Alright, Matthew 26, we're going
to begin after we pray at verse 47. Let's ask the Lord to be
with us. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you. Thank you, Lord, that you have
seen fit to make restitution to your own justice for our offense. at the cost of the death of your
own dear son. Thank you that you have given
us this grace to know what you have done, and that you've even
given us your spirit, that we might believe you and realize
that you are no longer angry with us because of Christ, and
that we can trust you and realize that you always were good, but
we didn't know it because we were blinded by our sin, our
rebellion, And now we see Your goodness and Your grace towards
us in Christ. Thank You for this mercy, Lord.
We pray that You would be with us now as we look into Your Word
and bless us for Christ's sake. Show us our Savior, Your Son.
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Matthew 26. I've entitled this message, Almighty
Surety. Surety is a word we don't use
too much in the everyday communication in our world. So it's too bad,
too, because it's really, really a good word. And people don't
know what it is, and I'm always having to explain it if I use
it on the radio messages, because I know that if people hear me,
they probably won't understand the word surety. But just to
remind you again, what happened when Jacob had one son who had
been taken from him. He didn't know how. We know how.
But Joseph had been taken from him. His brothers thought to
kill him, but changed their mind and threw him into a pit. So
he was gone. Jacob never saw him again. He
was his best, his favorite son. His greatly loved son. So he
was extremely sorry for that. And then the famine came on the
land and Jacob had to send his other brothers to Egypt to get
grain, food for them to eat, because they heard there was
food in Egypt. But as you remember the story, when they all went
there, he didn't send Benjamin, who was Joseph's youngest son,
but he sent the rest. And when he went there, Joseph
recognized them and he wanted Benjamin, he wanted to see his
younger brother. He actually knew he wanted to
see Jacob again too, so he asked them about their father, he asked
them about their brother, and they answered, gave him words.
He sent them back away with some food, but he did it in such a
way that they would have to come back because he put a cup in
the sack of one of the men and they sent a servant out to catch
them with that cup in their sack and he brought them back and
he kept Simeon, one of the brothers, as sort of a prisoner and sent
the rest home and said, you can have Simeon when you bring your
youngest brother. So they were in trouble then. They knew that their father wouldn't
let their little brother go. But yet they had to live, so
they eventually got hungry again. Jacob wouldn't let Benjamin go,
he wouldn't let him go. And finally, Judah stepped forward,
not the oldest, but Judah, the fourth in line. He said, I will
be surety for him. to bring him again to you." So
he became a surety for Benjamin to Jacob, to bring Benjamin back
again. And what it meant for him to
be a surety, it meant for him to take on all of the responsibilities
for Benjamin if he were to get in trouble. So that he would
have to take those things that might come against Benjamin and
make sure he brought him back. And that's exactly what Judah
had to do when he came to Joseph, and Joseph accused Benjamin,
because he, again, did the same thing. Put the cup in Benjamin's
sack, and then they found it, of course, in Benjamin's sack.
Joseph accused Benjamin of the crime. Judah answered Joseph's
accusations with himself. And he pleaded his father's love
for his youngest son, and how he was his youngest son. And
he pleaded his long ago engagements with his father to become a surety
for his youngest son. And then he, of course, pleaded
himself when he said, take me instead of the lad. So I want
you to keep that in mind as we go through this surety. It says
in Hebrews 7.22 that Christ the Lord is made a surety of a better
testament. Now, you know what a testament
is? A testament is an agreement. It's a type of covenant. We know
what a testament is when we think about what's going to happen
when we die. We say, well, I want to make sure that my money or
my property or whatever I have goes to these people. And we
write it down. It's called a will, a last will
and testament. It's an obligation we're going
to fulfill when we die. And the blessings, or the possessions
we have, are going to go to those who are named in the Testament. And Jesus is a surety of a better
Testament. He made the Testament. He made
promises. God made promises in that Testament. And He named those who would
receive those promises in that Testament. They're all written
in the Lamb's Book of Life. That's why it's called the Lamb's
Book of Life. And His blood is what made those
blessings promised in that covenant go into force. Because when the
testator dies, the person who made the will dies, then everything
in that will is given to those named in the will. So that's
why I say that the Lord Jesus is a surety of a better testament.
And the surety is used throughout Scripture. In Psalm 119 it says,
"...be surety unto thy servant for good." The psalmist asked
the Lord to be his surety. What prayer of faith that is
to take God's Word, the revelation of what a surety is, and ask
God to be a surety for me in Christ. Because that's a revelation
God has made. That's what He's done for us
in Christ. The Old Testament speaks according to Scripture
of Christ and Him crucified. So when it spoke of of Judah
standing for Benjamin before Joseph on behalf of his father.
