[0:00] Great knowledge comes through great failure. And of course this is true in the engineering world. where we talk about bridges, we talk about buildings, we talk about cars and vehicles,! we talk about airplanes, whatever you will utilize from day to day has been tested, has been failed.
[0:23] And the reason why it's been failed is because they want to identify the areas of failure so they can help to bolster it and design it and improve on that design.
[0:34] My guess is that most of you, or many of you at least, are driving a car maybe even with a five-star crash rating. Well where does that five-star crash rating come from?
[0:46] Well it comes from crashes. It comes from driving that car into a wall or having other vehicles collide with that car so you can decide whether or not the things in that vehicle are going to help to preserve you from the failure that's coming.
[1:03] You see, testing and failure is meant to expose those areas of weakness. And we're going to see from our passage today, there is testing and there is failure.
[1:18] And this failure that we're going to see in the Apostle Peter especially, and of course that failure was present in the rest of the disciples too, but that failure that we see in the Apostle Peter was not only instrumental to help identify the root cause of his failure, but to help point him, and that was the goal, to help point him to where he could draw strength to help him to be successful, to help him be fruitful, to help him to be strong in overcoming the temptations that he was going to encounter.
[1:58] And I don't know what kind of person you are. Are you the kind of person that likes to learn from your own failures? Or are you the kind of person that likes to learn from the failures of others?
[2:12] I trust that you like to do things the easy way. And so as we look into our passage this morning, and we come to see the failure of Peter, we're going to come acquainted with this important lesson of where do we draw our power, where do we draw our strength, and what are those things that lead to failure, and I would say especially sin and rebellion against God.
[2:40] What are those things that we can shore up our lives so that we can find the help from God to overcome those times, those areas of temptation? As we saw from last week's passage, and I would encourage you to turn with me to Luke chapter 22.
[2:59] Luke chapter 22, if you're using the pew Bible, it's on page 883. We're going to pick it up in verse 54, but let me just kind of give you some background for those of you who weren't here last week.
[3:10] Luke chapter 22, we saw from Jesus's life last week that Jesus was especially in tune with God's power. How did Jesus draw strength from God? What did he do? What did he do last week?
[3:28] What did he do on the on the Mount of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane? What did he encourage his disciples to do? Pray. Jesus drew strength from God through prayer.
[3:42] And that was the testimony of Jesus's life from the very beginning. From the very beginning, Jesus's life in ministry was marked by prayer. He's driven in to the desert at the very beginning to kick off his ministry by the Holy Spirit, and he's out there in the wilderness 40 days to pray. He's there to commune with God. He's there to draw strength from God himself to then put that strength to work through the ministry that he was about to do.
[4:15] And then throughout his life and throughout his ministry, he's marked as one, especially in the gospel of Luke, who is often going out to the desolate places. And it wasn't because Jesus needed some alone time. It was because Jesus needed to draw strength from the Father. He knew the essential quality of prayer in depending upon God. And so that's what we saw last week. We saw that Jesus is there in the garden.
[4:45] And Jesus is agonizing in prayer. And Jesus is doing this not because he knows how hard things are going to be, and he's asking for a way out. No, Jesus knows what's coming. And Jesus is submitting himself to the Father.
[5:00] But he's also drawing strength from God through prayer. He's strengthened through prayer. And he does, he invites the disciples to enjoy the benefits of what's available to them in the same way.
[5:15] In Luke's condensed version of the Garden of Gethsemane, Luke draws attention to this two times. In Luke chapter 22, verse 40, he says, this is Jesus' words, pray that you enter not into temptation. And then a couple of verses later in verse 46, rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation. Jesus understood what was coming.
[5:47] Jesus had already warned his disciples of what awaited them. He knew what was happening in just the next few hours. He knew they would not be able to stand without the power of God. They needed to pray. They needed to overcome temptation. It was only possible through the power of God.
