LutheranLectionary.org

1 Year Lectionary – Palm Sunday – Sunday, April 10, 2022 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:28	The holy gospel according to Saint Matthew chapters 26 and 27
0:41	now because of the length of our gospel reading you may be seated when jesus had finished all these
0:47	sayings he said to his disciples you know that after two days the passover is
0:52	coming and the son of man will be delivered up to be crucified then the chief priests and the elders of
0:58	the people gathered in the palace of the high priest whose name was caiaphas and they plotted together in order to arrest
1:05	jesus by stealth and to kill him but they said not during the feast lest there be an uproar among the people now
1:12	when jesus was at bethany in the house of simon the leper a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask a very
1:18	expensive ointment and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table and when the disciples saw it they were
1:25	indignant saying why this waste for this could have been sold for a large sum and
1:30	given to the poor but jesus aware of this said to them why do you trouble the woman for she has
1:37	done a beautiful thing to me for you always have the poor with you but you will not always have me in pouring this
1:43	ointment on my body she has done it to prepare me for burial truly i say to you wherever this gospel is proclaimed in
1:50	the whole world what she has done will also be told in memory of her then one of the twelve whose name was judas
1:56	iscariot went to the chief priest and said what will you give me if i deliver him over to you they paid him 30 pieces
2:04	of silver and from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him now on the
2:09	first day of unleavened bread the disciples came to jesus saying where will you have us prepare for you to eat
2:16	the passover he said go into the city to a certain man and then say to him the teacher says my time is at hand i will
2:22	keep the passover at your house with my disciples and the disciples did as jesus had directed them and they prepared the
2:29	passover when it was evening he reclined at table with the twelve and as they were eating he said truly i say to you
2:36	one of you will betray me and they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another is it i lord
2:44	he answered he who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me the son of man goes as it is written of him
2:51	but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed it would have been better for him
2:57	it would have been better for him if he had not been born judas who would betray him answered
3:03	is it i rabbi he said to him you have said so now as they were eating jesus took bread
3:09	and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take heed this is my body and he took a cup and
3:16	when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying drink of it all of you for this is my blood of the covenant which
3:21	is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins i tell you i will not drink again of this fruit of the
3:27	vine until that day when i drink it new with you in my father’s kingdom and when
3:32	they had sung a hymn they went out to the mount of olives then jesus said to them
3:39	you will all fall away because of me this night for it is written i will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the
3:45	flock will be scattered but after i am raised i will go before you to galilee
3:51	peter answered him though they all fall away because of you i will never fall away jesus said to him
3:58	truly i tell you this very night you before the rooster crows you will deny
4:03	me three times peter said to him even if i must die with you i will not deny you and all the
4:09	disciples said the same then jesus went with him to the place called gethsemane and he said to his
4:15	disciples sit here while i go over there and pray and taking with him peter and the two sons of zebedee he began to be
4:22	sorrowful and troubled then he said to them my soul is very sorrowful even to death remain here and watch with me i’m
4:30	and going a little farther he fell on his face and he prayed saying my father if it be possible let this cup
4:37	pass from me nevertheless not as i will but as you will and he came to the disciples and found them sleeping and he
4:43	said to peter so could you not watch with me one hour watch and pray that you may not enter
4:50	into temptation the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak again for the second time he went away
4:56	and he prayed my father if this cannot pass unless i drink it your will be done and again he came and found them
5:03	sleeping for their eyes were heavy so leaving them again he went away and prayed for the third time saying the
5:10	same words again then he came to the disciples and said to them sleep and take your rest later on see the hours at
5:16	hand the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners rise let us be going see my betrayer is at hand and while he
5:24	was still speaking judas came one of the twelve with him a great crowd with swords and clubs from the chief priests
5:32	and the elders of the people now the betrayer had given them a sign saying though i the one i will kiss is the man
5:38	sees him and he came up to jesus at once and said greetings rabbi and he kissed
5:45	him jesus said to him friend do what you came to do and they came up laid hands on jesus and
5:53	they seized him and behold one of those who were with jesus stretched out his
5:58	hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear then jesus said to him put your
6:04	sword back in its place for all who take the sword will perish by the sword do
6:10	you think that i cannot appeal to my father and he will at once send me more than 12 legions of angels but how then
6:17	should the scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so at that hour jesus said to the crowds
6:24	have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me day
6:29	after day i sat in the temple teaching and you did not seize me but all of this has taken place that the scriptures of
