In today’s passage, Matthew 26:47-27:31, Jesus is arrested, tried, denied and sent to be crucified. We are going to discuss how Jesus, an innocent man, was denied, betrayed and condemned by three different men. By the end of our time together, I want you to walk away knowing that Jesus willingly suffered to redeem mankind and restore man’s relationship with God the Father.
We have three Divisions:
1.Jesus is arrested and tried (Mt 26:47-68)
2.Jesus is denied by Peter and Judas hangs himself (Mt
26:69-27:10)
3.Jesus before Governor Pilate (Mt 27:11-31)
Lord Jesus, open
our hearts and minds today to receive all that you have for us in this Bible
passage. Would You please teach each of
us beyond what I’ve written, straight from Your Word. May we walk away with new appreciation for
Your sacrifice and the call that You have upon our lives. In Your matchless name. Amen.
In our first division, Jesus deals with a crowd during
His arrest, and the chief priests and elders during His trial.
Read Matthew
26:47-56.
The first thing I want to talk about is Judas’
signal. He is one of the Twelve chosen
apostles. He shows up with a large crowd
of people carrying swords and clubs.
Jesus had just told the apostles at the Passover Seder that one of them
would betray Him, yet none of them stop Judas from kissing Jesus. This was a common way to greet someone. Kissing the Rabbi was not out of the ordinary
for the disciples, apparently. But this
kiss… The kiss of betrayal. The kiss of death. The kiss that revealed the superficiality of
relationship Judas had with Jesus. I
pray my love for Jesus is never that cold.
Jesus responds to the kiss by saying, “Do what you came
for, friend.” He still calls Judas “friend.” Judas had already done what he came for, but
this reply tells us that Jesus is a willing participant in the drama that is
going to unfold. He is prayed up and
resolved to do the Father’s will. This
is when the men step forward, seize Jesus and arrest Him. I looked in several translations of the
Scriptures, and Matthew doesn’t mention of the presence of soldiers, but the Gospel
of John chapter 18 does. These were the
people who arrested Jesus and took Him to Caiaphas.
I want to make one more point before we move on. And that is how beautiful the Gospels are
when we read them in conjunction with each other to flesh out the complete
picture of Jesus’ life. Actually, the
whole Bible is beautiful in this way, but we’re looking at Matthew right now,
and I want to show you how reading comparable stories in the other eyewitness
accounts provide some details that make the whole picture more complete and
understandable. Some of your Bibles may
have other Scripture references that point to those passages, I encourage you
to read them. Verse 51 says “one of
Jesus’ companions reached for a sword, drew it out and struck the servant of
the high priest, cutting off his ear.” Let’s
go back to John 18. His account was
written much later than the others, and he fills in details like names, that
may have been dangerous to disclose while those people were still alive. In verse 10, he fills in the details that it
was Peter who pulled the sword and cut off the servant’s right ear. He also provided the name of the servant:
Malchus. And it’s Luke 22:51 that provides
the detail that Jesus healed the man’s ear.
Isn’t that a more complete picture?
Alright, back to Matthew.
Jesus explains that He can call on the Father and have
twelve legions of angels at His disposal.
A Roman legion was 6000 soldiers.
I’ll let you do the math. Jesus’
resolve to do the Father’s will prohibited this because what was happening was
a fulfillment of prophecy. How these
religious leaders didn’t see this, and played right into it, just goes to show
you they weren’t religious leaders at all.
So, Jesus tells them “no swords.”
Think about that for a minute. Ephesians
6:10-18 tells us that our battle is spiritual and fought with spiritual
weapons. What spiritual battles are you
attempting to fight in the physical realm?
In another fulfillment of prophecy, the disciples fled.
Read Matthew
26:57-68.
After the arrest, Jesus is taken to Caiaphas, the high
priest. Scripture tells us that the
teachers of the law and elders are present.
It also mentions that the chief priests and Sanhedrin were looking for
witnesses who would be instrumental in getting Jesus put to death. We’re told there were many witnesses. Peter followed at a distance and sat with
some guards. If you are going to follow
Jesus, follow Him as closely as you can!
Following Him at a distance isn’t really following Him, and will only
lead to trouble. Just like it did for
Peter!
During this trial, Jesus didn’t answer the false
accusations against Him. As Jesus’
followers, we don’t need to answer false accusations, either. God Himself will fight for us. We need only to be still. The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin
were looking for false witnesses that would provide evidence to put Jesus to
death. They couldn’t find any false
evidence. So they’ll have to convict Him
on the truth.