[6:05] God. He knew that their lives would be ambushed. They would be assaulted by the enemy, by the adversary, by Satan himself. And they would need supernatural power to resist the temptation that was coming.
[6:22] They needed power. They needed to pray. And I might just encourage you to write this down. One prominent pastor put it this way. He said, as a Christian, you have a heavenly father who hears and answers prayer. Jesus said, all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing you shall receive.
[6:51] Every man or woman whose life has counted for the church and the kingdom of God has been a person of prayer. You cannot afford to be too busy to pray. A prayerless Christian is a powerless Christian.
[7:08] Jesus Christ spent many hours in prayer. Sometimes he spent the night on a mountaintop in solitary, communion with God the Father. If he felt that he had to pray, how much more do we need to pray?
[7:21] Jesus demonstrated his commitment and his dependence on God for divine power. He sets the example for us on how not only to draw from that power, how to depend on that power, but how to put that power to work.
[7:36] And so this passage for us today, beginning in Luke chapter 22, verse 54, now sets up a contrast for us. We can see the strength that's working in our Savior, and then we're going to see the correlation of an overconfident disciple. An overconfident disciple, Peter, who thought he had it covered. He thought he had it under control. He thought he could make it on his own. He didn't need God's help. He could do it all himself.
[8:09] So let's take a look at a strengthened Savior. It begins in verse 54, and let's read the first part of our passage before we dive in and dissect this text for ourselves. It says, Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house. And Peter was following at a distance.
[8:29] And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, This man also was with him. But he denied it, saying, Woman, I do not know him.
[8:48] And a little later, someone else saw him and said, You also are one of them. But Peter said, Man, I am not. And after an interval of about an hour, still another insisted, saying, Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean. But Peter said, Man, I do not know what you are talking about. And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times. And he went out and wept bitterly. We see the strength of our Savior.
[9:32] We're going to see it in three ways through our passage today. And I'm just going to begin here in verse 54. And then we're going to take a pause on seeing the strength of our Savior. We're going to transition to Peter. So you're going to have to hang on. Okay. And we're going to kind of pick it up at the end of our passage and fill out the other two ways in which we'll see the strength of our Savior. So trust me, you'll keep up and I'll help you along the way. First, a strength to surrender.
[9:59] He's strengthened to surrender. This is our Savior. It says they seized him. This is the word to catch or to capture. This is the word to take by force. This is the word that's used earlier in the Gospel of Luke for when the disciples are catching fish. And they've caught this fish and they've taken them, hold of them. They have them. They're under their control. That's the word we're talking about.
[10:24] Just as a reminder, those of you who weren't here last week, we're the final night before Jesus' crucifixion. The disciples have spent an evening together. They've enjoyed a meal together. Jesus has washed their feet. He's encouraged them. He's implemented this new covenant, this communion supper through this Passover time. They've made their way out to the Mount of Olives and there they are. They're supposed to pray. Jesus is praying. The disciples are supposed to be praying. And now all of a sudden, this crowd comes to take hold of Jesus. We see that in verse 47.
[11:01] It says, While he was still speaking, there came a crowd. And the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him. So Judas is out in front and they lay hands on Jesus. We find from the other accounts, the other Gospel accounts, this isn't just a crowd.
[11:19] Matthew 26 calls them a great multitude or a large crowd. It says in Matthew 26, 47, While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd or a large multitude with swords and clubs from the chief priests and the elders of the people.
[11:38] John chapter 18 puts it this way. In verse 3 it says, So Judas came to the grove guiding a detachment of soldiers and some of the officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns, and weapons. Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus and they bound him.
[11:59] This word for detachment in the Greek is the word for cohort. It's one-tenth of a legion. A legion is six thousand and so a tenth of that is six hundred. They come with six hundred armed men to capture one, Jesus, and twelve or eleven sleeping disciples to catch them by surprise. These well-armed, well-trained Roman soldiers coming to capture one. Why? Well, think partly it's a testimony of the power of our Lord. Partly it's a testimony of the chief priests and the in the scribes recognizing that that what has become expected with Jesus is the unexpected. They've come to understand that that Jesus is able to do things that they can't explain. And so they come prepared or so they think.