6:36	the prophets might be fulfilled then all the disciples left him and fled then those who had seized jesus led him to
6:43	caiaphas the high priest where the scribes and the elders had gathered and peter was following him at a distance as
6:49	far as the courtyard of the high priest and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end
6:56	now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against jesus that they might put him to
7:03	death but they found none though many false witnesses came forward at last two came forward and said this
7:09	man said i am able to destroy the temple of god and to rebuild it in three days and the high priest stood up and said
7:16	have you no answer to make what is it that these men testify against you but
7:21	jesus remained silent and the high priest said to him i adore you by the living god tell us if you are the christ
7:28	the son of god and jesus said to him you have said so but i tell you from now on you will see
7:35	the son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven
7:41	then the high priest tore his robes and said he has uttered blasphemy what
7:47	further witness do we need you have now heard is blasphemy what is your judgment
7:53	they answered he deserves death then they spit on his face struck him
7:59	some slapped him saying prophesy to us you christ who is it that struck you now
8:04	peter was sitting outside in the courtyard and a servant girl came up to him and said you also were with jesus
8:11	the galilean but he denied it before them all saying i do not know what you mean and he went out to the entrance and
8:19	another servant girl saw him and said through the bystanders this man was with jesus of nazareth and again he denied it
8:26	with an oath i do not know the man after a little while the bystanders came up and said to peter
8:33	certainly you too are one of them for your accent betrays you then he began to
8:39	invoke a curse on himself and to swear i do not know the man and immediately
8:44	the rooster crowed peter remember the saying of jesus before the rooster crows you’ll deny me
8:50	three times and he went out and he wept bitterly when morning came all the chief
8:56	priests and the elders of the people took counsel against jesus to put him to death they bound him led him away
9:02	delivered him over to pilate the governor then when judas his betrayer saw that jesus was condemned he changed his mind
9:10	and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders saying i have sinned by betraying
9:16	innocent blood they said what is that to us see to it yourself and throwing down the pieces of
9:23	silver into the temple he departed and went and hanged himself but the chief priest taking the pieces of silver said
9:30	it is not lawful to put them into the treasury since it is blood money so they took counsel and bought with them the
9:36	potter’s field as a burial place for strangers therefore that field has been called the field of blood to this day
9:43	then it was what then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet jeremiah saying and they took 30 pieces of silver
9:49	the price on him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of israel and they gave them
9:55	for the potter’s field as the lord directed me now jesus stood before the governor and
10:01	the governor asked him are you the king of the jews jesus said you’ve said so
10:06	but when he was accused by the chief priests and the elders he gave
10:13	no answer then pilate said to him do you not hear how many things they
10:18	testify against you but he gave him no answer not even to a
10:23	single charge so the governor was greatly amazed now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for
10:29	the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted and they had then a notorious prisoner
10:36	called barabbas so when they had gathered pilate said to them whom do you want me to release for
10:43	you barabbas or jesus who is called christ for he knew that it was out of
10:49	envy that they had delivered him up besides while he was sitting on the judgment seat his wife sent word to him
10:55	have nothing to do with that righteous man for i have suffered much because of him today in a dream
11:01	now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for barabbas and to destroy jesus the governor again
11:08	said to them which of the two do you want me to release for you and they said barabbas
11:14	pilate said to them then what shall i do with jesus who is called christ they all said let him be crucified and he said
11:22	why what evil has he done but they shouted all the more let him be crucified
11:28	so when pilate saw that he was gaining nothing but rather that a riot was beginning he took water and washed his
11:35	hands before the crowd saying i am innocent of this man’s blood see to it yourselves and all the people answered
11:42	his blood be on us and on our children and then he released for them barabbas
11:47	and having scourged jesus delivered him to be crucified then the soldiers of the governor took
11:54	jesus into the governor’s headquarters and they gathered the whole battalion before him and they stripped him and put
12:02	a scarlet robe on him and twisting together a crown of thorns they put it on his head and put a reed in his right
12:08	hand and kneeling before him they mocked him saying hail king of the jews and
12:14	they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head and when they had mocked him they stripped him of his of
12:20	the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him and as
12:26	they went out they found the man of cyrene simon by name they compelled this man to carry his cross and when they
12:33	came to the place called golgotha which means place of a skull they offered him wine to drink mixed with gall but when
12:41	he had tasted it he would not drink it and when they had crucified him they divided his garments among them by
12:47	casting lots then they sat down and kept watch over him there and over his head
12:53	they put the charge against him which read this is jesus the king of the jews
