SPEAKER_00: So this morning we're continuing in Luke's gospel, but we'll be in Luke chapter 22.
SPEAKER_00: And just a reminder that we are spending a significant amount of time really sitting in Jesus' last weekend alive.
SPEAKER_00: All the gospel writers do this, that they spend a significant amount of their story of Jesus giving attention to Jesus' last week, and then in particular his last weekend.
SPEAKER_00: And so for the last couple weeks we've been doing that.
SPEAKER_00: And so to give you kind of some bearing, this morning we're we're finishing the Last Supper.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're finishing that time where Jesus had his last meal with his disciples, and we're going to see Jesus go out from there, leave there to then go and pray on the Mount of Olives.
SPEAKER_00: And so this is the Thursday night before he died on the cross on that Friday.
SPEAKER_00: And so with that in mind, let's give our attention to God's word.
SPEAKER_00: We'll be reading from Luke chapter 22, starting in verse 35.
SPEAKER_00: If you're using the church Bible, that can be found on page 1048.
SPEAKER_00: So Luke chapter 22, beginning in verse 35.
SPEAKER_00: And he that is Jesus said to them, When I sent you out with no money bag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?
SPEAKER_00: They said, Nothing.
SPEAKER_00: He said to them, But now let the one who has a money bag take it, and likewise a knapsack, and that the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.
SPEAKER_00: For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me.
SPEAKER_00: And he was numbered with the transgressors.
SPEAKER_00: What is written about me has its fulfillment.
SPEAKER_00: And they said, Look, Lord, here are two swords.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, It is enough.
SPEAKER_00: And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.
SPEAKER_00: And when he came to the place he said to them, Pray that you may not enter into temptation.
SPEAKER_00: And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw and knelt down and prayed, saying, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.
SPEAKER_00: Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.
SPEAKER_00: And there appeared to him an angel from heaven strengthening him, and being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
SPEAKER_00: And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, Why are you sleeping?
SPEAKER_00: Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.
SPEAKER_00: While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them.
SPEAKER_00: He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?
SPEAKER_00: And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, Lord, shall we strike with the sword?
SPEAKER_00: And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus said, No more of this, and he touched his ear and healed him.
SPEAKER_00: Then Jesus said to the chief priests and the officers of the temple and the elders who had come out against him, Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs?
SPEAKER_00: When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me.
SPEAKER_00: But this is your hour in the power of darkness.
SPEAKER_00: This is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I have here a note.
SPEAKER_00: Show pieces from Monopoly.
SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, I forgot those pieces, and I just want you to picture in your mind what Monopoly piece was your favorite.
SPEAKER_00: Let's hear some.
SPEAKER_00: The thimble, the dog, the car, maybe the shoe, top hat, classic symbols.
SPEAKER_00: These teeny little metallic pieces that if I did bring them and I just showed you, you would know what they were.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, spreading across generations, really all of us in the room would know what those things are because Monopoly, they have really created a monopoly with those images.
SPEAKER_00: We know they are associated with that game.
SPEAKER_00: In a similar way this morning, I think Luke is presenting the story of Jesus through symbols.
SPEAKER_00: He's presenting the story of Jesus and especially his last night here through symbols.
SPEAKER_00: And today we're going to be looking at these symbols, and I want to say that they are all symbols about judgment.
SPEAKER_00: That Luke is telling the story of Jesus and especially his death as a story of judgment.
SPEAKER_00: That Luke and Jesus, they want us to know for certain that Jesus' death was about judgment for sin.
SPEAKER_00: And that God's judgment for sin is carried out in the most gracious and redemptive way possible.
SPEAKER_00: And so, very simply this morning, our goal is to really grow to experience God's grace through judgment, through these symbols that He's given us.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's how we'll organize our time in this passage, just three symbols of judgment and grace.
SPEAKER_00: The cup, the sword, and the kiss.
