WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.000 When I was in elementary school, our school had an essay writing contest, and somehow 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:11.339 I won the contest. 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:14.220 It was the first time I had won anything like that. 00:00:14.280 --> 00:00:15.900 I was pretty young, and I was excited. 00:00:16.539 --> 00:00:21.839 And part of the fact that I won meant that at the big end-of-year assembly, I had to 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:25.160 read my essay in front of all the school and the parents. 00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:27.859 And so this is the days before computers. 00:00:27.859 --> 00:00:33.100 And so there was only one handwritten copy of my essay that I kept in my desk. 00:00:33.100 --> 00:00:35.140 You could open the desk and put it in. 00:00:35.500 --> 00:00:37.280 That's where my copy of my essay was. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:42.679 So right before the assembly, I went to get my essay, and I opened my desk, and it wasn't 00:00:42.679 --> 00:00:42.980 there. 00:00:44.140 --> 00:00:45.219 And I looked everywhere. 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:46.159 I looked in my bag. 00:00:46.239 --> 00:00:47.200 I looked in my cubby. 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:48.600 I looked back in my desk. 00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:51.659 I looked in my books, and I couldn't find the essay anywhere. 00:00:52.500 --> 00:00:57.859 The assembly started, and so when it came time for me to get up and to read the essay, I 00:00:57.859 --> 00:01:02.500 kind of came to the microphone, and I sort of mumbled into the microphone, I think I lost 00:01:02.500 --> 00:01:02.979 my essay. 00:01:03.659 --> 00:01:09.099 And there was a kind of laugh from the crowd, and then I went and sat back down, pretty embarrassed. 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:11.099 And it drove me crazy. 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:12.140 What happened to that essay? 00:01:12.219 --> 00:01:13.319 I knew it was right there. 00:01:13.420 --> 00:01:14.340 Where had it gone? 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:17.159 I found out a couple of days later what had happened. 00:01:17.159 --> 00:01:24.039 My best friend at the time had been jealous that I had won instead of him, and so he snuck 00:01:24.039 --> 00:01:28.019 in and took my essay and crumpled it up and threw it away. 00:01:29.780 --> 00:01:34.280 Now, I'm sure you can probably think of worse examples of betrayal. 00:01:34.739 --> 00:01:36.780 I mean, I certainly can. 00:01:36.780 --> 00:01:44.659 But for me in elementary school, that was my first taste of betrayal. 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:48.480 It was the first time that something like that had been done directly to me. 00:01:48.900 --> 00:01:53.500 And when something like that happens, it's not only painful, but it's disorienting. 00:01:53.740 --> 00:01:59.540 It begins to shift around your understanding of how the world works and how relationships 00:01:59.540 --> 00:02:00.140 work. 00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:04.420 New possibilities open up that you didn't consider before. 00:02:04.420 --> 00:02:07.180 You start to wonder, who can I trust? 00:02:08.039 --> 00:02:10.960 Is this a normal kind of thing that people do to one another? 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:13.979 It makes you doubt your own judgment. 00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:16.659 Shouldn't I have seen that coming? 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:21.780 And then as you think more deeply about it, more self-reflectively, it makes you think, 00:02:22.379 --> 00:02:26.460 would I be capable of doing something like that to somebody else? 00:02:26.939 --> 00:02:30.139 Can I be trusted in such circumstances? 00:02:30.139 --> 00:02:40.379 I asked ChatGPT, the new source, great authority source in our society, to give me the worst 00:02:40.379 --> 00:02:43.219 examples of betrayal from history and literature. 00:02:43.419 --> 00:02:51.919 And it popped up, you know, Benedict Arnold, Brutus betraying Julius Caesar, right? 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:58.179 But at the top of the list, the top of the list, Judas Iscariot. 00:02:59.099 --> 00:03:01.799 Judas' betrayal of Jesus. 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:04.959 Judas is the ultimate betrayer. 00:03:05.239 --> 00:03:12.599 You know, in Dante's Inferno, the worst sinner of all is Judas Iscariot. 00:03:12.599 --> 00:03:19.639 So, this morning we're going to look at this account in Matthew's gospel where we see why 00:03:19.639 --> 00:03:26.799 we live in a world where betrayal is so common, and we're going to see how Jesus changes everything 00:03:26.799 --> 00:03:28.539 in his response. 00:03:28.959 --> 00:03:32.759 So, two parts, Judas' betrayal and Jesus' response. 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:33.259 Let's pray. 00:03:33.259 --> 00:03:38.579 Lord, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for this Palm Sunday. 00:03:38.959 --> 00:03:42.439 Lord, we thank you for your journey into Jerusalem. 00:03:42.679 --> 00:03:45.979 No one there in the crowd knew what that journey meant. 