We see the Lord Jesus Christ standing to God's justice and
God's law on behalf of His people. because of his father's engagement,
his promise to his father, his father's love for his own adopted
sons. What a marvelous grace of God
that He would do this for us. So now let's, with that as an
introduction, let's look at this in Matthew chapter 26 beginning
at verse 47. He says in verse 46, Jesus told
his disciples, rise, let us be going, behold, he is at hand
that doth betray me. The one who is going to betray
Jesus is Judas, and he was coming. He was speaking this to the three
disciples who were there, Peter, James, and John. They were sleeping,
remember? And he comes back to them after praying for the third
time and asking his father, if there be any other way that this
cup can pass from me, nevertheless, not my will, but what you want,
what your will is. And then he comes back to them
and he tells them that he's at hand that does betray me. And
he says in verse 47, And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one
of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords
and staves, swords and clubs, from the chief priests and elders
of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave
him a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he. Hold him fast. So Judas had already
arranged beforehand that he was going to identify Jesus by giving
him a kiss. It was dark, but they had lanterns
and torches so they could see people, but they wouldn't be
able to tell which one, who it was. They wanted to make sure
they arrested the right person, and so Judas found him and identified
him by coming to him and kissing him. In verse 49 it says what
Judas said to him when he did that. He says, "...and forthwith
he came to Jesus and said, Hail, Master, and kissed Him. And Jesus said to Judas, Friend,
wherefore art thou come?" In other words, why are you come
now? Then came they, and they laid hands on Jesus, and took
Him. And behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched
out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of a high
priest, and smote off his ear. that someone that did that was
Peter. It doesn't say that in Matthew,
Mark, or Luke, but it does say it in the Gospel of John. John's
Gospel was written many years later, so many years later that
it would not have been a danger for him to mention Peter in that
account. That perhaps was the reason why
Matthew, Mark, and Luke didn't do it, so they wouldn't identify
Peter, because he was guilty of being militant against the
soldiers who came for Jesus. Verse 52, Then said Jesus to
them, to him, to Peter, Put up again thy sword into his place,
for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
Now, it doesn't mean that we are not to have the sword. We don't use swords to correct
people. We use swords to kill. Sword
isn't meant to spank. It's meant to kill, inflict mortal
punishment. In Romans chapter 13, the government
doesn't wield the sword in vain. In other words, the government
is designed by God to to enforce God's laws, even unto death,
and it's God's giving that sanction to the government in order to
uphold His laws. So the sword here doesn't mean,
when Jesus says it, it doesn't mean that the government isn't
supposed to use the sword, isn't supposed to use capital punishment. They are. That's what God has
given them. that responsibility to do. It's a very awesome responsibility,
and they're to do it in the fear of God. Remember David said in
2 Samuel 23, he that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the
fear of God. But anyway, verse 53. So there's
a place, remember Ecclesiastes 3, there's a time and a place
for everything under heaven. There's a time to use the sword,
there's a time not to use it. In this case, it was not time
to use the sword, and I'll touch on that in just a minute. "'Thinkest
thou,' the Lord Jesus says to Peter and to His disciples who
all were now with Him, He says, "'Thinkest thou that I cannot
pray to my Father?' And He shall presently give me more than twelve
legions of angels?" He could have. He could have said, Lord,
Father, I want twelve legions of angels against this mob, this
army that came against Him. But He didn't. Because He says
why in verse 54, "...but how then shall the Scriptures be
fulfilled that thus it must be?" What Jesus did, He did to fulfill
Scriptures because that was the revealed will of God. They used
to keep the Scriptures on a scroll, and they would unroll it and
read from that scroll, because that's the best way to preserve
the papers, not by folding it tightly like we do when we fold
paper. And they couldn't bind it easily
in a book in those days, so they rolled it on a scroll, and from
the top of that scroll to the end of that scroll, called the
volume of the book, it was written of what Jesus would do. And Hebrews
chapter 10 says that was the entirety of what Christ would
do is offering Himself to His Father in payment for the sins
of His people, to make atonement for sins. So He says, how then
shall the Scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be? And then
it says in verse 55, ìIn that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes,
Are you come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to
take me? I sat daily with you teaching
in the temple, and you laid no hold on me. But all this was
done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.
Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled." And then it says
in the next verse, which we'll get to next time, that they laid
their hands on Him, and they took Him away to Caiaphas, the
high priest. There's several things in this text of Scripture
I want to draw your attention to, but before I go into any
detail, I want you to look at the summary of what's happened
here, the summary of Christ's sufferings. Remember, and think
about this, I want you to understand this, that Peter at this time
seems to have had no concept of the fact that Jesus must suffer
and die in order to redeem his people from their sins. Because
he takes out his sword, he tries to defend him against the soldiers,
and Jesus tells him, put up your sword. How will it be fulfilled
if I call twelve legions of angels to deliver me from these men?
It was his purpose to suffer, and that's what comes out here. And the fact that Christ suffered
is the theme of what this is about. That's why I entitled
this sermon, Our Almighty Surety. But here in Lamentations 1.12,
it says, Is it nothing to you, all you that pass by? Behold
and see, if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is
done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day
of his fierce anger. Again, that's speaking of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Peter didn't have the concept
then, but later on he did. He understood it clearly because
God made known to him. He took the words, the Spirit
of God took the words Christ had spoken and revealed to him
later what they meant. So in 1 Peter 1, Peter says that
the prophets of old It says in 1 Peter 1, 9, that
we receive the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls. That
means the end of our faith means what we believe, what we hope
for. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently. Now the prophets were those to
whom God gave His word in the Old Testament. And Peter says
here, now you can, it's an entirely different Peter, isn't it? These
prophets searched. They inquired and searched diligently,
who prophesied of the grace that should come to you." 1 Peter
1.10. And then in verse 11 he says, "...they, searching what,
or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ," it was Christ Himself,
"...which was in them, did signify," when the Spirit of Christ, "...testified
beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should
follow." all that was written in the Scripture was about what?
The sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.
That's a summation of the entirety of all of Scripture, which agrees
with everything else we've seen. So what we're looking at here
is the sufferings of Christ. He was assaulted by Satan. Remember
when he was first tempted? And after he was tempted, it
says in Luke 4.13 that Satan left him for a season. Well,
in the garden he came back. And he afflicted him while he
was suffering and exceeding great sorrow in his soul. Heavy because
of the thought of what was coming upon him. Heavy because of the
sins that he was bearing. Heavy because he knew it was
his father's hand. He was betrayed by a friend. He was arrested
by wicked men. The religious world joined in
force with the political world and came against him. He was
forsaken by those he loved. He was hated by his own nation,
falsely accused and beaten, mocked, crowned with thorns, stripped,
rejected in preference for a murderer, condemned to death. And then
he was hung on a cross as a criminal among thieves. They bartered
for his garments. And they mocked him because he
trusted God, and yet he hung there, apparently under the power
of their will. He was made sin. He was forsaken
by his father. And he suffered all that he suffered
for the sins of his people. His sufferings were because of
my sin. against God. Romans 4.25 says,
He was delivered for our offenses. In Isaiah 53, He was wounded
for our transgressions. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him. He suffered for His people, the
sheep, the church, the elect of God, His brethren. the children
given to him by God, his wife, the seed of Abraham. These are
all the phrases God uses to describe for whom Christ died. He suffered
to bring them to God, to be their God, to give himself to them
and to have them for his own inheritance. So in Song of Solomon
it says, my beloved is mine. and I am his, and the Lord's
portion is his people, Jacob is the lot of his inheritance,
and the Lord is my portion forever." These are the things that Christ
suffered for his people, to have them and they to have him. Now,
I want to consider now, just briefly, the agony of the Lord
Jesus in the Garden. Remember, He was suffering in
all these ways that I just mentioned. But in the Garden, Satan did
launch his fiercest attacks and tempted Him. Remember, Satan
attacked Adam in the Garden of Eden. Satan assaulted Christ
in his first temptation, and now he assaults him again, when
the sweat fell to the ground as great drops of blood. He was
pressed in the place of the olive press in the Garden of Gethsemane,
in order that we might be given spiritual life, comfort, peace,
and joy in God. But he trusted his God, and though
his soul was heavy, though his soul was exceeding sorrowful,
he trusted in him. And he prayed to the Lord in
all of his sorrow, and the Lord heard him. And the Lord hearing
Christ is the Lord hearing his people. The Lord receiving Christ
from the dead is the Lord receiving his people from the dead. But
he was betrayed by Judas, and here we have it in the full expression
of it. Judas was a friend, and I mentioned
this last time, that the Lord allowed himself to trust Judas
in order that he might suffer at the betrayal of Judas. But
he betrayed him by a kiss. Now, you know that's not what
a kiss is for. The use of friendship here actually
amplifies the suffering. I thought about this thing about
a kiss in Scripture. It turns out that a kiss was
a common way of greeting, welcoming people. Jesus told the Pharisee,
when he went to Simon's house, he said, when the woman was pouring
out her tears on his feet and washing his feet with her hair,
he says to Simon, because Simon was offended by this woman because
she was a sinner, a well-known sinner, and he said, He said,
you didn't give me any kiss. That was the way, that was the
form of greeting in those days to show respect. And when it
was done properly, when you give someone a kiss, it's really an
expression of self-effacing. That means you're humbling yourself
and giving honor to that person and admiration and tender affection. It's a way of humbling yourself
and opening your heart in order to show them outwardly that you're
interested in disclosing your thoughts in fellowship to them,
to make them feel welcome. to put them at ease. Peter and
Paul both wrote to the church that they should greet one another
with a holy kiss. Peter called it a kiss of charity.
