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Your Grief Will Be Turned to Joy

March 17, 2024

Scripture referenced 34 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

  • Psalm 63 opening encouragement leading into worship, 'your love is better than life'

    1 God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.

    2 So I have seen you in the sanctuary, watching your power and your glory.

    3 Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you.

    4 So I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name.

    5 My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food. My mouth shall praise you with joyful lips,

    6 when I remember you on my bed, and think about you in the night watches.

    7 For you have been my help. I will rejoice in the shadow of your wings.

    8 My soul stays close to you. Your right hand holds me up.

    9 But those who seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

    10 They shall be given over to the power of the sword. They shall be jackal food.

    11 But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone who swears by him will praise him, for the mouth of those who speak lies shall be silenced.

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John 8:12

prayer referencing Jesus as the light of the world

12 Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

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Psalm 42

worship leader reflecting on discouragement and choosing to put hope in God

1 As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God.

2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”

4 These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to God’s house, with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping a holy day.

5 Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.

6 My God, my soul is in despair within me. Therefore I remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon, from the hill Mizar.

7 Deep calls to deep at the noise of your waterfalls. All your waves and your billows have swept over me.

8 Yahweh will command his loving kindness in the daytime. In the night his song shall be with me: a prayer to the God of my life.

9 I will ask God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

10 As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries reproach me, while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”

11 Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him, the saving help of my countenance, and my God.

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Psalm 121

referenced before singing Always, 'I lift my eyes to the mountains, where does my help come from'

1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from?

2 My help comes from Yahweh, who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 Yahweh is your keeper. Yahweh is your shade on your right hand.

6 The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

7 Yahweh will keep you from all evil. He will keep your soul.

8 Yahweh will keep your going out and your coming in, from this time forward, and forever more.

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John 13

upper room discourse, Judas has left, Jesus gives new commandment to love one another

1 Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his time had come that he would depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2 During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,

3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he came from God, and was going to God,

4 arose from supper, and laid aside his outer garments. He took a towel, and wrapped a towel around his waist.

5 Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6 Then he came to Simon Peter. He said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”

7 Jesus answered him, “You don’t know what I am doing now, but you will understand later.”

8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”

9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”

10 Jesus said to him, “Someone who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed, but is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.”

11 For he knew him who would betray him, therefore he said, “You are not all clean.”

12 So when he had washed their feet, put his outer garment back on, and sat down again, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?

13 You call me, ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord.’ You say so correctly, for so I am.

14 If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

16 Most certainly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, neither one who is sent greater than he who sent him.

17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

18 I don’t speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen. But that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.’

19 From now on, I tell you before it happens, that when it happens, you may believe that I am he.

20 Most certainly I tell you, he who receives whomever I send, receives me; and he who receives me, receives him who sent me.”

21 When Jesus had said this, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, “Most certainly I tell you that one of you will betray me.”

22 The disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke.

23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was at the table, leaning against Jesus’ breast.

24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, and said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom he speaks.”

25 He, leaning back, as he was, on Jesus’ breast, asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

26 Jesus therefore answered, “It is he to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

27 After the piece of bread, then Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”

28 Now no man at the table knew why he said this to him.

29 For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus said to him, “Buy what things we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor.

30 Therefore having received that morsel, he went out immediately. It was night.

31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.

32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him immediately.

33 Little children, I will be with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you can’t come,’ so now I tell you.

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another.

35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you can’t follow now, but you will follow afterwards.”

37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

38 Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for me? Most certainly I tell you, the rooster won’t crow until you have denied me three times.

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John 13:33-38

Jesus tells disciples where He is going, predicts Peter's denial

33 Little children, I will be with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you can’t come,’ so now I tell you.

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another.

35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you can’t follow now, but you will follow afterwards.”

37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

38 Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for me? Most certainly I tell you, the rooster won’t crow until you have denied me three times.

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Luke 22:31-32

Satan demanding to sift the disciples like wheat, Jesus praying for their faith

31 The Lord said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have all of you, that he might sift you as wheat,

32 but I prayed for you, that your faith wouldn’t fail. You, when once you have turned again, establish your brothers.”

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1 Peter 5

referenced in relation to the enemy as a roaring lion

1 Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed.

2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, not for dishonest gain, but willingly;

3 neither as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock.

4 When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn’t fade away.

5 Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time;

7 casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.

8 Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

9 Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings.

10 But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

11 To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

12 Through Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.

13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you; and so does Mark, my son.

14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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1 John 5:4

whoever is born of God overcomes the world, the victory is our faith

4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith.

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Luke 22:35-38

Jesus asks disciples if they lacked anything when sent out, now tells them to take money belt, bag, and sword

35 He said to them, “When I sent you out without purse, and wallet, and shoes, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.”

36 Then he said to them, “But now, whoever has a purse, let him take it, and likewise a wallet. Whoever has none, let him sell his cloak, and buy a sword.

37 For I tell you that this which is written must still be fulfilled in me: ‘He was counted with transgressors.’ For that which concerns me has an end.”

38 They said, “Lord, behold, here are two swords.” He said to them, “That is enough.”

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Matthew 26:26-29

institution of the Lord's Supper, bread and cup, blood of the covenant for forgiveness of sins

26 As they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it. He gave to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”

27 He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, “All of you drink it,

28 for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins.

