The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 25: Whom Do You Seek?

Episode Date: September 26, 2021

The only way to seek Jesus is through surrender. Visit coe22.com/john to download the journal, find series resources and more.

Amen and amen and amen. Welcome to 1122, a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Amen? And all means all. And I want to welcome all of our campus and those of you watching online, but especially you brothers at Union and you brothers at Baker. We love you. We are for you. And no matter what you've done or who you did it with, Jesus died for you.

Amen. If you got your Bibles and you better. John Chapter 18 is where we are going to be. chapter 18 and we've got a lot to cover so we're going to go fast beginning in verse one now the teaching ministry of jesus is over and the bible says when jesus had spoken these words the these words that he had just spoken is the high priestly prayer that we just covered he spoke these words and he went out with his disciples across the brook kidron where there was a garden which he and his disciple in her. Now what I want to do is I want to back up to Matthew chapter 26 because the garden

that he goes into is known as the Garden of Githemite. If you ever go to Israel with me, I will take you there. It's a beautiful place. It's not a garden like you think about gardens with like flowers and stuff. There are a few flowers there. But it was a, it was like an olive growth. And we find out in the synoptic gospels in Matthew, Mark, Luke, that there was a private section to this garden. So apparently Jesus had like a rich friend that would give him keys to this walled off part of the garden and the disciples would go there often as a time of prayer. And from the garden, you can see the eastern wall of Jerusalem. It's a beautiful place. And so they go to this garden, but what John is going to do is John is going to skip over a whole bunch of the stuff that happens in the garden.

But I want to go to Matthew to see what, like the context of what's happening in John. Now again, we've talked about this several times. There are four different Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And a part of the reason that they share different, different details is because they're just different men coming from different backgrounds and talking to different audiences. All of the events are true and the same. They are just sharing some of the different details. So Matthew records it this way. In Matthew 2636, it says this. And then Jesus went with them to a place called Gathemite. Gassimini. Gassimini means the place of crushing. In Gathemeny today, archaeologists found a first century olive press that is theirs.

It's this big, huge, like, stone wheel thing. And what they would do when they would pick the olives in order to make olive oil and extra virgin olive oil, there were three different presses that happened in Githemite. First of all, they would just put the olives in a bag, and they would just kind of sit them on this bag up on the shelf in the bag. And just from the gravity would pull out something. some of the olive oil. That was crushing one. And then they would take the olives and they would put it in the press and they would run the big wheel around them and olive oil would come out and that was crushing too. And then finally they would grind the pit of the olive and that was the ultimate crushing. And Jesus on that night he takes the disciples into this place of crushing and he is about to go through his own crushing. At least three different crushings. He's going to go to the house of kai. Caiaphas and guards, we'll talk about this in the upcoming weeks,

guards are going to, they're going to put like a pillowcase over his head, and they're going to punch him in the face, and they say, okay, prophet, who punched you? And then Caiaphas doesn't know what to do with him, so he sends him to Pilate, and Pilot is going to have him flogged, and then ultimately the wrath of God is going to be poured out on Jesus at the cross. So Jesus went with him to a place called, Gassimony, and he said to his disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray.

And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, that's James and John, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Don't cruise by those words too fast, that Jesus, the almighty maker of heaven and earth, the one in whom all authority has been put under him, the one that spoke everything into existence, the one who created everything for him by him through him and to him. The one is before all things, finds himself in a situation where he is sorrowful and troubled. And here's why I say this. You ever struggle with depression?

You ever struggle with anxiety? You ever have thoughts and feelings going on in your head and you feel like I don't think I can handle this? I don't know what to do with this. Well, I've got really good news. Jesus knows exactly how you feel. He knows exactly how you feel. You see in the book of Hebrews, we find out that we do not have a high priest that cannot sympathize or empathize with us, that he was tempted in every way.

Does your mind ever tell you things about God that may not be true that are temptations for you to believe? Well, apparently Jesus understands what it feels like to be in that place. He is sorrowful. He is troubled. And here's how we know. And then he said to them to the three disciples, with him, my soul is very sorrowful even to death. Remain here and watch with me.

Here's what Jesus says. The author of life looks at his boys and says, I don't think I can handle this. I feel like I'm going to die. This is what Jesus is walking through. And then going a little farther, the Bible says he fell on his face. Now, in the Greek, that does not mean like he laid down on his face by his own will. it is as if something else pushed him down onto his face.

That Jesus, looking into the very near future, understanding what God the Father has called him to walk through, and understanding that he would become sin and endure the full wrath of God, he falls down on his face. Luke tells us that during this time in 2244, and being in agony, he prayed more earnestly and his sweat became like great drops of blood

falling down onto the ground. Have you ever heard this phrase, God will never give you more than you can handle? You ever heard that? I don't know who made that up, but they're dumb and should be punched in the face and say, handle that, okay? You know why? Because it's just not true.