[12:50] They think. But what they thought was preparation, they had no idea of the person really that they were reckoning with. We find from Matthew's account that when the arrest happened in Matthew chapter 26, 52 and 53, Peter slashes off the ear of Malchus, the high priest's servant, and Jesus says this. He says to him, put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my father and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?
[13:30] You see, Peter, you should understand who I am. That six hundred can be overcome by the seventy-two thousand that I could call in an instant. These trained soldiers, these human men will be overwhelmed by the seventy-two thousand I could call down in an instant of heavenly messengers and angels who could take care of this in no time flat. Recognize that Jesus was willing to surrender. Jesus was not captured against his will. Jesus was a willing participant. We must see that in this text. We must see the strengthening power of God to help Jesus surrender. This was not weakness. This was strength in allowing the plan of God to run its course in Jesus's life, to be seized by human, wicked men who thought they were dominating, but they weren't. Jesus was the master. He was in total control of all the events that were going down. And Jesus, of course, had no need for a host of angels. Now, we get a window of this. This is probably one of my favorite parts of the Gospel accounts in John chapter 18, verses 4 to 8, when the soldiers come. It says, then Jesus, knowing that all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, who do you seek? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I am he. Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with him. When Jesus said to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground.
[15:15] Two words, Ego, Emi. I am, which hearkens all the way back to the burning bush when the I am made his himself known to Moses there. The place that you're standing on is holy ground. I'm the I am, and I'm going to deliver these people, my people, out of Egypt. I'm going to provide rescue for them once and for all.
[15:38] That same I am opens his mouth, and with two words, he knocks them flat on the ground. The absolute control and sovereignty of our God. They weren't going to take him by force. They weren't prepared.
[15:52] They thought they were prepared. They thought 600 would be enough. But if it were not for the willingness of our Savior and the strengthening power of God working through our Savior to help him in that moment to surrender, these things would not have unfolded the way they did. Jesus was the I am. He is the I am.
[16:14] And he was strengthened by prayer, prepared for the worst, dependent on the Father. And so they seized him, we find in verse 54, and led him away, bringing him to the high priest's house. This would begin a course of three different trials that Jesus would experience underneath the hands of the Jewish leaders.
[16:36] First, at Annas' house, who used to be a high priest. He was kind of the figurehead, kind of the main man behind the religious establishment, as it were. His son-in-law Caiaphas was the acting high priest, but Annas was still the power behind it all. And Jesus would meet with them on three different occasions through that evening, so they could kind of set up some kind of accusation that they could present to Pilate and the Roman authorities to put Jesus to death on the cross. But Jesus is bolstered by prayer.
[17:13] Jesus knows the will of the Father. Jesus is strengthened for surrender. Jesus will also show his command of the situation as John chapter 18 continues. Verses 7 and 8 says this, So he asked them again, Whom do you seek?
[17:30] And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. 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 whom you gave me, I have lost not one.
[17:46] Jesus was in absolute command of the situation. These men finally gained their composure. Jesus answers their question again. Jesus instructs them, Do not touch my disciples. He's able to issue that command. They cannot reject that command because he is the sovereign one. And so they allow the disciples to go and they take Jesus away. Jesus strengthened for that moment by prayer.
