Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life - The Kiss of Death

Episode Date: March 15, 2023

As we look at the last part of Jesus’ life, we come to this scene: his arrest. In it, Jesus makes a big deal about them coming for him with swords and clubs. What we have here is a clash between two kingdoms, two administrations of reality, two sets of priorities and values. We have the right-side-up kingdom of this world and the upside-down kingdom of Jesus and of God. In this passage in Mark 14 we see, 1) Judas shows us the kingdom of this world, 2) Peter shows us the difficulty of living in the kingdom of Jesus, and 3) the mysterious young man gives us insights into how we get the power to live in Jesus’ kingdom. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on February 18, 2007. Series: King's Cross: The Gospel of Mark, Part 2: The Journey to the Cross. Scripture: Mark 14:43-52. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Today on Gospel and Life, Tim Keller is exploring the life of Jesus as recorded by the Apostle Mark. It's a fascinating look into the life of Christ as both Savior and Teacher. After you listen, please consider taking time to rate and review our podcast. Your review can help others to discover our podcast and experience the hope of the Gospel. Now here's today's teaching from Dr. Keller. Tonight's scripture reading is found on page 8 of your bulletin. We'll be reading Mark chapter 14 verses 43 through 52.

Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the twelve appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them. The one I kiss is the man, arrest him, and lead him away under guard. Going at once to Jesus, Judas said,

Rabbi, and kissed him. The men seized Jesus and arrested him. Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Am I leading a rebellion? Said Jesus, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me. Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts,

and you did not arrest me. But the scriptures must be fulfilled. Then everyone deserted him and fled. A young man wearing nothing but a linen garment was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind. This is the word of the Lord. We're looking at the book of Mark. We're looking at the last part of Mark, the last part of Jesus' life. We come to this scene, the arrest. You know, the term, kiss of death, comes into our English vocabulary from this incident. The kiss of death, if you look

at a prediction, I will will say it's to become intimate with something that subsequently causes your destruction. And interestingly, it's not really Jesus whose mission is destroyed by this, is it? His mission isn't destroyed. His plans aren't destroyed, it's Judas. But it's not because Judas is in a minute with Jesus because intimacy with Jesus is always ever the kiss of life, never the kiss of death. It's the fact that he's in a minute with a sword and the swords and the clubs.

Jesus makes a big deal. What are you doing here with swords and clubs? In the Matthew version of this passage, he goes so far as to say, anyone who takes up the sword will perish by the sword. So Jesus is having a problem with swords. And he's talking about swords. Now, a lot of people take this passage

and that's place in Matthew and they say, oh, this is about pacifism, you know, or not. And it's really talking about something more broad than that, bigger in a way than that. It's important as that is. Because actually, if you think about that famous statement, when Jesus says, anyone who takes the sword will perish by the sword, that's not true, is it?

There's lots and lots and lots of people who have picked up a sword or a weapon and wielded a weapon and haven't perished by it. So he's not talking literally. He's talking metaphorically. And the word sword in the Bible means something more broad than that. What we have in this passage is a clash between two kingdoms, two administrations of reality, two sets of priorities and values.

We have the right-side-up kingdom of this world and the upside-down kingdom of Jesus and of God. And Judas shows us the right-side-up kingdom of this world and the upside down kingdom of Jesus and of God. And Judas shows us the right side up kingdom of this world, and Peter, and we'll see in there, shows us the difficulty of living in the upside down world of Jesus, and the young man at the end, the young, the mysterious young man at the very end of the text, it'll give us some insights into how to get the power to live in Jesus' kingdom. Judas, kingdom of this world, Peter, how hard is to live in the kingdom of Jesus? And the young man will tell us something about how we're able to have the power to live

in Jesus' kingdom. First of all, Judas, the kingdom of this world, I already mentioned and called it the right side up kingdom. What do we mean by that? Judas shows up with clubs and swords. He expects armed resistance or they wouldn't be coming like that. Jesus is starting to say,

what in the world are you doing coming with swords? It shows you don't understand me at all. Now, the sword in the Bible represents more than just the ability to kill. For example, in Romans 13, it says, governments have the power of the sword, and that doesn't just mean they have the power to execute people. It means they have the power to compel behavior. The sword represents the power to compel behavior.

There's a lot of ways to do that. Money can make people do what you want them to, but what they don't want to do. You can make people do what you want with money. You can make people, military power, financial power, political power. These are always of making people do what they don't want to do, but what you want them to do. It's the power to compel behavior. That's what the sword means. And traditionally, kingdoms are always associated with the sword.