It's just not true. Now, I think, whoever made that up, they're taking a verse out of Corinthians that said, we will never be tempted beyond an escape. So that's true. There's no temptation that ever comes your way that you cannot resist by the power of the blood of Jesus. But the essence of the gospel is that we have more than we can handle. The essence of the gospel is I can't handle the sin in my life. I can't make the payment for the sin in my life. I can't do anything to earn a right relationship with God. Heck, my whole life is

more than I can handle. And oftentimes God will lay a burden on his people so that they will get to the place in their life where they realize I can't handle this. God, I need you to do for me what I cannot do for myself. And listen to this. You got to stay with me to the end or it'll sound crazy. Jesus could not handle sin. It killed him. It killed him. The wrath of God poured out on sin was too much for Jesus to handle. Because if he could just handle it, he could have just lived through it and defeated it. But it killed him. However, he was resurrected from the grave. And so he didn't handle death. He overcame death. So even when we have too much to handle, then the good news is, is it because he overcame, then we can't overcome no matter what trials and struggles that

we're going through. This is why Paul will say that we're more than conquerors. Not because we conquer stuff because we stand with the one who has conquered. But in this moment, Jesus feels like he's going to die. He goes a little farther in the garden. He falls down on his face and he prayed. And he prayed, not like said his prayers. I mean, he prayed. He's going to pour out his heart and soul to the father. And here's what he says. My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. I want you to see what you say. Some translations say this, Father, if there be any other way, let this cup pass from me. What's Jesus talking about here? Jesus in the Garden of Gassimony is handling the number one

criticism that people have of the claims of Christianity today. I mean, most people are semi-pro-Jesus, they're okay with him. I think he was a pretty good guy, nice, and he could do miracles and feed people and had some nice things to say, all right? Anybody that thinks that, has never actually read the words of Jesus, but whatever, you know what I'm saying? He's got a pretty good PR campaign going on. However, the thing that people can't seem to get their mind around is this. But who do you think you are to claim that Jesus is the only way? Well, first of all, it's not like we made this up. I mean, Jesus himself said it. We covered it weeks ago, John 14, 6.

Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. You have to do some serious biblical gymnastics to make that say anything other than the fact that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. And so now Jesus, knowing what is in store for him in order for that to be a reality, in order for him to be the way, in order for sin to be the way, in order for sin to be. paid for and for sinful men and women to be reconciled to a holy and just God, he knows

what's around at the corner. And one more time he comes to the Father and he says, all right, let's just be clear. God, if there be any other way. Here's what he's saying. He's like, God, if 21st century America is right and I'm just one of the many paths to the top of the mountain, then let's just go in another path. I mean, if you could just obey the Ten Commandments and be good enough, then let's just go with the good enough path, all right? I mean, nobody will make it, but we can give them a try.

If you can just align your chakra, if that's what it is, we could visit Mecca, if we could just get enough runs around life that eventually you come back enough times, you're reincarnated enough times that you just, you know, you drift off into a blissful nirvana. Why don't we go with any of the above options? If the answer to be with you is D all of the above, then let's just scratch C off of the equation here and go with one of the other options. Jesus is asking his father the same thing that every single one of us has asked or has been asked. You mean Jesus is the only way? He's like, look, Father, if Oprah's right, and we're all just worshiping you and we call you by a bunch of different names, but somehow we're just going to all float up. to you one day anyway. It seems like an awful waste of my blood tomorrow on Calvary. Why don't we punt that and go with something else? Father, if there be any other way, let this cup pass from me,

and then the real surrender, but not my will, but your will be done. Now, he is pouring his heart out. He is sweating blood. He feels the sorrow of the weight of the sin of all. all of mankind, including your sin and my sin right now. He feels that in the garden. Verse 40. And he came to his disciples and he found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, so could you not watch with me for one hour?

And he warns him, watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And then again for a second time, he went away and he prayed. You see, he's warning Peter, because Peter that night has made some incredibly bold claims.

Peter, that night at the Last Supper has said, I will never leave you, I will never forsake you. Jesus, I got you. And so he says, all right, you got me. Will you come pray for me? And he can't stay awake for an hour? And then Jesus goes back a second time.

My father, if this cup cannot pass, that's what the this is. If this cup cannot pass, unless I drink it, your will be done. The cup that he is talking about here is the cup of the wrath of God. The Psalms talk about it,

Jeremiah talks about it, Isaiah talks about it. And this illustration of the cup in the Old Testament kind of goes something like this. Basically, because God is holy and because God is just every single time we sin, whether it's covertly or overtly, whether it's the set of commission or omission,

but every single time, we reject God, whether it's rebellion or religion, every single time we say, forget you, my will, not your will be done. It is as if this cup, with our name on it, is filled up with the wrath of God and filled up with the wrath of God and filled up with the wrath of God. Nobody likes to talk about the wrath of God, except the Bible talks a lot about the wrath of God. Because God can't rightly love us without rightly judging sin. He is holy. He is perfect, he is just. But the key is God is love.