In verse 63, the
high priest says to Jesus, “Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of
God.” Didn’t they already have an
abundance of evidence to the affirmative?
Why did they need Him to say it?
To accuse Him of blasphemy.
Anyway, Jesus responds by saying, “You have said so. But I say to all of you: From now on you will
see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on
the clouds of heaven.” In my Bible,
there’s a footnote referring to Psalm 110:1, Daniel 7:13 and Revelation 1:7. They read as follows:
Psalm
110:1 - The Lord says to my lord: “Sit
at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
Daniel 7:13-14 - “In
my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of
man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient
of Days and was led into his presence. He
was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of
every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that
will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
Revelation 1:7 - “Look, he is coming with
the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced
him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.
The religious
leaders should’ve understood the references to Psalm 110 and Daniel. In response they tore their clothes, which
was an act of rending, mourning. They
declared Jesus’ words to be blasphemy and worthy of death. They spat on Him. They punched Him. They slapped Him. They mocked and taunted Him, saying,
“Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit
you?” In Matthew’s Gospel, this seems odd
that the religious leaders would assault Jesus violently and ask Him to
prophesy about who hit Him. But in the
Gospel of Luke (22:63-64), some details are filled in. Jesus was blindfolded. The men guarding Him hit Him and asked Him to
prophesy. Doesn’t that make Matthew’s
Gospel make more sense?
Principle 1: God’s plan for mankind’s redemption
involved Jesus’ arrest and an unfair trial.
Application 1.How
does your heart and mind cling to Jesus when you’re prevented from pursuing Him
or judged by the world? How do you
handle difficult circumstances? How has
knowing Jesus changed how you deal with challenging moments? What does your life reveal to others about
Who Jesus is?
In our second division, Peter and Judas show us two very
different ways of dealing with remorse.
Read Matthew
26:69-75.
Let’s look at Peter, first. In this passage, He fulfills what Jesus spoke
about him earlier that evening: that Peter would deny Him three times before
the rooster crowed. We see a bit of a
progression in Peter’s denial. The first
time, Peter is approached by a servant girl while sitting in the courtyard, who
says, “You also were with Jesus…” He
denied it before everyone there.
Remember, he was sitting with the guards. Maybe there was some fear that he would be
arrested, too. He says, “I don’t know
what you’re talking about.” And he moves out to the gateway, where another
servant girl says, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.” Again Peter denies, this time with an oath
(which means he is swearing by something sacred that he is telling the truth):
“I don’t know the man!” Methinks the
gentleman doth protest too much. Not
only is Peter saying he’s not WITH Jesus.
He’s saying he doesn’t even KNOW Jesus!
Okay, third time is the charm!
This time, several people approach Peter and say, “Surely you are one of
them, your accent gives you away.” This time, Peter calls down curses and swears
to them: “I don’t know the man!”
Immediately, the rooster crows.
And Peter remembers what Jesus said about his three denials. He went outside and wept. Repentance was already at work in this
disciple’s heart.
Read Matthew
27:1-10.
Now let’s take a look at Judas. He has a very different reaction to his
mistreatment of Jesus. Judas saw that
Jesus was condemned to death and he was overcome with remorse. The Greek word “metamelomai” means “to feel
regret as the result of what one has done.”
Judas returned the money to the temple.
Perhaps he thought this would clear his conscience. He came to the priests in the temple, told
them he sinned, that he betrayed innocent blood, but he received no spiritual
guidance. He received no direction
toward repentance and restoration with God.
There was no forgiveness from the priests. They told Judas, “That’s your
responsibility.” I can almost hear the
hiss of a forked tongue. Scripture says
Judas threw the money into the temple.
The priests wouldn’t even take the money from him because they knew it
was blood money. Judas left the temple
and hanged himself. The priests bought
the potter’s field to bury foreigners with the 30 pieces of silver that
couldn’t go back into the treasury because it was blood money.
Both Peter and Judas lived with Jesus, ate with Jesus,
talked with Jesus, learned from Jesus.
Well, that’s debatable. Judas
betrayed Jesus for money. Peter denied
Jesus out of fear. Judas recognized he
sinned, betraying innocent blood, and ran back to the temple to return the
money, then went off and hanged himself.