12:59	then two robbers were crucified with him one on his right one on his left
13:04	and those who passed by derided him wagging their heads and saying you who would destroy the temple and
13:10	rebuild it in three days save yourself if you are the son of god come down from the cross
13:15	so also the chief priests and the scribes and the elders they mocked him saying he saved others he cannot save
13:22	himself he is the king of israel let him come down now from the cross and we will believe in him he trusts in god let god
13:29	deliver him now if he desires him for he said i am the son of god and the robbers
13:34	who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way now from the sixth hour there was
13:39	darkness over all the land until the ninth hour and about the ninth hour jesus cried out with a loud voice saying
13:46	eli eli lama that is my god my god why have you forsaken me and some of the bystanders
13:53	hearing it said this man is calling elijah and one of them at once ran and took a sponge filled with sour wine and
14:00	put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink but the other said wait let’s see whether elijah will come to save him and
14:07	then jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit and behold the curtain of the temple was
14:14	torn in two from top to bottom and the earth shook and the rocks were split the
14:20	tombs also were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the tombs after
14:26	his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many when the centurion and those who were with him
14:33	keeping watch over jesus saw the earthquake and what took place they were filled with awe and they said truly this
14:40	was the son of god there were also many women there looking on from a distance
14:45	who had followed jesus from galilee ministering to him among whom were mary magdalene and mary the mother of james
14:53	and joseph and the mother of the sons of zebedee when it was evening there came a rich man from arimathea named joseph who
15:01	also was a disciple of jesus he went to pilate and asked for the body of jesus
15:07	then pilate ordered it to be given to him and joseph took the body wrapped it in a clean linen shroud laid it in his
15:14	own new tomb which he had cut in the rock and he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and then went away
15:22	mary magdalene and the other mary were there sitting opposite the tomb next day
15:27	that is the day of the preparation the chief priests and the pharisees gathered before pilate and said sir we remember
15:34	how that impostor said that while he was still alive after three days i will rise
15:39	therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell
15:46	the people that he has risen from the dead and the last fraud will be worse than the first pilate said to them you
15:53	have a guard of soldiers go and make it as secure as you can so they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the
15:59	stone and setting a guard this is the gospel of the lord in the name of jesus
16:06	ah the spirit is willing wow the flesh is not so much a little
16:11	weak if you know what i mean as we look at again the account of the passion of our lord we’re gonna take a look at the
16:17	first chapter portion of the first chapter a little bit of the second chapter we it’s not possible to preach on the whole thing unless you want to be
16:23	here until lunchtime but all that being said as we consider this note that um
16:30	there’s only one person who’s righteous in the midst of all of this mess and it’s jesus his disciples
16:37	men total failures the the chief priests total failures the people
16:44	total failures i mean this this is how this works doesn’t the scripture say that none is righteous not
16:50	one no one seeks for god no one no one loves god
16:57	altogether we are lost and so in the midst of all of this we have to kind of tease out a few things
17:03	because there is a lot of hope in all this because what jesus is doing he’s doing everything according to the
17:10	predetermined plan of god and you’ll note as we work our way through this text over and again
17:16	either jesus or matthew is going to point out and this was to fulfill what was written by the prophets the prophets
17:24	what they had written must be fulfilled in other words the word of god
17:30	cannot be broken it’s impossible to break the word of god now in our study
17:35	of jeremiah last week and during our sunday school we noted
17:40	that there is only one time that god ever and i mean it ever says
17:47	something is going to happen and it doesn’t happen it’s when god determines destruction for a nation
17:53	people a city or a person and that is communicated to them and
17:59	they repent god will relent
18:05	you see the people of nineveh stand as a great example of that now jonah went to go preach to those ninevites those war
18:12	criminals and really really horrible people and he didn’t want to preach to them because he knew that they would repent and god
18:18	would forgive him and guess what they repented and god forgave them so we must remember that as human beings we’re all
18:25	born under the dominion of darkness enslaved to sin to death and the devil
18:31	and we all well like the rest of mankind were by nature objects of god’s wrath
18:37	and what god has stored up for sinful humanity is hell he’s going to cast us into the lake of
18:43	fire like he did like he promises to do with satan and his demons as well as death
18:48	but here’s where the gospel comes in the gospel comes in and tells us that this passion account this man who suffered so
18:56	brutally crucifixion on a cross this crime that was committed against him the only innocent sinless human
19:03	being this was so that we can be forgiven jesus is indeed the spotless lamb of god
19:10	who takes away the sin of the world your sin and mine and so we’ll see here that
19:16	there’s a little bit of a dividing line and the big dividing line is between those who believe in him
19:22	and trust his promises even though they fail spectacularly
19:27	and those who do not believe in him that’s where the dividing line is and again the word of god cannot be broken