He has to be stirred to wrath. But there is no shortage of our sins stirring him to wrath. And every single time we sin against an almighty holy God, a cup of the wrath of God's judgment that will be poured out for the judgment of that sin is being stored up for us. And Jesus, the second time he prays, goes before his father and he says okay father if this cup can't pass unless i drink it your will be done the images like this just think about every single time you have ever seen past present future

every single time and the cup of the wrath of god is stored up and stored up and stored up and stored up and stored up and i don't know what your cup would look like but i'm telling you what joby martin's cup is a tidal wave worth of cup of wrath to be poured out. And on the day of judgment, here comes the tidal wave. The dam breaks and here it comes. I mean like a hundred foot wall of water surging towards me and in my own strength, there's nothing that I could do but be overwhelmed by it. And then Jesus the Christ, the son of the living God, the substitutionary atonement, stands in that way and he drinks and drinks and drinks and drinks and drinks and drinks up all of the cup of the wrath of God and then slams it on the ground and says it is finished. That's what Jesus is praying about.

And again, he came and found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy. And so leaving them again, he went away and he prayed for the third time saying the same words again. You ever pray to God and you don't get the answer you're looking for? Well, I got some good news. Jesus did it over. Oh, okay, Father, you're sure on this cup tank, okay? Because he knew what he was about to endure. And then he came to the disciples and he said to them, sleep and take your rest later. See the hour is at hand.

Remember all throughout the gospel of John, all the way back to the wedding at Cana, when his mom, Mary, comes to him and says, son, they're out of wine. And he's like, woman, what does this have to do with me? For my hour has not yet come. And now his hour has come. See, the hour is at hand.

and the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Verse 46, rise and let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand. All right. I don't know what you think the Garden of Gassimini looks like in all of that, but the first time I ever went, I wasn't expecting this. This verse made a lot more sense to me when I was standing in the Garden of Gassimini. Because when you're there, the Kidron Valley separates the Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives.

The Garden of Gassimini is sort of at the foot of the Mount of Olives, but it's up a little bit, you know. And the east gate of Jerusalem is 400 yards, 500 yards, and from almost anywhere in this little olive grove, you can see the very gate. And so Jesus is pouring his heart out to the Father, and then he has to wake his disciples up three times. And the third time he wakes him up, he just goes, he can see. He literally, from where he is standing, can see. He guards, soldiers, tipple guards, Roman soldiers with torches and swords and clubs. And he just simply sees them coming. He's like, all right, wake up, boys.

This is about to go down. So when John says they went to the garden, that's all that was happening there. So back to John 18, verse 2. Now Judas. Judas who betrayed Jesus also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. And so Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. And by this, we know that Judas has been working on this plan for a while. You don't just run by and get a band of soldiers to follow

you around, that they had pre-planned this. Verse four. And Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him came forward and said to them, whom do you seek? Don't run about that question too fast. Let me ask you, whom do you seek? And most often, most often in our society, the actual answer is me. I'm seeking me. I'm seeking what you can do for me. And oftentimes, even at church, man, people bring that into the church.

And they're like, all right, Lord, what can you do for me? And so he asked him, whom do you seek? Now check this out. I love this. And they answered Jesus of Nazareth. And he said to then, I am. and then boom, they're going to fall on their face. Seven times, we've studied this, seven times in the gospel of John,

Jesus makes these I am statements. He uses the covenant name of God that we find in Exodus chapter 3. Moses is out just minding his own business, working for his father at all, tending some sheep. There's a bush on fire. He walks up to it. It talks to him. Happes to be God.

Take off your shoes because you're standing on holy ground. And he's like, all right, what you got? And then God through the burning bush says, Moses, I want you to go to Pharaoh and I want you to tell him, let my people go. And he says, okay, cool. But if they ask me who sent me, who should I say sent me? I can't be like I was talking to the burning bush. Pharaoh would be like, I think you were burning some bush and you're crazy. That's what's going on. Okay. And so, he goes, so he gives him his covenant name, Yahweh, I am that I am, I be that I be. It's hard to translate. The eternal now. This is why we find out in God's experience, there's not past,

futures, there's just now. He always was, he always is, he always will be. And he says, you tell them Yahweh. Supposed to sound like your breath, like breathing in, breathing out. Yahweh. And so now, you fast forward thousands of years, in the Garden of Gassimony, the soldiers that think they are in charge, the religious leaders that think they are in charge, the political leaders that think they are in charge, because they got numbers, they got torrentices, they got They got lanners, they got clubs. And they show up and Jesus says, who are you looking for? And they go, we're looking for Jesus of Nazareth.

Now part of the reason they had to ask, and we find out in the other Gospels that Judas betrays him with a kiss, it's because they can't like look up his Instagram account, you understand? So they gotta be like, which one is he? And Judas says, the one I kissed, that'll be him. And then, who you're looking for?

And Jesus says, I am. The covenant name of God. And then look at their reception. and then look at their response. I love this. Look at their response. Judas who betrayed him was standing with him, and when Jesus says to them, I am he,

they drew back and they fell to the ground. So they didn't be like curtsy. Jesus said, who you're looking for? I'm looking for Jesus. I am, and then boom, they down. Let me just give you a little warning. This is what every single one of us will do. This is a little foreshadowing of his second coming.

