Matthew 26:57-75 (Click title for audio access)
"Three Crows Later" • 3.17.11 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- Jesus is alone, in the hands of sinners. His disciples, running for their lives, have forsaken Him, just as He had warned them that they would.
- We do well to remember that Matthew is organizing his material topically. He does not include the next part of the story. I recommend that you mentally insert John 18 right here.
- Judas, the traitor, has led a mob to Gethsemane and is now walking back with that mob to the house of Annas, a character not spoken of in Matthew, but influential as the High Priest.
- His job on this night was to discover evidence that fit the punishment that had already been determined. They had the sentence, now they just needed the crime! Annas failed.
- Now, time is running out. The Sanhedrin must find a way to kill Jesus before day break. It's likely sometime just before 1 AM when Jesus is brought to the house of the mastermind, Caiaphas.
- He is the last desperate hope for the Sanhedrin, who must find a way to execute Jesus.
Text
• Matthew 26:57,58 : "And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. But Peter followed Him at a distance to the high priest’s courtyard. And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end." : All this for one man, who was now deserted by His disciples and who is going willfully!
- He is the only Redeemer for sins and unbeknownst to them, they are delivering Him up and participating in the possibility of their own redemption, though they may not have entered into that.
- Jesus was not brought to a prison, but a palace, which was the estate of the High Priest Caiaphas. Like any politician's home, there was opulence and beauty.
- The Sanhedrin, usually a group of 70 men and the High Priest, was assembled. Not all were assembled. In fact, it's likely that the minimum number had been assembled to form a quorum.
- They were there, not to investigate evidence, but to manufacture it! This was nothing more than a Kangaroo court.
- Their judgment would be filtered through their own prejudice, which has seen a Messiah that was not one of them. He was not a "politico," who bent Himself to special interests.
- He was not adorned richly, nor did He come from a respected area. His message was revolutionary, but it was revolutionary against the religious establishment!
- Jesus would be judged by men who would only accept a Messiah that was like them!
- While this was happening, Peter had gathered himself. He had scrambled away after lopping off Malchus' ear, but was now determined again not to deny the Lord. He was going to stand.
- Peter was not the only disciple there. There was another according to John, that got Peter in.
- You have to admire Peter's determination, even though it's a lot like ours: He followed at a distance, the word indicating a great distance.
- It would not have been hard to follow a crowd of over a thousand people with torches in the dark from virtually any distance.
- Peter traveled along the same road, which led to this courtyard area. The word for this was common for describing the homes of the rich, who usually had two large open spaces.
- There was an outer courtyard, which was nearest to the road. The inner courtyard was surrounded by the buildings of the estate.
- Peter sat with the servants in an attempt to find out what would happen with the Lord. He was close enough to watch, but not close enough to be associated with Christ.
- He is already beginning to deny the Lord and he doesn't even know it. He has positioned himself to blend in. He has given himself an escape if things go wrong. He sits silently watching.
• Matthew 26:59-61 : "Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward and said, 'This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’" : The entire religious establishment was fervently seeking somebody who would step forward with false testimony against Jesus.
- They needed something false because there was nothing true in their arguments against the Lord. They had tried every which way to test Him and had failed to produce.
- At this point, they are trying to find witnesses that will corroborate each other's story, so that when they go to the Romans, they will have their case straight, though little can be called that here.
- It's fascinating to consider that even when looking to false testimony, they could find nothing that merited the sentence that they already had!
- This is how perfect Jesus lived: You could even find a good lie about Him!
- This trial, aside from it being called against the only completely innocent man in history, is also being held in a completely illegal way.
- If a person was to be brought before the council, it was to happen on the temple mount and in broad daylight. The accused was to have been appointed defense counsel.
- Witnesses were warned that they would suffer the same judgment that they were testifying to, if they lied. Add to this that such a procedure was never to take place on Passover.
- These men had no love for justice or righteousness. They have abandoned every check and balance. Their collective desire was bent on execution but they didn't have a witness.
- This wasn't for a lack of false witnesses. Many came forward, but none that had anything particularly damning, and certainly nothing worthy of death.
- The best that they could get came from some guys that testified to Christ's words regarding the destruction of the Temple.
- Jesus had said this in reference to His own body. This was spoken in John 2. But this was hardly going to get the Romans to agree to execution for this.
- This was going to be their entire case and was akin to turning in videos unrewound! They needed more than this. This is when the Caiaphas took matters into his own hands.
• Matthew 26:62,63 : "And the high priest arose and said to Him, 'Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?' But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, 'I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!'" : Jesus did not raise His voice to defend Himself against false accusation. They did not care to hear the truth.