00:03:47.340 --> 00:03:51.340 No one knew where it would lead except you. 00:03:52.459 --> 00:03:53.799 You knew where you were going. 00:03:54.379 --> 00:03:56.199 You knew why you were doing it. 00:03:57.039 --> 00:04:01.159 And Lord, we pray that that would become more and more evident to us this morning. 00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:06.979 The reason you took that journey into Jerusalem was your love. 00:04:07.180 --> 00:04:11.719 I pray that we would feel that as we open your word this morning, and we ask this in your 00:04:11.719 --> 00:04:12.500 Son's holy name. 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:12.979 Amen. 00:04:14.840 --> 00:04:17.879 So, the first thing we want to look at is Judas' betrayal. 00:04:18.019 --> 00:04:19.600 Let me set the scene for you a little bit. 00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:20.740 It's the middle of the night. 00:04:21.420 --> 00:04:24.240 Jesus has eaten the Passover meal with his disciples. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:30.199 They've all since come into the Garden of Gethsemane, the place that they often liked to 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:30.500 come. 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:32.819 As I said, it's at night. 00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:35.300 They're all there together except one. 00:04:37.079 --> 00:04:40.339 At some point, Judas Iscariot has slipped away. 00:04:43.099 --> 00:04:45.659 Then all of a sudden, there's the glow of torches. 00:04:46.019 --> 00:04:47.399 There's the clanking of armor. 00:04:48.180 --> 00:04:50.860 There are weapons that appear out of the shadows. 00:04:51.339 --> 00:04:57.099 Several hundred people emerge from the shadowy darkness beyond the tree line. 00:04:57.100 --> 00:05:05.060 It's a lynch mob, and it's made up of Romans and Jews, including scribes and elders and 00:05:05.060 --> 00:05:07.200 temple guards, even the high priest. 00:05:08.780 --> 00:05:11.240 Judas then steps out from the crowd. 00:05:11.379 --> 00:05:12.660 He walks over to Jesus. 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:19.520 He performs the prearranged signal that identifies Jesus as the one that needs to be seized. 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:25.799 He says, greetings, rabbi, and then he kisses him on the cheek. 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:32.959 Now, commentators point out that in this culture, if you had a student and a rabbi, that the student 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:34.939 would never greet the rabbi first. 00:05:36.219 --> 00:05:40.359 The student would always wait for the rabbi to acknowledge and speak first. 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:45.560 And to do this is a great sign of disrespect to your rabbi. 00:05:45.660 --> 00:05:48.259 It's essentially saying, you're no better than me. 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:49.540 I'm your equal. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:52.540 It's a repudiation of Jesus' authority. 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:55.520 So, he's claiming equal status with his rabbi. 00:05:55.580 --> 00:05:56.939 You're no longer my authority. 00:05:57.020 --> 00:05:57.800 I reject you. 00:05:59.259 --> 00:06:07.300 So, Judas is rejecting Jesus' authority, and he's also claiming to be his equal, if not his 00:06:07.300 --> 00:06:07.780 superior. 00:06:07.779 --> 00:06:14.000 Now, Judas' betrayal of Jesus, as we already said, is notorious, right? 00:06:14.159 --> 00:06:19.099 Jesus has showed him nothing but love and kindness for three years, and yet Judas is 00:06:19.099 --> 00:06:22.839 willing to sell Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver. 00:06:24.039 --> 00:06:27.439 Judas is the worst, right? 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:28.119 Or is he? 00:06:30.659 --> 00:06:31.719 Is he, right? 00:06:31.719 --> 00:06:37.000 Earlier that evening, as they were eating, Jesus had predicted that Judas was going to betray 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:37.420 him. 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:41.680 But then, when they get to the garden, Jesus makes another prediction. 00:06:43.300 --> 00:06:46.680 All of the disciples are going to abandon him before the night is over. 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:48.319 All of them. 00:06:49.420 --> 00:06:50.779 Peter becomes indignant. 00:06:50.899 --> 00:06:53.259 He says, I'm not going to abandon you. 00:06:53.300 --> 00:06:54.199 I would never abandon you. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:56.259 In fact, I would die before I would abandon you. 00:06:56.379 --> 00:06:57.939 And then all the other disciples join in. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:00.720 We would die before we would ever betray you or abandon you. 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:08.540 But sure enough, once Jesus has been arrested, verse 56 says, all the disciples left him and 00:07:08.540 --> 00:07:09.000 fled. 00:07:11.140 --> 00:07:11.960 What's the point? 00:07:11.959 --> 00:07:18.459 Well, I think that there's a great relief that comes from demonizing someone like Judas. 00:07:19.919 --> 00:07:21.899 Certainly, history has demonized him. 00:07:22.819 --> 00:07:27.959 But there's a great relief that comes with turning someone like Judas into a kind of moral 00:07:27.959 --> 00:07:33.659 monster, an inhuman monster, because the more we do that, the more we can convince ourselves 00:07:33.659 --> 00:07:35.039 that we are nothing like him. 