Sermon 72
Sermon by Ian Scott Thompson at Wonersh on March 25th 2007.
Aspects
of Luke No 4 – The Night they Arrested God
BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup: Luke 22:39-71;
What do you call a man who spends all day underneath his car? Jack!
What do you call a girl with one foot on one side of the river, and the other foot on the other side? Bridget!
What do you call a woman with one foot on a box? Eileen!
A man with a spade? Doug
A man without a spade?
A man with a seagull on his head? Cliff
A woman tied to the riverbank? Maud
A woman who spends all day in court? Sue
A woman who says 'thank you' before dinner? Grace
What do you call a man with a wooden head? Edward.
A man without any shins? Tony.
What do you call a man with a jelly in one ear and custard in the other? A trifle deaf.
Today is the fourth and last in our spread-out sermon series called, not ‘Aspects of Love’, but ‘Aspects of Luke’, about the last few chapters of Luke’s Gospel leading up to the Crucifixion.
First on February 11th I looked at Luke chapter 20, where 3 groups of leaders come into conflict with Jesus, testing him. On February 25th, John Mash looked at Luke chapter 21, where Jesus prophesies about the things to come. Then, three weeks ago, I looked at the first sections of Luke 22, the Last Supper in the Upper Room; and Jesus’ betrayal and arrest and trial. Today, we’re concluding with the latter sections of Luke 22, with Jesus’ arrest and trial. You could call this “The Night They Arrested God.”
Can I also recommend again the “For Everyone” series of New Testament Commentaries by Tom Wright, published by SPCK, around £10 each.
Jesus Prays:-
39 Jesus went out as usual to
the
40 On reaching the place, he said
to them, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation."
41 He withdrew about a stone's
throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed,
42 "Father, if you are
willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."
43 An angel from heaven appeared
to him and strengthened him.
44 And being in anguish, he
prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the
ground.
45 When he rose from prayer and
went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.
46 "Why are you
sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall
into temptation."
Six symbols help us understand our Lord’s suffering and death:-
1.
A lonely
Garden v 39
In the Bible, human history began in a Garden and so did human sin.
For the
redeemed the whole story will climax in a ‘garden city’, the heavenly
In between these two, at the
turning-point of history, is the
The ‘first Adam’ disobeyed God and rebelled, and brought sin and death into the world.
The ‘last Adam’ submitted and was obedient to God, and brought life and salvation for all who believe.
The
2.
A costly
Cup v 40-46
Jesus shared this special occasion with Peter James and John. Can you think of other occasions, key events where Jesus selected only his closest men, his inner circle of three? The raising of Jairus’ daughter; the Transfiguration on the mountain.
He asked for their prayer support for the trials ahead – and found them sleeping. How little they realised the testing and danger to come! Jesus warns them about the trial, because there is a real danger that they too will be arrested and executed as his followers. Like a climber on a rope, he must not drag them down with him, he must cut them free. His vocation was to give his life for the sheep, not to get them killed as well. They were the ones who would carry his mission forward in the days to come, and he has prayed for Peter especially, that he will strengthen his brothers.
Jesus’ agony in garden is described by Luke (the physician, the doctor) to include ‘sweat like great drops of blood’ (Medics call this rare condition Hematidrosis: under great emotional stress tiny blood vessels in sweat glands can rupture and produce mixture of sweat and blood. Leonardo da Vinci described a soldier sweating blood before battle, and there have been a few cases even in the past century)
Luke is also the only Gospel-writer to mention an angel coming to strengthen Jesus
Dr George Morrison comments:
‘Every life has its Gethsemane, and every
3. A hypocritical kiss v 47-48
47 While he was still speaking a
crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading
them. He approached Jesus to kiss him,
48 but Jesus asked him,
"Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"
This was the basest kind of hypocrisy and treachery. Betrayal is bitter enough, but to signal it by a sign of affection is cynical indeed.
Judas’ knowledge of Jesus was
shallow – did he really think Jesus would run away or need so many armed men to
arrest Him after all his public ministry in
Proverbs 27 v6 says: ‘Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful’
Psalm
4.
A useless
sword v 49 -53
49 When Jesus' followers saw
what was going to happen, they said, "Lord, should we strike with our
swords?"
50 And one of them struck the servant
of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
51 But Jesus answered, "No
more of this!" And he touched the man's ear and healed him.
52 Then Jesus said to the chief
priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for
him, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs?
53 Every day I was with you in
the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your
hour--when darkness reigns."
In Peter’s hands and with his impulsive actions the sword was used for the wrong purpose. Jesus warned them about a battle to come, but they did not understand.
Peter fought the wrong enemy with the wrong weapon. The Word of God is the only weapon for this battle, the only weapon which overcomes evil.
Peter revealed the wrong attitude and trusted the wrong energy, depending on arms.
Do we fall back on what we know, on our own strength and resources? Is there some area of life where you’re doing that at this moment? How can you put down human weapons, and take up God’s weapons instead?
Jesus graciously rebuked Peter and repaired the damage he had done.
Jesus graciously healed the servant’s severed ear.
Jesus showed grace to the whole
world by yielding to the mob and going to
Two centuries before Jesus was
born, Plato wrote this:
"Should ever a man perfectly-just appear among men, he will be bound,
scourged, racked, tortured, and at last, after suffering every kind of evil, he
will be impaled."
5.
A crowing
cockerel v 54 -62
54 Then seizing him, they led
him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a
distance.
55 But when they had kindled a
fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down
with them.
56 A servant girl saw him seated
there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, "This man was
with him."
57 But he denied it.
"Woman, I don't know him," he said.
58 A little later someone else
saw him and said, "You also are one of them." "Man, I am
not!" Peter replied.
59 About an hour later another
asserted, "Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean."
60 Peter replied, "Man, I
don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the cock
crowed.
61 The Lord turned and looked
straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him:
"Before the cock crows today, you will disown me three times."
62 And he went outside and wept
bitterly.
Here he is – do you like him? In American NIVs, a rooster; in British ones, a cock.
During the second Jewish ‘trial’, the one before Caiaphas, Peter denied knowing Jesus in the courtyard outside three times – well known event.
He had not taken the Lord’s warnings seriously. He had not prayed as Jesus had instructed. He was unprepared for Satan’s attacks.
He was following afar off. In John’s Gospel Jesus tells the guards at His arrest ‘Let these men go’, but they stayed in enemy territory. Jesus was trying to protect them even then.
After the cock had crowed, all Jesus had to do was to ‘look at him’ to bring Peter to the place of repentance. Remembering Jesus’ words earlier he realised
· Jesus was still in control
· He could be forgiven
· A new day was dawning
· It was not the end
6.
A
glorious throne vs. 63-71
67 "If you are the Christ, "
they said, "tell us." Jesus answered, "If I tell you, you will
not believe me,
68 and if I asked you, you would
not answer.
69 But from now on, the Son of
Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God."
70 They all asked, "Are you
then the Son of God?" He replied, "You are right in saying I
am."
71 Then they said, "Why do
we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips."
Did they really want to know? Or did they simply want him to make life easier for them by giving them evidence for a conviction? Jesus knew what was in their hearts. Sometimes people ask questions as a smokescreen: “What about other religions, then?” I think it’s quite reasonable to respond: “OK, suppose that I were able to answer your question to your satisfaction, would you consider becoming a Christian?”
Jesus saw beyond the cross to the glories of the throne. This is the place of honour, authority and power. He knew where his true place lay, and so should we; our place is in worship before him.