- He could say nothing against a baseless and ridiculous charge.
- Jesus would not speak toward those false words. But then the High Priest asked Him specifically if He were the Christ.
- He asked Jesus a direct question, one that mattered the most: Who are you?
- All of history banks upon the answer to this question: Who is Jesus? This would be the turning point. This is the last ditch effort by the High Priest.
- It's not investigation. It's exasperation! It's not really a question. Caiaphas is attempting to force Jesus into a corner.
- He is going directly for the single issue that would swing the vote over decisively. In the mind of the High Priest, it was a foregone conclusion that this man was simply a man.
- Would Jesus admit to being the Son of God, an admission of equality with the Almighty?
• Matthew 26:64 : "Jesus said to him, 'It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.'" : Jesus answered that: "It is as you said." What you have said is the case! There is something amazing here.
- Unbeknownst to him and despite his obvious belief to the contrary, the High Priest has been the one to inadvertantly testify to who Jesus is!
- It's as if the Lord allows him to make this declaration, even if simply for the record.
- Jesus makes His own declaration: He, the Son of Man, will one day be seen at the privileged place at the right hand of the Power. The word "power" is synonymous with all that God represents.
- His very essence is dynamic, effective, willful ability. God is unlimited in that regard.
- Jesus is saying that while the High Priest stands in temporary judgment and authority over Him, it will be Jesus who will sit at the right hand, the hand of favor, with God!
- He will come on the clouds of heaven. Every detail here is an affirmation of His deity! Jesus quotes here from Daniel 7:13. There is no mistaking what Jesus is saying here.
- For anyone who ever believed that Jesus never clearly called Himself God, this is the verse that you should point to. If that does not convince you, notice the reaction of the High Priest.
• Matthew 26:65-68 : "Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, 'He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy! What do you think?' They answered and said, 'He is deserving of death.' Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, 'Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?'" : The High Priest was never to tear his clothes unless for the case of blasphemy. However, it's not blasphemy when God calls Himself God!
- The real blasphemy was the High Priest's rejection of His God! The High Priest's reaction tells us that Jesus has clearly, indisputably, referred to Himself as deity.
- They had no need for anything else in their opinion. They now had what was needed to condemn Jesus to death.
- Such guilt for these men who having the scriptures, condemned their own Messiah to death, refusing to affirm His identity, instead calling this truth blasphemy, or an insult to God.
- All of the mental anguish will now begin to give way to the pure physical torture that these humans will inflict upon the very Son of God.
- Pure, unrestrained, prejudicial hatred was poured out upon Jesus. Every human being's hatred and resentment of God is represented in this moment.
- In the history of mankind, every act of rebellion, from Adam onward, has been the outward manifestation of a wish that God would just go away!
- Every attitude that has desired sin. Every action that has brought it to pass is a fist in the air toward the God of the Universe and a curse from the lips against His rightful place in our lives.
- Here, as they begin to torture Jesus, it is the place of humanity's lowest depravity that is on display. This is the finest hour for the lowest distplay.
- They spat in His face. You and I have no idea how much of an insult this is. It's bad to have someone spit in your face here. It's the deepest sign of disregard there.
- And it's not just saliva. It's as deep physically as it is emotionally.
- They beat Him. They punched Him over and over again. In Mark's paralel passage, Mark tells us that Jesus was blindfolded. He was unable to reflexibly avoid the full strength of their fists.
- When you see a fist coming your way, you instinctively brush back to avoid the full brunt of the blows. That is when you see the worst injuries in sports.
- It's called the blindside. Jesus was blindsided repeatedly.
- To add insult to injury, they began hitting Jesus hey also taunted Him, asking Him to guess which one hit Him. They spat, beat and slapped at Christ. Their vile hatred is now in full bloom.
• Matthew 26:69 : "Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, 'You also were with Jesus of Galilee.'" : We are opening our imagination to the great indignity and sheer inhumanity of this scene.
- We are thousands of years and miles from where this happened. We are looking at this, like people look at wild animals at the zoo: From a safe distance.
- Peter was there within eyesight. He saw this first hand. The hatred that he saw shocked him. It was unbelieveable. They were man handling the man that he had spent three years with.
- He had seen mobs before. He had seen Jesus slip right through without one of them even touching Him. Now, they had the upper hand and Jesus was not slipping away.
- Fear gripped his heart and he was suddenly aware of the serious danger that was surrounding Him. He sat there, frozen, shocked and filled with fear.
- How much fear filled his soul? Did it take a CIA or Homeland Security investigation to get his true identity out of him? Good cop, bad cop routine?
