brings along with him hundreds of armed men to arrest Jesus in the dead of night.
We know that there were hundreds because John tells us that there was “a band of solders”. That word band means cohort which was 1/10th of a legion so that’s 600 Roman soldiers plus Levite guards armed with clubs sent from the Sanhedrin as those with authority from Israel’s leaders— specifically the chief priests, scribes, and elders.
And Judas had told these men that there would be a signal of who the man to arrest would be and the sign was a kiss. This had deep cultural significance for the Jewish people who shared kisses with families, kissed honored leaders in the community, kissed their masters and rulers, and their extremely close friends. It was a sign of honor and was a sign of affection that was carried into the church where Paul instructed the church Romans 16:16
16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
And yet this sign was none of these things. It wasn’t a sign of love, honor, respect, affection, or devotion. It was a sign of betrayal and that leads us to the first point:
1. Judas’ Betrayal
1. Judas’ Betrayal
The instruction from Judas to the men was when Christ is kissed, “seize Him and lead Him away under guard.” Why? it is because Judas has chosen personal gain- 30 piece of silver over loyalty to Christ. The kiss was to be a sign of affection and yet here it becomes a tool of betrayal and amplifies the pain!
And then Judas does it. Look at Mark 14:45
45 And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, “Rabbi!” And he kissed him.
There was no hesitation. His mind was made up and Satan was in control and Judas parrots the words he has so often spoken “Rabbi!” It means teacher. I was talking with Jim about this passage and he helpfully pointed out that Judas only ever called Jesus “Rabbi”. We know Peter, John, Philip and Thomas all called Jesus “Lord”. Peter, John, and several disciples called Jesus “Master”. Thomas called Jesus “God” even. But Judas only ever saw and called Jesus a teacher. How do you view Christ Jesus? Is He simply a teacher or He is your Lord and Master?
But even knowing what Judas was going to do, Jesus doesn’t say “Get away from me you snake!” No, in Matthew we see Jesus’ continual love for Judas
50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.”
Here is the proof of moral blindness. It’s when signs of goodness and beauty are used as means of betrayal. For Judas, his concern was only that the arrest would go smoothly and yet it was Judas’ planning and plotting that ensnared his soul. The shocking truth is that Judas could live so close to Jesus for three years and could still betray Christ like this. Oftentimes we think as Christians “If I could just get others to see what I’ve seen about Jesus, then my son or daughter will get saved.” Or “If they could meet Christ, then their lives would be changed!” The fact is that apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit no one will be saved. This is why we pray for God to work in people’s hearts!
Our goal is not morality and goodness and common human decency. Our goal is for people to come to know Christ and this takes prayer, ministry, and sharing the Gospel! Judas saw all those things and yet his heart was still dead in its sins. This is a man that knew the Word in his head and rejected it in his heart. This is a man that heard all the special revelations and teachings of Christ and had the Apostle convinced that he was saved but was a snake ready to bruise the heel of our Lord.
And then Judas sealed his fate with the kiss. The word kiss is usually the word phileo meaning a display of love but this an intense form of that word kataphileo which means to kiss fervently, it’s a prolonged one. It would be the kind of kiss toward someone you love but it drips with absolute horror! It brings to mind Proverbs 27:6
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
Why did Judas have to do this? Well, remember it’s sometime between 2-3am. It’s the dead of night. It was likely a very clear night because we know it was a cold night. So barring the light from the moon and torches that were carried it was probably really difficult to see and instead of pointing to a group of dark haired, bearded men and saying “That’s the one!” there was an extremely obvious sign. It’s likely none of the Romans had ever seen Jesus. Perhaps the guards had seen Jesus in passing but not enough to identify the man at night, and so Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss.
And yet Christ moves forward with the bitter cup that He must drink to make atonement for our sin. Verse 46 says “and they laid hands on him and seized him.” That word laid hands on carries with it the idea for forceably grabbing onto or doing violence to. The word seize is krateo coming from the word kratos which mean power and forcefully bringing someone under your control. Thrown down, jerked around.
This fulfills the prophecy in Psalm 55
12 For it is not an enemy who taunts me— then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me— then I could hide from him. 13 But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. 14 We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng.
Now Peter isn’t going to take this sitting down. Luke writes for us
49 And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”
They were ready and according to John 18, Peter lashes out and cuts off Malchus’ ear. Peter is thinking, “Even if I must die, I will never betray Christ!” But think about it, this is a very dangerous situation and if Jesus is killed here by high emotions, there’s no atonement. And so while Malchus is grabbing the new hole in the side of his head, Jesus yells above the crowd,
51 But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him.
11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”
How easy it is to be out of step with Christ when we think we are serving him, even defending him. But we must remember that this, even the chaos, even the most heinous act in all of human history is under the control of our God. There is not one atom in all of existence that is not subject to God’s rule. Acts 2:22-23
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
And with perfect control and authority, Jesus turns to the mob Mark 14:48-49
48 And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled.”
The NIV reads “Am I leading a rebellion?” as an address to the Romans. And then there’s a rebuke because they know they are inherently doing evil because just about anything done at 2am is not good. The reason they came at this time is because they’re afraid of the crowds. The people love Jesus and celebrated Him on Sunday! This is similar to the secret police tactics in communist countries like China. Arrests are made at night for two reasons: 1) The victims will be more confused and less likely to have a plan to resist and 2) The neighbors are asleep and are less likely to protest.