SPEAKER_00: And so the cup, the sword, and the kiss.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to be working in our passage a little bit out of order and kind of pulling different pieces together as we go.
SPEAKER_00: And so I just want to say that there are some parts that are seemingly harder to understand, but really the central section of Jesus praying in the garden about the cup is the most clear.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're going to start there, and I think then it'll direct us to understand the rest of the passage.
SPEAKER_00: And so as we look at the cup, the cup is a symbol of God's judgment poured out.
SPEAKER_00: The cup is a symbol of God's judgment poured out.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the cup, as we notice, the cup is the content of Jesus' prayer in the garden.
SPEAKER_00: And so let's first look at the setup and the context of the prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And so look back with me in our passage.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 39, Jesus, he's traveled to the Mount of Olives, and so it was a kind of a garden, a raised garden on this mount, and so it was his habit to go in the evening after dinner and to spend time with his disciples and in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And so in verse 41, we're told that he withdraws from his disciples to pray by himself.
SPEAKER_00: And so Luke is giving us an intimate moment of just Jesus with his father.
SPEAKER_00: Just a man with his God.
SPEAKER_00: And notice the details we're given.
SPEAKER_00: Typically, a Jewish man would have prayed standing up and looking to heaven, and yet Jesus kneels down.
SPEAKER_00: It's a posture of humility and of great need.
SPEAKER_00: That great need is then further evidence if you look after his prayer in verse 44.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is ascribed as praying in agony.
SPEAKER_00: Being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you know that verse by reputation, Jesus sweating blood.
SPEAKER_00: I do want to say this could be literal, and so there are kind of a medical phenomenon where under great distress, uh the capillaries in our skin can burst, and so our sweat glands can almost sweat blood.
SPEAKER_00: It's also possible that Luke is just using a metaphor here because he does say that Jesus' sweat was like great drops of blood.
SPEAKER_00: That like is a very important word for expressing metaphor, very important in the book of Revelation, for instance.
SPEAKER_00: It could be that his sweat was just so profuse that it fell in thick, heavy droplets.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't really matter either way, because you see the point is clear.
SPEAKER_00: Luke tells us that Jesus is praying in great anguish.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: What would cause Jesus, the Son of God, who has exhibited such foresight, such a commitment, even planning, it seems, his own upcoming death?
SPEAKER_00: What would cause him to be anguished once the moment is coming near?
SPEAKER_00: What do you think?
SPEAKER_00: Is it regret?
SPEAKER_00: Is Jesus having second thoughts?
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe like how some have suggested Jesus is being taken advantage of by his angry, mean father?
SPEAKER_00: Well look at the prayer itself, verse 42.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus prayed, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.
SPEAKER_00: Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.
SPEAKER_00: So obviously, a prayer of cooperation and submission.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is an agreeing party, not one who is compelled.
SPEAKER_00: But there's no doubt, and we need to pay attention to this, there's no doubt that Jesus is a conflicted party.
SPEAKER_00: That this is not an easy plan.
SPEAKER_00: We need to slow down and perhaps be shocked by this intimate picture of Jesus, the Son of God, praying in agony to his father about the cup.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the cup, it is a symbol of judgment about to be poured out.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, he's referencing a new a numerous number of Old Testament um passages that talk about the cup in this way.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just share one with you.
SPEAKER_00: It's Isaiah 51.
SPEAKER_00: It comes just before the passage we read earlier, just before the passage about the suffering servant who would take the judgment of God.
SPEAKER_00: This is how God is talking about his judgment on Jerusalem during the exile.
SPEAKER_00: Chapter 51, verse 17, he says, Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs, the bowl, the cup of staggering.
SPEAKER_00: And so throughout the Old Testament, where God is going to give brief glimpses of judgment to the people, he described it as a cup being poured out.
SPEAKER_00: A cup that when when drunk would not make us inebriated like alcohol, but would make us stagger from the agony of judgment.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the cup is a picture of God's wrath, his righteous anger in judgment of sin.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to acknowledge the elephant in the room here, that when we talk about the wrath of God or his judgment for sin, it is a difficult topic.