A kiss is an expression of tender love. When we kiss someone in
this way, we're saying, when we kiss someone with a kiss of
charity, a holy kiss, we're really saying that we receive them for
Christ's sake. that we care for them and that
fellowship with them in Christ is our great desire. That's what
the holy kiss means. We're members of his body. We're
members one with one another and members of Christ's body.
So when Paul told the Ephesians they wouldn't see him again anymore
in Acts chapter 20, the Ephesians wept sore and kissed him on the
neck. And I'm sure that, although it
never mentions it here in the New Testament, I'm sure that
the other disciples, when they came to Jesus, after having been
apart from Him for a while, and coming to Him, they would have
greeted Him with a kiss. Because that's what a kiss is
for, is to show that tender affection, and adoration, and desire for
fellowship. We're commanded in the Psalms
to kiss the Son. Psalm 2, verse 12. Therefore,
what we see here when Judas kissed Jesus, it was the greatest expression
of hypocrisy possible. He came to him acting deliberately,
knowingly acting out one role, one form of love for him, but
really in his heart he only had treachery to turn him over to
those who were going to kill him. And so when we say the Judas
kiss, everybody knows what that means. It's the highest form
of treachery and hypocrisy. And so Jesus asked him, do you
betray the Son of Man with a kiss? Remember when God spoke to Cain
after Cain killed his brother in Genesis chapter 4? He says,
where's your brother? And Cain, you know, I'm trying to think of the word,
you know, he arrogantly and stubbornly says, ah, am I my brother's keeper?
And the Lord didn't. Whenever the Lord confronts sinners
in this way, He pricks their conscience. It's not like God
is yelling and screaming in uncontrolled anger at them because he's frustrated. He just said, he said to Cain,
Why are you wroth? Why are you angry? Why is your
countenance fallen? If you do well, shall you not
be accepted? And if you don't do well, sin
lies at the door. And so he tells him these things
in advance, just like Peter did now here with Judas. He says,
You're betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" And you could say,
well, Judas was ordained by God. This was going to happen. I mean,
how could you really blame Judas since he couldn't do anything
but this? Because it was God's will that Scripture be fulfilled
in this way. And it's true. It was. But think
about this. It was also God's will to warn
Judas. It was also God's will that when
Joseph spoke to his brothers and said, I had this dream and
in my dream the eleven sheaves were bowing down to me. We were
in the field stacking up these sheaves of wheat and the eleven
bowed down to my sheave. And they were angry. This was
God's counsel. That they were going to bow down
to Joseph in the future. And they rejected that counsel.
And they were angry at him. And they envied Jacob's love
for Joseph. So what did they do? They were
angry, and they tried to kill him in order to avoid the fulfillment
of that dream, the counsel of God. But in their anger, they
actually carried out the will of God. Because they cast him
into the pit, sold him into slavery, he went into Egypt, God raised
him up to be governor, they were brought back because of the famine,
and they actually did bow down to their brother in fulfillment.
And so we see in this that God actually fulfills His will in
all of the works of men, even the evil works. And that's an
amazing thing, when we think about it. God is sovereign. He
always does His will, and He tells us His will before He does
it, in order that when it comes to pass, we'll know that it was
Him who did it. And it was prophesied before
that Judas would do this, and when he did it, Jesus brought
attention to this. In Proverbs 19, verse 21, it
says this, Proverbs 19, 21, "...there are many devices in a man's heart, Nevertheless, the counsel of
the Lord, that shall stand." Men devise all sorts of things.
