In this chapter, we have the sad betrayal of our
Lord by Judas, which was no surprise to our
Lord. It was foretold in the Old Testament,
and as God, He's the one who foretold it. So there's no surprise
to Him. And then we have, this is a tough
chapter, Then we have Peter denying the Lord. You know, this is recorded
in all four Gospels, which means it has real significant meaning. It's a real warning to us. Let
him that thinketh he standeth, take he lest he fall. But we
have Peter who denies the Lord. And we have our Lord being taken by these, I'm trying to be choice in my
words, but crooks, crooks is what they are. They're going
to murder him. As far as they are concerned,
they're going to murder him. But we know that God has delivered
him up to be our sacrifice, to be our atonement, to be our redeemer,
our kinsman redeemer. Now, in verse 13, it says, They
led him away to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas,
which was the high priest that same year. They led him away
in victory, so they thought. They led him away as a lamb is
led to the slaughter, and they led him away unbeknownst to them
according to the will and purpose of God. They had no clue. They had absolutely
no clue they were doing the will of God. They were accomplishing
His purpose. Even though their wicked hearts
were against Him, and hated Him, despised Him, and were going
to murder Him, yet they were only doing what God had determined
before to be done. Oh, the mystery. The mystery
of the workings of God. Now let me point something out
here, and I pointed this out before, but Annas and Caiaphas
And I think it's in Luke, they are both called high priests
that same year, plural. Well, that was not according
to the word of God. There's only supposed to be one
high priest, and he was to be the high priest until he died,
and then another one. But the Roman government was
setting up these priests, which benefited them. It became a money deal, and it
became a political It really started becoming a political
position. And so we have Annas and Caiaphas both here holding
the office of High Priest. This shows how far also that
it had degenerated from God and the way He gave things to be. Matthew Henry said this, As I said, it became a political
position more than a religious one. Matthew Henry made this
statement. I thought it was very applicable.
He says that when a bad thing was to be done by a high priest,
according to the foreknowledge of God, Providence so ordered
it that a bad man should be in the chair to do it. And I wrote,
the same applies to a nation. If God's going to bring a nation
down, He'll put the person in that place to bring it down.
And He put them in that place for this hour. Now, Annas was probably considered
to be the real high priest by the Jews. See, he's an old man. He's an old man. Caiaphas is
his son-in-law. But this is interesting. See, we can read these things,
and unless you really dig in and study, you just let them
go right over you. You see, everything that's going
on is according to the purpose of God. God has purposed it.
He has predestinated it. He's predetermined. It's not
just rolling along. This is predestinated. This is
predetermined by God. And here, let me point this out. Annas no doubt was the high priest. Rome made his son-in-law a high
priest. That's just a political move.
The duty of the high priest was to examine the sacrifice for
blemishes before it could be offered on the Day of Atonement.
It was to be brought to him, and he was to examine it. And
then it could be offered. If it had a blemish in it, it
couldn't be offered. Even though they don't obey God's
law, God does. God is seeing to it that His
law is obeyed. And unbeknownst to them, they
are taking the Lord Jesus Christ, and guess how they take Him?
They bound Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, which is close
to the Sheep Gate. And they take him through the
sheep gate. And through the sheep gate, there
is the high priest close by, so he can examine the sacrifice
before it's offered. The Lord Jesus Christ, this is
no accident. God has ordered every step of
this. They take him through the sheep
gate and they take him to the real high priest, Annas. And
Annas doesn't, we don't read of him finding any fault. He
sees him, then he sends him bound onto his son-in-law Caiaphas. But this is so beautiful how
this is just being orchestrated by God. Bringing, capturing,
bounding, buying that sacrifice with cords as I read to you last
week, to the altar. And they take him through the
sheep gate. That's where the offering, that's where the sheep
to be, or those animals for sacrifice will be brought through that
gate. You know, in Nehemiah, that's the first gate, that's
the first gate that was repaired because of the sacrifice. It's
the last gate that was mentioned, the sheep gate. That's just so, that's just so
beautiful to see God's hand working just every step of the way. Now
Caiaphas was he which gave counsel to the Jews that it was expedient
that one man should die for the people. My how deceitful the heart is.
