where Mr. Baker was reading for
us this morning, John chapter 13, if you would turn your Bibles
there. Keep your Bibles on your lap.
If you don't mind, you'll need them. I just have one verse of
Scripture that I want to read to you, and that's verse 30. John's Gospel chapter 13 and
verse 30. And having received the sop, he went out immediately, and
it was night. If you were here when Mr. Baker
read our text for us, you realize here that he's speaking of Judas
Iscariot, the traitor who had betrayed the Son of God unto
death. I was thinking about this little short statement. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will
put little statements like this, and it was not in the Scripture,
and we're apt to read over them, and we'll never really stop to
consider why they're here until we look in the context. And when we look in the context
of a short passage of Scripture like this, It makes sense. It brings great meaning to this
verse. And this is our subject this
morning, and it was night. I want to look at this in three
ways. I want to look at it in the sense
that it was the crucifixion of our Lord. It was the night in
which He was betrayed and was going to the cross. When we consider
that, we'll understand why the Holy Spirit was pleased to put
this little word in here, and it was not. The Lord Jesus Christ
was born without sin. He lived without sin. He could
not sin. And He was ready to be made sin.
And it was not. And it was not. That will be
our first point. The second point is, when we
consider the veil of darkness that had come over the mind of
these apostles, their thinking was so clouded, they couldn't
understand anything our Lord was saying to them. When we consider
them, we'll understand why the Holy Spirit said, and it was
night. Then thirdly, I want us to consider Judas here in verse
30. that had just gone out to betray
the Lord Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. And how ironic it
is that it was not when He did that. So that's the three points
I want us to look at. But the first point to me is
very solemn. I want you to go with me this
morning outside the old city walls of Jerusalem. And I want
you to climb this hill with me that's so appropriately called
the place of a skull. And may God give us eyes to see
this morning who is hanging there, that bleeding farm. But He'll
have to give us eyes because darkness is ready to fill the
entire land. I want us to pierce through that
darkness and see the Lord Jesus hanging there upon the cross
I want also for the Lord to give us some ears to hear the groanings
of our Lord, some of the things that He said while He was hanging
there. But we'll have to listen closely
because the crowd is so loud with their mockings and their
hecklings, mocking the Prince of Peace while He suffers shame
and pain. And come with me this morning
up this hill, and when we get to the top, we gaze upon this
bleeding farm, and the first thing I see is his pierced feet,
pierced by spats that hold him to the wood. We see his legs
as they tremble through weakness to hold up the weight of his
body. Lift your eyes just a little
higher and you'll see His naked waist as it exposed the shame
to this jeering crowd. Lift your eyes just a little
higher and you'll see the face that's marred more than any man. You'll see the blood as it slowly
seeps from the holes and pores in His skin where His beard had
been plucked out. See the tongue that had swollen
against his jaws from dehydration. See those eyes that are black
and blue from the beating of the Roman soldiers. Lift your
eyes a little higher and you can see the brow that was pierced
with many a thorns. And you can see those black locks
now wet with sweat and blood. Walk with me around behind the
cross and behold His back that He gave to the smiters. Look
at the deep pharaohs that have been plowed in His flesh as ditches
in a garden. Look closer and you'll see the
whites of the bones as they pierce His mingle flesh. Continue to
walk around the cross with me and look at the twisted form
of His body. His bones were out of joint. See the outstretched arms and
the hands that were nailed to the wood. Do you see His blood
flowing from His face? Flowing from His head? Flowing
out from beneath His hair? Do you see His blood coming from
His feet puddled up upon the ground? Can we not begin to understand
this morning why the Holy Spirit would put this little phrase
in our text? And it was not. Truly, it was
not when our Savior hung upon the cross. But come even closer