19:33	so picking up in the first chapter of our text here chapter 26 verse
19:42	verse 14. here’s what it says one of the twelve whose name was judas iscariot
19:48	he went to the chief priests and he said what will you give me if i deliver him over to you
19:56	and they paid him 30 pieces of silver and from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray jesus
20:03	30 pieces of silver you’re going to know judas has he’s an eyewitness to jesus walking on
20:09	the water he’s an eyewitness to jesus calming a storm with a word talking to a
20:14	storm as if it’s his pet you know be silent trying to sleep here right and it
20:20	goes whoosh judas saw jesus raise the dead including lazarus jesus saw
20:26	so judas saw jesus god gotta flip those right judah saw jesus give sight to the
20:32	blind hearing to the deaf speech to the mute he cleansed lepers he healed
20:38	paralytic so that they could walk and jump for joy he saw all of it he saw
20:43	jesus multiply loaves and fishes so that a multitude of people five thousand men
20:49	and their families that they all were fed and there were leftovers after that he saw it all
20:56	and yet the scriptures revealed to us that the entire time he was a thief
21:04	kind of a grifter if you would you see jesus also received
21:09	well offerings from people people would donate money to his ministry and he kept a bag specifically for the purpose of
21:17	giving financial relief to those who were the most poor jesus not only healed people he also
21:25	tended to their financial needs when they were in distress and it says of judas that he well he helped himself
21:33	to the money bag and so one has to wonder because
21:41	it is immediately after this woman anoints jesus
21:46	with that expensive ointment in that aloe bastard jar one has to wonder if it wasn’t judas
21:53	crying out the loudest about why this waste this could have been sold for a
21:58	large sum and given to the poor and of course then i’d get my cut too right one has to wonder what’s going on
22:05	there so it’s immediately after this that well judas is looking for a way to
22:11	betray jesus and he wants money to do it just give me money 30 pieces of silver i
22:16	just cannot think that that is a large amount 30 pieces of silver how much is that
22:22	you know half a year’s wage i don’t know i mean he’s not filthy rich he’s not like he’s going to go build a mansion on
22:28	the mediterranean with this life is cheap isn’t it right now on the first day of unleavened bread
22:34	the disciples came to jesus saying where will you have us prepare for you to eat the passover and jesus said go into the
22:41	city to a certain man and say to him the teacher says my time is at hand i will keep the passover at your house with my
22:47	disciples. you’ll note that jesus never has to call ahead and say yeah we got a table that we need a table for like 12
22:54	15 and you know and we’ll you know do what do you have open jesus just sends his disciples and go to that guy and
23:00	says the teacher says it’s my time okay and it works okay that’s one of the privileges of being the son of god so
23:06	his disciples did as jesus had directed him and they prepared the passover and when it was evening he reclined at table
23:12	with the twelve and as they were eating he said truly truly i say to you one of you will betray me
23:19	and they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another is it i lord
23:25	and he answered he who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me the son of man goes as it is written of
23:31	him but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed
23:36	now i’m going to point something out here this in the context is obviously
23:44	obviously referring to judas but i would note that in the day that we
23:50	live in and well since we are in the last days since christ ascension there are many
23:55	who also betray christ they do so well as well pastors and
24:02	leaders and church leaders and things like this when they teach false doctrine i i was made aware that one of the
24:09	ladies who joins us from germany for our services she’s been looking for she has a person
24:16	that is going to baptize one of her children and in talking with this fellow
24:22	she made it very clear she wanted her child to be baptized in the name of the
24:27	father son and the holy spirit because in doing her research she found this fellow has been baptizing people in a
24:33	completely different baptismal formula and he basically said well if you want me to do it the old-fashioned way then
24:40	sure i’ll do it is there a new fashioned way to re to baptize people
24:47	that’s a betrayal of christ all right and so we’ll note that breaking the first commandment breaking
24:54	the second commandment these are ways in which all of us are capable of betraying
24:59	christ so don’t think for a second that betraying christ is only reserved
25:05	for judas it isn’t so jesus says of him it would have been better for that man had he not been born
25:12	judas who would betray him answered is it i rabbi he said to him you have
25:19	said so now as you read through these gospel texts you’re going to note that when jesus is asked questions
25:27	he says things like you have said so and we english readers read this and sit there and go what’s he talking about he
25:34	was just asked a question right i have a theory on this it’s only a theory so if some biblical scholar proves me wrong
25:40	i’ll i’ll acquiesce but if you understand how the hebrew language works
25:45	all right when people make statements about themselves or ask questions about
25:50	another person they do not use the verb to be i am all
25:55	right instead they just they just make a statement and then it’s kind of inferred the i am is inferred so for instance
26:02	when joseph reveals himself to his brothers finally he two first two words he says ani yosef right and and ani is i
26:12	yosef is joseph you’ll notice that the word am is missing okay it’s just a statement but here’s the thing the the
26:19	hebrew language how that statement is phrased will determine or the tone of it will