Caiaphas had given this prophecy back in chapter 11. Back in chapter
11 verses 50 and 51. He gave this prophecy of the
death of Christ. Even though he was a wicked man, Even though he was a wicked man,
God honored his office and spoke through him. He honored the office
and spoke through him this prophecy. He didn't know it. You know what
he was doing? He was finding an excuse to put
him to death. It's expedient. Caiaphas meant
what he said for evil purposes, trying to justify the murder
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He spoke it for selfish ends.
That's why he spoke it. It's expedient, he said, for
us that one man should die. It's expedient for us. Who's
us? The Sanhedrin, the Pharisees,
the one in power. It's expedient for us that he
die, because if we don't, the Roman government is going to
come in and we're going to lose our power and our position. You see
how political it is? And you know the word expedient.
It means this. It's a means of attaining an
end, especially one that is convenient but considered improper or immoral. It doesn't matter if it's right
or wrong. It's expedient for us right now. That's what he
said. It's just expedient for us to
keep our position. It's expedient for us to put
him to death. Or we're going to lose it. When the law of any nation becomes
unjust in its administration, that nation cannot stand long. A nation is only as strong as
its laws being administered justly, and not for political purposes,
as he's doing right here. And then here comes the Holy
Spirit, has us focused on Christ, but here He just takes our mind
now to Peter. There's so much going on here.
And Simon Peter followed Jesus. Now in the other Gospels, all
of them say he followed Him up far off. That's significant. And so did another disciple.
That disciple was known unto the high priest and went in with
Jesus into the palace of the high priest. We don't know who
that disciple was. There's all kinds of guesses,
but why do we guess? What's the matter? If the Lord
left us silent, leave us silent. But the Holy Spirit here now
turns our attention to Peter's denial of Christ. And we must
learn from this. Here is that disciple who said
just earlier, though I should die with thee, yet will I not
deny thee. Be careful, don't ever say you'd
never do something. Don't say you would, I'd never
do that. Be careful, you're tempting God. Because He may just let
you do it. But here's the first sign of
trouble. spiritual trouble, following Christ afar off. That's mentioned in Luke 22,
Matthew 26, and Mark 14. He followed the Lord afar off. God let Peter fall for Peter's
sake and for our sake. You see, Peter must be brought
down before the Lord can use him. He's got to bring him down. He's got to get him off that
high horse he's always riding. and bring him down to our level,
beggars. Moses, you know, when he first
made his self known as being the leader in Egypt, he killed
an Egyptian, and God took him and put him
back in the desert for 40 years to break him. to break him. He was raised up in Pharaoh's
house. You know how much arrogance that would produce? To be brought
up in nobility? But God's going to use a servant,
a sinner, and he's going to take Moses, put him in the backside
of a desert for forty years. Eighty years old when he says,
you know, when I was forty I could have done that, Lord. But I'm
80 now. Send somebody else. I'm slow
at speech. I'm no good at speaking. That's the kind of pastor you
want. That's the kind of pastor you want. You don't want somebody
trying to jump up here. You want someone that God puts
here. I will tell every young aspiring
preacher, young preacher, God knows where you're at. Just keep
doing what you're doing. Don't worry about it. He knows where you
are. Don't seek an office or position. Seek the Lord. Seek to know Him. Peter's got to be brought down,
just like Moses had to. But Peter's fall starts by following
Christ afar off, afar off. And then here's the second problem.
Here's the second spiritual problem, 16 and 17. Peter stood at the
door without, then he went out with that other disciple which
was known to the high priest and spake unto her. that kept
the door and brought in Peter. Then said the damsel that kept
the door unto Peter, Art thou not also one of this man's disciples? And he said, I'm not. Fear of
man. He followed the Lord afar off.
And now here comes an unthreatening maid, a damsel. And if there ever was a time
Peter could have spoke up, it was here. It was here. And he says, I don't know. I
don't know him. I'm not his disciple. I don't
know what you're talking about. He was given three opportunities
to stand up for Christ, as he said he would, and he failed
all three of them. And then here's another problem.