SPEAKER_00: But I do want to suggest that I think all of us in some way do want God to be angry about sin.
SPEAKER_00: We do want God to act in judgment.
SPEAKER_00: But we have questions.
SPEAKER_00: When will God judge?
SPEAKER_00: Who will he judge?
SPEAKER_00: How will he judge?
SPEAKER_00: And we think we know the answers, right?
SPEAKER_00: How should God judge?
SPEAKER_00: Well, certainly fairly and justly.
SPEAKER_00: God should be fair and just.
SPEAKER_00: But then who would God judge?
SPEAKER_00: Here comes the issue.
SPEAKER_00: Should it be everyone or just some?
SPEAKER_00: If it's fair, can it just be the worst?
SPEAKER_00: Or even the nominal?
SPEAKER_00: And then when should God judge?
SPEAKER_00: Should it be quick or slow?
SPEAKER_00: Should he be patient or severe?
SPEAKER_00: You know, the Bible answers many of these questions clearly, and so God will judge everyone fairly and fully at the end of our time.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says that God does bring temporary judgment now throughout human history, and so some of that is death for the individual.
SPEAKER_00: We die because of sin.
SPEAKER_00: Some of it is through his natural providence, and so there's natural consequences for evil and sin.
SPEAKER_00: There's community consequences, even national or state actors.
SPEAKER_00: But you know, the clearest and most important statement of judgment that God makes is here in judging his own son.
SPEAKER_00: That Jesus prays to his father the night before his death in agony about the wrath he's about to experience, that all of the just wrath, all the righteous anger of God about to be poured out on his son.
SPEAKER_00: It was the plan, it was the way that God could be just and merciful, but notice that it came at an incredible cost.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Jesus' prayer, it's both his individual anxiety about the upcoming comp of judgment, but also you notice God's most clear example answer of the necessity of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: In this way, I think Jesus prays so that we could know.
SPEAKER_00: There was no other way.
SPEAKER_00: If there was, why would the Father not answer the Son's prayer?
SPEAKER_00: Is there any other way?
SPEAKER_00: Could God just ignore sin?
SPEAKER_00: Justice wouldn't allow it.
SPEAKER_00: Could God just punish the sinner?
SPEAKER_00: Amazingly, God's mercy wouldn't allow it.
SPEAKER_00: And so what was the way?
SPEAKER_00: You see, the justice of God was met with the mercy of God as the Son of God took the punishment of God on behalf of the objects of mercy of God, the sinner.
SPEAKER_00: You see what God's justice required, God's mercy provided, embodied by the Son, who, in cooperation with his father, would take the cup.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the cup, it's a symbol of God's judgment poured out.
SPEAKER_00: It's critical for us to see it, to recognize the extent of Jesus' love, that as he struggles to finish his race, Hebrews says it this way, Hebrews 12, it says that Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Jesus, he prays in the garden, not because he is crushed by doubt, but because he's going to be crushed by judgment.
SPEAKER_00: He prays so that we would know that there was no other way.
SPEAKER_00: I'm reminded of a scene from the Harry Potter series.
SPEAKER_00: This is in book six.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to give spoilers, even though it's been out a long, long time.
SPEAKER_00: There's a scene where Dumbledore, the great wizard, is drinking poison.
SPEAKER_00: And so Harry and Dumbledore are going on something of a treasure hunt, except they're searching for the most serious and somber items.
SPEAKER_00: And they end up in a dark cave looking for an ancient locket that has been hidden away.
SPEAKER_00: And they find the locket sitting in the bottom of a basin covered with what looks like a green liquid, and they find that they're unable to be touching the locket by any ordinary means.
SPEAKER_00: They can't magic the potion away, they can't throw it away, they can't reach through it.
SPEAKER_00: And so Dumbledore concludes that this potion is supposed to be drunk.