Now, what's a kingdom? Jesus has been talking about the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, and he talks about the kingdom of this world. What is a kingdom? A kingdom is an administration. An administration is a way of ordering things, how things get done. And therefore, a kingdom, for example, when a new coach comes to a team, there's a new administration.

A new president comes to a government, a new head comes to your department and your business. These are new administrations. And new administrations mean things are different now. There's a new order to where things get done. But the definition between administrations, what defines one administration from another, is a list of values. What things are at the top of the list,

what things are in the middle of the list, and what things are at the bottom. At the top of the list, what things are in the middle of the list, and what things are at the bottom. At the top of the list, these are the really real things, the things that really count. In the middle of things that, eh, they're not so important, and at the bottom of things that we, in different to, or we disdain, or we avoid.

And that's what makes a difference in how things are done. You reorder your loves, you reorder your values. One coach, one president, one head, when someone comes in, there's a new administration. The old order of things goes away. The new order of things comes in and the way it's done is through the list. Now, in the kingdom of this world, the sword is at the top. Military, my political power,

finance, finances, money. Things that can compel behavior. That's what really matters in the kingdom of this world. That's at the top. There's a lot of other things. But that's what really matters. And Judas by showing up with swords and clubs, and even the subject future, the kiss itself. Why didn't Judas just walk in and say there's the guy, arrest him? What's the kiss for?

What's all the subject future? He expected that Jesus Christ would be taking up the sword. He asked because Jesus talked about the kingdom of God and anybody who ever brought a kingdom always had to use money, politics, military might, or some combination in order to get your way of doing things into power. And so that's what Judas was expecting. The Kingdom of this world always, always, always says that the top is the sword. It's money, it's military, it's political power.

It's very subtle, for example. Let me give you an example of how this works. There was a series of articles recently in the New York Times. And the New York Times had a series of articles on Pentecostalism in New York City. And it was a good series of articles, and it was a good idea to run the articles

because Pentecostal Christianity is the fastest growing, not only the fastest growing religion in the world, but it's the fastest growing movement of any kind in the world. And so they ran the series of articles about Pentecostal churches in New York City, and there were great articles in many, many ways. They were accurate, but it was interesting to see that at the end of the articles, at the end of almost every article that they read. You know, there would be accounts of how people's lives were changed, and they had joy now, and they were brought out of addictive behavior,

and they were in a community now, and people were, you know, getting out of jail, and people were graduated from high school, and all this stuff, but at the very end, the reporter would ask the pastor, okay, this is wonderful, but let me just ask you a question. Do you think in the end your people will probably be more likely to vote Democrat or Republican? Because you know, joy, that's wonderful. And you know, free different addiction, that's great.

And community, that's really wonderful. When it comes right down to it, the only reason that people who are reading the New York Times really wanna know about this, Pfft. You know, joy, peace, now that's wonderful. It's about to down our list. What really matters, what's really real,

what's really counting, how will this movement affect the vote? That's what's really matters. See, it's very, very subtle, but it's very much there. It's an administration of reality, and Jesus rejects it. Because what He says in verse 48 and 49 is pretty remarkable. He says, am I leading a rebellion? That you come at me with swords and clubs.

Now the word rebellion is an interesting word. He uses, he says, do you think of me as a revolutionary? He uses a word that means a gorilla who is using violent means the sword to overthrow the existing order of things and bring in a new order. So he's saying, you know, do you think I'm a terrorist? Do you think I'm an insurgent? Do you think I'm a revolutionary? If you come at me with swords, it shows you don't understand me at all.

Now, how do you understand what he's saying? What is he saying when he says, if you come at me with swords, that shows that you don't understand me. Okay, what does that mean? It's Jesus saying, you don't understand me because I'm not trying to change the order of things. I just wanna give you peace, love, and groovy vibes in your heart.

I just want you in your innermost being to have peace and happiness and inspiration, but I'm not trying to change the order of things in this world. Is that what Jesus is saying? He couldn't be saying that because that's not what He says in the rest of the book. So when Jesus says, am I a revolutionary that you come at me with swords? He's not saying he's not a revolutionary. Here's what he's trying to say. He says, you don't understand me if you think swords and clubs will stop me.