26:24	determine whether it’s a statement or a question so if i were to say uh you know if i
26:30	were to say to maryland i would say atamerikait and you would say
26:36	i can right the the question is americaite are you an american
26:42	all right or i would say any america i am an american but the am is provided
26:49	so you’ll note then that what i think is going on here is judas
26:55	basically said he said
27:00	aniraboni that’s all he had to say
27:07	i rabbi and he’s put would have said it in the form of a question but jesus said you’ve
27:13	said so so he kind of takes that hebrew grammatical thing and then takes his question and just makes it a statement i
27:19	think that’s what’s going on here my best guess so now as they were eating jesus took
27:25	bread and after blessing it he broke it and gave it to the disciples and he said take eat this is my body and he took a
27:31	cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying drink of it all of you for this is my blood of the covenant
27:37	which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins now i don’t want to get ahead of myself because monday
27:43	thursday still a few days away let me just put a little pin right here and say you
27:48	know the lord’s supper is exactly what jesus says it is and it’s for the very reason that jesus
27:54	says it is for it is for the forgiveness of this of our sins and it truly in the
28:00	lord’s supper we receive christ’s body and blood the very body and blood that christ was
28:05	crucified with on the cross given and shed for the forgiveness of our sins so i tell you i
28:11	will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when i drink it new in my father’s kingdom and when they
28:17	had sung a hymn they went out to the mount of olives and so what’s happened here is they’ve they’ve
28:23	left jerusalem they’ve gone out the golden gate down the kidron valley up the mount of olives and they then jesus
28:30	said to them you will all fall away because of me this night and here’s the first time we’ll hear this in our sermon
28:35	today for it is written for it is written
28:40	i will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered
28:46	but after i am raised up i will go before you to galilee now
28:51	here’s where i would note these guys these 12 fellows well now 11 because i
28:57	don’t think judas is with him at this point they’ve been traipsing around the judean wilderness and all of judea for
29:04	three years with jesus think of it as like a roaming um well a
29:11	seminary degree think of it like that okay rather than being in one particular place everywhere they go these disciples
29:18	are being trained and taught and instructed by jesus and these guys are
29:23	just like six weeks out from graduation all right and
29:29	this is their final year this is their senior year seminary students in jesus seminary and you would think that going
29:36	back to like their first year the word of god cannot be broken when
29:41	god says something’s going to happen it’s going to happen remember our first parents adam and eve
29:47	what did god say to adam you can eat of any of the trees in the garden all of them except for one that one
29:53	right there the one in the midst the tree of the knowledge of good and evil on the day you eat of it you will surely
29:59	die so when the serpent tempted eve what happened to god’s words eve took god’s
30:05	words and went whoo threw him behind her back and then she went all feelings right
30:12	well it is a beautiful tree and wow that fruit is really gorgeous and it is you know desirous to make one wise feelings
30:19	right right she took the word of god tossed it behind her but can the word of god be broken
30:25	no so on the day that they ate of it did they die you betcha they did they we all you know
30:31	they died spiritually right body follows later but they all did die and so you’ll
30:37	know like bible 101 when god says something’s going to happen it’s going to happen and
30:42	so no jesus is speaking with the authority of scripture and after all he is the word of god incarnate he says it
30:50	is written i will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered but after i am raised up i
30:56	will go before you to galilee so jesus knowing that god’s word cannot be broken
31:01	says but and i love it because that the butt is kind of important here because
31:06	he’s saying i’ll go before you to galilee in other words don’t worry
31:13	you will be forgiven i will not hold this against you that’s kind of the inferred thing here and it’s
31:19	important to note that but rather than listening to the word of god peter answered him well though they all fall
31:25	away because of you i will never fall away
31:31	pride comes before a fall it always does do you think you’re stronger than the
31:36	word of god do you think you can break the word of god good luck on that so jesus stands his
31:43	ground looks them straight in the eye i tell you i tell you this very night before the rooster crows you’ll deny me three
31:49	times and at this point peter sort of gets the last word but he really doesn’t so peter said to him well even if i must
31:56	die with you i’ll not deny you and all the disciples said yeah we too we will never deny you jesus now remember this
32:04	is a this is a critical sin that we’re going to be talking about here because what does jesus say the one who
32:10	denies me before men i will deny before the father that’s how serious this is
32:17	this is not a small schlipsy this is not an oopsy dupsy this is if you deny me before men i will
32:24	deny you before the father that’s it’s a bit it’s every bit of betrayal as judas’s betrayal and that’s where the
32:31	parallel comes in and it’s really interesting so we continue so jesus went with them to a place called gethsemane
32:38	he said to his disciples sit here while i go over there and pray and then taking with him peter and the
32:44	two sons of zebedee he began to be sorrowful and troubled then he said to them my soul is very sorrowful even to
32:51	death remain here and watch with me and go so you’re going to know jesus is like