Jesus wants us to understand as believers now as we read the rest of the text. When they handcuffed Jesus and put him in back of the squad car and drive him down to the station, it was a part of the preordained plan. It is not like they are doing something to him that he did not know was going to happen. Because at any moment he could just say, let the bodies at the floor, boom, and they all fall down. Now here's why I share this with you. You got two options when it comes to Jesus. You can bow or you can bow.

those are the options. But the timing makes all the difference in the world. If we, in response to the gospel, right now, bow, then what we will receive when we bow our knee to the Lordship of Jesus Christ is we will receive grace and salvation. But if you were stiff-necked, if you were the Lord of your own life and you wait until his second coming, you will also bow and you will receive. judgment and damnation. And so Jesus just wants to make sure they know that nobody's taking his life. He is giving it up on his own accord. And so they ask him again. He asked them again,

whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. I don't know if they're all laying down. It doesn't say specifically. And Jesus answered, I told you that I am he. So if you seek me, let these men go. This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken of those who, you gave me, I have lost not one. This is important. Because if you're paying attention to Bible study, you should ask, well, what about Judas? Did he not lose Judas? What Jesus is establishing here is that Judas was never one of his. Judas was never one of his. We'll come back to that. That's scary. Verse 10, who's going to step up? Simon Peter, my guy. Here's an opportunity. Then Simon Peter, having a sword, which I love, this means that the disciples packed,

praise God. Having a sword, and you know, coming off of dinner where he's just been told you're going to betray me, and he's like, uh-uh, not me. Maybe he thinks this is the opportunity. Okay, see, this is the moment Jesus thought I was going to let him down, but I ain't ever going to let him down, all right? And so he pulls a sword out. Having a sword, he drew it, and he struck the high priest's servant, and he cut off his right here. You know what that means? Not only does he stumble with his words, he also stumbles with his sword. The chop the ear off is not a move.

I don't know if you know this, right? You've never been watching Braveheart, and they go, off of the ear. They don't do that, okay? He's trying to chop his head off, hits the guy in the ear, the guy is famous for the rest of his life. The servant's name was Malchus, right? And so Jesus said to Peter, put your sword into its sheath, shall I not drink the cup that the father has given me.

But apparently Jesus, we find out in other Gospels that Jesus picks up the dude's ear and puts it back on his head. Which is crazy to me, the guy still arrest Jesus. I'm just going to tell him you, I don't know what I, regardless of what I thought I believed about this guy, if somebody chop my ear off and the guy put my ear back on my head, I think I'd be like, you know what? I think I've just switched teams. Red Rover, Red Rover, Jesus called me over. I'm with you now, okay? So, but as I think about it, honestly, I see God do miracles in people's lives in our church all the

time, restore marriages and bring prodigal children back home and do stuff like that, and yet still people stand on the opposing side of Jesus, even after he has graced them like this. And so, I don't know, in my mind, Jesus is, while he's putting this guy's ear back on, he's looking at Peter, and he's like, bro, put your sword away. Are you even being serious around right now? This is not what we're going to do. You live by the sword, you die by the sword. Now, I think a part of what John wants us to understand here is that Jesus is the greater Adam, that Jesus came to put back in order what Adam and Eve disordered in the Garden of Eden. They are in the garden.

The enemy shows up with temptation. Adam ultimately says, not your will, but my will be done. and then when God judges Adam and Eve, when he kicks him out of the garden, if you will remember in Genesis, then a seraphim or like an angel is put there with a sword to guard the garden. Now you fast forward thousands of years and God's in the garden again. But he is the new Adam, the new man. The enemy comes with a temptation. And instead of saying, okay, I'm going to go with what I want, Jesus says, not my will,

thy will be done. Now I am going to make right to what was brought. broken in the garden. So, Peter, you can put the sword away. We won't need the guard the door of the entrance anymore. By what I am about to walk through by drinking this cup, I'm going to reunite this traitor race with their king face to face. That's what's happening here. And so the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of Jesus arrested Jesus, or the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and they bound him. And first they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year, it was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would

be expedient that one man should die for the people. So the way I want to close our time is, if you guys are bringing these chairs out, I want to look at the four primary players here in the Garden of Gassimony. And so that's why we have these four chairs. Thank you, sir. Because what I want you to do is, I don't want to call it a story, because it's not a story. This is, an actual event. The Garden of Gassimini is a place. Jesus is a historical reality. These dudes were in the garden praying and some people came up and they're basically four different players in this event. There was Jesus. Ultimately we can describe Jesus this way. Not my will but your will be done. There's Peter chopping off ears and following after Jesus. There's Judas,

the betrayer, and then there are the soldiers that come on behalf of the religious leaders and political leaders with their own agenda to arrest Jesus. Now, the question I want to get to is simply this. Which of these four chairs do you sit in? Which of these four chairs do you sit in? Now, the ones on the end are probably the easiest to distinguish. Let's be honest, okay? Now, as soon as I ask this, I know there's some of you, and I see it in the seat of Jesus. Well, God bless your ministry. You might want to humble yourself. But there are seasons in our life.