[18:13] Now we're going to move on to Peter. He's the next in view. We're going to save these next two points for the end. Okay? We're going to see in verses 54 to 62, not a strengthened savior, but an overconfident disciple. An overconfident disciple. Now I say overconfident disciple and I kind of leave Peter as a generic name, not putting his name here because I want us all to understand that we need to insert ourselves into this picture. That every time we choose not to draw power from God, we are demonstrating a confidence in self and not a confidence in the Lord. We have underestimated the schemes of the enemy and we have downplayed the warnings that God has given to us through his word. And that's what that's what Peter does. And we'll follow his steps if we do the same. This overconfident disciple. But we see this first as he subjects himself to danger. He subjects himself to danger. Notice verse 54 and 55. It says,
[19:24] Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house. And Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Peter puts himself right in the middle of all of this problem. The events that would unfold from verses 54 to 62 are a direct result of Peter's own making. Rather than sensing his weakness, rather than heeding the warnings that God had given to him, rather than keeping a distance, Peter, either by curiosity or by his sense of loyalty and devotion to God, whatever it was, we're not really told, he decides to follow. The rest of the disciples have scattered, but Peter and John, as we find from John's account, follow at a distance. Remember that Peter has made this bold proclamation. In the garden from Mark chapter 14, Jesus will tell Peter again, you're going to deny me three times. And Peter has the audacity in the garden on this second time now. In Mark chapter 14, 29, he says, Even though they all fall away, I will not. If I must die with you, I will not deny you.
[20:49] All the other disciples, they may run and hide, but I'm going to follow and I'm going to remain loyal. Big words from an unprepared man. Peter has carefully made his way to the place where Jesus is.
[21:04] He's come to this courtyard and imagine this massive structure with a courtyard in the middle. That courtyard is protected by a gate and so that those who would enter into that courtyard and enter into the common grounds would need to go through this gate. And so Peter finds his way into this courtyard, and there he is now. A fire has been kindled. It's obviously a cold night and people are sitting around the fire to get warm. Here Peter comes too, which makes a lot of sense. He comes to warm himself by the fire. But we find in verse 56 what happens as a result of him warming himself by the fire.
[21:45] It says, A servant girl seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him said, This man also was with him. Well, there's heat there, but there's also light there at the fire. And Peter was totally unfazed. He had no comprehension of the fact that here he has been in the temple every single day.
[22:10] Here he's been associated with the disciple of Christ every day in the temple as all the people are coming, hanging on Jesus' every word, and then the hatred of the high priest and their religious officials who have pointed out Jesus and his disciples and called attention to them. And here here is this servant girl who is a servant of the high priest. And this call that has gone out even before this week to everyone to be on the lookout. And now Peter, for some reason, has stepped in and he is right there in proximity, right there in the midst of danger. And Peter's weakness will now emerge.
[22:59] He's subjected himself to the danger of this moment. He's come unprepared. And so the denial, the three-fold denial that we'll see that ensues is preceded by a sequence of failures that led to this inevitable moment. And by the way, that's how it always happens with sin. Sin always follows this course. We find that course in James chapter 1. It says that God cannot be tempted by evil, neither does he tempt anyone. But everyone is tempted when he's drawn away by his own desires and he's enticed. And so the desires of our heart will reflect the vulnerability that's there. And unless we come to a place of cutting and severing off that course, the inevitable result will be sin. Well, this issue in Peter's life traced back at least to that evening. And I want to just draw out for you five ways that Peter depended on his own strength. Those ways that Peter depended on his strength in verses 31 to 53 that we can take note of in our own life and recognize that when we decide to do the same thing, we open ourselves up to the vulnerability of sin. First, Peter minimized Christ's warning. Peter minimized Christ's warning.
[24:29] In verses 31 to 33, Jesus will say directly to Peter, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. Peter said to him, Lord, I am ready to go to go with you both to prison and to death. Here Jesus offers this very stern, very direct, very clear warning. Satan wants to have you, Peter. He wants to have all of you disciples, by the way. And Peter, it's going to go down in the next several hours. This isn't just some distant future thing. This isn't something that's often the nebulous future. This is something that's going to go down in the next several hours before the rooster crows.
[25:23] Okay? I want to make you aware of this warning, Peter. I want you to be alert. I want you to be ready. And Peter's like, eh, that's okay. I got this. Not a problem. It's going to be all right.
[25:36] He minimized Christ's warning. He underestimated the adversary. Second, he overestimates his readiness. Peter thinks he's ready. He says that right there in verse 33. He says, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death. I've got this under control. I'm going to be okay.