SPEAKER_00: Only by drinking it can I empty the basin and see what lies in its depth.
SPEAKER_00: And he goes on.
SPEAKER_00: Undoubtedly, this potion must act in a way that will prevent me from taking the locket.
SPEAKER_00: It might paralyze me, cause me to forget what I'm here for, create so much pain that I am distracted or render me incapable in some other way.
SPEAKER_00: This being the case, Harry, it will be your job to make sure I keep drinking, even if you have to tip the potion into my protesting mouth.
SPEAKER_00: And it goes exactly as Dumbledore predicted and feared.
SPEAKER_00: And so Dumbledore he takes the first several cups on his own, slowly showing the signs of the unpleasant consequences.
SPEAKER_00: Apparently, the poison had acted to force him to relive his worst moments and biggest mistakes.
SPEAKER_00: By the end, Dumbledore is crippled with agony and torment, and Harry has to force and pour each additional cup into Dumbledore's mouth.
SPEAKER_00: You know, J.K.
SPEAKER_00: Rowling, she has a bit of a background within Christianity, and so there's no question in my mind that this scene is inspired by this picture in Luke chapter 22.
SPEAKER_00: That Jesus, he is on the cusp of death.
SPEAKER_00: He is not paralyzed by fear of death, he's not paralyzed by the pain of the cross, but he is in agony over facing judgment.
SPEAKER_00: That as the cup of wrath is poured out, his personal ownership, his personal awareness of all the evil and mistakes of humanity, plus God's righteous and appropriate anger and judgment over those things.
SPEAKER_00: What is the symbol here?
SPEAKER_00: It's a cup.
SPEAKER_00: Like a cup of poison being poured out.
SPEAKER_00: You see, that's what Jesus was facing.
SPEAKER_00: And he would turn aside.
SPEAKER_00: We need to grapple with that.
SPEAKER_00: He would turn aside if there was any other way.
SPEAKER_00: I think understanding the cup as a symbol of judgment then helps us to understand some of the other symbols in this pivotal night of Jesus' life.
SPEAKER_00: And so let's look at the next one, the sword.
SPEAKER_00: The sword.
SPEAKER_00: And here, the sword is a symbol that the real conflict is spiritual.
SPEAKER_00: The sword is a symbol that the real conflict is spiritual.
SPEAKER_00: Did you notice our section that we read, it begins and ends with conversations about swords?
SPEAKER_00: But notice that Jesus, he doesn't seem to be too interested in the conflict of swords.
SPEAKER_00: The whole section points us to a deeper type of conflict, not clashing swords, but clashing spiritual realities, clashing spiritual forces.
SPEAKER_00: And so the point is that it's not really about the sword.
SPEAKER_00: Our reading we began with the end of Jesus' Last Supper, his final teaching with his disciples, and it may seem a bit random or confusing to us.
SPEAKER_00: And so let me try to help us break it down.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 35, Jesus, he's looking back at a time with his disciples when ministry was mostly peaceful and fruitful.
SPEAKER_00: And so verse 35, he says to them, When I sent you out with no money bag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?
SPEAKER_00: And their response, nothing.
SPEAKER_00: You see, while he was alive, he had trained them for ministry to take the message, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand, and then he sent them out to share that message.
SPEAKER_00: And as people responded positively, the disciples, they were received into their homes and they were cared for.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't need to take anything with them because as people received the disciples, they would care for them.
SPEAKER_00: And then as people rejected Jesus, the disciples, they would just move on.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't face violence for the cause.
SPEAKER_00: It was kind of like the good old days.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is saying, Remember back to the good old days, where you could go from town to town with no worries.
SPEAKER_00: But now Jesus says things are about to change.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 36, he said to them, But now let the one who has a money bag take it, and likewise a knapsack, and let the one who has no sword sew his cloak and buy one.
SPEAKER_00: You see, now is the time of expected tribulation and trouble.
