Matthew 26:31-35, Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

 ³¹ Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:

   “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’^[c]

   ³² But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

 ³³ Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”

   ³⁴ “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”

 ³⁵ But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.

My physics teacher would get frustrated with our inability to get the assignments completed correctly. In a huff he’d say “OK, I’ll show you how to do it…just this once”. He would take the entire hour…and the entire blackboard (including the two side boards)…solving our physics homework for us. When he got to the end, he would invariably step back, ponder his work, and say…

“Now we can all see…this this is not the correct answer”.

Eventually, nobody bothered to pay attention. There was no point. I don’t know, maybe that’s how physics works…even the teacher can’t do it.

I’m glad I’m not a physics teacher…

We’ve all seen it…just after the “smartest guy in the room” proclaims his status he does something really dumb. It’s axiomatic. If we’re going to put ourselves in an exalted position we’d better be able to “walk the walk” or we’ll be embarrassed.

Even that doesn’t stop some people…

Peter is the guy to whom Jesus said “get behind me Satan!” Propriety might suggest that Peter would tone it down a bit after such a rebuke. But then…if he did, he wouldn’t be Peter.

I won’t criticize Peter because the moment I do, I’ll do something spectacularly stupid. I do have a lot of sympathy for him, though.

One way to avoid all this is to “let(ting) this mind be in (us) that is in Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God, did not see equality with God as something to be grasped, but…humbled himself” (Phil 2). People almost never have to apologize for being humble. And…they almost never embarrass themselves.

Wouldn’t that be nice?

This is really about our inability to withstand spiritual assault. We all hate to be reminded of our lack of spiritual resolve…even if it’s God who does the reminding. We protest loudly and say “I will never fail!” Well, never is a long time.

I suggest we’d all be better off if we exercised a little self-restraint (humility) and said “There, but for the grace of God, go I”.  That way, when the inevitable happens it isn’t such a public spectacle.

Live boldly out there today…

Matthew 26:17-30, The Last Supper

 ¹⁷ On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

 ¹⁸ He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” ¹⁹ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.

 ²⁰ When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. ²¹ And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

 ²² They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”

 ²³ Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. ²⁴ The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

 ²⁵ Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”

   Jesus answered, “You have said so.”

 ²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

 ²⁷ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ This is my blood of the^[b] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

 ³⁰ When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Oh, yes…Jesus knew. I’ll bet Judas was surprised.

“Surely you don’t mean me, rabbi?” This is really insolent since Jesus had recently said “don’t call anybody Father or Rabbi”. But, when we sin we always play by our own rules.

Let’s not insult our Lord by acting innocent…when we aren’t.

Even so…at the very moment this happened…Jesus said “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”. As we approach Easter this is the definitive statement. We might not be innocent, but we sure aren’t guilty.

…only the Blood of Christ can make sense of such a paradox.

Live boldly out there today…

Matthew 26:14-16, Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

¹⁴ Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶ From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

What was he thinking? I have to believe Judas was the ringleader at the house in Bethany. So, this wouldn’t have been an overnight conversion to treason. Judas had been giving this some thought. In today’s jargon, Judas “never drank the cool-aid”.

History tries to paint Judas one of two ways. Either he was the personification of evil or he was a desperate, but well intentioned, man naively trying to influence current political events. Either makes a good story but neither is quite right. It's far less romantic.

Judas represents that vast sea of humanity that has a different idea. Judas is me…and you.

You see, Judas was being what he was born to be…a sinful human being in love with his own dreams. Billions of indistinguishable Judases have walked through history. We wouldn’t even know about him if his great idea hadn’t involved getting Christ crucified. He’d had enough exposure to the Messiah to get a glimmer of glory but he just couldn’t buy into the whole thing. His assessment of Christ’s value was 30 pieces of silver. Not enough to give up his own notions.

In other words…he wasn’t convinced that Jesus was really who he said he was. How does that differ from any of us…until we receive the gift of faith that opens our eyes? In fact, we betray Jesus every day…sometimes for far less than 30 pieces of silver. Sometimes it’s for an adulterous daydream. Sometimes it’s for even less than that.

All because he had a another idea…and there we have the nature of sin. Look at the damage he did…

I’m not giving Judas a pass. The real lesson is…I shouldn’t give myself a pass either. My prayer every morning should be “Lord, don’t let me be a Judas today”.

Live boldly out there today…

Matthew 26:6-13, Jesus Anointed at Bethany

 ⁶ While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, ⁷ a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

 ⁸ When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. ⁹ “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

 ¹⁰ Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹ The poor you will always have with you,^[a] but you will not always have me. ¹² When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³ Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Makes me think the disciples were Norwegian. My mom used to use her teabags twice…because it wasn’t right to waste perfectly good tea. “OK mom…you’ve lost your mind”. As though it’s any of my business.

Some things are worth it…some things aren’t. But we only get to decide for ourselves.