32:56	really sad despondent down sorrowful and these fellows
33:05	there’s like zero empathy here man it’s it’s late jesus i know you’re sad but you know um
33:11	it’s my bedtime you know it’s it’s awful when you think about it
33:17	and just quite odd so going a little farther jesus then fell on his face and he prayed my father if it be possible
33:22	let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as i will but as you will
33:29	and he came to the disciples and he found them sleeping and he said to peter so could you not watch with me
33:36	one hour and here we’re gonna note i think we all have a lot of that in us
33:43	i mean because we still have a sinful nature have you noticed that when you sit down to read your bible maybe decide
33:50	you know what this this morning i’m going to wake up i’m going to read my bible with my cup of coffee and then what happens you know you open up your
33:56	bible or you turn it on you can do that nowadays you turn on your bible and you’re sitting there and all of a sudden
34:01	you hear ding and you go oh i got a message oh somebody said something to me on twitter
34:06	hey all right oh wait wait i gotta get back to the word of god all right and now i’m gonna pray our father who art in heaven
34:13	ding oh wait i gotta check that right have you noticed that we do this
34:19	or worse you start to read god’s word and next thing you know you’re working on this week’s grocery list in
34:25	your head i know listen the reason i know you do that is
34:32	because i do it okay that’s me and i’m your pastor all right i have to sit down and go focus
34:40	okay i sometimes i feel like i need to get those blinders you know the the horses have to wear it would help right
34:46	one of the things i was very thankful for when you know in the latest editions of the apple macintosh operating system
34:52	is the do not disturb function it’s beautiful it’s glorious you just hit that and all notifications stop for
34:59	however long you tell them to but the point is this is that you you’ll note that
35:05	our sinful nature is really not keen on worshiping god reading his word and
35:12	praying there there’s pretty much everything other to do on the planet that that our sinful nature
35:18	would desire to be doing rather than having you use it to read god’s word and
35:24	to pray and you’ll note you’re in good company and christ has even bled and died for
35:29	that so he says watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation they don’t
35:35	even recognize the danger they’re in the spirit indeed is willing flesh is weak and again the second time he went away
35:41	and he prayed my father if this cannot pass unless i drink it your will be done and again he came and
35:49	found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy and jesus didn’t even wake him up this time so leaving them again he went away
35:55	and prayed the third time saying the same words then he came to the disciples and he said to them
36:00	sleep and take your last rest later on the hours at hand son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners rise let us be
36:06	going my betrayer is at hand and while he was still speaking judas came one of the twelve with him with a
36:12	great crowd with swords and clubs from the chief priests and the elders of the
36:17	people let me kind of put that into modern day parlance basically judas shows up with the temple security
36:25	guards okay but they’ve got clubs and stuff like this it always and again it’s
36:30	always weirds me out when churches and places have security guards especially
36:35	these kind right so they came with great crowd with swords clubs from the chief
36:40	priests and the elders of the people so the betrayer had given them a sign saying the one i will kiss is the man
36:46	sees him isn’t it interesting that always and again when christ is betrayed it is always
36:54	under pious loving pretenses well i i love jesus and i love the word
37:01	of god but there’s no way i’m going to believe that jesus actually bodily rose from the
37:06	dead or worse that he actually died as a human sacrifice for sins that’s gross
37:12	right isn’t that what we do oh i totally i value the word of god it’s
37:20	meaningful in my life but i deny that humans in the universe were created in
37:25	six days come on we live in the 21st century you know we we’ve got
37:30	macintosh computers and stuff like that now we don’t need to believe in those things you see what i’m saying all right so
37:36	judas shows up greetings rabbi and he kissed him and
37:43	jesus said to him and i’m going to note here the greek word for friend jesus isn’t really calling judas his friend
37:49	this particular greek word could also be translated buddy all right if i
37:54	translate it that way i think it makes a little more sense buddy came with you do what you came to do
38:00	right i know what you’re here for we’re not friends really so then they came up laid hands on jesus seized him
38:07	behold one of those who were with jesus stretched out his hand drew his sword struck the servant of the high priest
38:12	cut off his ear well peter was just asleep just a few minutes ago and now he’s alert and what’s he do pulls out
38:18	his sword cuts off the ear of malcus we know the name of the fellow and i would note here jesus according to the other
38:25	gospels takes that fellow whose ear who’s just been cut off and you gotta you gotta imagine that was a bloody mess
38:31	have you noticed that head wounds have a really bad habit of bleeding badly all right so there’s this guy his ear is
38:37	lopped off and there’s this chaos and jesus comes up to him
38:44	and there his ear his his ears were stored
38:51	wouldn’t you stop and go you know i think we got the wrong man you’re not the droid we’re looking for
38:57	right that’s that’s where you would go with this but they don’t
39:02	even in the face of that miracle no repentance signs and wonders do not a
39:08	christian make christians are made through the word of god faith comes by
39:14	hearing hearing through the word of christ signs and miracles do not do not turn somebody into a christian