SPEAKER_00: So much so that Jesus would suggest that a sword would be more necessary than clothes.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to come back to the sword in a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: But what he's saying is that his death will trigger not only a change for his ministry, but a change for the ministry of the disciples as well.
SPEAKER_00: That now conflict and persecution would require a warlike priority.
SPEAKER_00: And he goes on to explain very clearly what's about to happen.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 37, he's quoting Isaiah 53 here.
SPEAKER_00: I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, claiming himself to be the suffering servant.
SPEAKER_00: He was numbered with the transgressors.
SPEAKER_00: And so he's quoting from Isaiah 53 all about the suffering servant, how the servant, Jesus, would be treated like a criminal, approached with violence, and yet he wouldn't respond with violence.
SPEAKER_00: Exactly what we're about to see in Jesus' final day.
SPEAKER_00: You see, he's clearly teaching that there is conflict coming.
SPEAKER_00: Seemingly there will be a man who will be condemned and judged and then treated violently like a criminal.
SPEAKER_00: But through the prophet Isaiah, we're meant to see beyond that to a different conflict, a spiritual conflict, where the suffering servant is being willingly treated as a substitute.
SPEAKER_00: That he would take God's judgment and punishment for sin, pictured by the physical violence and the judgment of a criminal.
SPEAKER_00: You see, what seems to be the point in Jesus' words in verse 36 is then explained in verse 37.
SPEAKER_00: The physical conflict, the experience of violence that is coming, what should the disciples do?
SPEAKER_00: They should see the real conflict, the spiritual reality.
SPEAKER_00: That God is providing salvation through judgment.
SPEAKER_00: And so they should treat this conflict like someone living in a physical conflict, where the sword becomes more valuable than even the physical possessions.
SPEAKER_00: Don't give up the sword, even though you have to throw away everything else.
SPEAKER_00: It's fitting that on the celebration of the anniversary of D-Day, what great courage and commitment those men had storming those beaches.
SPEAKER_00: Give up nothing else, give up everything else if I could just take this weapon into the heart of the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Jesus is describing here.
SPEAKER_00: And so we come to the strange end of Jesus' dinner.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 38, they said, Look, Lord, here are two swords.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, It is enough.
SPEAKER_00: I imagine that most of us have read that verse just as the disciples seem to have.
SPEAKER_00: Enough as in sufficient.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, we got two swords, plenty.
SPEAKER_00: But actually, I want to suggest Jesus seems to be saying something different.
SPEAKER_00: Enough is probably more like enough has been said.
SPEAKER_00: Like the exasperation of talking to children who just aren't listening, they're not understanding.
SPEAKER_00: Enough.
SPEAKER_00: If we're not quite convinced of that, stay with me.
SPEAKER_00: Let's go back to the garden.
SPEAKER_00: What does Jesus want his disciples to do to prepare for the coming conflict?
SPEAKER_00: Take up the sword?
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't seem like it.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, what are they to do?
SPEAKER_00: They're supposed to take up the spiritual battle through prayer.
SPEAKER_00: So look down, verse 40.
SPEAKER_00: Before Jesus goes off to battle himself, he invites the disciples to take up arms as well.
SPEAKER_00: And when he came to the place, he said to them, Pray that you may not enter into temptation.
SPEAKER_00: You see, they have a spiritual conflict coming, and for that they need to take up the spiritual weapon of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus then goes off to pray by himself, and what is the content of his prayer?
SPEAKER_00: That he would submit and follow through with God's will for his life, even in and through suffering.
SPEAKER_00: The word for prayer here is a really powerful one.
SPEAKER_00: It's something like a combination of two words.
SPEAKER_00: It's the word for wish and towards.
SPEAKER_00: And so he is wishing towards God's will.
SPEAKER_00: It's described this way to pray is to interact with the Lord by switching human wishes for his wishes.
SPEAKER_00: In this way, the agony and the earnestness of Jesus' prayer, the prayer he wants his disciples to join him in, is the prayer to exchange our wills for God's.