You know? You know why? Here's what I think Jesus is saying. I am leading a revolution, but a much greater revolution than you've ever seen in history. Because all other revolutions basically keep the same old thing on top. They're not real revolutions. What you always have at the top, you see, is money and power and politics. That's what you always have. the top, you see, is money and power and politics. That's what you always have.

You change the people. There's every revolution brings a new set of people in power, and then the next revolution puts a new set of people in power. But I want to set, I want a new kind of power in power. I don't want to just put a new set of people in power. I want a real revolution. I want a real new kingdom, a real totally different administration of reality. All other revolutions compared to my revolution have just been really like fine-tuning of the

same old thing. Just rearranging the deck chairs and the Titanic. That's all. Every other revolution just simply puts a new set of people into power. And I want to put a new kind of power into power. I want to really change things. I'm a revolutionary. Oh, yeah.

But not a revolutionary that you need to take with swords. Here I am. But not a revolutionary you can stop with swords. Because I'm not about to sword at all. Judas, you don't get it. You don't understand me. That's the kingdom of this world. Now here's the second thing.

What is Jesus put in his place? His kingdom, the kingdom of God. He's been talking about it all through the book of Mark and all through the book of Matthew and all through the book of Luke and John too. The kingdom of God, well, what is that kingdom? And the second point is to show that the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of God, same thing, Kingdom of Heaven, are all the same, is a new administration and it's already

changed things. It's already changed the order of things, but it's a really, really difficult Kingdom to live in. What do I mean? I think of all the places that Jesus talks about, the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of this world, the most succinct place is actually Luke 6. The sermon on the Mount, you usually look to Matthew 5, 6, and 7 to find, and it's there and it's great and it's long, but there's a shorter and more succinct version of the

sermon on the Mount in Luke. It's in Luke chapter 6. And there are six verses in which Jesus actually makes a list. I told you that administrations and kingdoms are basically a matter of a list. What things are in the top? What things are in the bottom? That's what reorders reality. And listen to these two lists.

This is Luke chapter 6. And Jesus said, blessed are you who are poor. For yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you and when they exclude you. But woe to you who are rich for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now for you will go hungry. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.

Woe to you who laugh, for you will mourn and weep. And woe to you when all men speak well of you. And Michael Wilcoch who's written a commentary on Luke 6 says, in the life of God's people, then there will be a remarkable reversal of values. Christians will prize what the world calls pitiful and suspect what the world calls desirable. Now, that's exactly right. The things that the world puts at the bottom of the list are at the top of the Kingdom of

God's list, the things that are prized by the Kingdom of God are pitted by the world, and the things that are suspected by the Kingdom of God are prized by the Kingdom of Heaven. And what, so, I mean, by the Kingdom of this world. So what's at the top of the list of the Kingdom of this world? You heard it. Jesus went right down it. Power, money, success, recognition, or celebrity.

Power, money, success, recognition. But what's at the top of the Kingdom of God's list? What is blessed? What do we prize? What do we value? Did you hear it? Weakness, poverty, suffering, weeping, and rejection, exclusion, marginalization. Hear that?

Weakness, poverty, suffering, and rejection. That's what the kingdom of God prices. That's at the top of our list. And so as soon as you hear those two lists, now you know why some people call the kingdom of this world the right side up kingdom and the kingdom of Jesus the upside down kingdom. The world seems right side up.

It seems natural. Jesus' approach seems totally impossible and unnatural. The world's approach is more natural biologically, right? Whoever heard of the survival of the weakest, the survival of the sacrifices, the survival of the poor, it doesn't work that way. That's not how we got here. It's totally unnatural. But it's also unnatural psychologically.

When you actually hear Jesus say, that what we prize and we value is the weakness, poverty, suffering, and rejection, you say, that's masochism. I mean, who, that's psychologically unhealthy? Who can live like that? That's no, that's not right. It's impossible of like that. And guess what? It is kind of impossible to live like that. That's not right. It's impossible like that.

And guess what? It is kind of impossible to live like that. And you want to see a perfect example of how unnatural it is and how difficult it is to live in Jesus Christ's kingdom in His administration of reality, verse 47. What are we told there? It says, then, one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest cutting off his ear. And the book of John were told that was Peter, figures.

We'll get the Peter later in a couple of sermons. We'll look at everything he's been doing and around here. But the... But here's the important thing. Peter knows about the kingdom of God. He's heard Jesus Christ teaching about the kingdom of God, but when push comes to shove, what's his instincts? Get out that sword.