with me and you'll have to come closer and hear His groanings
over this heckling crowd. And this is what He says, I am
poured out like water. My moisture is turned into the
drought of summer. My strength is dried up like
a posture. Reproach has broken my heart,
and I am filled with heaviness. Darkness had now come over all
the land, but that darkness that was over the land could not be
compared to the darkness that had come between the mind of
our Lord and heaven. He was dark in His mind. There
was no bright cloud to come over His head. There was no voice
saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. There
was nothing but darkness, physical darkness and spiritual darkness. There was no one upon this earth
that could comfort Him, and heaven would not comfort Him. Not only
had man forsaken Him, but God had forsaken him. Not only was
he suffering the wrath of this earth, but he was suffering the
wrath of heaven. Truly, it was night. Listen to
how he says this, Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness,
in the deeps. Thy wrath lies hard upon me,
and Thou hast afflicted me with all Thy ways. Thou hast put away
my quaintness from me. Thou hast made me an abomination
unto them. I am shut up, and I cannot come
forth." Can you see Him hanging there this morning? Hanging there
in His blood? Can you hear His groanings? Was
there ever grief like His? Those sacrificial lambs in the
Old Testament, when they skinned them, blood was everywhere. from their head to their toes,
blood. Can you imagine Him hanging there,
the Son of God, the Son of Mary? And He is hanging in His blood,
red in His blood. Jesus, our crucified Savior,
opens up His heart to us. Yes, the darkness is over the
land. We have to peer close to see
His suffering, but we can see it, can't we? He has opened up
His heart to us. His heart is broken, He says,
and He tells us that. His body is wounded, and He shows
it to us. His spirit is grieved. His soul
is in sorrow, and His mind is full of heaviness. He opens up
Himself to us. He opens up Himself to heaven.
He even exposes Himself. to the awful wrath of God's justice. He doesn't hide from it. He confesses
the sin now that's upon him, the sins of all his elect. It's now made his own, and he
confesses it to be his own. Listen as he says, Thou knowest
my foolishness. And my sin is not hid from thee. He stands, as it were, before
the courts of heaven, and he says, Here's my sin, now punish
it. Here's my sin, now let your wrath
fall upon me. But you have to let them go whom
I represent. He confesses his guilt and not
only invites, but even commands the sword of justice to smite
him. He demands that everything that
was owed for time and eternity by those whom he represented
be exacted from his body and his soul. That the full price
for every sin of every elect soul be collected all at his
expense. Come, O sword, he said, and smite
the shepherd. No man takes my life from me. I lay it down. I lay it down. But oh, how it hurt him to lay
it down. He did it voluntarily, but how it smarted his soul and
his body. Listen to what he says. I suffer
thy terrors. Thy fierce wrath goeth over me. Not just wrath. Oh, the wrath
of God is one thing, but fierce wrath is worse still. and thy
terrorists have cut me off. The hour was come that he should
depart out of this world. That's what verse one says. But
how he was to depart is amazing to us. And it was night. Listen to this old hymn. None
of the ransomed ever knew the depths of the waters crossed,
nor how dark the night the Lord passed through, or He found His
sheep that was lost. What a night! What a solemn,
solemn night when darkness came over all the earth and our Savior
suffered. But thank God that night that
lasted for a few hours brought us eternal day. He is bearing
our guilt upon the cross as delivered us from everlasting condemnation. And out of His death, we have
life. Out of His separation, you and
I have eternal reconciliation to God our Father. That's wonderful,
isn't it? The old hymn writer said, Here
we have a firm foundation. Here a refuge for the lost. Christ the rock of our salvation. He is the name on which we boast. Lamb of God for sinners wounded. Sacrifice to cancel sin. None shall ever be confounded
who on Him their hopes have built. He endeared the night, brothers
and sisters. Shameful, painful, the wrathful
wrath of God, but He endeared it for a cause. for our sins. But stay just a minute. Don't
take your eyes off of Him. One more thing. We've walked
around this cross. We've seen His bleeding farm.