Hopefully, if you walk with Jesus, the crazy thing is, if you have surrendered your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, then when God looks at you, he sees the righteousness of His Son. That Jesus says we have been seated with him at the right hand of God the Father. That's pretty cool. But what I mean in this chair illustration is this. Hopefully there are seasons. in your life where you were ultimately submitted to the will of God.

Now, this does not mean an easy road. Jesus was not having an easy day. But no matter the cost, no matter to the circumstances, you're saying, hey, I'm following after Jesus, not because he makes my life better, but because he is better than life. Ultimately, this is the goal. Now, there's some people way over here, and you were anti-Jesus. Now, I don't know if you're sitting in one of our campuses today, maybe. maybe you're watching online looking to just critique everything that Jesus says,

I would implore to you. Jesus loves you, he died for you. Bow now so that you receive grace and salvation. Do not wait until he comes again and you bow in judgment and damnation. But these two are the ones. As the lead pastor of this thing, straight up, man. S scares me to death. scares me to death.

There's Peter and Judas. Now, I know some of you are like, I would never betray Jesus. Your Facebook does. The way we treat our spouses does. The way we withhold the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to somebody at work that launches you a stinking softball, I don't know what to do with my life. And you're like, you should say words right there, okay?

I mean, that is T-ball evangel. Right there. Everybody can hit that one. But here's what I'm here. From my perspective up to this point until the Bible tells us what's happening in the heart of Judas, Peter and Judas are like indistinguishable.

How can you tell that one's a follower of Jesus and one's the betrayer of Jesus? They both following them around. They both heard every sermon. They were both a part of all the miracles. And yet, if you were to just do a little, little survey of the disciples, they look indistinguishable. And here's why this freaks me out. I'm telling you, I shed tears over this. I pray for you over this. I didn't mean to sign up to

pastor the fastest growing church in America. I didn't know that was what was going to happen. We were just going to preach the gospel, glorify God and worship in Word, open a Walmart and whatever else we could, and just watch what God does. And God is drawing tens of thousands and online hundreds of thousands of people to sit under the gospel teaching of Jesus. And yet here's what I know every single weekend. There's some people, and you may be screwing up, but you're a follower of Jesus, and there are other people, and you're around him, you just don't know him. And I can't tell the difference. I can't. Because up to this point, up to this point, listen, okay, if you follow the disciples around for their three years of their discipleship with Jesus,

wouldn't you think Peter was the God that wasn't going to make it? I would. Peter screws up all the time. Peter is the worst. It's why he's my favorite. It gives me hope as a Jesus follower. But Peter screws up non-stop. I mean, Peter's in the boat one time. They're rolling across the sea of Yali. There's a bunch of wind and waves.

Jesus comes walking by on the water. Peter's like, I got an idea. Can I come out there with you boss? And he's like, come on, big boy. I mean, Peter gets out and walks on the water. The Bible does not say how far he walks. I'm thinking it's at least three steps. For any of you, my age and older,

I'm sure it was like the Rick Flair, who kind of walk because he was into himself. And then he takes his eyes off of Jesus. He fixes on the wind and the waves. He's afraid. He begins to sink. And so he cries out, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus takes him by the hand, puts him back in the boat and looks at him in front of everybody else and says, you of little faith. What are you so afraid of?

Why do you doubt? He's a constant failure. Literally the next, like the next chapter in the Bible, Jesus takes all the disciples on this camping trip, to Sessori of Philippi. It was like Sin City. And he asked this question, who do people say that I am? And they all step up and they're like,

well, they think you're like a good moral teacher, but that's really it. And then Jesus says, but who do you say that I am? And Peter is always going to speak first, always going to speak most. He says, you were the Christ, the son of the living God. And then Jesus says to Peter, this idea did not come from you.

This is a divine revelation from my father. I'm going to change your name to Rock. Calls him Rocky, man. New nickname. name. And he says, and upon this rock, the public decoration of the gospel, upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And then he says to Peter, I'm going to give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Pretty cool day in Peter's life. Amen. And then on the same page in my Bible, Jesus then goes on to lay out the gospel, life, death,

resurrection of Jesus. And the Bible says that Peter rebukes Jesus. How does that go down? Jesus Christ, get in my office. Not on my watch. You're not dying. We got a lot invested in Jesus Incorporated, okay? And so Jesus says to Peter, get behind me.