29 But I tell you that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”

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Mark 14:22-25

institution of the Lord's Supper, blood of the covenant poured out for many

22 As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had blessed, he broke it, and gave to them, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body.”

23 He took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave to them. They all drank of it.

24 He said to them, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many.

25 Most certainly I tell you, I will no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it anew in God’s Kingdom.”

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Luke 22:17-20

institution of the Lord's Supper, new covenant in my blood, do this in remembrance of me

17 He received a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, “Take this, and share it among yourselves,

18 for I tell you, I will not drink at all again from the fruit of the vine, until God’s Kingdom comes.”

19 He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory of me.”

20 Likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

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Exodus 24

Moses sprinkling blood on the people, 'behold the blood of the covenant', foreshadowing Christ

1 He said to Moses, “Come up to Yahweh, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship from a distance.

2 Moses alone shall come near to Yahweh, but they shall not come near. The people shall not go up with him.”

3 Moses came and told the people all Yahweh’s words, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words which Yahweh has spoken will we do.”

4 Moses wrote all Yahweh’s words, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the mountain, and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel.

5 He sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of cattle to Yahweh.

6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

7 He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “All that Yahweh has spoken will we do, and be obedient.”

8 Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words.”

9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up.

10 They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was like a paved work of sapphire stone, like the skies for clearness.

11 He didn’t lay his hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. They saw God, and ate and drank.

12 Yahweh said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and stay here, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commands that I have written, that you may teach them.”

13 Moses rose up with Joshua, his servant, and Moses went up onto God’s Mountain.

14 He said to the elders, “Wait here for us, until we come again to you. Behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever is involved in a dispute can go to them.”

15 Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.

16 Yahweh’s glory settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud.

17 The appearance of Yahweh’s glory was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.

18 Moses entered into the middle of the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

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Zechariah 9:11

prophecy of the Messiah, prisoners freed because of the blood of the covenant

11 As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water.

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John 6

foreshadowing of the Lord's Supper, eating flesh and drinking blood, many walked away

1 After these things, Jesus went away to the other side of the sea of Galilee, which is also called the Sea of Tiberias.

2 A great multitude followed him, because they saw his signs which he did on those who were sick.

3 Jesus went up into the mountain, and he sat there with his disciples.

4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

5 Jesus therefore lifting up his eyes, and seeing that a great multitude was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?”

6 This he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.

7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that everyone of them may receive a little.”

8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,

9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these among so many?”

10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in that place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

11 Jesus took the loaves; and having given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to those who were sitting down; likewise also of the fish as much as they desired.

12 When they were filled, he said to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces which are left over, that nothing be lost.”

13 So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten.

14 When therefore the people saw the sign which Jesus did, they said, “This is truly the prophet who comes into the world.”

15 Jesus therefore, perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,

17 and they entered into the boat, and were going over the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not come to them.

18 The sea was tossed by a great wind blowing.

19 When therefore they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they saw Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing near to the boat; and they were afraid.

20 But he said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

21 They were willing therefore to receive him into the boat. Immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

22 On the next day, the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except the one in which his disciples had embarked, and that Jesus hadn’t entered with his disciples into the boat, but his disciples had gone away alone.

23 However boats from Tiberias came near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks.

24 When the multitude therefore saw that Jesus wasn’t there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats, and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”

26 Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled.

27 Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.”

28 They said therefore to him, “What must we do, that we may work the works of God?”

29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

30 They said therefore to him, “What then do you do for a sign, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you do?

31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’”

32 Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, it wasn’t Moses who gave you the bread out of heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread out of heaven.

33 For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”

34 They said therefore to him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

36 But I told you that you have seen me, and yet you don’t believe.

37 All those whom the Father gives me will come to me. He who comes to me I will in no way throw out.

38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

39 This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day.

40 This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

41 The Jews therefore murmured concerning him, because he said, “I am the bread which came down out of heaven.”

42 They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then does he say, ‘I have come down out of heaven?’”

43 Therefore Jesus answered them, “Don’t murmur among yourselves.

44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day.

45 It is written in the prophets, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who hears from the Father, and has learned, comes to me.

46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God. He has seen the Father.

47 Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life.

48 I am the bread of life.

49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.

50 This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die.

51 I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

52 The Jews therefore contended with one another, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53 Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his…

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1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Paul recounting the Lord's Supper, do this in remembrance, proclaim the Lord's death until He comes

23 For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread.

24 When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.”

25 In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.”

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

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John 14

Jesus answers questions about His destination, the Father, the Holy Spirit, 'I am the way, the truth, the life'

1 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.

2 In my Father’s house are many homes. If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.

3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.

4 Where I go, you know, and you know the way.”

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him, and have seen him.”

8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’

10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works.

11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

12 Most certainly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to my Father.

13 Whatever you will ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it.

15 If you love me, keep my commandments.

16 I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever,—

17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive; for it doesn’t see him, neither knows him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you.

18 I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.

19 Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also.

20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

21 One who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him.”

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”

23 Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.