We've heard His groans. But sit down. Sit down. They sat Him down, watched Him
there. And you say, Bruce, where are
we to sit down? We can't sit with John the apostle. We can't
sit with his mother Mary. Where are we to sit? We have
to take our place with his enemies. That's where we must first and
foremost sit down. It was we who cried, crucify
him, crucify him. It was you and I who mocked and
said, come down from the cross and we'll believe you. "'Twas
you, my sins, my cruel sins, his chief tormentors were. All
my sins became the nails, and unbelief the spear.'" You say,
Bruce, I'll never sit down there with his enemies. If we won't
sit with his enemies, if we won't take our place as guilty sinners,
we'll never take our place as his friends with the saints. We're guilty, are we not? If we're unwilling to do that,
then we're not saved. One thing more. Look above those
pierced feet. Look above his meekness and his
shame. Look above his swollen tongue.
Look to his eyes. Everything speaks to us, doesn't
it? His blood speaks to us. His wounds
speak to us. His groans speak to us. And His
eyes speak to us. Does His eyes seem to charge
you with His death? Then look again. Look again and
see what those eyes say. And see if those eyes will say
this to you. This is my body which was broken
for you. This was my blood which was shed
for the remission of your sins. Look again and see if those eyes
will say this. Neither do I condemn thee. Go
and sin no more. Your sins, which are many, are
forgiven thee." Oh, we look and we see our guilt. We see our
shame because it was our sins that put Him there. But we look
again and we look again and we look again until we see all our
sins washed away until we see and feel in our heart of hearts
that we're reconciled to God. But it was night. See why the Holy Spirit put this
in here? It was night. Secondly, I think
this is a very appropriate statement when we consider the darkness
that had engulfed the thinking of these poor apostles' mind. And we're so much like them,
aren't we? We really see ourselves in the way that they were thinking.
For instance, here in verse 36 and verse 37 of our text, Peter
just knew that it was for God's glory and for his good to follow
the Lord Jesus. The Lord said, I'm going away.
And Peter made this request, Lord, let me go with you. Wasn't
that an honorable request? Wouldn't that have been for the
glory of God? He thought it would have. But
he was denied that request. But here's the thing. Not only
was he denied that request, he fell into sin himself. Denied
the Lord Jesus Christ three times. Have you ever prayed and asked
the Lord for something and you just knew that it was for His
glory? You just knew that it was for
your good, but instead of giving you what you asked Him for, He
seemingly gave you the opposite. And boy, it brings you into darkness,
doesn't it? It brings you into night. This
was night for Peter. He could relate to this statement.
And it was night. Sometimes we're like Thomas.
You are in the 16th chapter and verse 16. Look at this. Chapter
16 and verse 6. Chapter 16 and verse 6. Well, he says here, Because I
have said these things unto you, sorrow has filled your heart.
But Thomas made this statement in chapter 14 and verse 5. Look
at this. Thomas said unto him, Lord, we
know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Boy, his heart was filled with
so much sorrow. Sorrow has filled your heart. You know, sometimes in dark times
of our lives when our hearts are so filled with sorrow, don't
our understanding get so darkened? It does. And Thomas said, Lord,
we don't even know the way. And the Lord Jesus had to remind
him, Thomas, I am the way. He's always the way, isn't he?
Have you ever been in a situation where you didn't know how in
the world you were going to get out of it? I see no way to get
out of the situation that I'm in. Well, here's the way. Jesus
Christ is the way. Just because you can't see how
to get out of it, no reason He can't see how He can get you
out of it. He can get you out of whatever predicament He's
in, though you can't see it because it's not. When your heart is
so filled with sorrow, you just can't think straight, but He'll
think for you. You can't deliver yourself, but
He'll deliver you. And you know why? Because He's
the way, the truth, And look here what poor Philip said in
chapter 14 and verse 8. If I haven't missed that one
too, chapter 14 and verse 8. Philip said unto him, Lord, show
us the Father, and it will satisfy us. Show us the Father. Boy, his mind had gotten cloudy
too, hadn't it? Show us the Father. You know,
there's the Trinity sometimes. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. We try to figure these things
out in our minds. We try to separate them. And
we can't understand the Trinity, can we? It's too great a mystery
for us. And here Thomas wanted to see
the Father. Show us the Father. That will
satisfy us. And the Lord Jesus says, Thomas, If you've seen Me, you've seen
the Father. You know the only way, brothers
and sisters, you and I, especially when it's night up here, the
only way we can look at the Trinity and not be confused and not make
idols in our minds, is just to believe what the Word says about
it. Receive it by faith. There are three that by record
in heaven, the Father, The Word, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. And these three are one. How can that be? If they're three,
how can they be one? Luther said, who can understand
this? In Psalms 22. My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me? How can God forsake God? And we get confused about these
things. Show us the Father. And it will
suffice us. And we just have to believe it,
brothers and sisters. I have prayed before and I have
had these images almost get in my mind, trying to see the Father
and see the Son sitting on His right hand, see the Holy Spirit
in my heart. It just confuses me to death.