Why? The kingdom of this world says, if you want influence, put yourself ahead of them. You take the power and you make them do what they need to do. That's the way to get influence. That's the way to get influence. That's the way to change things. Put yourself ahead of them. But Jesus says to Peter in verse 49, the scriptures must be fulfilled. And what is he saying by that?

What scriptures? The ones he's been talking about in chapter 8, chapter 9, and chapter 10. And then scriptures are this. Peter says Jesus. He says it to all of us. My kingdom is not of this world. It's completely different. I'm going to change things, and here's I'm going to change things.

I'm going to put others ahead of myself. See, the way the world changes things is you put yourself ahead of others. You get the power, you get the money, you get the power. But what I'm going to do is I'm going to put myself below others. I'm going to put them ahead of me. I'm going to love my enemies. I'm going to sacrifice. I'm going to serve.

I'm not going to repay evil with evil, but I'm going to overcome evil with good. I'm going to give up the power. I'm going to give up my wealth. I'm going to give up my reputation. I'm going to give up my life. I'm going to give it all up. And that's how I'm going to give up my wealth, I'm going to give up my reputation, I'm going to give up my life. I'm going to give it all up and that's how I'm going to change the world. My revolution is the first real revolution. Now, he did it and let me suggest what I'm saying under this point too. He has changed the world. It is amazing but he has absolutely changed the world. It is amazing, but he has absolutely changed the world. It was a revolutionary without a sword.

And he has definitely changed the world, but it's also still incredibly difficult kingdom to live in those two points that he's really changed the world. But it's really, really tough to be in his program. Hi, I'm Tim Keller. You know, there is no greater joy and hope possible than that, which comes from the belief that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead.

The Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13, verse 4, although Christ was crucified in weakness, he now lives by the power of God. If you grasp this life altering fact of history, then even if you find things going dark in your life, this hope becomes a light for you when all other lights go out. With Easter approaching, I want you to know the hope that stays with you no matter the circumstance, the hope that comes from the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In my book, which is entitled Hope in Times of Fear, the resurrection and the meaning of Easter, you'll find why the true meaning of Easter is transformative and how it gives us unquenchable hope and joy even when we face the trials and difficulties of this life, which can be considerable. Hoping times of fear is our thank you for your gift this month to help gospel in life reach more people with the hope and joy of Christ's love. You can request your copy today by going to gospelandlife.com slash give. That is gospelandlife.com slashgid. Thank you so much for your generosity.

And as we prepare to reflect on the amazing love of Christ, demonstrated when he went to the cross to save us, I pray you will find renewed hope and comfort in the historical fact of his resurrection. It's beautifully illustrated by a very interesting thing I read. John Somerville recently retired as a professor of history, very prominent professor of history at University of Florida, and he's recently written a book that I read this in. He says over the years he has done a thought experiment with his

secular students. He says his secular students are often very very grumpy about Christianity, but he says they have no idea how utterly, completely indebted to Christianity they are for the way in which they think, even for their objections to Christianity, come from Christianity. And he says, the way he does that is he tries this little...he says, in order to show them how much Christianity has changed the world, including them, He says, let's do this little experiment. He says, and this is from his book, the values of the Anglo-Saxons and all the Northern European tribes, where the values associated with the concept of honor, earning and insisting upon respect from others. The values, however, of the Christian monks who went out to convert them, the Northern European tribes, from 500 AD to 1,500 AD, the value of the Christian monks was the value

of charity, of wanting the best for others. There were two completely different ethical systems. And to show how radically Christianity has changed things, he says, imagine this. Imagine you're seeing a little old lady coming down the street at night and she's carrying a great big purse. And it suddenly occurs to you that she's very little and she's very old and it would be incredibly easy just to knock her over and grab the purse. But you don't. Why don't you? There it is. There's two possible answers. The answer of the shame culture, and before Christianity came, virtually all cultures

were shame cultures, shame in honor cultures. The answer to the shame in honor culture is you don't knock the little lady down and take her purse because that it would make you a despicable person. Not worthy of respect. People would despise you for picking on the weak. You would despise you for picking on the weak. You would despise yourself for picking on the weak. You shouldn't pick on the weak because it's not strong. And there is no way that you can live unless people respect strength. And it's weak to knock them over. Okay. So he says that approach, however, is self-regarding. You are thinking entirely of yourself.