24 He who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. The word which you hear isn’t mine, but the Father’s who sent me.

25 I have said these things to you, while still living with you.

26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.

27 Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.

28 You heard how I told you, ‘I go away, and I come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I said ‘I am going to my Father;’ for the Father is greater than I.

29 Now I have told you before it happens so that, when it happens, you may believe.

30 I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me.

31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

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John 15

the vine and the branches, apart from Jesus can do nothing, bear fruit by abiding

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer.

2 Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

3 You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

4 Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.

5 I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

6 If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.

8 “In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.

9 Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love.

10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love.

11 I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.

13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

14 You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.

15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.

16 You didn’t choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

17 “I command these things to you, that you may love one another.

18 If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.

19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

21 But all these things will they do to you for my name’s sake, because they don’t know him who sent me.

22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

23 He who hates me, hates my Father also.

24 If I hadn’t done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn’t have had sin. But now have they seen and also hated both me and my Father.

25 But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’

26 “When the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me.

27 You will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

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John 16:5

arrival and ministry of the Holy Spirit, the comforter, good that Jesus goes away

5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’

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John 16:20

disciples will weep and mourn but grief will be turned to joy

20 Most certainly I tell you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

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John 17

Jesus' high priestly prayer for disciples and all who would come to believe through their testimony

1 Jesus said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you;

2 even as you gave him authority over all flesh, so he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him.

3 This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.

4 I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do.

5 Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.

6 I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word.

7 Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you,

8 for the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me.

9 I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.

10 All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

11 I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.

12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you have given me I have kept. None of them is lost, except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

13 But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves.

14 I have given them your word. The world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

15 I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one.

16 They are not of the world even as I am not of the world.

17 Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth.

18 As you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world.

19 For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

20 Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word,

21 that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.

22 The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one;

23 I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you loved me.

24 Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.

25 Righteous Father, the world hasn’t known you, but I knew you; and these knew that you sent me.

26 I made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

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Psalm 114-119

identified as the hymn sung before going to the Mount of Olives

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Matthew 26:31

Jesus tells disciples they will all fall away, 'I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered'

31 Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

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Zechariah 13

strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered, quoted by Jesus regarding the disciples fleeing

1 “In that day there will be a spring opened to David’s house and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.

2 It will come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Armies, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will be remembered no more. I will also cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land.

3 It will happen that, when anyone still prophesies, then his father and his mother who bore him will tell him, ‘You must die, because you speak lies in Yahweh’s name;’ and his father and his mother who bore him will stab him when he prophesies.

4 It will happen in that day, that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision, when he prophesies; neither will they wear a hairy mantle to deceive:

5 but he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a tiller of the ground; for I have been made a bondservant from my youth.’

6 One will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’

7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is close to me,” says Yahweh of Armies. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; and I will turn my hand against the little ones.

8 It shall happen that in all the land,” says Yahweh, “two parts in it will be cut off and die; but the third will be left in it.

9 I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, ‘It is my people;’ and they will say, ‘Yahweh is my God.’”

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Matthew 26:36-46

Gethsemane, Jesus praying for the cup to pass, disciples sleeping

36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go there and pray.”

37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and severely troubled.

38 Then he said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here, and watch with me.”

39 He went forward a little, fell on his face, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me; nevertheless, not what I desire, but what you desire.”

40 He came to the disciples, and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What, couldn’t you watch with me for one hour?

41 Watch and pray, that you don’t enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

42 Again, a second time he went away, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup can’t pass away from me unless I drink it, your desire be done.”

43 He came again and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.

44 He left them again, went away, and prayed a third time, saying the same words.

45 Then he came to his disciples, and said to them, “Sleep on now, and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

46 Arise, let’s be going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand.”

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Mark 14:32-42

Gethsemane, Jesus calling God Abba Father, disciples sleeping, spirit willing flesh weak

32 They came to a place which was named Gethsemane. He said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I pray.”

33 He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be greatly troubled and distressed.

34 He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here, and watch.”

35 He went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass away from him.

36 He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire.”

37 He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you watch one hour?

38 Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

39 Again he went away, and prayed, saying the same words.

40 Again he returned, and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they didn’t know what to answer him.

41 He came the third time, and said to them, “Sleep on now, and take your rest. It is enough. The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

42 Arise, let us be going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand.”

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Luke 22:39-46

Gethsemane, Jesus praying not my will but yours, angel strengthening Him, disciples sleeping from sorrow

39 He came out, and went, as his custom was, to the Mount of Olives. His disciples also followed him.

40 When he was at the place, he said to them, “Pray that you don’t enter into temptation.”

41 He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and he knelt down and prayed,

42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

43 An angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him.

44 Being in agony he prayed more earnestly. His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.

45 When he rose up from his prayer, he came to the disciples, and found them sleeping because of grief,

46 and said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

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John 18:1-11

garden across the Kidron, Judas leading the crowd, Jesus saying I am he, Peter cutting off Malchus' ear

1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered.

2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples.

3 Judas then, having taken a detachment of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.

4 Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were happening to him, went out, and said to them, “Who are you looking for?”