God's counsel will stand, and His will will be done. Ephesians 111 says, "...he worketh
all things according to the counsel of his own will." All the time,
God does His will. In Psalm 76, it tells us that
even This, in Psalm 76, he says, "...surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee, and the remainder of wrath thou shalt restrain."
This is the power of our God, that He works together all things
for the good of His people to fulfill His will, and in doing
so shows His almighty power, even against the evil thoughts
and works of men, in order to fulfill His will to save His
people and to bring about His salvation. This is why God can
say in Romans 8, 28, we know that all things work together
for good to them that are the called according to His purpose. God is going to use everything
to His people's good. It says in Acts chapter 2, in
verse 22, Peter is preaching here. And this is Peter now after
this has happened. And Christ is risen from the
dead and gone back to heaven. He tells the Israelites, see
the change in Peter. He says, you men of Israel, hear
these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by Him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know,
Him, just like Joseph, being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain." It was God's will that Christ
should suffer at the hands of wicked men. That's why He was
betrayed. That's why God's will was done,
even though the men had a different motive in mind. Their motive
was evil. Caiaphas had prophesied in John
chapter 11 that Jesus would die for the people, the nation, that
he would die for the sons of God scattered abroad. But his
intent in saying that was, since it's necessary that one man die
for the people, let's put him to death in order to retain our
place to these people, our position in the religion, and in our place
in this world. His motive was only evil, and
yet what he said and what he did fulfilled God's will. And
so we see that here in Judas' betrayal. So, that's what Judas
used the kiss for. And it added to the agony of
the Lord Jesus. I mentioned them before. You
remember how these betrayers in the Old Testament, remember
Joab, the captain in David's army? When David, King David,
had made peace with Abner, the king, in Saul's army? And after
he made peace with Abner, Joab and Abishai brothers took Abner
outside and they talked to him quietly. And while they're talking
to him, Joab takes out his sword and kills him. That's called
betrayal. It's called treachery. And David
made Joab pay for that crime. Later had Solomon put him to
death. And then, remember, I've mentioned these. Ahithophel betrayed
David. Ahithophel was his counselor.
Absalom, David's own son, betrayed him. He went out and stood in
the gate. People would come, and Absalom
would greet them and treat them with all this buttery kindness,
even giving them kisses and all kinds of things. You can see
his his hypocrisy in order to overthrow his father's kingdom.
That was Absalom's intention from the beginning. I mentioned
Joseph's brothers. They betrayed him. And in all
these we see the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ according
to the will of God to fulfill Scripture. Isn't it amazing that
God fulfills His will? Now, when the Lord Jesus did
this, He knew that Judas was going to betray Him. He knew
that these men were coming. And yet he doesn't resist. He
submits himself to the will of God. He doesn't ask God to deliver
him out of their hands. He doesn't ask God to keep him
from going to the cross. He doesn't ask God to keep him
from suffering all the shame and the reproach of men. But
he does ask God to save him after he has fulfilled God's will.
He puts his case in the hand of God. That's what we should
do. And Romans 8 teaches us that. Hebrews 11 teaches us that. Through
all the sufferings of life. We should look to God and trust
Him that His will is being done, because we look to Christ and
see in Christ all of our salvation and acceptance before God. We
know that God from the beginning has not only chosen us to salvation,
but He will work out that salvation in our life in every detail and
bring us to glory. And even the things that are
for our sorrow, and distress, and even our death is working
to God's glory. And so in our submission to the
will of God, we're actually giving God glory by believing Him in
these things. And so Christ did. Look at 1
Peter chapter 2. A couple of verses here to look
at. I just want you to, I want to, I like to reflect on the
change in Peter. 1 Peter. The book of 1 Peter,
I'm going to look at chapter 1 before I go to chapter 2. Just
listen to these words, they're familiar. Verse 18, chapter 1,
for as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible
things. As silver and gold from your
vain conversation received by traditions from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation
of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
who by Him do believe in God that raised Him up from the dead."
Our faith is by Him. By Him we believe in God that
raised Him up from the dead and gave Him glory, that your faith
and hope might be in God. Seeing you have purified your
souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love
of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure
heart fervently." You see those two things mentioned? Peter mentions
faith in Christ, faith towards God, and love towards the brethren. Fervently. being born again,
not of corruptible seed, not by our fathers, but of incorruptible,
by the word of God, that's the seed, which liveth and abideth
forever. For all flesh is as grass, what
we are by nature is just grass, and all the glory of man as the
flower of grass. The grass withereth, the flower
thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached to you. That word, that seed, which is
in us, by which we're born of God, endures forever. Therefore we are going to endure
in that life that God has given us in our souls. That's Peter.