39:20	there was a sign and wonder right there and they should have waved off but they didn’t all right so then jesus said to him put
39:27	your sword back in its place all who take the sword will perish by the sword do you think i cannot appeal to my
39:33	father and he will at once send me more than 12 legions of angels but how then
39:39	should the scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so
39:45	you see all this chaos all this sin all these people just completely
39:51	acting in ignorance unfaith unbelief or just sheer rank
39:57	arrogance christ is there saying dudes
40:03	everything’s going according to plan this is exactly what the scriptures said
40:09	must take place so at that hour jesus said to the crowds have you come out against a robber with
40:15	swords and clubs in order to capture me day after day i sat in the temple teaching you didn’t seize me
40:22	jesus here is basically kindly saying you bunch of cowards a bunch of yellow bellies
40:28	calling him out for the behavior you’ll know read the book of revelation when he gives the list of those who end up in the lake of fire
40:35	cowards and hypocrites are near the top of the list jesus here is speaking law to them
40:43	all this has taken place though so the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled you’re doing this evil you
40:48	might want to go back and read your bibles then the disciples left him and they fled those who had seized him led him to
40:54	caiaphas the high priest where the scribes and the elders had gathered this is like the church council from hell
41:00	all right and you’re going to note that this particular meeting these are the highest church officials in the land
41:08	do you think that people who are church leaders can are protected by god from going
41:14	corrupt no you’ll note that even they can too and their behavior is so bizarre and so when
41:22	peter was following him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest going inside he sat with the guards to
41:28	see the end a little bit of a note here they’ve recently in the past few decades found this actual spot archaeologically
41:35	you can visit it if you go to jerusalem i’ve seen it in other people’s vacation photos that’s a good way to travel if
41:40	you you know but especially during covid but the whole point is you can actually visit this place and i’ll tell you
41:46	the courtyard and the house of caiaphas it ain’t much bigger than kangziwinga
41:52	right here okay it’s a pretty intimate setting so the chief priest and the whole council listen to these words they
41:59	were seeking false testimony against jesus so that they might put him to
42:05	death what does that conversation look like
42:10	you are the chief priest and you say to the crowd anyone here willing to lie about jesus no no this is
42:18	a court taking place in the middle of the night that’s not justice right anyone here willing to lie about jesus
42:24	we really would like to kill him but we need some false witnesses oh i’ll volunteer all right come on up what
42:30	would you like to say about jesus jesus threatened to turn me into a newt very good go sit down okay right and
42:37	here’s the thing they couldn’t get the false witnesses to agree with each other
42:43	they couldn’t you well and they how many do they need to agree with each other
42:48	two minimum two because in order to establish a charge you need at least two
42:54	to three witnesses they couldn’t even get the people to lie straight with each other and that’s generally how lies work
43:01	by the way but then then it says two came forward and they said this man
43:08	said i am able to destroy the temple and to rebuild it in three days that’s true
43:15	jesus said that he did it’s recorded for us in the gospel of john on one occasion when he had driven the money changers
43:21	out of the temple and the jews were a little bit well upset about that losing all that money that day so they came
43:28	storming up to him what sign do you give us to show that you have the authority to do these things right and jesus said
43:35	tear down this temple i’ll build it again in three days it’s taken 46 years to build this temple
43:42	you’re gonna build it again in three days and john gives us the commentary the temple he was talking about was the temple of his body
43:48	now note here what takes place next is what i would like to consider a legal
43:53	sleight of hand you know how magic works you know a little bit of sleight of hands like hey look over there and then poof something appears over there right
44:00	a little bit of that going on here so the high priest stood up and he said he said have you no answer to make
44:09	what is this that these men testify against you uh-huh all right so jesus remained
44:15	silent high priest said to him i adore you by the living god tell us if
44:22	you are the christ the son of god now a little bit of a no isn’t the
44:28	charge that jesus said that he can tear down the temple and build it in three days that’s the charge two people said that
44:35	right notice the switcheroo i assure you
44:40	tell us if you are the christ the son of god in hebrew it would have been
44:47	something to this effect
44:56	know i am and what does jesus say you’ve said so
45:04	all right there we go again but i tell you now jesus is going to help them out a little bit here so i
45:09	tell you from now on you will see the son of man seated at the right hand of power coming on the clouds of heaven and
45:15	then the high priest tore his robes and said he has uttered blasphemy what further witness do we need you have now
45:23	heard the blasphemy what is your judgment they answered he deserves death
45:28	by the way he hasn’t blasphemed he’s totally told the truth so then they spit in his face
45:34	struck him slapped him saying prophesy to us you christ
45:41	who is it that struck you and now seeing that violence
45:46	has reared its ugly head and that jesus is devoted to destruction
45:53	peter’s bravado completely collapses peter was sitting
45:58	outside in the courtyard and a servant girl it doesn’t say woman girl
46:04	all right girl 8 12 who knows it’s a girl