5 They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas also, who betrayed him, was standing with them.

6 When therefore he said to them, “I am he,” they went backward, and fell to the ground.

7 Again therefore he asked them, “Who are you looking for?” They said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If therefore you seek me, let these go their way,”

9 that the word might be fulfilled which he spoke, “Of those whom you have given me, I have lost none.”

10 Simon Peter therefore, having a sword, drew it, and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.

11 Jesus therefore said to Peter, “Put the sword into its sheath. The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not surely drink it?”

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Matthew 26:51-56

one with Jesus drew sword and cut off the high priest's slave's ear, Jesus rebukes, scriptures fulfilled

51 Behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck the servant of the high priest, and struck off his ear.

52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place, for all those who take the sword will die by the sword.

53 Or do you think that I couldn’t ask my Father, and he would even now send me more than twelve legions of angels?

54 How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so?”

55 In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to seize me? I sat daily in the temple teaching, and you didn’t arrest me.

56 But all this has happened, that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him, and fled.

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Mark 14:43-52

Judas kisses Jesus, ear cut off, disciples flee, young man escaping naked

43 Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, came—and with him a multitude with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders.

44 Now he who betrayed him had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I will kiss, that is he. Seize him, and lead him away safely.”

45 When he had come, immediately he came to him, and said, “Rabbi! Rabbi!” and kissed him.

46 They laid their hands on him, and seized him.

47 But a certain one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.

48 Jesus answered them, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to seize me?

49 I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you didn’t arrest me. But this is so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.”

50 They all left him, and fled.

51 A certain young man followed him, having a linen cloth thrown around himself over his naked body. The young men grabbed him,

52 but he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.

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Luke 22:47-53

Judas betraying with a kiss, disciples asking permission to strike, Jesus healing Malchus' ear

47 While he was still speaking, behold, a multitude, and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He came near to Jesus to kiss him.

48 But Jesus said to him, “Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

49 When those who were around him saw what was about to happen, they said to him, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?”

50 A certain one of them struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear.

51 But Jesus answered, “Let me at least do this”—and he touched his ear, and healed him.

52 Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and elders, who had come against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs?

53 When I was with you in the temple daily, you didn’t stretch out your hands against me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

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Jeremiah 31:31-34

new covenant, God's law written on hearts, sins forgiven and remembered no more

31 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which covenant of mine they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says Yahweh.

33 “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

34 They will no longer each teach his neighbor, and every man teach his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh;’ for they will all know me, from their least to their greatest,” says Yahweh: “for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

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Philippians 4:6-7

closing benediction, do not be anxious, present requests to God, peace that transcends understanding

6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

This sermon walked through the final hours before Jesus' arrest, covering the upper room, the institution of the Lord's Supper, the garden of Gethsemane, and Judas' betrayal. Pastor led the congregation through the synoptic gospels and John side by side, showing how those accounts fill each other in. The thread running through all of it was the difference between what was spoken to individuals and what was spoken to the group together.

What was said

One of the first things Pastor pointed out was the grammar of Jesus' words in the upper room. English flattens the difference between "you" singular and "you" plural, but when Jesus gave his new commandment to love one another, he was speaking to all of them collectively. The body of Christ loving one another is not a personal aspiration, it is the plan. The way the disciples love each other is what tells the watching world who they belong to.

Peter's denial prediction sits inside that same tension. Jesus addressed the whole group about the scattering of the sheep, but when Peter spoke up and set himself apart from the crowd, Jesus answered him personally. Looking at the grammar of Luke's account, Satan's request to sift "you men" like wheat was aimed at all of them, not just Peter. The warning about standing apart and declaring yourself more faithful than everyone else is one the text itself issues.

The institution of the Lord's Supper landed in the middle of all of this. Pastor traced the phrase "blood of the covenant" back through Exodus and Zechariah, and then to Jeremiah's promise of a new covenant, the one where God writes His law on hearts rather than stone and remembers sin no more. Jesus was not improvising something new at that table. He was fulfilling what the whole Old Testament had been pointing toward.

Gethsemane brought the weight of it into focus. Jesus told His three closest disciples that His soul was grieved to the point of death, asked them to stay awake with Him, and then prayed three times that if there was another way, God would show it. Pastor noted that the prayer Jesus modeled there, "not my will but yours be done," is one that belongs to anyone facing something they cannot get around. By the time Judas arrived with the crowd, Jesus had already settled it. When Peter swung the sword, Jesus told him to put it away. He had prayed for another way and the answer was no. He was ready.

The betrayal itself was handled efficiently and deliberately. Judas had known where to find Jesus because they had been coming to the Mount of Olives regularly. Pastor noted that the crowd likely searched the upper room first and found it empty. John fills in the detail the other gospels leave out, naming Peter as the one who cut off the ear and naming the slave as Malchus, and then Jesus healed him. When the disciples scattered, Mark adds the strange detail of the young man who fled naked, which Pastor suggested reads like exactly the kind of deflecting detail someone embarrassed by his own denial might tuck into his own account.

The closing point brought the sermon back to where it started. Every time someone stands up and says "even if everyone else falls away, I won't," the text answers that with what actually happened. The disciples all fled. The plan was never one person's superior faithfulness. It was the community, held together by love, that would bear witness to the world. That is what Jesus prayed for in His high priestly prayer and what the new commandment in the upper room was about.