You're thinking of your honor, you're thinking of your reputation. There's a second train of thought that would keep you from taking over the purse. And the second train of thought, you would imagine how hard it would be to be mugged. And how hard it would be if the person who depended on the money in her purse, if she were mugged. And you start to imagine, you start to say, well, if I mug her, what will happen to her? And what will happen to the people who depend on her so you don't do it? But you realize what's happened. That is an other regarding ethic. That is not a self-regarding ethic. You want the best for her, utterly different than in a shame

or honor-based culture. So then when he's done with this, he actually would ask this class, okay, class, how many of you would take the purse? And of course, nobody would take the purse. And then he said, but why not? Which train of thought is yours? And everybody, virtually everybody, including his most secular students, say, the second train of thought. And he says, you've been changed by Christianity because the origin of that idea, that very idea that you put the other person ahead of yourself rather than thinking of yourself first comes from Christianity. And then, interestingly enough, he goes on and says this, we know that the Anglo-Saxons

and all shim cultures, when they first heard the Christian message were incredulous because they couldn't see how any society could survive or how any person could survive that did not fear and respect strength. So when the European society did convert to Christianity, they were far from consistent. Listen to this, they merged their Christian view of reality with the older one. And that's the reason why European Christianity preached the crusades, because they believe that losing Jerusalem was in a front to the honor of God and their own honor. That's the reason why they let monks and women in surf stew charity and cultivate charitable virtues, because that wasn't for men of honor and action. In other words, the history of Anglo-European and North American Christianity do a great

degree as a merger of the Christian view of reality and the kingdom of this world. In other words, we're all kind of like verse 47. We say, Ron Jesus said, oh, we're for the kingdom of God, but when it comes right down to it, it just doesn't feel right to do it any other way. We merge the kingdom of this world, sword on the top, money, power, success, recognition. That's what's really real. And we just push that in to Christianity. And next thing you know, what do we do?

We're supposed to be on Jesus' side, but out comes the sword. We're exactly like Judas, we're exactly like the others. And you say, okay, okay, but of course it's hard. And you know why it's hard? It's masochistic. This whole idea that you prize and value poverty and weakness and suffering and rejection, what's up with that? Who can live like that?

And the answer is, you don't understand what Jesus is saying. Here's what I believe you saying. When we say in the Kingdom of God, we prize and value weakness and poverty and suffering and rejection. First of all, this means this, that when we see weak and poor and suffering and rejected people, we value them. We prize them.

They're precious to us. And we don't just throw a few bucks in the charity pot, but we go to them and we lay ourselves out for them. And we do whatever we possibly can to help them. That's part one in the Kingdom of God. We don't disdain them like the Kingdom of the World does. Or just be indifferent to them, we lay ourselves out. Number one, number two.

Secondly, if you lay yourself out for people who are rejected, for people who are weak, for people who are poor, for people who are weeping, that will come into your life. Listen, you cannot get involved with an emotionally hurting person without adraining you emotionally. You cannot get involved with a person who's just falling apart financially. If you're really involved with that, who's just falling apart financially. If you're really involved without it draining you somewhat financially. You can't get involved with a person who's marginalized, his reputation is ruined, without

it's a some degree hurting your reputation. In other words, we prize the people who are in those conditions and we're willing to go and share to some degree those conditions. And here's the reason why. And this is the key, because the things at the top of the kingdom of this world, power, money, success, and recognition don't control us anymore. A person who understands what Jesus has done,

person who understands what Jesus has done for him or her, it frees you. It changes the way you look at those things. They don't control you anymore. Here's a person, for example, in the kingdom of this world, here's a person in the kingdom of God. And they both have great jobs. But they suddenly begin to realize they're about to lose their jobs.

And they'll never get back up to that socioeconomic status again. They'll be down three or four notches, and that'll be the way in which they live the rest of their life. Now, if you're in the kingdom of this world, here's how you know you are. That's like the end of your life. Because you're a slave to that. Your identity is based on status and on recognition and on money and on power. It's your identity.

It's what makes you real. That's what's really real, see? And so you're not going to be real. So what are you going to do? You'll do anything to keep your job. You'll lie, you'll cheat. You'll stab somebody else in the back. You'll do anything.

But if you're in the Kingdom of God, here's what you know. You know that this is not going to be easy. This is not going to be pleasant. But one of the things you learn about the Kingdom of God is that when weakness and suffering and poverty and rejection are near, the Kingdom of God is near. My power is made perfect in weakness.