Satan! Look, I know you got a dad wound because when you were growing up your daddy said you're not that smart. I understand, okay? Counseling will help you with that. But when Jesus, the offer of life, calls you the devil,

that's the level of counseling, it ain't going to fix. You understand. On the same page in the Bible, the guy sitting in this seat goes from Pope to the devil. Do you understand? You want to talk about screw up? And then shortly after that, Jesus invites the same three guys that can't stay awake during the prayer meeting up on the mountain of transfiguration and Jesus is transfigured. I don't even know exactly what that means

except that his divinity is bursting forth through his humanity and Peter is there with the same boys again and Jesus is talking to Moses and Elijah and literally what is happening on the mountain of transfiguration is the personification of Romans chapter 3. The prophet and the law is bearing witness to the gospel. And then Peter's like, you know what? There's Jesus and Son of God. We're enveloped in his cloud. The father is there. There's Moses. There's Elijah. I should probably say words. And Peter sticks his dumb head in there and says, it is good that we are here. he makes it all about him once again and then mark says as he continued to speak because he did not know what to say god the father speaks up and says behold my son in whom i am well pleased listen to him that's hebrew for peter

would you just shut up the temptation that jesus is warning about here in the garden is that peter later this night after sitting at the lord's suburb by the way he almost screwed up the Lord's Supper. You remember this? In the book of John? John 13, Jesus gets up from the table, dressed himself as a servant, and he starts washing the disciples' feet. And then when he gets to Peter, Peter's like, no, man, boss, you ain't washing my feet. And Jesus says, well, if I don't wash your feet, then you have no part with me. If I can't wash your feet, you're going to go to hell. And it's like, ooh, well, bathe my whole body. And Jesus is like, good gracious, dude, what? Why do you always screw everything up? I'm not going to give you a whole bath. You're making this whole thing weird, okay?

I'm instituting a sacrament here. Can you just show you? shut up for a second. He screws up everything. Everything. That night, that night, he promises never leave you, Jesus, I'd never for a second. Everybody else may leave you, not me. I would die for you. When Jesus gets arrested on the way to Caiaphas's house, a couple of people are like, aren't you with him? You sure? Not me. And then a servant girl. It matters because her testimony would not even have been admissible to anyone. And she looks at him as he warms himself by this charcoal fire and says, no, I recognize your accent.

You're with him. And the Bible says that he curses and says no. So blank no, whatever you would say there. That's this guy. Now, if you were, and then what about tonight? He's chopping people's ears off. Now listen, maybe with a good heart, I think he got all welled up.

I'm team Jesus, which honestly, is some of us, you ever get all fired up from a sermon, and you walk into your office, you'd be like, you know what, I'm going to share the gospel in here. And by lunchtime, you look around and I look at everybody's ears all over my office, I think it's me. My primary form of evangelism is maybe hush, okay? And Jesus looks at Peter,

is that, bro, you're doing it all wrong. And what do we know about Judas up to this point? Now, the gospel writers do give us some commentary about him, but if you just followed him around, he sat under all the same teaching. He was a part of all the miracles. Judas had fishes and loaves in his hand and handed them out to 15,000, 20,000 people

on multiple occasions. Judas was there when the blind would see, when the lame would walk, when sins were forgiven. In fact, one time, if we were evaluating the discipleship, of these two, I think Judas would probably get the nod, because one time this lady comes in and she was a woman of sin, which means she was a prostitute, and she comes in, and she's got this expensive ointment. It's worth like a year's salary, and she breaks it, and she pours it on the feet

of Jesus, and she sobs, and she wipes his feet with her hair. And you know what? You know what Judas does? Judas is like, yeah, we're not being good stewards. We're not be, that money could be used for something else. How dare we, we spend all this money to try to make much of Jesus? We could spend that money better. Let me tell you what the modern church would do with that. They'd be like, yep, you're on the board of trustees. That's the kind of wise decision making we need around here.

Wow should be, be extravagant in the worshiping of God. That's crazy. But on the night that he's arrested, the screw up follows him, and Jude is betrays him. And the reason Judas betrays him is because he doesn't know him. He doesn't know him.

He knows about him. He's been around him. He knows his people. Judas just doesn't know Jesus as his Lord. That's what scares me to death about this place. I'm talking to you. He was a staff member.

He was the treasurer. He had a staff position. followed him, had responsibility. Up into this moment, of course he is in. He's with him. He knows all the things. He can answer the right questions. Some commentators say that the reason that Judas, I don't know why, they made this up.

Okay, I can't find any historical evidence or biblical evidence of this. But when I was in seminary, these crazy liberal professors told me that the reason that Judas, he wasn't a bad guy, The reason that he did this is because he believed that Jesus was the Messiah, and if he tipped the first domino, then Jesus would come in and take over. To which I was like, you should read your Bible first, because Jesus says he was filled with the devil. And then secondly, even if those things were true, that means he's not surrendered to Jesus, that Jesus is a means to his own political end. And Jesus will not be a means to your political end. He won't. Jesus did not come to take sides.

He came to take over. That's what Lordship means. And so what scares me, church, is that every single week, people show up here and show up here and show up here. And you know how to do the stuff, man. You're the best church ever. You're the best people I've ever preached to. I've ever been around.

You do everything we ask you to do. You sponsor all the kids. Some of you worship with your hands up. You go to Discover 1122. You go to Discibel group. You're the most generous church on the planet. and you could do all those things and die apart from Christ and live a Christless eternity. Please, please, please, please don't betray Jesus with a kiss.