Doing a Bible study?

Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

  1. Josh read a poem that said 'I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day.' Where in your own life have you seen someone's actions teach you something about faith that words alone could not have?
  2. The pastor pointed out that when Jesus told the disciples 'you will all fall away,' and when he told Peter about the denial, he was speaking to individuals and to the whole group in different ways. How does it change things for you to hear that Satan's request to sift them 'like wheat' was aimed at all of them, not just Peter?

and 3 more questions in the guide

Open the study guide

Read the full transcript 8,875 words
Yeah. Exactly.
Someone got some fresh kicks. Hey. Good morning, everybody. Hey. Would you stand with me?
And what do you say we we worship together in song? Here's an encouraging word from Psalm 63 to lead us into worship. It's because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. Would you join us in singing Multiply, God of mercy, sweet love, I've surrendered your desire.
God of mercy, sweet love. Let's sing this together. Let's sing that again. God of mercy, sweet love.
This is a super exciting happy happy good times budgeting workshop. Alright. There's a guy back there pumping his arm. He's one of the guys leading this. It is a free, free, free, super exciting, happy, happy, good times budgeting workshop.
Free right here, April sixteenth, twenty third, and thirtieth right here at First Be. If you would like help with making a budget, if you'd like help with figuring out financial stuff, bring your receipts, your bills, your laptop, Not necessary. Spouse, snacks, comfy slippers, whatever it takes. Nick Stern has enlisted the help of Richard Jewell and Jeremy Leiper. Jeremy Leiper to help out with this.
If this is something that you said, I need to get a handle on it, I need to get it. They have offered to help out with it. April sixteenth, twenty third, and thirtieth. That's great. There is an Easter egg decorating, eggstravaganza at Shepherd of Mountain Lutheran Church, and that is happening.
Y'all know where that is? Tuesday, March 26 at 10:30AM. This is something that Easter egg decorating Tuesday, March 26 at 10:30AM. That will be not this Tuesday, but next. And kids club, Awana.
Yep. We are on tomorrow. Guess what? It's beach night. So kids get to dress up in beach wear.
Beach night.
What is that?
That's the last Iwana before spring break too. Right? So okay. Makes sense.
But come tomorrow, 05:45.
Beach night tomorrow night at Iwana. Volunteers for connect hour, we always are looking for those. There are sign up sheets down in the fellowship hall if you'd like to do that. There is still a men's study going on. We're closing in on the end of James, but we will keep on moving forward in another book after that.
11:55 on Thursday in the fellowship hall. Lunch study means it's happening at lunchtime, bring your own lunch, but it's a good one. Come and go as you need and I think that's the last announcement. Am I seeing any hands out there? Any additions, deletions, suggestions?
No? Alright. Would you stand with us and we'll carry on praising the Lord together. Glad you're here this morning.
The If you're trying to build the same old hole inside, there's a better life. There's a better life. If you got paid, he's a pain taker. If you feel lost, he's a way maker. If you need freedom, save him.
He's a prison shaking savior and you got chains. He's a chain breaker. We've all searched for the night of day and dead of night. We've all found ourselves worn out from the same old fight. And we've all gone to things we know that just ain't right.
Well, there's a better life. There's a better life. He got pain. He's a pain taker. If you feel lost, he's a way maker.
If you need freedom, a saving. He's a prison shaking savior. If you got chains, he's a chain breaker. You believe it. You receive it.
Receive it. If you feel somebody testify again. If you believe it, if you receive it, if you feel it, somebody testify. One more time. He's a pain taker.
If you feel lost, he's a way maker. If you need freedom, a savior. He's a prison shaking savior if you got chains. He's a chain breaker if you need. If you need freedom, a savior.
He's a prison shaking
Lord, thank you for our your promise to us. In John eight twelve, you say, you are the light of the world. And if we follow you, we won't have to walk in darkness because we'll have the light that leads to life. And you're speaking about eternal life, life abundant. Thank you, God, for the life that you offer, that you are the way, the truth, and the life, that you offer life and life to the full measure, God, that we would just hold on, that we would remain in you.
That's how this happens. It's not any effort of our own. It's that we simply remain, that we abide, that we connect ourselves to you and not let go. In Jesus' name, amen.
I count on one thing. The same God that never fails will not fail me now. He won't fail me now
I count on one hope.
I count on one thing. Yes. In God that never fails, will not fail me now or will not fail me now in waiting. For the same God who's never late is working all
You know, sometimes we don't always feel like worshiping. I mean, that's just an honest from a worship leader, I'm saying sometimes I don't always feel like worshiping. And then I do. And I pour my heart out to the Lord and go, Lord, I don't feel this today. And then like in that moment, God goes, alright.
Here we go. But you're doing it anyway. Like this one, Psalm 42. The psalmist goes, hey. Why am I discouraged?
He's looking at his own heart, his own life. He's going, why am I discouraged? Why is my heart sad? Has that ever happened to you? Yes, it has.
You're human. He goes, I'm gonna put my I'm gonna put my hope in God. Turns the corner right there. He goes, I'm gonna decide to do something here. I'm gonna put my hope in God, and I'll praise him again, my savior and my God.
In Christ alone, my hope is found. He's my nightmares. My son, This cornerstone, this sovereign ground, her new the fiercest dry and stone. What I told
Amen. You can have a seat here for a moment. Sometimes I just like to pause. Let me pause just for just just a just a moment of silence. Can we do that?
Yeah. Just a moment of silence. We're gonna sing a song called Always. And from Psalm 20 one twenty one, it's I lift my eyes to the mountains. And and the psalmist says, where does my help come from?