It's the time in which you grow. It's the time in which you come to grips with your real treasure. It's the time in which you come to grips with your real identity. And you know that. And therefore, you prize what those things will actually put into your life. You've got a place for them. The kingdom of this world, there's no place for such things.

If those things come into my life, my life is over. But a Christian is free to take or leave money, power, recognition, and status. Why? If you're trying to save yourself, if you're trying to earn your own salvation, though you may not call it that. If you're trying to save yourself, if you're trying to earn your own salvation, no, you may not call it that, if you're trying to earn your own self-esteem, you're trying to prove yourself, you're either going to hate or love money too much, you're either going to hate

or love power too much. See, there's some people who say, I don't like money and I don't like power and I don't like people who have it. And you don't want anything to do with it. You hate it. You stay away from it because it makes you feel noble. Because you know you're trying to work on your own, you're basically a self-savor. And there's other people who need the money and they need the status. Why? Same reason.

You're a self-savor. You hate each other, but you're basically doing the same thing. But if you know you're a sinner saved by sheer grace, you can take it or leave it. You're free. If the money comes, if the power comes, you've got lots to do with it. But if it's gone, if it starts to go,

you also know that that's one of the ways in which God's grace is gonna work in your life. In other words, the sword is gone from your life. The compulsion is gone from your life. You work, but you don't have to work. You work, but it's not like it's not driving you into the ground. And by the world standards, you're gonna be

awfully happy about these things. You're gonna almost look reckless. You're gonna say, how can you spend your money like that? How can you do that and lose that career shot you had? How can you be involved with that person when you know that person's probably gonna take advantage of you? And the Christian says, I don't care.

I'm free. It's not the end of the world if somebody takes an advantage of me. It's not the end of the world if I give my money away. It's not the end of the world if my career doesn't really go like I'd like it to go, you know, in other ways. If I'm able to get things done, I don't care anymore because I'm following the way of Jesus Christ and real influence and real treasure and real power comes

when you put the influence and treasure and interests of other people ahead of yours. When you reverse places with them, when you put them first and you second, that's the way that Jesus Christ has changed the world. It's already changed, that's thought experiment. He's already changed the world quite a bit. But it is pretty hard, isn't it?

So that leads us to our last question. Where do you get the power to live like that? And I believe you have to look at the very, very end. First of all, we're told everybody deserted him. And we're told about a young man who was a follower of Jesus, but he was so intent on saving his skin, he was so cowardly that when they grabbed hold of him, he was willing to run away naked through the street. Now, nakedness in the Bible is a sign of shame and disgrace, and it's perfectly appropriate

because this man is a coward, an absolute coward, and therefore the shame of running home naked was perfectly appropriate. Now, what's that story, therefore? Some people have said, there's a very, very old tradition that this is Mark himself. This is the author Mark, who would have been a young man at the time and who was saying I was there and I was as bad as everybody else. See everybody's failed him. Judas and Peter, insiders and outsiders.

The violent people, the nonviolent people, the religious people, the irreligious people. There is no one righteous, no not one. And they've all failed. And NT Wright, in his little commentary on Mark, says, that by having this young man flee naked from the garden, Mark is trying to remind us about another garden. You see, in the Garden of Eden, there were people who were given a test and they failed. And they were stripped naked and they fled in shame. And now here we are, centuries later, and there's a garden, and there's a test, and everybody's failing.

Everybody's failing. And they're stripped naked and they're leaving in shame. But wait a minute, something is different. In the middle of this garden, there's a human being who is passing the test. And it's an incredible test because if you think about it, think of this. Why were all these other people fleeing? Why were all these other people failing? They're afraid of the world's sword. They're afraid of the sword.

They're afraid somebody's going to arrest them. They're afraid somebody's going to kill them. They're afraid of the sword. They're afraid somebody's going to arrest them. They're afraid somebody's going to kill them. They're afraid of the world's sword. But Jesus Christ is standing firm. And He's facing something even worse than the world's sword. When Adam and Eve fled naked from the garden, just covered with fig leaves. They turned around and they realized there was something at the door, keeping them from ever going back.

Do you remember what it was? A sword. An archangel, cherubim, had a sword, a flaming sword that was turning left and right. No one could get back into the presence of God without going under that sword. What was that sword? It's the divine justice.

Our sin separators from God. There's no way back into the presence of God unless someone takes the sort of divine justice. We were in that garden just facing the little sort of the world, and we ran. Jesus was in that garden facing the ultimate sword of divine justice, and he stood firm for me, for you. And here's the secret.