It's a different Peter, isn't it? Look at chapter 2, verse
22. Verse 21 says, "...for even hereunto were you called, because
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you
should follow his steps, who did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth." In other words, his sufferings weren't
because of his sin. who, when he was reviled, reviled
not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously,
who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness,
by whose stripes you were healed." And look at chapter four, verse
Verse 19, Peter learned something about this, didn't he? He learned that Christ's sufferings were
for His salvation. He learned that He was suffering
because of His offenses. He Himself bore our sins in His
own body on the tree. And He learned that His sufferings
were according to the will of God, ordained before the foundation
of the world, and by that will we are redeemed by His blood.
And so he said, and now we live in this world as Christians,
believing Christ, looking to Christ, knowing that in all things
of our life, the Lord is in it and we can trust Him just like
our Savior did. Because if we're in Christ, then
we also will be delivered. So that's something I wanted
you to see the contrast between Peter then and Peter now. But
then, the next thing we see in Matthew 26 is how this religion,
which was really a false religion, joined forces with these political
powers against the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what Psalm chapter
2 says, "...why do the heathen rage, and the people of the earth
imagine a vain thing?" I'm trying to remember exactly how it goes.
"...but they set themselves against the Lord, and against His anointed."
And it says here, In Psalm chapter 2, he says, they say, "...let us break their
bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. He that sits in
the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision."
That's the way it is. God's going to get His will in
this whole thing. And the people who came against
Christ are going to lose. And that's the thing we see in
this. The one thing that's not clear to the natural eye in this,
when you read the sufferings of Christ, is this is actually
describing His victory. His victory. These men came,
have you ever heard that? He showed up, he came with a
knife to a gun battle. These men came with physical
weapons to spiritual war. They had no power. It's like
showing up with a grenade and the other guy has a hydrogen
bomb. No, it's much worse than that. Here the Lord Jesus Christ
comes according to the will of God, to do God's will, and they
show up with swords and clubs. And that's the way religion does.
They fight with material things, with physical things. But God's
kingdom is not built, and our weapons that we fight with are
not physical, material things. Not things you can touch and
feel. But what are our weapons? What do we fight with? What has
God given us? It's spiritual things. He says in 2 Corinthians
10, Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh,
for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Not physical,
material, tangible things. But mighty through God to the
pulling down of strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10 verse 5. Casting
down imaginations and every high thought that exalted itself against
the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought
to the obedience of Christ. You see, it's God's Word. It's the Gospel that's the power
of God to salvation. We don't have processes. We don't have recipes by which
we get people to be saved or try to build God's church. There's
only one thing God has given, and that's the power of His Gospel
preached to men, and God's Spirit giving men faith in Christ, to
look to Him. That's the only thing. If God
doesn't do it, then we build the house in vain. But if the
Lord sends His Word, He will accomplish whatever He pleases
with that Word. And so we send the Word. And
we trust God that He'll save His people. That He'll not only
save His people, but bless His people with His Word. And that's
why we do this. And so they came to this fight,
as it were, with these things. But we don't trust in chariots.
Psalm 20 verse 7 says, Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. Hosea 14
verse 3 says, Asher shall not save us. We will not ride on
horses, neither will we say any more to the work of our hands.
You are our gods, for in thee the fatherless finds mercy. We
trust in the Lord, not in these things. They came with swords
and clubs to subdue the prince of peace. Isn't that odd? Isn't that ironic that they came
with these weapons of warfare against the Prince of Peace.
And they came with lanterns and torches to find the light of
the world, because they were blind in their unbelief. They
came to take hold, men and flesh and blood came to take hold of
the Lord of Glory. They came to arrest as a criminal
the Savior of the world. Not every man, woman, and person
in this world. He didn't come to save every
person in this world. But the Lord, had He not left
us a remnant, those He chose to save, according to the election
of grace, then we, the whole world, would have been as Sodom
and Gomorrah. But He saved His people. He saved the world because
He saved His people out of the world. The Gospel as I said,
is the power of God. Not by might, nor by power, but
by my Spirit, says the Lord, we overcome by faith in Christ,
who was crucified to bring us to God. Our faith is the victory,
because by faith we look to the blood of Christ and overcome
by His blood. So, I mentioned Peter, I mentioned
his misguided zeal, I mentioned the fact that he thought that
he could take up physical weapons in this battle. He was zealous
for many things, just like many people today claim to be doing
the Lord's work in this way by trying to instigate civil, trying
to put in place civil laws in order to bring about the victory
of the Word of God in our lives, or religious philosophies, or
psychology, social programs, and all sorts of things that
really amount to wood, hay, and stubble, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians
3, verse 12. But I want you to just think
about this for a little while. The Lord Jesus Christ in all
of this was the victor. He demonstrated His power over
His captors. Remember what He says in John
18? They came to Him in John 18. You might want to turn there.