Does it come from those mountains? No. My help comes from the Lord, the maker of those mountains, the maker of heaven and earth. Before we sing that song, Ray, may I may I ask you to pray?
Sure. God, thank you for the ability to savor a moment, the ability to savor this moment. In Jesus name, Lord, I pray that we would take away from from the lament of the moment, a lesson from you about the the the shortness of this life. I also pray Lord that when we pause and we take a moment and we see the joy of this life that we know that that joy can be everlasting. That the lament will leave Lord, but the joy will be everlasting.
I pray for those of us who are spending an extended time of lament that we would be able to anticipate and spend moments in joy with no guilt, without feeling guilty for feeling joyful. Would you bring us through it Lord, as we turn to you. I pray Lord that you take these offerings that, we're giving back a portion of what you've given to us Lord. I pray that you would take them and do your kingdom's work. Direct us in the way of Jesus.
Direct us in the way that the funds should be used, but direct us in the way that our conversation should be used. Direct us in the way that our our skills, resources, even our shortfall and our difficulty. The way that you want to use that Lord is the way we want for you to use it in us. Would you show yourself as strong through these humble and obedient yet still weak vessels in Jesus name. Amen.
I'll always. I will not fear the war. I will not fear the storm. My help is on the way. Oh, my God.
You will not delay my refuge in stray always. And I will
And I lift my eyes. Let's sing this together.
Men, and it's time for children's church downstairs.
Josh.
Gibson. Are you ready to come forward? Hope. Josh Gibson is one of our elders and we'll see what he has to say. Not much of anything good.
There you go.
He said, oh, that's me. I'm Josh Gibson for those of you that might might not know. My wife, Leah, is down in the nursery this morning. We have four little girls, eight, six, three, and the youngest one will be one next month. Emma, Ella, Inslee, and Elaine.
I know that's a mouthful. All Es. I come from a family of 10 kids. We were all Js. I'm the oldest of ten, five girls, five boys.
My dads was a pastor, still is a pastor, so I grew up a PK, a pastor's kid, which is somewhat interesting. Not only did I grow up going to church, I was in church when the doors were locked and closed, just for good measure. I don't know that it turned out well. But when we were asked to share as, I guess, as elders, it was just three minutes about our testimony. Growing up in the church, we heard testimonies time and time again from tons of different people.
So when I heard that, I was kinda like, oh, boy. Here we go. Here's a testimony. And I think that that, for me, is an interesting thing, because I would much rather see a testimony than hear somebody get up and say random things about their testimony, or what has happened or occurred to them along the way. And some time ago, I came across a poem that kind of summed that up.
And it was it's in relation to sermons, not necessarily your testimony or your salvation experience, But I think it's somewhat applicable, and I wanna and I wanna read that to you. It's short. It's by a guy named Edgar Guest, and it's entitled Sermons We See. It says, I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day. I'd rather one should walk with me than merely tell the way.
The eyes, a better pupil and more willing than the ear, find counsel is confusing, but examples always clear. And the best of all the preachers are the men who live their creeds, for to see good put in action is what everybody needs. I soon can learn to do it if you'll let me see it done. I can watch your hands in action, but your tongue too fast may run. And the lecture you deliver may be very wise and true, but I'd rather get my lessons by observing what you do.
For I might understand you and the high advice you give, but there's no misunderstanding how you act and how you live. When I see a deed of kindness, I am eager to be kind. When a weaker brother stumbles and a strong man stays behind just to see if he can help him, then the wish goes grows strong in me to become as big and thoughtful as I know that friend to be. And all travelers can witness that the best of guides today is not the one who tells them, but the one who shows the way. One good man teaches many.
Men believe what they behold. One deed of kindness noticed is worth 40 that are told. Who stands with men of honor learns to hold his honor dear. For right living speaks a language which to everyone is clear. Though an able speaker charms me with his eloquence, I say, I'd rather see a sermon than to hear one any day.
You like that? I thought that was very interesting. And I guess if you want to say what is my testimony, my testimony would be something that I would want you to see in me much more than anything I would want you to hear or words that I could say up on this stage. Having said that, the one thing that I would say in relation to my testimony is this. Some two thousand years ago, for for some reason I don't quite understand yet, God sent his son.
And he sent his son to this earth, born of a virgin, to live an absolutely perfect sinless life. Not only that, after living a perfect sinless life, he died an unbelievably horrible death on the cross to pay for my sins and everybody else's sins. And that's an unbelievable thing to me. Thank you. But it's not just that.
It's it's me coming to the realization of my sin, repentance of that sin, and acceptance of the forgiveness from Jesus Christ. And that's all I've got to say. Thank you.
I will invite the band back up and just close this thing out. Dang. If it weren't for the nursery workers, I would actually do that. Oh, boy. Thank you, Josh.
Amen. While I recover, upper room in the aftermath. We've got an example. We've got a good good example. We're gonna go and I've got a I've got a time frame on this because Easter's coming and I want to get to resurrection Sunday.
We got a lot of ground to cover scripturally speaking before we get to resurrection. There's a lot here, mainly from the synoptic gospels. Now, I I asked you all last week before you left, will you read the upper room discourse in John and the high priestly prayer that comes after that, chapters 13 through 17. So you all have already got five chapters under your belt over the week that I'm not really gonna touch on very much, but I do wanna get there from here. We're just going up through Jesus's arrest.