46:10	came up to him and said you also were jesus the galilean total coward he denied it before them
46:17	all saying i don’t know what you mean little girl right so when he went out of the entrance
46:23	another servant girl girl servant girl saw him and she said to the bystanders this man was with jesus of nazareth and
46:30	again he denied it with an oath i don’t know the man and after a little while the bystanders came up and said to peter
46:37	certainly you too are one of them your accents betray you
46:43	and he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear i don’t know the man
46:50	one of the other gospels record that at this point jesus looks at
46:56	peter in other words without saying a word jesus gets the last word
47:03	the word of god cannot be broken and immediately the rooster crowed peter remembered the saying of jesus before
47:09	the rooster crows you will deny me three times and he went out
47:15	and he wept bitterly the word of god cannot be broken
47:21	so when morning came all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against jesus to put him to death and they bound him led him away
47:27	delivered him over to pilate the governor and then when judas betrayer saw that jesus was condemned he changed
47:34	his mind now i’ve been saying throughout lent and i’ll continue to say it as long as i’m able to continue to preach
47:42	that repentance involves two things sorrow for sin
47:49	confidence in christ for the forgiveness of our sins the two run together where
47:54	one or the other is deficient you don’t have the repentance think of saul the first king of israel when he was
48:00	confronted with his sin he deflected and projected he put out sin on everybody else he was not wrong okay no repentance
48:07	no remorse judas finding out that he’s betrayed an innocent man he feels sorrow for it but he has no
48:15	confidence in the forgiveness of his sins none because he was too busy
48:21	taking money out of the bag rather than listening to jesus david when he was confronted with his
48:26	sin sorrow and confidence peter
48:32	also but it’s a little bit of a longer story so when he saw that he had been condemned he changed his mind he brought
48:39	back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders and what happens next is just
48:45	in the annals of hypocrisy i think this one is like at the top of the list they
48:51	he said i have sinned by betraying innocent blood now note
48:56	judas giving back to 30 pieces of silver that can’t atone for his sin
49:02	so they said what is that to us see to it yourself
49:07	they’re the ones who gave them the money this is bizarre
49:13	see to it yourself we’re not going to give you an absolution you you that’s between you and god you do your own thing
49:19	this is the chief priest they’re supposed to offer sacrifices when people come to them for and they’ve confessed
49:26	their sins they have totally abdicated their responsibility why because they’re
49:31	part of the plot this was all they’re doing anyways and peter and judas was just the guy going
49:37	along with it and well lining his pocket with their silver so throwing the pieces of silver into
49:44	the temple he departed and he went and he hanged himself taking his life cannot atone for his sin
49:50	either he completely despaired and then the chief priest taking the
49:57	pieces of silver said it’s not lawful to put them in the treasury since it’s blood money
50:05	you think of course it’s blood money you’re the guys right now about to hand jesus over
50:12	to be crucified and they recognize that it’s blood money and so what do they do they cover their
50:19	act in piety well they took counsel together and they used the money to buy a potter’s field
50:26	it’s a bear place for strangers therefore the field has been called field of blood to this day
50:33	then was fulfilled would have been spoken by the prophet jeremiah they took 30 pieces of silver the price of him on
50:40	whom a price had been set by some of the sons of israel and they gave them for the potter’s field as the lord directed
50:47	me so all along everything’s going according to plan everything the whole thing
50:55	the word of god cannot be broken and as we enter into this holy week this year
51:02	and get ready for good friday and for easter sunday
51:07	it is important for us to recognize that the word of god cannot be broken and so the word of god that you heard
51:13	today today you heard after you confessed your sin
51:18	you heard that you were forgiven and i don’t have that authority in and of myself that authority comes from christ
51:26	the word of god cannot be broken the one who says he has no sin he deceives
51:31	himself the truth is not in him but the one who confesses his sin god is faithful and just to forgive our sins
51:38	and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness the word of god cannot be broken
51:44	yet despite the fact in you your spirit is willing and your flesh is
51:49	weak your piety is tepid at times it isn’t where it should be your prayers
51:55	falter and are distracted your bible reading time isn’t what it where it needs to be despite all of that the word
52:02	of god cannot be broken you are forgiven in christ because jesus was also
52:09	fulfilling the words of scripture from isaiah it says that he was pierced for
52:14	our transgressions he was pierced for yours he was bruised for our iniquities
52:20	the chastisement that god brought us peace with god was upon him and god laid
52:26	on him the iniquity of us all in christ we have full forgiveness mercy
52:34	pardon and grace we who were born children of the devil are now the
52:39	adopted forgiven reconciled children of god the word of god cannot be broken
52:47	what jesus went through and suffered shows that in spades and this calls for
52:53	faith this calls for recognizing your own sin this calls for trust in christ
52:58	in his words and never never despairing like judas did of the mercy of god that
53:05	is for you in christ
53:11	i don’t think i can add anything further to it in the name of jesus amen

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