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:41.620 No normal, ordinary, compassionate, thoughtful, devoted person would do what he did. 00:07:42.260 --> 00:07:43.700 Certainly not someone like me. 00:07:45.260 --> 00:07:52.800 But the truth is, the betrayal in this garden resembles another betrayal that happened in 00:07:52.800 --> 00:08:00.180 another garden a long time ago, where we see God create human beings to worship and serve 00:08:00.180 --> 00:08:06.160 him alone, meaning that we're most fully human when we're worshiping and serving God. 00:08:08.340 --> 00:08:15.180 But then in the garden, the first humans disobeyed God by eating the fruit he told them not to eat. 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:17.040 Spoiler alert, it's not about the fruit. 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:29.620 When they make this choice, it is out of their desire to be like God, right, to reject God's 00:08:29.620 --> 00:08:32.580 authority, to claim equality with God. 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:35.980 We want to determine for ourselves right and wrong. 00:08:36.659 --> 00:08:37.820 We want to be like you. 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:39.820 That was the nature of the temptation. 00:08:41.700 --> 00:08:45.940 So when Judas betrays Jesus, this is just an echo of Eden. 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:53.480 This garden is a mere echo of the events that took place in that garden. 00:08:55.019 --> 00:08:59.519 And so what this means for us is that Judas isn't uniquely evil as much as we would like 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:03.299 to think that as much as history has portrayed him as such. 00:09:04.299 --> 00:09:09.399 Judas follows Jesus as long as it benefits him, but given the opportunity, he's willing 00:09:09.399 --> 00:09:11.000 to sell him out for some silver. 00:09:11.960 --> 00:09:14.699 But the other disciples do the same thing. 00:09:15.579 --> 00:09:19.179 They follow Jesus until it might cost them too much. 00:09:20.179 --> 00:09:23.240 And then they abandoned him, even Peter. 00:09:23.240 --> 00:09:29.539 So then that begins to get closer and closer and closer and more and more personal until 00:09:29.539 --> 00:09:31.539 we are forced to ask, what about me? 00:09:32.379 --> 00:09:33.320 What about us? 00:09:34.940 --> 00:09:40.360 You know, if life is going well, I think we're happy and we're feeling fulfilled and there's 00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:43.159 meaning and we're getting something out of our faith. 00:09:43.159 --> 00:09:48.559 When we pray or when we go to church or when we read the Bible, there's a sense of connection 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:53.740 with God and it helps us deal with our anxiety and our depression and be a little more patient 00:09:53.740 --> 00:09:56.319 with our kids, then we're content to follow Jesus. 00:09:57.459 --> 00:10:04.339 But what happens when things get harder or what happens when our faith becomes more costly? 00:10:04.699 --> 00:10:08.120 Because, you know, I don't have to tell you, following Jesus is costly. 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:14.179 What happens when inflation hits, right, and the cost goes up? 00:10:16.259 --> 00:10:18.639 Because following Jesus may mean a lot of things. 00:10:18.759 --> 00:10:23.159 It may mean facing ridicule or being excluded from certain social circles. 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:30.759 It may mean having to forgive someone instead of demanding retribution, which is a lot more costly. 00:10:32.019 --> 00:10:33.799 Holding on to anger and bitterness. 00:10:34.779 --> 00:10:36.840 That's where most of our hearts want to be. 00:10:36.840 --> 00:10:42.500 Following Jesus may mean giving generously when you lack financial security yourself. 00:10:43.060 --> 00:10:48.580 When you're not actually giving off the top, you're giving something that actually represents 00:10:48.580 --> 00:10:50.019 a sacrifice for you. 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:57.399 It may mean praising God even when He doesn't answer prayer in the way that you would want. 00:10:58.160 --> 00:11:03.220 It may mean staying single instead of being in a relationship that runs against God's will 00:11:03.220 --> 00:11:03.720 for your life. 00:11:03.720 --> 00:11:09.759 It may mean passing up major career opportunities that run against God's will for your life, right? 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:13.720 At some point, your faith is going to start to really cost something. 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:17.019 And then we ask ourselves, what do I do in times like that? 00:11:17.700 --> 00:11:23.500 Am I going to stay with Jesus or am I going to take the silver, whatever that silver represents? 00:11:23.500 --> 00:11:34.259 In the words of the great sociologist Pablo Escobar, everybody has a price. 00:11:35.720 --> 00:11:36.879 Everybody has a price. 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:41.100 The important thing is to find out what it is. 00:11:41.700 --> 00:11:43.620 Now that's a question worth thinking about. 00:11:43.620 --> 00:11:46.600 That is a question worth reflecting on. 00:11:47.980 --> 00:11:50.080 For Judas, it was 30 pieces of silver. 