We have to just believe it. Those three are one. And here in chapter 16 and verse
18, and I am just saying, What an appropriate statement this
is, and it was not, when we consider how confused these four apostles
were. It was not. And our Lord here
in verse 16 of chapter 16 was telling them that He was going
away. A little while, and you shall not see Me. And again,
a little while, and you shall see Me, because I go to the Father. Then said some of His disciples
among the staff, What is this that He saith unto us? A little
while, and ye shall not see me, and again, a little while, and
ye shall see me, because I go to the Father." And they said,
therefore, what is this that he saith? A little while, we
cannot tell what he saith. You and I look at this now, and
it's so simple to us, isn't it? He said, I'm going away for a
little while. They said, Lord, where are you
going? Well, he's going to the cross, isn't he? And he's going
to the tomb. And then they're going to see
Him again in a glorified body. And then He's going to ascend
to the Father. That's so easy for us to understand. But how
many truths that you and I look at in His Word, and we go away
shaking our head and say, we can't tell what He says. We don't
know what He says. Some people think about us poor
pastors that we open our Bible up and read a passage of Scripture
and it just all falls in pieces and all comes together. It's
not that way, believe me. Your poor pastor goes for days
looking at one passage of Scripture and I come away shaking my head
and say, Lord, I have no idea what you're saying. I remember
when we started the fourth chapter of the book of Revelations, trying
to figure out what those four beasts were. And I kept telling
Cindy almost daily, I have no idea. I'd go pray about it. I'd go search the Scriptures
about it. And till this day, I'm just like these four apostles.
Lord, what are you saying? We're like David, aren't we?
Lord, open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things. But sometimes we get so confused,
we don't understand. It gets night up here, doesn't
it? And it was night. Doesn't this make us long for
a time and a place where it's said there is no night there?
The gates of the city shall not be shut by day. Boy, there is
no night there. Oh, what a place that must be.
There is no night there. The gates of that city. What
is that city? That's the church. That's the
glorified church in heaven. There will be no night there.
And what are those gates? Well, let me tell you about some
of the gates that will not be shut. What about this? What about Ear Gate? Ear gate
won't be shut in heaven, brothers and sisters. Don't you long to
hear the voice of the Lord sometime? You say with the old prophet,
Lord, speak, for your servant heareth. Don't we want to hear
His voice? We want to hear His voice through
His Word, but we can't hear it. We go for days and weeks and
months or more, and we never hear His Word. Sometimes He speaks
through creation, and we look up, but we can't hear Him speaking.
Sometimes through His providence, but we can't discern what He's
saying to us. Sometimes through His Word, but
we just don't know. It's not, isn't it? But you know
something? There in heaven, we're told that
His voice is as the sound of many waters. It'll be so loud. It'll be so clear. He that be
so continueth will hear his voice. He'll say to us, Come, ye blessed
of my Father. You'll understand that, won't
you? Come and sit with me in my throne. Come and walk with
me in white. We'll hear his voice there. And
you know why? Ear gate shall never be shut
again. And eye gate will never be shut
again. The Bible says they shall see
His face. They'll see His face. We'll see
His face as we longed to see it here and could not. Now we look through a glass darkly,
but then face to face. Fannie Crosby said someday the
silver cord will break. I now no more shall sing, but
oh, the joy when I wake within the palace of the King, and I
shall see Him face to face and tell the story saved by grace.
With undimmed eyes we shall see the Lord Jesus Christ." Heart
gate will be opened continually. Love gate will never be shut.