[26:01] And even though Jesus has raised the stakes by helping Peter understand the significance of the warning by saying, but I have prayed for you.
[26:13] You should know how serious this is, Peter, because I've had to pray for you. And Peter's like, eh, it's okay. I've got this. I'm ready. He overestimated his readiness. He depended on his own strength.
[26:28] In verses 39 to 46, we see that he was unwilling to pray. He was unwilling to pray. He was unwilling to draw strength from God. And on at least two occasions, Jesus tells Peter how, kind of the secret as it were, to how to find strength in the midst of temptation.
[26:48] Pray that you may not enter into temptation. And Peter's like, hmm, I'm strong enough. I'm good enough. I'm fine. He's unwilling to pray.
[26:59] And he allows his flesh to get in the way of what he knows to be true. I imagine that Peter and the rest of the disciples tried to pray for a little while.
[27:12] And Jesus will say to them, the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. Jesus recognizes the vulnerability and the weakness of the flesh.
[27:23] But there wasn't this concentrated effort on the Apostle Peter's part to not only recognize the importance of prayer, but to do whatever it would take to maximize prayer and to draw the power from God through prayer that was available to him.
[27:42] My guess is that for most of us in this room, we struggle with the same thing. It's so much easier to hit the snooze button than it is to get out of bed, right? Especially in the wintertime when it might be a little chilly in your house.
[27:57] And you're like, eh, it's so nice and cozy in this bed. And I'm tired anyway. I need some sleep. And so we make ourselves vulnerable because we fail to understand not only the seriousness of our adversary and the seriousness of the situation that we will face day by day, but how much we need to depend on God for his strength that only comes through prayer.
[28:24] He didn't tap into power. He was unwilling to pray. Fourth, he didn't follow Christ's lead. He didn't follow Christ's lead. In verses 47 to 53, we find, And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, Lord, shall we strike with a sword?
[28:44] And without waiting for an answer, one of them, Peter, struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, no more of this.
[28:55] And he touched his ear and healed him. And for whatever reason, Peter thought he was going to take matters into his own hands. He thought he was strong enough. Somehow he thought he was going to slash through 600 trained Roman soldiers and he was going to save the day.
[29:12] His impulsive, overconfident heart got the best of him. He didn't follow Christ's lead. He didn't realize.
[29:24] He recognized who was standing right. Right next to him. It was Peter that said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. He knew who Jesus was.
[29:34] But in the moment, he thought he was going to save God. Somehow, he forgot the plan. He's not following his master. He's not following the Lord.
[29:46] And finally, he walked into danger. He walked right into danger. And that's where we come to our passage this morning. He's taken off guard. He hasn't thought things through.
[29:57] He's not counted the cost. He's in this place and he hasn't decided how he's going to respond. If he's actually recognized. He hasn't counted the cost.
[30:07] He's come completely unprepared. He's entered right into the smack dab heart of danger and temptation. And he has no strength to do what God has asked him to do.
[30:20] To stay the course. And all of this, of course, was a predictable outcome. This foregone conclusion of a life that drew from its own power rather than drawing from divine power.
[30:34] You see, Peter's overconfidence made him vulnerable. His overconfidence made him vulnerable. Peter's overconfidence made him vulnerable. So here he is.
[30:46] One by one. Hours that ticked by. Peter would succumb to his fear. Peter would not be able to resist temptation. We find the first there in verse 56.
[30:58] This man was also one of them. And Peter, in panic, denies it. In verse 57. Woman, I do not know him. The night wore on.
[31:10] Verse 58. You also are one of them. Peter responds. Man, I am not. After about an hour goes by. We find in verse 59.
[31:21] An hour goes by. And still another says. Certainly this man was also with him. For he too is a Galilean. And we find from John's account.
[31:31] That this servant who is identifying Peter. Was also in the garden. Saw Peter strike off the ear. Is related to Malchus. So all these connections.