You know what that means? To sit under the gospel, to be a part of and around his people for years and years and years and years and never surrender your life to his lordship. That's what it looks like to betray him with a kiss today. Because here's the thing, Judas doesn't know him. And if you say, why do you say that? How do you say that? In Matthew chapter 26, the Bible says this.

And when it was evening, he reclined at the table with the 12. This is the Lord's supper from Matthew's perspective. And when it was evening, he reclined at the table with the 12. And as they were eating, Jesus said, truly I say to you, one of you will betray me. And they, the disciples, were very sorrowful. and they began to say to him one after another. Is it I, Lord? Is it I Lord?

Is it I Lord? 11 times. Is it I Lord? Because what they're saying is, I am not beyond sin, but you are my Lord and Savior. That's what every one of them are saying. It's going around the table. Is it I Lord?

Is it I Lord? Is it I Lord? When you get to the end of that paragraph in Matthew chapter 26, it says, and Judas speaks up. Judas who would betray him answered him, is it I? Rabbi? There it is. Judas never surrendered his life to the lordship of Jesus.

He only followed him as a leader and a teacher. I'm afraid, especially in the South. I'm afraid. People, man, they show up to the church and they're pro, man, they're into it. But they're just kind of entertained by the show. And they don't know Jesus. So the treasurer, the staff member, the good steward, doesn't know Jesus, but do you know why the screw-up? You know why Jesus can work with the screw-up?

We studied it months ago. In John chapter 6, you remember this? John chapter 6, Jesus feeds 5,000 men plus women plus children, a little bit of bread, a little bit of fish. Everybody's full bellies. I'm just going to tell you, when people have their bellies full, your ministry will grow. Oh, I like that and meet my needs. That's what's happening here. It's growing and growing and growing, and then Jesus is going to thin the herd a little bit.

I mean, he's wrapping up his teaching for that day after everybody's full. And he's like, all right, just one more thing. I got one more point. Are you note takers want to jot this down? Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part with me. Imagine that, note takers. Eat my, did he say fish? What did he say?

Flesh? Did you get flesh? Don't worry about it. It's probably a parable. He's going to explain it. Okay, yeah, you're right. Let me explain. unless you feast on my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part with me.

And in John 666, the Bible says, and many disciples left him and never followed him again. And then Jesus looks at the disciples, looks at Peter. You want to leave too? Now why does Jesus ask him that? Because he wants to leave. He knows the thoughts. He knows the heart of every man.

He asks the biggest screw up on the Bible. the bunch there. How about you, man, you want to leave? Peter's like, this is a hard teaching. I'm beginning to rethink my life choices. That whole fishing business seems way more lucrative now than following the crazy cult guy that says we got to eat. We're not even allowed to eat pork, much less the prophet. Do you understand Jesus? You're screwing this whole thing up for us. I'm sure all of that is going on. And even with all of those competing thoughts, Here's what Peter says.

To whom shall we go? To whom shall we go? You're the only one that offers eternal life. We believe and have come to know that you were the Christ, the Son of the living God. And you know what Jesus does? Jesus is like, yep, I can work with that forever. You see, there's this very famous story.

And this one is a story. This one is a parable. It's one of my favorites. Everybody loves to preach on it. We call it the prodigal son, Luke 15. The fact that we call it the prodigal son is evidence that we miss the point of the story. Prodigal means lavish. It probably should be called the prodigal father because the point of the story is not just that rebellious people can get saved.

Now again, man, I love to preach it. Who doesn't love to preach this? This kid comes with his dad, younger son. Forget you, dad, I'm out of here. Give me what's coming to me. And this is how you know it's a Jesus story because the dad. gives him his part of the inheritance. If I came to my daddy when I was a teenager said, Daddy, why don't you give me what's coming to me. He's like, I'm about to show you what's coming

to me. That's how it would go at my house. Not this dad. He gives it all to him. And the kid goes and squanders it away on lavish living, on prodigal living. That's where we get the title. That's why we mistitled it. He comes to his senses. He comes home. The dad utterly embarrasses himself for the sake of his son. When he sees, when he sees the younger son, coming from a long way off, he runs to him. Jewish men didn't run. They wore those choir roads, man. They had to hike it up, saw all that man thigh.

Nobody needs to see that. He would expose himself, run to his boy, and then hug him. The boy's filthy. He's got pig slop all over him. The moment the dad touches the son who has pig mess on him, the dad becomes unclean. Leviticus says, if your boy treats you that way, you stone him, you kill him.

So maybe a part of the reason the dad runs to the boy and wraps his arms around him, so if the rocks start flying by the servants, that he'll take the beating. He gives him his robe, that's righteousness. He gives him his ring, that's his name. He gives him sandals, that's his identity, throws a party. We love that part.

That's not the real point of the story. You see, the reason Jesus tells the story is for the Judas' of the world. In Luke 15-1, Pharisees are listening to Him teach, and they're ticked, because the sinners and tax collectors like Jesus. So he's like, all right, I got a story for you.