Peter warms himself with the wrong crowd. Peter warms himself with the
wrong crowd. In verse 18, and the servants
and officers stood there, the ones who took the Lord and bound
Him and led Him away. They stood there, who had made
a fire of coals, for it was cold, and they warmed themselves. And
Peter stood with them and warmed himself. He followed Christ too far off,
he denies being one of his disciples before that damsel, and now he
warms himself by the fire of the enemy. He went over there
with him and joined right in, stood there warming himself.
But I thought of this when I was reading this scripture here.
The fact that it was cold that night was really a God-sent trial. to Peter, and he failed it. He went over with the enemy,
stood there with them. What an opportunity to stand
up for the Lord. Though I die for thee, he said,
I'll not deny you, even if I have to die for you or with you, I'll
not deny you. And here's a good opportunity
not to deny the Lord. But he did. We become the company we keep. We
do. We do. And if we follow Christ afar
off, as Peter did here, we'll grow cold and we will end up
warming ourselves by the enemy's fire. It's dangerous to always
be missing this service. It's dangerous to just sporadically
just come to the service. It's dangerous. Because we'll
end up warming ourselves by the enemy's fire. And here's a powerful statement,
and Peter stood with them. Do you know who else that was
said of? In verse 5 of this chapter, And
Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them, and Peter stood
with them. Only grace makes the difference. Only grace. Grace is the only
thing that made the difference between Peter and Judas. It could
have just as easily been flipped. As I said in the Bible class
last week, it could have just as easily been Orpha going with
Naomi and Ruth going back to her parents and her gods, her
people and her gods. Could have just been that way.
That's the way we're concerned. And then He comes back in verse
19 to the trial. The Holy Spirit brings us back
to the trial. The high priest then asked Jesus
of His disciples and of His doctrine. He asked the Lord of His disciples
and of the doctrine. If this court was actually being
conducted properly, The high priest would be asking the witnesses.
He's got this in reverse. Does the court ask a man to come
into court and testify against himself? This thing is already done in
their hearts. They're going to murder him one
way or the other. This is going to happen. It's like, this is
how we're going to do it. We're going to make this happen.
They don't realize God's hand in it, but as far as they're
concerned, they're wicked hearts. We're going to make this happen. And they ask Him of His disciples
and of His doctrine, trying to trap Him with His own words.
What fool? Liars trying to trap truth. Fools
trying to trap wisdom, infinite wisdom. And then the Lord, and He answers.
And he always answers with wisdom, knowledge. You see, here we'll
see, he gets struck on the face, slapped in the face, but the
Lord is shooting at the heart. He shoots at the heart. So the Lord puts the high priest,
now he puts him on trial. He reaches into his heart. Boy,
I tell you, if God speaks to your heart, you're going to know
it. You're going to know it. It'll make you mad, sad, or glad.
It'll do something if it comes in power. And Jesus answered
him, I speak openly. And it's interesting that he
says it this way first. I speak openly to the world. showing the universality of his
message, going to all the world to preach the gospel. That's
what he told his disciples. I speak openly to the world.
The Gentiles heard him. I even taught in the synagogues
and in the temple where the Jews resort, where they always resort. In secret have I said nothing. Why are you asking me? They know the proper procedure.
That high priest knows the proper procedure. He said, why are you
asking me? We weren't hiding when I was
talking to them. I was openly speaking the truth. You notice how fearless our Lord
is. Peter, here's what a contrast. Our Lord is standing there and
He's controlling that situation. They don't know it. He's controlling
it. He's telling the truth. He's not afraid in any way, shape,
or form. Peter is scared to death. Peter
is scared to death. But our Lord's not afraid. He's
not afraid for the high priest to question them who heard Him.
Go ask them. Listen, if you want to know something
about a man, don't ask the man. Don't ask the man. Ask those
who know Him and have heard Him. They are the ones who know, who
can tell you who that man is. And our Lord said, go ask them. Our Lord spoke so plainly that
all who heard Him could tell what He said. They could tell. And this trial, if you'll notice,
it's all about what He said. It's all about His message. It's
all about the message of grace, isn't it? It's all about sovereign
mercy. God sovereignly saved me and passed by others. That's
the truth. You know the first time the Lord
spoke of God's sovereignty about that woman of Sarepta and the
lepers, many lepers in Israel, and God only healed one, Naaman,
Assyrian. And you know what they wanted
to do? They wanted to kill him. They tried to throw him off the
hill. They wanted to kill him. When God's sovereignty is preached
in salvation, that's when you'll find the human hatred against
God, that enmity. It's against God. You'll find
that when you start telling men and women of God's sovereignty. God is sovereign. And those whom
the Lord saved are glad that it's so. I'm glad that it's so. I would not be here right now.