Next week, we'll do trials and crucifixion, that's the plan, But we're covering all of the scriptural text about this that you didn't read this week. The assignment, there it is. Read chapters 13 to 16, the gospel of John, cover that upper room discourse. We won't cover this passage, but this is a part of it we will cover. This to me was helpful this week.
There are some things that are just very individual about God's word and since we're speaking from narrative, I'm gonna point it out in a couple of ways this morning. There are other things that are collective and here it is. When he had said this, he had left, he said, now now when he had left, Jesus said, now is the son of man glorified and God is glorified in him. He's talking about himself. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him immediately.
Little children, I'm still with you a little longer. Now, this is his disciples all gathered in that upper room and Judas has left. And so, he's speaking to these guys and he says, I'm still with you a little longer. You will look for me just as I said to the Jews and now also said to you, where I'm going, you can't come. You can't come right now.
But I'm giving you a new commandment that you love one another. Wait a minute. Those are all y'alls. That's all collective. It's really helpful to see that that way.
It's not it's it's not just you are alone in this. You are you are the continuing body of Christ and y'all need to be loving one another. A new commandment I'm giving y'all, a new commandment that y'all love one another just as I have loved y'all and that y'all also love one another. By this all people know that y'all are my disciples if y'all have love for one another. That's good.
This is from John. Let's look at it from Luke. Well, let's look at it from John some more. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going? And Jesus answered, where I'm going, you cannot follow me now.
Now, is individual for Peter. This is a little weird for me because he just told this the whole group that, but when Peter speaks up to him, as he speaks up to him, he answers him individually. He says, where I'm going, you can't follow me now, but you will follow later. Oh, to know the story of Jesus and Peter. And when Jesus is going to the cross, and Peter will also.
But you will follow later and Peter said to him, why can't I just follow you right now? I'll lay my down my life for you. And Jesus replied, will you day will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny me three times. This is individual for Peter.
This is not for everybody. This little portion right here, he's saying, this is the way it really is Peter. Now, if you've read first Peter or second Peter, you see a man who's been humbled and he's been completely convinced by the resurrection. You see a change in tone and character a bit. Will you lay down your life?
He will. He will. But he's called out to him right here and told him it it's gonna happen. Let's hear it from Luke. Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you like wheat.
Now, I've always read this and I've read, sift you like wheat. I don't know if I've read it in the New American Standard that adds that little italics men right there. This week's the first time I noticed this because I know the story of Peter and I know that individually he's gonna deny him and I know this because I've read all the gospels my whole life, know. Simon Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift you men like wheat. Wait a second.
Is that you men like all of us? Is that all of his disciples? But I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail in you when you have turned back, that you'll strengthen your brothers. I've always my whole life taken that to be Peter. Peter, he's the leader of the disciples.
He's Peter. And then I went back and I looked at the grammar of it and doggone it. The New American Standard added that men in the right place because it is collective. Oh, that's not just a story about somebody in the past. We do have an enemy when we get to first Peter and he talks about your enemy, your adversary, the devil.
He's roaring like a roaring lion. Right? Simon, Simon, behold. I'm telling you Peter cause you spoke up, that Satan has demanded to sift all of y'all like wheat. But I've prayed for all of y'all, that y'all's faith would not fail and that y'all, when y'all have turned back, when you've realized that you've fallen, that you would turn back from that.
You'd repent just like Josh just mentioned, and you'd strengthen your brothers. You'd let them know, hey, I know you've fallen, but Jesus offers forgiveness and he wants you back. Now, we know that he restored Peter that's in John. It's after the crucifixion, it's after the resurrection, all that. We we know that that happens too, but just looking at this, I was like, man, that's really helpful to me right now this week.
First John five four says this, whoever has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. It's the faith, but it's our collective faith together. God is strengthening us together. The faith, the faithfulness of God, but placing our subjective faith in that is important.
That's what gets us through. But he said to him, now Peter says to him, Lord, I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to death. I stand apart from this crowd. I don't care what anybody else does, I'm with you. He said to you, I tell you Peter, this is going be hard to hear, man.
But the rooster won't crow today until you've denied me three times that you even know me. Boy, that's hard. This is the first prediction of Peter's denial. And he said to them, so this is from Jesus to all of those disciples. When I sent y'all out without money belt and without bag and sandals, y'all didn't lack for anything, did you?
Did you? And they're like, well, no. Nothing. We've been fine. We've been following you for three years.
No. And he said to them, but now, I'm telling you, whoever has a money belt, take it with you. Likewise also a bag, whoever has no sword, sell the cloak and buy one. For I tell you all that this which is written must be fulfilled in me, and he was counted with the wrongdoers. People don't understand who I am.
You do, but because you understand who I am, you're going to be at enmity with the rest of the world. And I'm going to be counted as a wrongdoer and so will you. For that which refers to me has its fulfillment. It's going to happen. And they said to him, look Lord, here are two swords.
And he says, that's enough. Oh, my. Okay. So we've got two swords. Here we are.