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:52.279 What is my price? 00:11:55.639 --> 00:11:57.139 What is your price? 00:11:59.259 --> 00:12:03.460 In what area of your life do you say, I will follow Jesus if? 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:07.740 I'll follow Jesus as long as, right? 00:12:07.740 --> 00:12:09.659 That's price language. 00:12:10.440 --> 00:12:13.080 I'll follow Jesus as long as I can also have this. 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:20.159 I'll follow Jesus as long as He doesn't ever ask me to do that or to give that up. 00:12:21.100 --> 00:12:23.000 Whatever that is for you, that's your price. 00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:29.279 So then this raises the question, if we begin to reflect on our own lives, our own hearts, 00:12:29.340 --> 00:12:31.320 we begin to realize, I do have a price. 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:34.320 In fact, I have several prices. 00:12:35.940 --> 00:12:40.740 Then how do we become the kind of people, how do we get the kinds of hearts where we 00:12:40.740 --> 00:12:46.840 don't have a price, where we say, I'm committed to Jesus no matter what. 00:12:46.860 --> 00:12:49.160 I'm committed to my friends no matter what. 00:12:49.180 --> 00:12:51.560 I'm committed to my spouse no matter what. 00:12:51.580 --> 00:12:53.760 I'm the kind of person who can commit no matter what. 00:12:54.660 --> 00:12:56.340 How do we become that kind of person? 00:12:57.060 --> 00:13:00.680 And that's why Jesus' response is so crucial. 00:13:00.679 --> 00:13:05.299 Verse 51 says, one of the disciples, who do you think this is? 00:13:06.239 --> 00:13:10.779 One of the disciples who happens to be passionate and impetuous and sometimes acts before he 00:13:10.779 --> 00:13:16.039 thinks, draws a sword and cuts off the ear of the servant of the high priest. 00:13:16.179 --> 00:13:17.879 John's gospel tells us this is Peter. 00:13:19.259 --> 00:13:26.120 And then Jesus says to Peter, put your sword back in its place, for all who take the sword 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:28.099 will perish by the sword. 00:13:28.179 --> 00:13:30.120 Now, what does that mean? 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:32.620 What does it mean to take the sword? 00:13:33.019 --> 00:13:36.220 What does it mean that people who take the sword will perish by the sword? 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:39.480 Some people think this is an argument for pacifism. 00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:41.879 This is not contextually what's happening here. 00:13:41.940 --> 00:13:42.960 So what does this mean? 00:13:44.679 --> 00:13:52.600 In Peter's mind, in Peter and the other disciples, their way of breaking down the world, they represent 00:13:52.600 --> 00:13:53.360 the good guys. 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:58.019 And by the way, I think when most of us read the Bible, we also sort of think of Jesus and 00:13:58.019 --> 00:14:00.560 his merry band of disciples as the good guys. 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:01.899 These are the good guys. 00:14:02.379 --> 00:14:03.259 Who are the bad guys? 00:14:03.340 --> 00:14:04.320 Well, they're the Jewish leaders. 00:14:04.580 --> 00:14:05.820 They're the Romans. 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:07.460 Those are the bad guys. 00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:08.379 Right? 00:14:08.379 --> 00:14:11.039 The Jewish religious leaders were threatened by Jesus. 00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:12.279 They were jealous of Jesus. 00:14:12.439 --> 00:14:13.539 They just wanted him dead. 00:14:14.039 --> 00:14:18.039 This whole arrest in the middle of the night, which Jesus points out, you're coming at me 00:14:18.039 --> 00:14:18.960 like I'm a robber. 00:14:19.980 --> 00:14:21.840 But they're trying to do this in secret. 00:14:21.980 --> 00:14:23.679 They're going to have this sham trial. 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:26.039 Right? 00:14:26.039 --> 00:14:30.019 At Caiaphas' house, it's going to be a total… 00:14:30.019 --> 00:14:30.899 This is a lynch mob. 00:14:30.980 --> 00:14:33.159 They're just trying to figure out a legal loophole to kill him. 00:14:34.120 --> 00:14:35.079 So they're bad guys. 00:14:35.319 --> 00:14:37.559 Then the Romans are the occupying force. 00:14:37.819 --> 00:14:42.319 A lot of these disciples are secretly, or not so secretly, hoping that at some point Jesus 00:14:42.319 --> 00:14:44.559 is going to say, okay, it's go time. 00:14:44.899 --> 00:14:45.779 Grab your swords. 00:14:46.059 --> 00:14:47.199 Let's take out the Romans. 00:14:47.899 --> 00:14:51.240 And that the lightning is going to start to strike, and the meteors are going to fall, 00:14:51.240 --> 00:14:55.399 and there's going to be a divine overturning of Rome and a liberation of Israel. 00:14:55.399 --> 00:14:57.419 Like the good old days in the Old Testament. 00:14:57.759 --> 00:14:58.980 That's what they're hoping for. 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:02.860 Good guys and bad guys. 00:15:03.459 --> 00:15:04.379 We're the good guys. 00:15:04.699 --> 00:15:05.579 They're the bad guys. 00:15:06.019 --> 00:15:09.319 Taking the sword means righteous indignation. 