[31:43] He's recognizing that Peter is a Galilean. Because of his accent. We find that from the gospel of Matthew. He's connecting all the dots. He knows who Peter is. And Peter denies it.
[31:53] Flat out denies it. And in the other gospels we find. From Matthew and Mark. He actually calls down curses. Upon himself. He blasphemes God.
[32:04] In the process. Of trying to vindicate himself. Basically. I swear. To heaven. Or I swear by God's throne. Or I swear. By all that is holy.
[32:15] Or may God strike me dead. If this is not true. All of those kinds of things. That were embedded in the culture. And as. Peter is denying.
[32:26] The savior. The rooster crows. The rooster crows. The significance. Of that chain of events. In light. Of what Christ. Had said. Especially.
[32:38] In John chapter 12. Where he says. If. Anyone. Acknowledges me. Before men. The son of God. Will also acknowledge.
[32:48] Before. The angels of God. But the one who denies me. Before men. Will be denied. Before. The angels of God. The implications. Of this denial.
[32:59] Reflect the wickedness. Of the event. This was not a minor event. This required. The separation. Of Peter.
[33:10] From God. Himself. Because of. Peter's. Unwillingness. To acknowledge. The son. But there's forgiveness. For this. And that's where we turn.
[33:22] Next. We recognize. Or Peter recognized. In verse 61. His failure. He recognized. His failure. And this begins. To be. The beginning. Of a heart.
[33:33] Of repentance. This begins. To be. A heart. Of renewal. This begins. To be. The beginning. Of Peter. Recognizing. That he is not. All that. That he does need.
[33:44] Divine power. It says. And the Lord. Turned. And looked. At Peter. Oh. What must. That look. Have been. Like. And Peter.
[33:55] Remembered. The saying. Of the Lord. How he had said. To him. Before the rooster crows. Today. You will deny me. Three times. That must have been. A devastating glance. Jesus.
[34:06] Who earlier. That night. Had predicted. This chain. Of events. And here. The flood. Of that memory. Comes. And lands. On Peter. Like. A stone.
[34:18] Just a few hours. In just a few hours. He had succumbed. To this. Temptation. This impulse. Of self-preservation. But this would be. Just the beginning.
[34:30] And here's the hope. The hope. Of this. Is that. The turning. That Jesus. Had. Talked about. That while. Peter. Had not prayed. For himself.
[34:41] The Lord. Had prayed. For Peter. But I have prayed. For you. Peter. I prayed. For you. I prayed. For strength. I prayed. For your heart.
[34:52] To be changed. I prayed. For you. To strengthen. Your brothers. And while Peter. Has failed. Miserably. The Lord. Himself. Has prayed. For Peter. And I want you.
[35:03] To know. The Lord. Has prayed. For you. The Lord. Has prayed. For you. In John. Chapter 17. We see. The testimony. Of the Lord's prayer. For all of us. And we see. This now.
[35:13] This work. Of Christ. On the cross. Of making a way. For forgiveness. Of making a way. For us. To move beyond.
[35:24] Our failures. And to move. Into. Cleansing. And relationship. Peter. Had not prayed. But Jesus. Had prayed for him. And godly.
[35:34] Sorrow. Had led to repentance. Was beginning. To lead. To repentance. In Peter's heart. There would be. Another encounter. This encounter.
[35:44] That would happen. After the ascension. Excuse me. After the resurrection. And just before the ascension. This encounter. Where Jesus would come. And he would meet the disciples. There by the sea of Galilee.
[35:55] And Jesus. Would question Peter. Three times. He would say. Peter. Do you love me? And Peter would say. Yes. You know I love you. And Jesus would ask again.
[36:07] Peter. Do you love me? And Peter would say. Yes. I love you. And finally. One more time. Peter. Do you love me? And Peter says. Lord. You know all things.
[36:19] You know. That I love you. And so. Those three denials. Were. Were. Reinforced. By three confessions. Of Peter. Peter's love.