John 18. This is the same time. And John writes about it from
a different perspective. He says, In verse 3, Judas, John
18, 3, "...Judas, having received a band of men and officers from
the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns
and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all
things that should come upon him, went forth to them and said
to them, Whom seek ye?" They answered him. Now you can see
it's night time. It's on this hill, this garden.
And these guys are coming. There's a huge army. It's not
like 10 or 12 men. It was like, I think it was,
no one really knows how many, but the words used here, it was
a large contingency. And they came with them, these
clubs and swords and lanterns and torches and all these men
and Judas at the head and the servant of the high priest right
in there at the lead. And they're looking for Jesus
and Jesus asked them, Who are you looking for? And they said,
Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus said to them, I am. And when he said that, Judas
also, which betrayed them, stood with them. Judas was on their
side now. In verse 6, as soon then as he had said unto them,
I am, They went backward and fell to the ground. This demonstrates
Christ's authority, doesn't it? Here come all these men to take
Him captive, and He just speaks to them, and they all are driven
back and fall to the ground. You'd think at that time they'd
get up and leave. But they didn't. Because it was
God's will, so He asks them again. He draws them forth. First He
speaks to them, and they fall back. Then He speaks to them
again, and they come forward. Isn't this the Lord giving Himself?
He has control over the whole thing. As soon then as He said
to them that they fell back and went to the ground, He asked
them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Perhaps a little quieter this
time. And Jesus answered, I have told you that I am. If therefore
you seek Me, let these go their way. That's not what you say
when you're without power, is it? You don't say, now, first
of all, you're going to be driven back by my word. Secondly, you're
going to be pulled back to me when I ask you what you're seeking.
And then secondly, thirdly, I'm going to tell you what you can
and cannot do. If you seek me, then let these
go their way. This is a principle. This is
a very, very important principle here. The Lord Jesus not only
had power over them, but He gave Himself into their hands. No
man takes my life from me, I lay it down of myself. I have power
to lay it down, I have power to take it again. This commandment
have I received from my Father. That's what He says in John 10.
So, and when the Lord said this, He's really referring to these
men, He's speaking to these men as the one who is going to redeem
His people. And in redeeming his people,
he's going to give his life a ransom for them, for many. Matthew 20,
verse 28. He's going to give His life a
ransom for many. But when He gives His life a ransom for them,
He has a requirement in giving His life. It's a voluntary giving
of Himself. He's going to suffer. He's going
to pay the price. He's going to purchase them.
But He's going to have them. And when He has them, He's going
to require that they be set free. That's what redemption is. Being
set at liberty. Set free from their sins. Set free from the wrath of God
that justly was upon them. Set free from every claim against
them because He was going to fulfill that claim and establish
their righteousness. He's going to give them all the
blessings in that covenant by fulfilling it. But with his father
in that agreement he made in eternity. In eternity he required
that his father set them free in exchange for himself as a
ransom. And so he says that here to these
men with power and great authority. He's the one they must obey. And so he says, if you seek me,
if you accept me for these, then let these go free. Payment, according
to Augustus' top lady. Payment God will not twice demand. First at my bleeding surety's
hand, and then again at mine. Look at Zechariah chapter 9.
A beautiful, beautiful verse that speaks to this. Zechariah
chapter 9. One of those verses you could
highlight this in your Bible if you want to. I try not to
highlight things, but I do write in my Bible, I confess. Some
people don't do that. I underline things, I write little
notes on the side and stuff to remember what I was thinking
at the time. Anyway, Zechariah 9, verse 11,
it's underlined. It says, listen to that, This is the Lord speaking to
His Son. By the blood of Thy covenant, I have sent forth Thy
prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. This is the prisoners
of hope, He says in the next verse. The prisoners are those
who are captive, held captive under the wages of sin. Held
captive as the servants of sin. But remember in Romans chapter
5, In Romans chapter 5 where he says, "...where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound, that as sin, as a tyrant, reigned
unto death, even so might grace reign, with the same authority
and the same saving power more so." in Romans chapter 5. Grace reigns
here when Christ says this to the captors who come to take Him. You can
take me. In fact, You are to take me, but when
you do, let these go their way." We're free because Christ gave
himself a ransom to God for us. In Job 33 he says, "...if there
be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show
unto man his uprightness, then he is gracious to him, and saith,
Deliver him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom."