00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:14.579 Taking the sword means getting outraged over something that someone has said or done. 00:15:15.959 --> 00:15:21.639 Taking the sword means having the mentality that you are one of the good guys. 00:15:21.639 --> 00:15:26.000 And the biggest problem in the world is the bad guys out there. 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:29.419 And we live in a culture where everyone takes the sword. 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:31.379 Right? 00:15:31.439 --> 00:15:33.159 I mean, Twitter is a bloodbath. 00:15:33.740 --> 00:15:35.159 Every day, daily bloodbath. 00:15:35.220 --> 00:15:36.559 Because everybody takes the sword. 00:15:39.460 --> 00:15:43.779 So if you're a traditional religious person, you might say, hey, who are the good guys? 00:15:43.860 --> 00:15:45.759 The good guys are people like me. 00:15:45.819 --> 00:15:48.120 The people with morals that are grounded in tradition. 00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:51.220 They don't give in to this relativism. 00:15:51.399 --> 00:15:52.980 They're grounded in family values. 00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:55.340 They're people who pray. 00:15:55.480 --> 00:15:56.560 They're people who go to worship. 00:15:56.700 --> 00:15:59.700 They're people who read their holy scriptures, the Bible or the Koran. 00:16:00.139 --> 00:16:04.580 They're the people who give themselves to something bigger than themselves. 00:16:06.179 --> 00:16:07.279 These are the good guys. 00:16:07.399 --> 00:16:08.340 Who are the bad guys? 00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:11.779 Well, the bad guys are all those godless liberals and secular people. 00:16:13.060 --> 00:16:14.860 Pick up the sword against them. 00:16:14.860 --> 00:16:15.300 Right? 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:20.200 But if you're a secular progressive person, you're going to have a very different standard. 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:21.480 You're going to say, well, who are the good guys? 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:22.460 They're people like me. 00:16:23.180 --> 00:16:26.740 Obviously, they're people who believe in tolerance and people who believe in inclusion, 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:31.039 people who are open-minded and people that believe that life is about being true to yourself. 00:16:31.139 --> 00:16:36.240 And the worst thing you can do is yoke yourself to some old, dead, antiquated religion. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:38.500 Who are the bad guys? 00:16:38.539 --> 00:16:41.680 The bad guys are all those closed-minded bigots and religious extremists. 00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:43.039 Take up the sword. 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:43.060 Take up the sword. 00:16:44.860 --> 00:16:47.500 If you're a successful capitalist, who are the bad guys? 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:51.860 They're all those lazy, entitled people who want the government to do everything for them. 00:16:52.060 --> 00:16:53.700 If you're a Marxist, who are the bad guys? 00:16:53.740 --> 00:16:56.639 They're the ones with all the power and privilege who oppress and marginalize others. 00:16:56.800 --> 00:16:57.840 Who are the bad guys? 00:16:59.259 --> 00:17:01.539 We've all got some sense of good guys and bad guys. 00:17:02.560 --> 00:17:05.400 And, you know, we can all do this in our personal relationships as well. 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:08.839 Someone confronts you over something that you did. 00:17:08.900 --> 00:17:10.799 Hey, when you said this thing, it really hurt my feelings. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:14.559 When you did this, it was really challenging for me. 00:17:14.859 --> 00:17:18.619 And you get defensive and angry. 00:17:20.399 --> 00:17:24.159 You know, you sort of feel that rise up in you like bile. 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:26.099 And what happens? 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:29.319 Well, you assemble your inner team of lawyers. 00:17:30.399 --> 00:17:30.799 Right? 00:17:30.819 --> 00:17:34.599 We all keep these lawyers on retainer in here. 00:17:34.859 --> 00:17:35.339 Right? 00:17:35.339 --> 00:17:36.339 And they're just kind of sitting there. 00:17:36.399 --> 00:17:39.959 And the minute somebody kind of crosses that line with you, they call you out. 00:17:40.539 --> 00:17:42.159 I'm concerned about this in your life. 00:17:42.220 --> 00:17:43.779 When you said this to me, it hurt my feelings. 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:45.220 When you did this, it was embarrassing. 00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:45.740 Right? 00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:46.720 Whatever it may be. 00:17:47.179 --> 00:17:49.019 And you're like, all right, guys, let's get to work. 00:17:49.720 --> 00:17:51.220 And your lawyers activate. 00:17:51.500 --> 00:17:52.459 And what do they start doing? 00:17:52.539 --> 00:17:54.980 They start to justify you. 00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:56.159 Right? 00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:58.340 They start to build a case in your favor. 00:17:58.420 --> 00:18:00.180 They start to discredit the witnesses. 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:02.560 They start to cross-examine. 