SPEAKER_00: And so what is the agony?
SPEAKER_00: Self-denial.
SPEAKER_00: The agony of prayer, the earnestness of prayer is self-denial.
SPEAKER_00: You know, otherwise, if we're just concerned about our wills, we would give up in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Look at it again, verse 45.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus comes back from his prayer, he comes to the disciples, he finds them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, Why are you sleeping?
SPEAKER_00: Rise up and take swords.
SPEAKER_00: Nope.
SPEAKER_00: Rise and pray, that you may not enter temptation.
SPEAKER_00: See, the disciples, they had given up in prayer, their sorrow at their sense of their plans for Jesus slipping away.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was going the wrong way.
SPEAKER_00: He wouldn't listen.
SPEAKER_00: And what did that lead them to do?
SPEAKER_00: To give up on prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Not to struggle to submit their wills to God, but to give up their wills to fight in the spiritual conflict.
SPEAKER_00: And so isn't it striking then that in our final section, as Jesus is being arrested, the disciples, they were ready and willing to fight with the sword.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus doesn't want that.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, he reverses it as Peter, from as we know from elsewhere, Peter takes up the sword and cuts off the ear.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus reverses it, not that way.
SPEAKER_00: You see, but they were not willing to fight with the power of prayer.
SPEAKER_00: One pastor said it this way, that they were more ready to fight with the sword when in reality they had already lost the battle with the pillow.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that tempting to be so ready to do the grand thing for God, to fight with the sword, to fight with the cultural power influence, and yet to have already lost the battle of submitting our wills to God.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the sword is actually a symbol that the real conflict is a spiritual one.
SPEAKER_00: In John's Gospel, as Jesus goes on trial before Pontius Pilate, he asked Jesus, if you're the king of the Jews, why are your own people condemning you?
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus answers in this way He says, My kingdom is not of this world.
SPEAKER_00: If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.
SPEAKER_00: But my kingdom is not of this world.
SPEAKER_00: What is the symbol of the sword?
SPEAKER_00: That actually the spiritual conflict is the reality.
SPEAKER_00: And so a couple applications here from the sword as a symbol of spiritual conflict.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to say that the physical sword does have a place in God's plans and in our theology.
SPEAKER_00: And so we don't have time to say a whole lot here, but let me just say a couple things.
SPEAKER_00: The book of Romans, it tells us that human authorities, especially the nation-state, it bears the sword by God's design.
SPEAKER_00: And so, in that way, the sword is a symbol of judgment, that the sword in the hand of the nation-state is promote to promote good and to restrain and to punish evil.
SPEAKER_00: Not perfectly, but as a symbol, a picture of God's judgment.
SPEAKER_00: And so it's appropriate and fitting for Christians to bear the sword as members of the state.
SPEAKER_00: And so Christians have given a lot of thought about this and just war theory, how nations should wield the sword.
SPEAKER_00: There's also room for us to think about how to apply our faith in terms of personal or individual bearing of the sword.
SPEAKER_00: You can think about things like self-defense or protection of others.
SPEAKER_00: So much should be said on those things.
SPEAKER_00: But let me say this part clearly and firmly.
SPEAKER_00: In the time of God's grace and patience, the sword as a symbol of spiritual judgment has no place in the life of the church.
SPEAKER_00: The sword has no place in the life of the church.
SPEAKER_00: See, ours is a spiritual conflict, not to be won or defended or battled using human power or the weapons of war.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, what is the weapon of the church as described by Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Prayerful submission to God's plan, reliance on God's protection.
SPEAKER_00: Let me suggest a subtle shift in how we think about prayer.
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's often common to talk about prayer as a weapon of ministry.
SPEAKER_00: But I wonder how often our powerful prayers, the ones we praise and emulate, are more about our claims and desires to have God act according to our wills.
SPEAKER_00: That we think the powerful prayer is our claim and desire for God to act on behalf of our will.