This teaches us point 2
2. Christ’s Resilience
2. Christ’s Resilience
Jesus had some options right? Jesus told Peter in this situation, Matthew 26:52-54
52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”
Despite betrayal and the soon abandonment, Jesus remains composed and obedient. He trusted God’s purpose even when it meant that He was going to suffer and the motivation for it was complete surrender to God’s will, not human approval.
So what does this teach us?
It teaches us to trust God completely. In trials, you and I are called to surrender to God and follow His plan for our life.
It teaches us to stand strong in the Lord. We oftentimes think that faithfulness comes in the big moments of testing and yet Christ was prepared because of the life of prayer and communion He spent with His Father. We are invited to participate with Him in this pursuit of the Father by faith in His atonement where we can have a loving, fulfilling relationship with God.
It teaches us about hope. We have the advantage of knowing how the story ends and all the faithful disciples are restored and do amazing things in the Kingdom of God. What happened? They saw the resurrected Christ! Jesus’ victory over death gives us the power to endure. 1 Corinthians 15:57
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
In 1415 God’s Word was getting into the hands of people who were learning that the Catholic church was teaching falsehoods on a wide scale! John Huss was an early reformer in Bohemia who taught that salvation was by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. As a result, he was asked to come to a church council to explain his teachings that the church considered heretical. He was guaranteed safety and that the meeting was with all intentions of learning and good will.
He was betrayed and ordered to recant. He chose to trust the Lord, stand strong, and endure in the hope of the Gospel. As a result he faced death and was burned at the stake while singing a hymn of praise to God.
You and I have the joy and privilege of living in a time where the worst we may have to endure is people thinking we are too passionate about Jesus. My desire and prayer for my own life is that I would live for Christ, not just fight, and not just be willing to die, but to live completely for Him and I hope that’s your prayer too.
Now, Christ’s prophecy about the disciples fleeing is fulfilled in verse 50. “And they all left him and fled.” John tells us exactly how it happens. John 18:8-9
8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” 9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.”
The disciples got away as quickly as possible. You see it’s much easier to fight for Jesus than to die for Jesus. This shows us our third and final point:
3. The Disciples’ Abandonment
3. The Disciples’ Abandonment
Twelve men with two swords between them was no match for a huge crowd of men armed and ready to spill blood if need be. Fear got them and it overwhelmed their conviction and commitment to Christ. Christ had known all along that they would forsake Him but I doubt that was much comfort as His flock scattered among the Kidron Valley. They ran fast and this fulfilled the prophecy that Christ shared.
The fact is that in order for them to stand it would have taken a supernatural act of God to work in their hearts. To stand for Christ and lay down your life is not a natural thing to do. This is why the way of Christ makes humans naturally stumble. 1 Corinthians 2:14
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
This was the way even of Peter wasn’t it? The natural path? How many times did Peter miss it and often it was because he viewed things through a worldly lens instead of through the eyes of Christ. When Christ said back in chapter 8 that He was going to Jerusalem to die what did Peter do? Mark 8:32
32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
You see to be offended in Christ, to “stumble at Him,” in biblical language, means to be totally staggered by His ways and the key that opens our eyes to spiritual understanding is something that God alone can bring. 1 Corinthians 2:10-16
10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
For you and I, how can we guarantee that our spiritual eyes have been opened? Well the simple fact is that you have to ask yourself if you know the Lord Jesus Christ. Not, do you know of Him, but do you know Him? You might have been like the disciples at some point. Perhaps you’re here because it’s Mother’s Day and you just wanted to be with your mom or maybe she told you that she really wanted you to come and you’re here and you might be like the disciples that have completely run away from Jesus.
There are many reasons people abandon the Lord but the root cause of nearly all of them is fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of rejection, fear that the cost may be high, fear that God might lead you to something more and better than what you’re doing, fear of perhaps having to make massive changes to your life or perhaps even giving up your life. The good new is that fear may make us run but faith causes us to return.
Peter didn’t flee forever, but Jesus sought Him out just like He seeks you right now and Jesus restored Peter.
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”
If Christ can restore Peter for His faithlessness, then He can restore you too. Ask the Lord to restore you, renew your commitment to the Lord, talk to your Mom or myself or someone and tell them about what God is doing in your heart, and tell someone about what God is doing!
Jesus’ obedience during Judas’ betrayal and the disciples’ abandonment fulfilled God’s plan to secure salvation through His atonement. When you are betrayed, trust the Lord’s plan as Jesus did by relying on prayer and His promises. If you’ve strayed from Christ, repent and believe in Christ’s finished work for you! This assures us that God’s redemptive purpose cannot be thwarted, offering hope and direction for all. Get plugged into our church community to continue growing in trust and obedience.
Head: God wants you to know that Jesus’ obedience in betrayal shows God’s plan to save, calling us to trust and return to Him. Because God proves His control in the midst of evil, betrayal, abandonment and much more, we can trust Him and come to Him with all our needs.
Heart: God wants you to believe that His plan of salvation through Christ’s atonement is certain. Jesus’ obedience in the face of betrayal and abandonment perfectly fulfilled the Father’s will to redeem His people. This unshakable plan assures you that Christ’s death and resurrection guarantee salvation for those who trust in Him.
Hand: God wants you to trust in Christ’s finished work by responding to His faithfulness with repentance for our own faithlessness. Spend time with the Lord growing in Him by abiding through prayer, studying Scripture, joining a Community group or Bible study.
Pray