Peter remembered Jesus’ prediction that he would deny Him three times
when the rooster crowed, and he went out and wept bitterly. How were these situations similar? How were they different? Why did one weep and the other take his own
life? How has the devil left you to face
your consequences alone after convincing you to act on his behalf? Don’t lose hope. Crawl back to Jesus in repentance with
everything you’ve got. There is love and
forgiveness waiting in His presence. If
you’ve got something to confess, go now!
Principle 2: God’s plan for mankind’s redemption
involved Peter’s denial and Judas’ betrayal and their reactions to their
remorse.
Application 2.How
does your heart and mind cling to Jesus after you’ve experienced remorse from
“letting Him (and yourself) down?” What
needs to change in your heart for you to cling to Jesus when you’ve disobeyed
rather than run away from Him? What are
you suffering from right now that needs to be dragged into the light before the
Lord so He can dispel its darkness and vanquish its power over you?
In our third division, Governor Pontius Pilate finds
Jesus innocent, tries to release Him, but finds himself unable – because of his
weakness and pressure from the Jewish people – to do anything but condemn Him
to death by crucifixion.
Read Matthew
27:11-31.
In these verses, we read about the conversation between Pontius
Pilate and Jesus. Jesus amazed Pilate
because of His silence. Pilate probably
heard a lot of excuses as the Roman Governor.
But not from Jesus. He could find
no reason to condemn Him, so he attempted to release Jesus under a custom he
had of releasing a prisoner chosen by the crowd at the festival. He had no idea this was going to backfire so
badly. He even rigged the contest by
giving the crowd the choice between Jesus and a well-known prisoner named
Barabbas. Luke 23:19 says Barabbas was
in prison for insurrection in the city and murder. Mark 15:7 adds that he was in prison with
other insurrectionists. While this was
happening, Scripture tells us that Pilate was warned by his wife not to have
anything to do with that innocent man. However,
the chief priests and elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas’ release
and execute Jesus. Pilate asked the
crowd what he should do with Jesus. They
said, “Crucify Him!” Did the people not
understand the severity of the sentence?
Pilate did. And he knew Jesus did
nothing deserving of death on a Roman cross.
So he asked the crowd, “Why?”
They just repeated, “Crucify Him!”
Pilate failed to wield his power for justice. He succumbed to a popularity contest and
revealed what a weak leader he really was.
He washed his hands in front of the crowd, refusing to take
responsibility for this innocent man’s death, placing the responsibility on the
crowd, which they took upon themselves and their children without
hesitation. Then Pilate released
Barabbas, had Jesus flogged and handed Jesus over to be crucified.
The soldiers stripped Jesus and put a scarlet robe on Him,
mocked Him, put the crown of thorns on Him, spit on Him, struck Him on the
head, and when they finished mocking, they put his clothes back on an led Him
away to be crucified.
What sort of leader are you? I ask that because, if you are a born again
Christian, you are a leader. Failing to
take a stand because you don’t want to make a decision is actually making a
decision. And it’s usually a bad one. In a nutshell, let your “yes” be “yes” and
your “no” be “no.” Say what you mean and
mean what you say. Don’t be afraid to
take a stand. Stand up for what you
believe. Don’t allow popular opinion to motivate
you to go against what you know to be true.
Principle 3: God’s plan for mankind’s redemption
involved accusations, innocence, beating, mocking and crucifixion.
Application 3.What
needs to change in your heart and thinking about Jesus’ unjust suffering and
what that means for His followers? Where
are you allowing others’ opinions to influence your decisions and/or behavior? What decision are you currently leaving to
chance that you should take a stand on?
Why did Jesus leave His throne in heaven to put aside His
power and be born as a man? Why did He allow
Himself to be denied by Peter, His disciple and friend? Why did He willingly allow Himself to be betrayed
into the hands of evil men by Judas? Why
did He, the just Judge, allow Himself to be judged by a corrupt Roman Governor
who sentenced Him to crucifixion? That
is how much He loves you. That’s
why. Let’s pray.
Father-God, we come
to You in Jesus’ name to say, “Thank You,” for these verses of Scripture that
reveal how loved we really are. I pray
we would take away practical lessons and apply them to our lives from these
verses. That Your Holy Spirit will
impress upon us what we need to confess to be cleansed, and where to stand
strong on our faith. Teach us to love
others into Your kingdom. Amen.
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