Then again, maybe the disciples weren’t just cheap, but jealous…

The disciples new Jesus well. They were certainly comfortable with him. They probably weren’t comfortable with some strange woman taking liberties with the Messiah. They were “indignant” that anybody would act in a way they thought was not appropriate (how quickly we can become Pharisees!).

In particular, of course, we’re always uncomfortable when somebody appears to love Jesus more than we do…

The perfume is a metaphor. How much is the death of Christ worth? Apparently a lot, for the woman in Bethany. The disciples knew it, but had just never seen his worth measured in such an extravagant manner. The visual picture had to have assaulted their senses.

So let’s step back and take a breath.

Can we honestly think of any occasion where an investment in Jesus isn’t worth it? We may say “no”, but it happens all the time. Remember the rich young man who walked away from Jesus because “his barns were full”? He simply couldn’t give up what he’d worked so hard to acquire.

Or maybe we need the money for a plane ticket to visit the grandkids…

I remember a line from a movie…”My Blue Heaven”. The character (Steve Martin) said “I don’t believe in tipping…I believe in over-tipping”. The idea being, he wanted people to remember (through his extravagance) how appreciative he was of their service. Someday, they may return the favor…when he most needed it.

When it comes to Jesus, I want the world to think I’m an “over-tipper”…but they really don’t have a clue.

Live boldly out there today…

Matthew 26:1-5, The Plot Against Jesus

 ¹ When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, ² “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

 ³ Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, ⁴ and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. ⁵ “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”

Of course this is one way to deal with our problems. Two words jump out at me: “Schemed” (a secret and cunning plan, especially one designed to cause damage or harm) and “secretly”. My spirit tells me if I have to attach either of these words to anything I’m doing…I need to pursue another course of action.

Live boldly out there today…

Matthew 25:31-46, The Sheep and the Goats

    ³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

   ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

   ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

   ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

   ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

   ⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

   ⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

   ⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

As I thought about this text I tried to be perfectly honest with myself. As a clergyman I’d like to claim everything I do qualifies as service to Christ.. I’ve given my life. Well, not so fast Lee. I had a chaplain friend many years ago who told me he didn’t tithe. “My whole life is a tithe” he told me. OK, let me ask this: Who benefits from him holding back $1,000 a month from the offering plate? Jesus or the chaplain?

Whatever we do…whether evangelizing a neighborhood or feeding the homeless, or loving our children…is understood by God as having been done for Christ if our only purpose is obedience to Him. On the other hand, we can pour out our lives as missionaries in a foreign land and it benefits us nothing if we are not doing it for Jesus.

But, of course, why would anybody do that if it were not for Jesus? Believe me when I say there are countless motivations for doing good “church work”. Only one of them brings eternal benefit.

As they say…”follow the money”.

So, finally, we get to the point of it all…when Jesus comes he will finally separate the believers from the unbelievers. While this is very good news for us…not so much for the unbelievers.

 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

The world wants to know what standard Jesus plans to use. I suppose you and I would like to be sure as well. Here’s the bottom line: ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

The life that is poured out in service to Christ is the life Jesus will identify for eternal rewards. It’s not complicated in principle, but an enigma in practice. Mostly, because we don’t see Christ in the things we do every day. Our Lord helps us out by saying “service to Christ” is defined as an attitude of the heart.

How does that work? We know scripture clearly teaches that only a personal relationship with Christ derives eternal life…nothing else. I’ll suggest that none of us has the fortitude to live a lifetime in service to Jesus without knowing him. There are way too many distractions. We see proof of this in disintegrating relationships all around us. God is able to determine our motivation perfectly because, unlike you and I, He look at the heart.

The life that is “poured out” is the intended to be evidence of the faith that is “poured in”.

Live boldly out there today…

Matthew 25:14-30, The Parable of the Bags of Gold

    ¹⁴ “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,^[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

   ¹⁹ “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

   ²¹ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

   ²² “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

   ²³ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

   ²⁴ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

   ²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

   ²⁸ “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

This parable looks to me like it applies to the great judgment, not the coming of the Messiah…two separate, but nearly simultaneous, events.

I think I’ll go out on a limb here and say I can’t imagine a believer who has never invested a least a little bit of their talents for God’s Kingdom…to some point. I cannot imagine the Holy Spirit allowing that to happen. So this parable is not threatening to believers. And that’s the point here. The parable clearly teaches that God expects a return on His investment.

Then again, God is the author of all gifts and talents. Imagine all the non-believers in this world…with incredible talent…who haven’t invested any of it for God’s Kingdom.

Who do you suppose is in trouble?

If I were a thoughtful person I’d think one point of this parable (for believers) is to dissuade us from being envious of all the talented and prosperous people around us. After all…what does a great voice and a million dollars get us at the Great Judgment?

On the contrary, let’s focus on how we can let the Holy Spirit invest our own talents in a more productive way. And remember, we are always compared to what we began with…never to our neighbor. That’s good. Who wants to be compared with Ravi Zacharias?

Live boldly out there today…