[36:30] For Christ. Now finally. Let's come back. To point number one. To focus again. On the strength of Christ. He was. Strengthened. To surrender. But we're going to see.
[36:40] He's also strengthened. To suffer. And he's going to be. Strengthened. To speak. I want us to move through. These last couple of points. Quickly. To draw them to our attention.
[36:51] Strengthened. To suffer. Strengthened. To speak. Picking up at verse 63. It says. Now. The men who were holding Jesus. In custody. Were mocking him. As they beat him. They also blindfolded him.
[37:03] And kept asking him. Prophesy. Who is it? That struck you? And they said many other things. Against him. Blaspheming him. Jesus would face the abuse.
[37:14] Of these wicked men. These men would. Would in their. Blasphemous mocking. Seek to blindfold Jesus. And put him to the test.
[37:26] Of course. Jesus would know. Not only. Who was. Beating him. But he had prophesied. Seven days earlier. The week. Earlier.
[37:36] Friday before. That these very things. Would happen. He said. Scripture must be fulfilled. In your midst. In Luke. Chapter 18. We find.
[37:47] In verses 31 to 33. Jesus. He took the. He took the 12 disciples. And said to them. See we're going up to Jerusalem. And everything. That is written. About the son of man.
[37:57] By the prophets. Will be accomplished. For he will be. Delivered over. To the Gentiles. And will be mocked. And will be shamefully treated. And will be spit upon.
[38:09] And after flogging him. They will kill him. And on the third day. He will rise. Jesus knew the suffering. That was coming. And Jesus. Strengthened by the power of God.
[38:20] Was strengthened. To suffer. We find from Luke. Chapter 22. Verse 63. That there was mocking. There was beating. We find from John's account.
[38:31] In John. 18. 22. That he was struck. With the palm. Of their hands. In Matthew. Chapter 26. Verse 67. He was spit in the face. He was beaten. And struck.
[38:42] With the palms. Of their hands. They would beat him. In just the way. That God. That Christ himself. Had predicted. Had prophesied. He knew. What was coming.
[38:53] And he was strengthened. For the task. Strengthened. For suffering. And finally. He was strengthened. To speak. Strengthened. To speak. We see his confession. Here. In verses.
[39:03] 66 to 71. When day came. The assembly. Of the elders. Of the people. Gathered together. Both chief priests. And scribes. And they led him away.
[39:14] To their council. This would be the. Sanhedrin. A group of 70 men. Who were the officials. Of their religious leaders. And in Israel. And they led him away.
[39:24] To their council. And they said. If you are the Christ. Tell us. But he said to them. If I tell you. You will not believe. And if I ask you.
[39:35] You will not answer. But from now on. The son of man. Shall be seated. At the right hand. Of the power of God. So they all said. Are you the son of God then? And he said to them.
[39:46] You say that I am. Then they said. What further testimony. Do we need? We have heard it ourselves. From his own lips. You see.
[39:56] The trials that would take place. In the evening. This illegal trial. It was supposed to happen. In public. It was supposed to happen. In the temple. It was supposed to happen. During the day. It was supposed to be.
[40:07] A two-part trial. That would happen. On at least two consecutive days. None of that was taking place. Here they are meeting at night. They have not been able. To find. A testimony. To witnesses.
[40:18] That can corroborate. Any details. That would implicate Jesus. And so they are left with one recourse. And one recourse alone. And that is. We must get Jesus to confess.
[40:31] And so Jesus. Knowing they had nothing on him. Knowing they had no jurisdiction. No legal ability. To lead him to execution. They needed to have the Roman authorities.
[40:45] To sentence him to death. They had nothing. And Jesus. In his strength. Is willing to confess the truth. He is willing to speak.
[40:56] He is willing to essentially. Speak the truth. And sentence himself to death. Because he knew. The plan. Of God. For him. And the plan of God. To save the world. Jesus issues this threat.