SPEAKER_00: But notice what is the powerful prayer of the Son of God to his Father, the perfect human to his creator?
SPEAKER_00: It is the prayer of submission.
SPEAKER_00: My will submitting to God's purposes.
SPEAKER_00: So I wonder if we might grow to be prayer warriors who pray more that God would work powerfully to change our wills to live in line with his, rather than prayers that would demand God's will, live in line with ours.
SPEAKER_00: Final symbol of judgment.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna spend less time on this one.
SPEAKER_00: The kiss.
SPEAKER_00: The kiss, it's really a symbol of the ugly betrayal of sin.
SPEAKER_00: If you read the gospel accounts throughout Jesus' last days, there is a growing ugliness of sin that comes out, perhaps most symbolized by the kiss of Judas's betrayal.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 47, look down.
SPEAKER_00: While Jesus is still speaking, there came a crowd and a man called Judas.
SPEAKER_00: Interesting, we already know Jesus, but Luke wants to make it clear.
SPEAKER_00: There's a man called Judas.
SPEAKER_00: Who is he?
SPEAKER_00: He's one of the twelve.
SPEAKER_00: He was leading them.
SPEAKER_00: And he drew nearer to Jesus to kiss him.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Jesus, he's teaching the disciples about the need to pray for the spiritual conflict when up comes Judas, one of them, one who has seemingly already fallen.
SPEAKER_00: And what does Luke want us to notice?
SPEAKER_00: The symbol of his betrayal is the kiss.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 48, Jesus said to him, Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?
SPEAKER_00: We're not going to spend a ton of time here, but only end with this reflection.
SPEAKER_00: Judas's kiss, it's a fitting picture of the true nature and betrayal of sin.
SPEAKER_00: Judas's kiss, it's a good symbol, a reflection of the nature of sin.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Judas, who was as close to God's grace as anyone could be, he had everything going for him.
SPEAKER_00: And yet was so captured and corrupted by Satan that he could be intimately close to Jesus, close enough to kiss, acting out the behavior of a loving relationship, all while actively participating in rebellion and the death of the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you hear people say that if only I could have been there, if only I could have met Jesus face to face, things would have been different.
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't so for Judas.
SPEAKER_00: You notice that this is the same dynamic also that then Jesus observes among those who come out to arrest him, verse 52.
SPEAKER_00: Then Jesus said to the chief priests and the officers of the temple and the elders who had come out against him, Have you come out against me as a robber with swords and clubs?
SPEAKER_00: When I was with you day after day in the temple, and you didn't lay hands on me.
SPEAKER_00: You see, he had been with them as teacher and prophet, and in the light of day they had kind of played nice.
SPEAKER_00: But behind the scenes and even more in their hearts, the true nature was there.
SPEAKER_00: They had lost the battle to the power of darkness.
SPEAKER_00: You see, this is the surprising symbol of sin in individual lives and even in the world.
SPEAKER_00: We have a great and amazing ability to play the part while at the same time darkness is taking over.
SPEAKER_00: We can act close to God, loving to others all the time while making decisions in secret and in the dark that hate God and destroy the lives of others and even ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Our nations and communities can claim good intentions and common good, all while secretly developing or wheeling and dealing in ways that destroys our world and dehumanizes its citizens.
SPEAKER_00: I won't spend the time to give examples from the history of individuals or nations.
SPEAKER_00: I think the evidence is clear.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps you've seen it within your own lives as well.
SPEAKER_00: Theologians have described it as a glorious wreckage.
SPEAKER_00: By virtue of being created in God's image, every human being bears the glory of God, our capacity to love and to create and have impact on the world around us.
SPEAKER_00: Glorious.
SPEAKER_00: And yet by virtue of the fall into sin, every human being lives out the wreckage of brokenness and evil, both within ourselves and in our interactions in the world.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the kiss of betrayal, it is the symbol of sin, one that we could play out happily in God's world, giving some sort of lip service to God and to goodness, but planning and playing at the destruction of perversion.
