Surely Not I, Lord

In one paragraph

Pastor Ryan walked the congregation through Holy Week from Tuesday night into Thursday, tracing the conspiracy against Jesus, the betrayal by Judas, and the Last Supper across Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The focus kept returning to one question: what has each person purposed in their heart? The sermon closed with a reading assignment from John 13 through 17 to carry the congregation into Good...

Read together

1. Isaiah 25 opening verse used to call the congregation to worship, 'Lord, you're my God and I will exalt you'
2. Matthew 26:1-5 Jesus tells disciples Passover is coming and he will be handed over; chief priests and elders plot to arrest and kill him
3. Mark 14 parallel account of chief priests and scribes seeking to arrest Jesus covertly, not during the festival
4. Luke 21 Jesus teaching in the temple by day, spending nights on the Mount of Olives; chief priests seeking to put him to death
5. Matthew 26 Judas goes to chief priests asking what they will give him to betray Jesus; thirty pieces of silver
6. Mark 14 Judas goes to chief priests to betray Jesus; they are delighted and promise him money
7. Luke 22 Satan enters Judas; he discusses with chief priests how to betray Jesus away from the crowd
8. Matthew 26 disciples ask where to prepare the Passover; Jesus directs them to a certain man in the city
9. Mark 14 Jesus sends two disciples to follow a man carrying a pitcher of water to find the upper room
10. Luke 22 Jesus sends Peter and John to prepare the Passover; they find everything as he told them; Jesus says he has eagerly desired to eat this Passover before he suffers
11. John 13:1-4 before the Passover feast, Jesus knowing his hour had come, loved his own to the very end; devil had put betrayal in Judas's heart
12. John 13:5-20 Jesus washes the disciples' feet
13. Matthew 26 at the last supper Jesus says one of them will betray him; disciples each say 'surely it is not I, Lord'
14. Mark 14 parallel account of Jesus announcing the betrayal at supper; one who dips bread with him in the bowl
15. Luke 22 Jesus says the hand of the one betraying him is with his on the table; disciples debate which of them it would be
16. John 13 Jesus troubled in spirit, identifies the betrayer by handing a piece of bread to Judas; Satan enters Judas; Judas leaves into the night
17. Luke 22 dispute among disciples about which of them was greatest; Jesus says the greatest must become like the youngest and the leader like the servant
18. John 13-17 assigned as reading for the congregation covering the upper room discourse and Jesus's prayer before entering the garden

Talk about it

1. Glenn shared that a moment between high school and college, away from everyone who knew him, became a turning point where he decided who he was going to be in Christ. Can you think of a moment in your own life when you had to decide whether your faith was really your own?
2. Pastor Ryan pointed out that when Jesus said one of you will betray me, the disciples responded with 'surely not I, Lord,' and he called that a humble response. What does it tell us about where the disciples were in their walk with Jesus that their first instinct was to worry it might be themselves?
3. The sermon noted that Luke's account adds the detail that Satan had already entered Judas, while also showing that Judas had already consented and purposed in his heart to betray Jesus. How do you think about the relationship between our own choices and spiritual influence when it comes to the decisions we make?
4. Pastor Ryan suggested that the most generous reading of Judas is that he thought he knew better than Jesus about when and how the kingdom should come, and that he was trying to force Jesus's hand. Have you ever made a decision, even one that seemed reasonable at the time, where you were really trying to get God to do things your way on your timeline?
5. Jesus washed his disciples' feet on the night he knew he would be betrayed, and then told them the greatest among them must become like a servant. Pastor Ryan asked what we have purposed in our hearts. What does it look like practically, in your week, to purpose in your heart to serve rather than to look out for your own position?