00:18:03.360 --> 00:18:03.519 Right? 00:18:03.620 --> 00:18:06.360 They start building a case against the other person. 00:18:06.600 --> 00:18:09.460 You start blame-shifting and making counter-accusations. 00:18:09.580 --> 00:18:11.600 And in fact, you're really the victim here. 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:12.400 Right? 00:18:12.420 --> 00:18:15.019 By the time they get done, the whole situation has been reversed. 00:18:15.120 --> 00:18:18.600 And you're like, I like this version a whole lot better than their version. 00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:20.179 Because in this version, I'm the good guy. 00:18:20.859 --> 00:18:22.240 And you're the bad guy. 00:18:22.359 --> 00:18:24.719 I only did what I did because of what you did. 00:18:26.519 --> 00:18:27.740 You're taking up the sword. 00:18:29.059 --> 00:18:30.099 You're taking up the sword. 00:18:31.259 --> 00:18:36.199 And Jesus says, put your sword back in its place. 00:18:38.779 --> 00:18:42.519 All who take the sword will perish by the sword. 00:18:43.719 --> 00:18:45.799 You hurt me, I hurt you. 00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:48.019 You blame me, I blame you. 00:18:49.159 --> 00:18:51.699 You get revenge on me, I get revenge on you. 00:18:53.619 --> 00:18:55.480 You kill me, I kill you. 00:18:58.939 --> 00:19:01.679 Taking up the sword only leads to division and death. 00:19:02.939 --> 00:19:05.059 It breaks down the fabric of society. 00:19:07.079 --> 00:19:09.419 It breaks down our institutions from within. 00:19:09.420 --> 00:19:19.640 It makes our democracy so dysfunctional that it can't operate. 00:19:21.100 --> 00:19:22.060 Tears down families. 00:19:23.340 --> 00:19:24.779 Tears us apart from the inside out. 00:19:24.779 --> 00:19:29.559 Jesus says, don't follow the way of the sword. 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:32.559 What does He say instead? 00:19:32.940 --> 00:19:39.160 In everything He does, when He says, all of this is happening so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. 00:19:39.379 --> 00:19:42.960 All of this is happening as it was written they would. 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:44.259 What's He talking about? 00:19:44.259 --> 00:19:46.720 He's talking about the cross. 00:19:47.720 --> 00:19:48.640 And so what is He saying? 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:51.160 Don't follow the way of the sword. 00:19:52.859 --> 00:19:54.279 Follow the way of the cross. 00:19:54.279 --> 00:19:57.240 What does that mean? 00:19:58.500 --> 00:20:01.940 Well, it means there has to be a major shift in our heart in the way we see the world. 00:20:01.940 --> 00:20:08.080 Alexander Solzhenitsyn, before he won the Nobel Prize, was a Marxist. 00:20:08.180 --> 00:20:09.799 He was an officer in the Red Army. 00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:13.559 There were clear lines between good guys and bad guys. 00:20:13.740 --> 00:20:15.500 And how do you know who the bad guys are? 00:20:15.660 --> 00:20:17.820 Well, they're the ones who get sent to the labor camps. 00:20:19.600 --> 00:20:21.640 But then something unthinkable happened. 00:20:22.860 --> 00:20:27.160 He was caught criticizing Stalin and that he was sent to the camps himself. 00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:37.680 And then something changed in him because all of a sudden he, a good guy, is thrown in with all of these bad guys. 00:20:37.779 --> 00:20:42.620 And everything begins to shift and he begins to realize if only there were… 00:20:42.620 --> 00:20:44.120 This was all so simple. 00:20:44.220 --> 00:20:49.120 If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds. 00:20:49.460 --> 00:20:54.300 And it was necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. 00:20:54.299 --> 00:20:59.460 But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. 00:21:00.859 --> 00:21:03.059 His entire way of thinking shifted. 00:21:03.619 --> 00:21:08.480 Instead of looking out here, instead of looking over there to those people or that group or that ideology, 00:21:09.659 --> 00:21:12.599 he began to look at himself, at his own heart. 00:21:14.259 --> 00:21:15.659 He put his sword back. 00:21:17.799 --> 00:21:22.019 The way of the sword says the problem is out there. 00:21:22.019 --> 00:21:23.180 It's those people. 00:21:23.339 --> 00:21:24.379 It's that institution. 00:21:24.740 --> 00:21:25.599 It's that tradition. 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:26.920 It's that way of thinking. 00:21:27.180 --> 00:21:28.160 It's that lifestyle. 00:21:29.940 --> 00:21:32.359 The way of the cross recognizes the truth. 00:21:32.460 --> 00:21:37.359 That part of the problem, maybe a bigger part than I would like to admit, is in here. 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:40.039 It's in me. 00:21:41.720 --> 00:21:43.379 Because the thing is, we all have a price. 00:21:45.559 --> 00:21:50.400 We all have hearts that have been warped by that first betrayal in Eden. 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:56.340 We all have a Judas-shaped heart in us as a result of that. 00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:02.860 So despite our best efforts, no one is unconditionally committed to loving and serving God. 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:05.380 Because our real commitment is ultimately to ourselves. 