That's our salvation, isn't it? The slave sinned. We're the slaves. We sinned, but the Son suffered. The shepherd for the sheep is
offered. The Lord of the world became
a servant in the world. He in whose hands are all things
gave himself a ransom for many. He alone whose right it is to
rule made obedience his rule of life. The Prince of Life laid
down his life. The glory of God, the Lord of
Glory, was made a reproach among men." The Lord of Glory made
a reproach among men. How can we understand this? God's
wrath was poured out on the Prince of Peace. This is what our Savior
did here. He put Himself in harm's way.
He answered All of justice's demands with himself, just like
Judah, our heavenly surety, made our surety in the everlasting
covenant of grace before the foundation of the world. Now,
I mentioned this before, but all men ultimately fulfill the
will of Christ. And I've tried to explain that
to you through those verses that we did. Even Balaam, remember
Balaam? He said, you know, I can't do this. I can't go and curse
Israel because God told, they're blessed and God won't let me
go. But then he ended up going. And even though he did it disobediently,
what he spoke, and Balaam was not a, he was a wicked man, it
says later in the New Testament. He spoke God's word and he actually
blessed Israel according to God's word. And so we see that here.
David said, God sent Shimei to curse me. let him curse, who
can tell that the Lord might turn his curse into a blessing?"
And that's what the Lord did here. He turned the curse of
our enemies into a blessing because we were let go in order for our
surety to be taken. We do ask these questions when
we see the will of God being fulfilled like this. Ultimately,
if God's will is all that comes to pass, we wonder how men can
be held accountable for their actions. But men are accountable
for their actions to God and we know it's right because God
holds them accountable. We might not understand how God
can hold men accountable and yet know all their actions beforehand. And direct their actions to fulfill
His will and show His glory and His power in doing that. We see
that. Can we explain it all? I can't.
Maybe you can, but I can't. But we can trust God that He's
good. And we know that He does right. We know He's just. And
we know men are sinful. And we know they receive due
rewards for their sins. They're accountable for their
actions. But God, even though men are accountable for their
actions, God is responsible for our life and our faith. That's
the glory of it. We're accountable for our sins,
but God is responsible for our life. Death, according to Romans
6.23, is the payback for sin, but eternal life is the free
gift of God. That's the blessing here. Can
you see it? What a wonderful Savior. And
the thing of it is, as I see this, in the way the Lord Jesus
allowed Judas to come up to Him and kiss Him like that, it was
obvious that He did allow that. It was His will, because it was
God's will that He do that. But we see that the Lord was
like that towards towards men, especially his disciples. Remember
John 6.37, he says, "...all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me, and him that cometh to me..." What are the next words?
"...I will in no wise cast out." God says in Psalms 2.12, "...kiss
the son, lest he be angry with you, and you perish when his
wrath is kindled but a little." The Lord Jesus Christ, when He
walked on this earth, was approachable. Men felt comfortable coming to
Him, even kissing Him. He doesn't change. He's the same
yesterday, today, and forever. The Lord is still today, the
Lord Jesus Christ, meek and lowly, and able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by Him. We should come to Him. We should
come to Him knowing that He gave Himself for us. Come to Him trusting
that He did, because that's the only way we come to God. Like
the song we sang earlier said, I come not with faltering lip,
but I come knowing that I'm accepted in Christ. Let's pray. Lord,
we pray that you'd give us this grace to see that we can, in
fact, indeed, come to the Lord Jesus Christ, because He He Himself
has made Himself the Savior of sinners. And we come to Him as
sinners, not trusting what we are, not bringing anything from
ourselves, but coming and looking to Him for all grace, even grace
to come, faith to believe, love to love Him. We come for every
need. Help us to realize in this coming, in this command of His
to kiss the Son, that we are to open our hearts, knowing that
He will receive sinners and He will receive them because this
is the will of God, because He bore their sins. Help us, Lord,
to know that He is the sovereign Lord of glory, and that He saves
by His will at full cost to Himself, out of love and grace, not found
in us, but in Himself, and help us to give Him glory all the
days of our lives. Lord, we pray, look upon Your
Son and receive us, remember Him, and remember us in Him.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.