- It didn't take much to expose it. A servant girl. This is a pre-teen servant girl, likely coming up in the way that young kids do.
- They often say things that are truthful, but that adults would find embarassing to say.
- I imagine a little girl, speaking loudly, without any reservation, saying "Hey, you were with Jesus of Galilee weren't you?
• Matthew 26:70 : "But he denied it before them all, saying, 'I do not know what you are saying.'" : Peter answered not the little girl, but all of them! He denied it. There is an interesting definition for this Greek word. One definition means to "act entirely unlike oneself."
- This is not the way Peter intended to act like or would normally have acted like. But it's the pressure and the fear that have caused him to act in a different way than he would have other times.
- It's possible that Peter was preparing himself to answer to the Council. He was all psyched up, but he did not see having to defend himself at that moment, against this little girl!
- I find that character is not found in what you are prepared to face. It's found in what you are unprepared to face!
- He told all of them: "I don't know what you are saying." It's akin to saying, "What, I didn't hear what you said."
- Have you ever done this? You're cornered and asked something uncomfortable in front of others. One great way to act unlike yourself is to throw out the "unsure" method.
• Matthew 26:71,72 : "And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, 'This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.' But again he denied with an oath, 'I do not know the Man!'" : It's notable that Peter stayed there, even after his first denial. His resolve is temporarily restored.
- That's when this other girl saw him and said to those who were there. These were men who were standing there. Some might have been part of the mob that brought Jesus in.
- You can feel that this entire crowd is becoming more and more blood thirsty. Even this girl's description of Peter is less than respectful.
- According to one commentator, the word translated "fellow" is derogatory. Her description of Jesus is also very negative, as the city of Nazareth was very lowly esteemed.
- The blood lust of the people was flowing to a fever pitch in that area. Peter for a second time denied Jesus, but this time with an oath. "I swear to God, I do not know the man."
- Peter's fear has led him to say something that he never would have thought possible. He is in a place that he could never have imagined. His resolve has given way to self-preservation.
• Matthew 26:73,74 : "And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, 'Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.' Then he began to curse and swear, saying, 'I do not know the Man!' Immediately a rooster crowed." : The book of Luke tells us that an hour has elapsed. Peter is still there. By this time, the people are ready to hand him over.
- These men, likely natives of this region have heard Peter speak twice now. When the first girl questioned him, he answered them. When the second girl questioned him, he spoke with an oath.
- I wonder if that is what gave him away. People in the region nearest Jerusalem would have been fairly sophisticated. When Peter spoke so long and said what he said, it gave him away!
- They said, "Your speech betrays you." What an ironic thing to say! They are saying, "Here you are trying to look and act like one of us, but we can tell by how you talk that you are not!"
- I also imagine that having been with Jesus for three years affected his speech. I can almost always tell a Christian if I can get them to talk long enough!
- Then, there was the deep northern accent that Peter had. Peter said, "Accent? What are you talking a boot, eh!?"
- This time, Peter really dug deep into his history. He's a fishermen, the Galilean equivalent of the modern day truck driver. He began to curse.
- It's almost as if he is over compensating here. "You say that my speech betrays me? Listen here you blankety blank: I don't blankety blank know that blankety blank!" Excuse my language.
- Right as he was cursing up a blue streak, the rooster crowed. There are people who believe that this could not have been a rooster because they were not allowed in that area.
- One commentator, in order to accomodate that thought, surmises that the horn used for the changing of the guard sounded like a rooster crowing. This was a rooster.
- Whether they were allowed or not, there was a rooster there and he even played his part!
• Matthew 26:75 : "And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, 'Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.' So he went out and wept bitterly." : Two things happened right here. Peter heard the rooster and became flush.
- The blood just flowed out of his face, but at the same time, there is an amazing verse in Luke's account. Luke 22:61 says that the Lord looked over at Peter right at this moment.
- In your mind, what does that "look" look like? It is Jesus telling Peter, "I'm going through this to pay for that. Now do you understand?
- Peter went out and uncontrollably wept the tears of repentance, not at the sight of his sin, but at the sight of his Savior.
Conclusion
- Do you see yourself here? Maybe you haven't yet, but there will come a time when you will hear the cock crow. It will come in the form of remembering this sermon.
- The beautiful thing here is this: Peter failed miserably, not surprising Jesus. Our sin is no surprise to the Lord.
- What is surprising is that He is so wonderful, that as Christians, we run back to Him and find that He does not change His love toward us at all. He gave Himself to make that a reality.
No comments:
Post a Comment