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:14.220 You know, I may have been betrayed in my life, whether it be elementary school or maybe other experiences I've had. 00:22:14.220 --> 00:22:19.100 I may have been betrayed in my life, but listen, I've also betrayed others. 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:26.059 And as much as I like to think of myself as a victim, I'm also a perpetrator. 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:33.720 As much as I like to think of myself as a committed person, my commitments are, at the end of the day, somewhat conditional. 00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:36.000 My love is conditional. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:39.819 And this is precisely why Jesus came. 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:42.660 Jesus says to Peter, 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:51.240 Don't you realize that I could say the word and twelve legions of angels would come to my aid? 00:22:52.420 --> 00:22:56.259 There's a legion for each of the remaining disciples and then one for Jesus. 00:22:56.380 --> 00:22:57.420 We each get a legion. 00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:00.980 I could say the word and that would happen. 00:23:02.920 --> 00:23:03.839 What's he saying? 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:09.919 Listen, Jesus isn't being forced to go to the cross by someone like the high priest. 00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:14.899 Jesus is choosing to go to the cross because of someone like Peter. 00:23:16.959 --> 00:23:18.759 Because of someone like his disciples. 00:23:18.939 --> 00:23:20.659 Because of someone like me. 00:23:24.579 --> 00:23:28.079 And we begin to see the entire story from a new angle. 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:35.539 How do we become people with hearts that can be fully committed to Jesus? 00:23:37.439 --> 00:23:39.039 We have to look to the cross. 00:23:39.779 --> 00:23:41.839 And this is what we're going to be doing all week. 00:23:41.919 --> 00:23:43.299 It's what we do every time we gather. 00:23:43.799 --> 00:23:45.099 But especially this week. 00:23:45.619 --> 00:23:47.079 We're going to be looking at the cross. 00:23:48.939 --> 00:23:52.359 Before Jesus' disciples abandoned him, guess what? 00:23:52.599 --> 00:23:55.039 Before they abandoned him, what happened? 00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:57.899 He was tempted to abandon them. 00:23:59.819 --> 00:24:04.159 While they were still in the garden, before he was arrested, Jesus goes off by himself. 00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:06.619 He tells his disciples, stay watchful. 00:24:06.899 --> 00:24:07.799 People are coming for me. 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:08.680 I'm going to go pray. 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:10.339 He goes off to pray. 00:24:10.680 --> 00:24:16.359 He falls to his knees and says, in probably the greatest moment of doubt and struggle in his entire life, 00:24:16.359 --> 00:24:20.019 My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. 00:24:21.659 --> 00:24:24.339 You can imagine Jesus on his knees praying. 00:24:24.439 --> 00:24:26.579 And as he's praying, let this cup pass from me. 00:24:26.740 --> 00:24:28.699 Looking at his disciples and what does he see? 00:24:28.839 --> 00:24:30.179 They've already fallen asleep. 00:24:32.259 --> 00:24:34.559 All I asked you to do was to stay awake. 00:24:34.719 --> 00:24:35.319 To watch. 00:24:35.500 --> 00:24:36.379 Because I'm going to be arrested. 00:24:37.899 --> 00:24:39.979 Just give me five minutes to pray. 00:24:40.519 --> 00:24:41.459 They're already asleep. 00:24:42.740 --> 00:24:44.779 And you can imagine the voices in his head. 00:24:44.779 --> 00:24:49.099 Maybe the voice of Satan is saying, you would give everything up for them. 00:24:50.279 --> 00:24:51.839 They can't even stay awake. 00:24:52.940 --> 00:24:54.639 There's no commitment in their hearts. 00:24:56.500 --> 00:24:59.160 Father, if it be your will, let this cup pass from me. 00:25:01.079 --> 00:25:02.599 But he refused to give in. 00:25:04.019 --> 00:25:07.259 And he says to his father, but not my will, but thy will be done. 00:25:09.220 --> 00:25:11.460 And what we need to understand, do you understand what this means? 00:25:11.460 --> 00:25:15.340 Everybody has a price except Jesus. 00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:25.220 Because when Jesus looks at you, and I believe that he held all of us in his mind 00:25:25.220 --> 00:25:29.779 as he knelt there in the garden. 00:25:29.779 --> 00:25:36.099 Because when Jesus looks at you, there is no price. 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:42.339 There is no price that would be worth letting you go. 00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:47.279 There is no price that would move him to break his commitment to you. 00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:50.660 He loves you that much. 00:25:52.180 --> 00:25:56.899 So, how can we become people who are committed to following Jesus unconditionally? 00:25:57.059 --> 00:26:03.960 By looking to the cross and realizing that Jesus is unconditionally committed to us. 00:26:03.960 --> 00:26:11.019 There is no greater love anywhere in the world than the love that Jesus has for you. 00:26:11.140 --> 00:26:17.640 And the more that that begins to embed itself in your heart, the more it begins to change your heart. 