If you see Jesus Christ just reversing places with others, you see Him healing the leper and caring for the poor. If you just see Him reversing places for others and forgiving His enemies, you'll say, I can't do that, you're right, you can't. Because as an example, Jesus Christ as an example will crush you, but Jesus Christ as a substitute will save you. If you see Jesus Christ as an example will crush you, but Jesus Christ as a substitute will save you.

If you see Jesus Christ as an example, reversing places with others, you'll never live up to that, but if you see Jesus Christ reversing places with you, with you and me in the garden. See, they're all going free, even though they've disobeyed. And he's being seized even though he obeys. He's shifted places with us. He's getting what we deserve so we can get what he deserves. And when you see the great reversal is you and him, not just him and other people. If you see, he gave up all of his cosmic wealth and came into our poverty so that we could

be spiritually rich, if you say He gave up the name above every name and came into our anonymity so that we could get God's name put on us, you're going to look at your reputation differently. You'll look at your reputation, you'll say, this isn't my ultimate identity. So you hold it loose. You can be risky with it in the world. You're not scared to death that somebody's gonna think ill of you, and you look at your money.

When you realize that Jesus Christ changed places with you, took on our poverty that we might become rich. You look at your wallet, you look at your pocketbook, and you say, this isn't my real treasure. And it changes the way you look at your money, it changes the way you look at your reputation, it changes the way you look at your time. It changes the way you look at your reputation. It changes the way you look at your time. You become spenders, recklessly, happily,

rollickingly, adventurously spending yourself for other people. And the world will look and say, you're crazy to put your reputation, your career, your money, your nest egg. Where is it all going? You say, I'm having fun because I'm in the kingdom of this world, and I don't have this sword over my head anymore.

Karl Marx says at one point that the opiate of the people is believing in another world. If you don't believe this is the only world, then you're not going to make it a really good place. And he's absolutely wrong. I'll tell you this. If this world is the only world I get, if this money is the only money I get, if this wealth is the only wealth I get, if this world is the only world I get, if this money is the only money I get, if this wealth is the only wealth I get, if this reputation is the only reputation I get,

and to stand for justice means I'm gonna have to lose my money, lose my reputation, lose my life, I'm not gonna do it. That's all I get, this is it. But what if I've got a reputation beyond this one, a money beyond this one, a life beyond this one? And I'm asked to risk or even lose it in the name of justice to help others. I can do it.

This is a dark passage. It really ends pretty on a pretty dark note. And I'd like therefore to be true to the passage and end on a dark note. In Daniel chapter 5, Bel Shazr, the king of Babylon, is having this incredible party in Orgy, and he doesn't know that's, our army is marching on his capital, and that very night was going to sack the city and kill him. He's having fun. He's just having a party.

And as we all know, it's very famous passage, in the middle of the party, a great big finger and hand appears and so it's writing on the wall. And it basically says, your days are numbered. If you're living for yourself, you're spending all your money on yourself, you're living mainly for your career, you're living mainly for celebrity. And if Jesus Christ really has come to earth and He's given up His name and He's given up His life and He died for others and He rose from the dead, you may be having a wonderful party but your kingdom is crumbling. The days of that kingdom are numbered. You're having a great party, but your days are numbered.

Get into the kingdom of God. I don't just mean have a wonderful personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I mean, think about what He says. Think about what it means, the new order, and live in that order because it's the place of freedom. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank You that these warring orders, these warring kingdoms are...this war is not going to go on forever.

We know that eventually the kingdom of this world will crumble. We know your Son has served notice and says the way up is down. The way to become rich is to give everything away. The way to power is to serve. This is the way and we ask that you would show us how to live in his footsteps, not simply by seeing him as an example but as our substance and as our Savior. Melt our hearts with that, change our lives with that, we pray in Jesus name. Amen. We hope you enjoyed today's teaching on the life of Christ,

and we hope you'll continue to join us throughout this month as we look at the death and resurrection of Jesus. If you were encouraged by today's podcast, please rate and review it so more people can discover the hope and joy of Christ's love. Thank you again for listening. Please rate and review it so more people can discover the hope and joy of Christ's love. Thank you again for listening. This month's sermons were recorded in 2006 and 2007. The sermons and talks you hear on the Gospel and Life podcast were preached from 1989 to

2017 while Dr. Keller was senior pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church. Church.