[41:11] This warning. You may not believe. And you have asked me this question. Throughout my ministry. I have been just as clear with you. In the past. I am going to be clear with you again. While you may not believe.
[41:23] I want you to recognize. That I am here. I am the man. And. From this point on. When you see me. I want you to recognize.
[41:34] That from now on. The son of man. Shall be seated. At the right hand. Of the power of God. You are looking. At the son of man. And I want you to recognize.
[41:45] That while you think. You have jurisdiction. While you think. You are exercising. Some measure of authority. The real authority. Rests with me. I am the one. Who is going to be seated.
[41:56] At the right hand. And I am the one. Who is going to be. The ultimate judge. Judge. Do you understand. The significance. Of this moment. In that. Very moment. Is what.
[42:07] Has now issued in. An opportunity. For all of us. To enjoy the benefits. Of the saving work. Of Christ. As Jesus went. To the cross. He suffered.
[42:17] And died. He was resurrected. On the third day. And the wickedness. Of these men. Has helped. Us. In some ways. To now enjoy.
[42:28] The benefits. Of this divine plan. Of God. In rescuing. The rest of us. Sinners. And extending. To us. The opportunity. Of forgiveness. Because of the work.
[42:39] Of Jesus Christ. Jesus was strengthened. Through prayer. He was strengthened. Through the power. Of God. To face all of these.
[42:50] The sequence. Of these events. That we're going to look at. Over the next several weeks. I wonder. For us. This morning. Are you. Strengthened. By prayer.
[43:01] Samuel Chadwick. Puts it this way. He says. Satan. Dreads. Nothing. But prayer. His one concern. Is to keep the saints. From praying. He fears nothing.
[43:11] From prayerless. Studies. Prayerless work. Prayerless religion. He laughs. At our toil. He mocks. Our wisdom. But he trembles.
[43:22] When we pray. Are you heeding. Christ's warning. Do you recognize. Says. Paul will say. In Ephesians chapter 6. That we wrestle. Not against.
[43:32] Flesh and blood. But we wrestle. Against. The schemes. Of the devil. And so. In order to. To arm ourselves. And prepare ourselves. We need to. Humble ourselves. And pray.
[43:44] And seek dependence. On God. And so. I put in your notes. There. There are. Eight things. I think. I put there. These are prayers. That are prayed. Throughout the scripture.
[43:55] Throughout the new testament. In particular. Ways in which. We should pray. In order to. To enjoy. The benefits. Of God's power.
[44:06] Charles Spurgeon. Says this. And I'll close. I'll close with this. He says. A prayerless soul. Is a Christless soul.
[44:17] A prayerless soul. Is a Christless soul. Prayer is the lisping. Of the believing infant. The shout. Of the fighting believer.
[44:29] The requiem. Of a dying saint. Falling asleep in Jesus. It is the breath. Of the watchword. The comfort. The strength. The honor. Of every Christian.
[44:39] Oh may God help us. To understand. Not only the. The resource. Of prayer. But the urgency. That we have. To be. Looking.
[44:50] For God's help. Day by day. Especially. In these last days. As we anticipate. Christ's coming. Let me pray. Oh God. I pray.
[45:00] That you would help us. May we not be. An overconfident. Disciple. Like Peter. Thank you for. This overcoming. Power of Christ.
[45:12] That was able. To forgive. Peter. Of his sin. And we know. The promise. Is intact. For us too. That if we confess. Our sin. That you are faithful. And just. To forgive our sin.
[45:22] And to cleanse us. From all unrighteousness. Lord. There is. Overcoming power. Even in the midst. Of failure. We praise you for that. But we ask. That you would help us.
[45:34] Help us to find. That. Like Peter. Or like Paul does. That your. Your grace. Is sufficient for us. That your strength. Is made perfect. In our weakness.
[45:46] Lord. May we come. Face to face. With our weakness. So we come. To depend. More and more. On your strength. We pray these things. In Jesus name. Amen. God bless you. Have a great week.