00:26:18.279 --> 00:26:23.279 Because as that sinks in, you begin to rest more and more in the security 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:26.140 and in the love and the commitment that Jesus has for you. 00:26:26.140 --> 00:26:31.900 You realize there is someone out there who is always for me, who is always with me, 00:26:32.300 --> 00:26:39.940 who is always encouraging me forward, who is always working for my good, who I can always trust. 00:26:41.140 --> 00:26:47.820 And the more you begin to rest in that, the more it frees you to be honest about your failures and your flaws. 00:26:47.819 --> 00:26:56.019 It begins to free you from that endless cycle of outrage and indignation that comes when we pick up the sword. 00:26:56.259 --> 00:27:01.159 Because you start to see yourself as not really being that much better than anyone else. 00:27:01.919 --> 00:27:06.460 Those lines between good guys and bad guys start to kind of melt away. 00:27:07.419 --> 00:27:11.019 The dividing walls of hostility start to evaporate. 00:27:11.019 --> 00:27:18.400 You'll stop really needing to take up the sword because you don't really feel the need to defend yourself 00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:21.200 or to justify yourself or to blame other people. 00:27:21.319 --> 00:27:24.220 You're not so afraid of admitting when you're wrong. 00:27:25.559 --> 00:27:28.019 So you have more courage to admit when you're wrong. 00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:29.779 So when that person comes to you and says, 00:27:29.779 --> 00:27:33.099 this really hurt me when you did this or said this, 00:27:33.139 --> 00:27:36.420 instead of calling and activating the team of lawyers, you simply say, 00:27:36.660 --> 00:27:37.759 you know what, you're right. 00:27:41.019 --> 00:27:43.099 I could see how that would have really hurt you. 00:27:43.819 --> 00:27:45.359 That was wrong of me to say that. 00:27:46.779 --> 00:27:48.139 Would you please forgive me? 00:27:49.119 --> 00:27:50.900 Would you help me learn how to love people better? 00:27:51.660 --> 00:27:52.680 Thank you for telling me that. 00:27:54.200 --> 00:27:55.500 You won't need to defend yourself. 00:27:55.579 --> 00:27:56.220 There's no sword. 00:27:56.980 --> 00:27:57.859 You don't need to get it out. 00:27:58.740 --> 00:28:01.940 You'll have more patience and compassion when people wrong you. 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:04.619 Because you know what it's like. 00:28:04.700 --> 00:28:06.119 You've done the same thing. 00:28:08.039 --> 00:28:09.379 I forgive you. 00:28:09.480 --> 00:28:09.799 Yes. 00:28:09.799 --> 00:28:10.500 Thank you. 00:28:11.019 --> 00:28:15.279 And then you become less likely to betray not only Jesus, 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:16.879 but the other people in your life. 00:28:17.019 --> 00:28:19.819 Because whatever your price used to be, 00:28:20.379 --> 00:28:24.019 whatever 30 pieces of silver used to represent for you, 00:28:24.180 --> 00:28:25.740 you begin to see through it. 00:28:27.420 --> 00:28:28.980 Because it can't compare. 00:28:29.579 --> 00:28:31.379 You look at this little sack of money, 00:28:31.500 --> 00:28:32.740 whatever that might be for you, 00:28:33.160 --> 00:28:34.339 and then you look at the cross, 00:28:34.420 --> 00:28:36.139 and you begin to see more and more and more, 00:28:36.139 --> 00:28:38.139 this can't compare with that. 00:28:38.140 --> 00:28:43.600 It can't compare to the love and the commitment that I have in Jesus. 00:28:46.400 --> 00:28:47.400 It can't compare. 00:28:48.440 --> 00:28:49.060 Let's pray. 00:28:49.059 --> 00:28:51.919 Lord, we thank you. 00:28:51.919 --> 00:28:51.940 Lord, we thank you. 00:28:52.980 --> 00:28:55.359 And what can't happen intellectually, 00:28:55.859 --> 00:28:59.579 what needs to happen in our hearts, 00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:03.139 we pray that you would do that in the power of your Spirit. 00:29:03.140 --> 00:29:05.720 We see all through your Word, 00:29:05.820 --> 00:29:06.180 and Lord, 00:29:06.300 --> 00:29:10.259 I just was hearing my friend Rob teach on this this morning, 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:14.360 that your Word and your Spirit work together. 00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:16.240 And so, Lord, 00:29:16.280 --> 00:29:23.240 what we hear and receive in your Word now make flesh and blood and bone in us 00:29:23.240 --> 00:29:24.720 through the power of your Spirit, 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:30.720 that we might be people who can love and commit unconditionally. 00:29:32.339 --> 00:29:34.160 I pray that you would soften hard hearts. 00:29:35.500 --> 00:29:37.200 I pray that you would open closed minds. 00:29:38.819 --> 00:29:42.120 I pray that you would give us the courage to put the swords away. 00:29:42.119 --> 00:29:44.659 I pray this, 00:29:44.759 --> 00:29:46.859 that we would be a people who are distinct, 00:29:47.539 --> 00:29:48.439 who are salt and light, 00:29:49.519 --> 00:29:53.119 and a world full of swords and combat. 00:29:54.599 --> 00:29:55.699 And we pray this, Lord, 00:29:55.779 --> 00:29:56.719 not only for our good, 00:29:56.779 --> 00:29:58.779 but that we might glorify you as a result. 00:29:59.099 --> 00:30:00.500 And we pray this in your Son's holy name. 00:30:00.719 --> 00:30:00.939 Amen.