And you wouldn't. Well, we might be here, but it
wouldn't be this gospel being preached. It'd be another gospel. And then, listen, verse 22, and
when he said this to the high priest, that officer struck him
on the face. He says, with the palm of his
hand, and over the margin, he said, with a rod. It doesn't
matter if it's a rod or a hand, he hit him. Over in the other
gospels, many hit him, it says. The whole crowd was striking
at him there in that place. But he hit him right in the face, which answers to the prophecy
in Micah 5.1. I'm not going to turn there,
but in Micah 5.1, smite the judge. That's what he said, he smite
the judge. When someone slaps you in the
face, it's one of the greatest displays of contempt. He slapped
him right in the mouth. And here's something interesting.
Here's a contrast. Paul called the high priest a
whited sepulcher. Remember that in the book of
Acts? Paul said, you whited sepulcher. And they slapped Paul in the
face. And he said, you don't speak to the high priest like
that. And Paul apologized. He said, I didn't know he was
the high priest. I apologize. Because you don't say anything
against the Lord's anointing. Our Lord does not apologize for
anything He says. There's no apologies. God never
apologizes for speaking the truth. If you tell the truth, you don't
have to apologize. And every time our Lord spoke,
He spoke the truth. And then the Lord answered him.
If I have spoken, see it has all to do with his, they didn't
call in the lame, the deaf, the dumb. He said, call those who
heard me. Not the ones I just healed. He's
not talking about calling all these that I healed and let them
walk in here, let the blind come in here and see. No, those who
heard me, call them. CALL THEM TO WITNESS. YOU WHO
HAVE HEARD CHRIST ARE HIS WITNESSES. WE ARE HIS WITNESSES. WE'VE HEARD
HIM. YOU CALL THEM, THEY'LL TELL YOU WHAT THEY HEARD. And He said, IF I'VE SPOKEN,
SEE? It's all about His Word, His
message. IF I'VE SPOKEN EVIL, BEAR WITNESS OF THE EVIL. BRING
IT FORTH. What a challenge! He's got this guy, he's got this
high priest on the hot seat. If you want this to be a real
proper court case, and I've spoken evil, bring forth the evidence. But if well, then why do you
smite me? One of the things that stands
out to me here is the calmness of our Lord. I guarantee he was
just speaking to them just like I'm speaking to you right now.
He just said, if I've done evil, then bring it forth. If good,
then why are you slapping me? Why are you hitting me? And Annas sent him bound unto
Caiaphas, the high priest, They wanted him to look like a criminal,
so they sent him down there. And then it goes back to Peter.
Now we go back to Peter. And Peter is 25, 27. Peter stood
and warmed himself. There he stands with the enemy.
And they said, Are you not one of his disciples? You know, over
in the other gospel it says, Your speech betrays you. Your
speech betrays you." And he denied it and said, I'm
not, I'm not his disciple. I'm not. This should be a reminder
to us of our weakness and of our constant need of our Lord
to strengthen us and keep us. In verse 27, and then Peter Peter then denied again, and immediately that rooster
crowed, and so did his conscience. I have no doubt when that rooster
crowed, and it says the Lord looked at him, and he remembered
what the Lord said, his conscience screamed at him. It screamed at him. And it says
he went out and he wept bitterly, bitterly. But how fitting was
our Bible class and this message coming together. The kinsman
redeemer, there he is, going forth to redeem us from our sins. that he might present us spotless
before the throne of his glory. I'll be thankful and every child
of God will be thankful when they leave this world and they
stand before God and we could truly worship him and thank him
as we ought to for saving us, redeeming us from our sins. I wish I could put that into
words. All right.