The back half of the story is, I think, what Jesus was really trying to drive home. There's also an older brother. There's also an older brother in the prodigal son's story, and the older brother is aggravated. He's angry that the grace shown his younger brother was extended to him. Because the older brother,

thinks that the dad exists for his own benefit and not the other way around. The older brother thinks that the dad owes him something because of his birth and because of his behavior. That is not the good news of the gospel. The reason God gifts us anything is because we were born again in him. And because of his behavior, because of Christ's perfect life and his sacrificial death. And so the dad, in Luke 15, he goes after the boy. Luke says it this way. But he, the older brother, was angry and he refused to go in, and his father came out and entreated him. And entreated him.

That word entreated means to beg. That word entreated means to plead. And listen to me, a first century estate owner that can put on a multi-day party, he wasn't going to beg for anything. And yet the dad goes out to the Judas, goes out to the one that's got a whole lot of right behavior, but doesn't know the father. And the Bible says, he begs him, he pleads him. He's like, what are you doing? What are you doing? Son, what are you doing?

And the brother's angry. He's like, what do you do? I can't believe you would throw a party for my brother. He's wasted everything. He even starts making stuff up. He wasted everything you gave him on prostitutes. They didn't say that anywhere else in the text. and now you're going to throw a party for my brother?

You never even gave me a goat. Here's what he's saying. Because of my behavior, you owe me. There's a whole bunch of church people, and that's how they walk in before the Lord. Because of my behavior, you owe me. Because of my behavior, you owe me a good marriage. You owe me well-behaved kids.

You owe me a healthy body, and you for sure owe me heaven. And if that is your stance, even if you go to church and go to church and go to church and hang around with church people and listen to sermons for the rest of your life, you don't know Jesus as your Lord and your Savior. And so the dad entreats him. The father came out and begged the older son. But he answered his father, look, these many years I have served you and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. but when this son of yours, not brother of mine, when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property,

he would prostitutes, you killed the fat and calf for him, and said to him, son, this is the dad's response, son, you are always with me and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad. For this, your brother was dead

and is alive. He was lost and is found. Here's what the dad is saying. The same grace that your brother needed to be in right relationship with me is also offered to you because you need that same grace too. Just because you've been around the property

and just because you have access to all the blessing for your entire life, if you don't know me, then you have missed the entire party. Which seat are you sitting in? Which seat are you sitting? The difference between this seat, betraying Jesus with your words and your life,

betraying Jesus with a kiss means to reject the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ for eternity. And to be a follower of Jesus, forgiven and redeemed, even if we consistently screw up because we will and because we do. The difference between here and here is this, surrender. Jesus says, whom do you seek? Whom do you seek?

And the only way, the only way for us to come to him is through surrender. It's not through more knowledge. it's not where you were born, it's not about your behavior, the only way you and I can come to a saving relationship with God the Father through his son, Jesus Christ, is to surrender. Is he your Lord? Have you ever surrendered your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? I want to give you that opportunity right now. At Baker, at Union, online, at every other campus, in this room right now, I want to give you that opportunity.

And I know there's a bunch of you. you, they've been walking with Jesus for a while. But lately, in your time, lately in your speech, lately in your attitude, you've been betraying him. So maybe, as there are some people at all of our campuses that surrender their life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, maybe for those of us who have been walking with Him a while,

maybe once again today, we would surrender again. We would take up our cross again today and follow after Jesus. Would you bow your head? Would you close your eyes? And if you would say, for the very first time, you were ready to move seats. You were ready to get out of the betraying Jesus with your words and life and move into the I surrender seat.

If you were ready to admit it, I'm a sinner in need of a Savior, I believe that somehow when Christ died on the cross, he drank the full cup of the wrath of God, slammed it down for all eternity, and says, it is finished, and that counted for you. Then confess him as Lord right now. If that's you, would you lift your hand high in the air? Would you say, Father, here I am. I admit it. I'm a sinner in need of a Savior. I believe that when Christ died on the cross, it counted for me.

And Jesus right now, I confess you as Lord. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, we love you, we love you, we love you. And the only way that we can love you is because you first loved us. Jesus, thank you, thank you, thank you, that in the garden you declared, not my will, but your will be done. And the will of God is that every, who would believe would receive the right to be called a son or a daughter of God. God, we thank you that you continue to save. And God, would you remind us, would you remind us that constantly in our world, we run into things that are more than we can handle.

So, God, we thank you that you have overcome. And because you are the overcoming king, then we can overcome by what you do in us and through and to us. We love you. We prayed in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you please stand as we respond? We respond by singing and bringing and praying. We'd be a fool to run out of the presence of the Lord. Be a fool to get in a hurry on to the next task when Jesus invites us. Come to me. Come to me. So I don't know what's going on in your life. He does. Won't you bring it to him? Why don't you lift up your voice? and just say, God, I just want to clear out some clutter in my life, and I just want to make room for you to do whatever you want to do.

Let's respond.