His heart will be open to us and our heart will be open to
Him. And we will see and know the
exceeded riches of His grace. You say, Bruce, how do you know
this? Because there is no night there. There is no night there. Here is the place and time of
night. But there is no night there. And the Lamb of God is
said to be the light of that city. In His light, We shall
see light. Makes you long for heaven, doesn't
it? Makes you long for heaven. It surely does. And my last point is this, back
here in my text one more time. He then, having received the
sock, went out immediately, and it was night. How symbolic was
this darkness, this dark night, to the night that had filled
the heart of this traitor? We are told here in the verse
just before that, verse 27, And after the sump, Satan entered
into him. Isn't that a fearful thing? Satan
entered into him. And he went out. And it was night. See this man as he goes out. Look at this trader as he opens
the door and goes out into the dark streets. See him as he stumbles
along. He sees shapes and forms he doesn't
recognize. He hears sounds and voices he
can't identify. He went out into the night, but
he not only left a lighted room, He left the presence of the One
who is the light of this world. Where can you go if you leave
the presence of the Son of God but out into the night? What
is it to be without the presence of Savior, the Holy Savior, the
gracious Savior? It is to be in darkness, isn't
it? You were sometimes darkness. Why? Because you were without
the Savior. I wonder sometime if we fully
realize the condition of our neighbors and our family and
our children who are without Christ. They're in darkness. They're under the power of darkness.
They're in the kingdom of darkness. And they cannot get out. Men
brag about their free wills. They brag about when they're
good and ready. They have no idea that there's
someone that rules over them and that Satan, we're no match
for him. If the Lord had pulled his hand
back, Satan would have done to Peter what he did to Judas. Oh, it's owing to the grace of
God and the protection of the Holy Spirit that keeps Satan
from entering into our hearts and destroying our souls. Satan
entered into him, and then he went out, and it was night. Somebody may be here this morning
without the Lord Jesus Christ dwelling in their hearts by faith. Christ may not dwell there this
morning. You may leave here without the
Son of God dwelling in your heart, but if you do, you won't leave
empty. Somebody dwells there. And if Christ is not there, you
know who is. And that is Satan. But you know these things were
not done by accident. All that was taking place here,
nothing was done by happenstance. Nothing was out of our Lord's
control. It was predicted that this would
all take place hundreds of years before it did. And in closing,
look with me over in Zechariah chapter 11. The book of Zechariah chapter
11. And look in verse 12. This has
always fascinated me. Not just the predictions of the
sufferings of Christ, but sometimes it gets so precise. You remember
how much money Judas got for betraying the Son of God. Does
anybody here remember how many it was? Thirty pieces of silver. He went in and said to them,
What will you give me? What will you value Jesus of
Nazareth for? And they said, 30 pieces of silver.
Well, look at Zechariah chapter 11 and verse 12. And I said unto
them, If you think good, give me my price, and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price
30 pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, Cast
it into the potter, a goodly price that I was priced at of
them. And I took the thirty pieces
of silver and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord."
Isn't that amazing? What value do you put on the
Son of God this morning? How precious is He to you? Can you value Him? No, you cannot,
can you? But Judas betrayed Him for thirty
pieces of silver. Father, thank You. Thank you
for the Lord Jesus Christ, our salvation. Thank you for this
Word that stirs up our imagination to search a little deeper. Thank
you, Lord Jesus, that you went through the awful night, but your night brought to us
light and eternal day. Oh, we praise your wonderful
name. Thank you for your eternal purpose. Thank you for predicting
all of these things that we can look at it and know that what
you did, you did on purpose. Nobody forced you. Thank you, our Lord, today for
your kind providence in bringing us together here. Thank you for
the people that's here this morning. And we pray for those who aren't,
those who cannot be here. Your providence has kept them
from being here. We pray for them. Be merciful
to them. Bless us as we receive our meal
today as we fellowship one with another for a few minutes. Bless your people everywhere.
Bless your pastors everywhere, Lord. Visit your vineyard. Visit your church. and revive
it for your sake. Amen.