SPEAKER_00: That's why Jesus had to take the cup.
SPEAKER_00: That's why Jesus had to take the cup, because no one else would be willing to face it.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone else was willing just to play the game, getting drunk, as it were, on the little death and destruction that sin brings, all while ignoring the flood that would come.
SPEAKER_00: There's a quote that's often attributed to Jimmy Buffett, but with some digging, I think it's more fanfiction.
SPEAKER_00: This is the danger of many of the quotes we know.
SPEAKER_00: If you dig behind them, unsure sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: But I think it does capture the common attitude of humanity.
SPEAKER_00: The quote says of human beings, you beautiful, stubborn animals, you glorious wreckage of stardust and bad decisions, you cosmic boxer still standing in the tenth round, spitting blood into the mouth of eternity and grinning away.
SPEAKER_00: Or as Frank Sinatra liked to say, I did it my way.
SPEAKER_00: You see, sin is the stubborn commitment to go down fighting in our way, even until the end.
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about Peter's denial next week, but you know what made the difference between Peter and Judas?
SPEAKER_00: They both denied Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: But Judas went down in his own way.
SPEAKER_00: You see, Jesus was the one willing to go down fighting in God's way for the redemption of the world.
SPEAKER_00: It's a different view of glory.
SPEAKER_00: It's the view that Jesus saw on his knees in the garden.
SPEAKER_00: It's captured well by C.S.
SPEAKER_00: Lewis in his sermon, which was then turned into a book, The Weight of Glory.
SPEAKER_00: He talks about the glorious wreckage in this way.
SPEAKER_00: He says it may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory, but it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about the glory of his neighbor.
SPEAKER_00: The load or weight or burden of my neighbor's glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud would be broken.
SPEAKER_00: You see, it's a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest, most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you'd be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption, such as you now meet, if at all, only in nightmare.
SPEAKER_00: All day long we are in some degree helping each other to one or other of these destinies.
SPEAKER_00: It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities that is with the awe and circumspection proper to them that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, and all politics.
SPEAKER_00: There are no ordinary people.
SPEAKER_00: You have never met a mere mortal.
SPEAKER_00: Nations, cultures, alts, arts, and civilizations, these are all mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of anat.
SPEAKER_00: But it is immortals with whom we work and joke and marry and snub and exploit.
SPEAKER_00: Immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.
SPEAKER_00: I think this was the perspective of Jesus spending the last night with his disciples.
SPEAKER_00: We saw it last week with God's amazing grace to his disciples as they argue over who's going to be the greatest.
SPEAKER_00: We see it this night as he prepares to take the cup of judgment as his disciples play about two swords.
SPEAKER_00: It's a perspective that he invites us to share, to see the symbols, to join him in the real conflict we're submitting ourselves to.
SPEAKER_00: He took the wrath of judgment so that we could take the cup of blessing.
SPEAKER_00: He took the sword of judgment so that we could live life of peace.
SPEAKER_00: He took the kiss of betrayal so that we could receive the kiss of friendship.
SPEAKER_00: What he did for us is what we received together, and then in turn we offer the world.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray it again.
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we thank you for this word from the Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Would you impress upon us a sober reality of Lord Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: You took a cup of our judgment.
SPEAKER_00: You claimed personally and individually all the sins that we've committed and will commit.
SPEAKER_00: You said, That is mine.
SPEAKER_00: I deserve the punishment.
SPEAKER_00: And so would you have help us to take a somber reality of the grace that you would give us?
SPEAKER_00: That, Lord Jesus, if you have claimed our sin as yours, would we not try to steal it back?
SPEAKER_00: Instead, would you help us to live with this vision?
SPEAKER_00: That our will, submitted to your great plan of redemption, would be for the glory of ours and the glory of the world.
SPEAKER_00: And so we pray this in your name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.