This is where we are. Now, the upper room discourse is already underway. Judas is already out of the room. He's already washed all of their feet including Judas who left the room. And this, you'll see is not our normal standard practice where it's Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and John.
It's Matthew, Mark, Luke, and first Corinthians because this is the institution of the Lord's Supper. This is the place where that happens. The gravity of the moment, what was just said right there by Luke, it seems odd that this is next. Now, while they were eating, Jesus took some bread and after a blessing, he broke it and he gave it to the disciples. He says, take, eat.
This is my body. Now, the divide of the last five hundred and something years has been over. Is this Jesus's body sacramental grace offered by the Catholic church or is this representative? We tend to go with it's a representative sample. I'm not gonna arm wrestle you over.
I'm not gonna throw you under the bus. I don't If you if you take it as sacramental, you keep on taking it as sacramental. I think it's a metaphor. I think it is, but I'm not gonna break fellowship with the whole of the Catholic church because of that. He broke it, he gave it to his disciples, take eat, this is my body.
When he had taken the cup and he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, drink from it, all of you, all of y'all. For this is the my blood of the covenant which is being poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, will not drink of this fruit of this vine from now on until that day when I drink it with you new in my father's kingdom. That phrase, my blood of the covenant. Mark, that goes this too exactly.
While they were eating, he took some bread and after a blessing, after a blessing, he broke it and he gave to them and said, take it. This is my body. And when he had taken a cup and given thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank from it. And he said to them, this is my blood of the covenant which is being poured out for many. Truly I say to you, will not drink of the fruit of the vine again until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.
Now, this is the Passover feast celebration. They knew what was gonna be said. It's a standard practice to be saying something. This is not standard practice. This is not just going along with everything just as it is.
Now, when he says the blood of the covenant, there are some precedences there. Exodus 24. So Moses took the blood just as God commanded and he sprinkled it on the people and said, behold, the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words. This is pointing towards what Christ is talking about. But it's also, this is the way that God has made.
It is setting up substitutionary atonement. Zechariah nine eleven, great chapter. Zechariah nine. Zechariah, we go to it in Christmas time and we come to it right now. It's a prophecy of the mess the Messiah.
As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I've set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. In both Matthew and Mark, it looks like this is what Jesus is referring to. It's foreshadowed in John six. John six says that as the disciples were all gathered there, he talked about unless you eat of my flesh and drink of my blood and if this was a hard teaching in John six. And it's one of the saddest verses in the Bible.
It says, and many walked away from him because it was a hard teaching. He was going to be the sacrifice. He knew it all along. We're coming to the place where it is the hardest, most agonizing point for Jesus' earthly life, and he knows it. He's got the betrayer out of the room and he's packing everything he can into this one conversation.
I know I'm saying a lot this morning in my thirty five minutes. But Jesus packed all of that that y'all read this week plus all of this into one thing. So what does Luke say? Luke says, when he had taken the cup and given thanks, he said, take this and share it among yourselves common cup. And for I say to you, I'll not drink of the fruit of the vine and from now on until the kingdom of God comes.
And when he had taken some bread and given thanks, he broke it, gave it to them saying, this is my body which is being given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. This is almost exactly what I say when we do communion. Right? And in the same way, took the cup after they had eaten saying, this cup which is poured out for you, this is the new covenant in my blood.
He adds one word, the new covenant in my blood in Luke. Which brings us back to Jeremiah. This is something they understood the old covenant. People look back to Moses and they look back to Exodus and they look back to the prophets, many of them did, and they saw that God had made a covenant and God was the savior. He was the one that was doing the save saving by the old covenant.
It was a covenant of works and this new covenant is a covenant of grace and here, Jeremiah 31 says, behold days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, with the house of Judah. Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant which they broke. Just mentioning that. They broke it over and over and over and over and over again.
My covenant which they broke. Although I was a husband unto them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them. I will write it on their heart.
I will be their God and they shall be my people. They will not teach again. Each one is his neighbor and each one is brother saying, know the Lord for they will all know me. The children of God will have his commandments written on their heart. For I will forgive them their wrongdoing and their sin I will remember no longer.
Amen. This is what Jesus just said in Luke. Matthew says specifically, for the forgiveness of sins, that goes back to that new covenant too. It is for the forgiveness of sins. The little clicky clicker is not clicking, Blake.
There we go. Oh, goodness. There you go. First Corinthians. This echoes Luke almost exactly.
I received from the Lord, Paul says to people there at Corinth, and to us which I also delivered to you. That the Lord Jesus on the night that he was betrayed, he took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and he said, this is my body which is given for you or which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And in the same way, he also took the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink of it in remembrance of me.
For as often as you drink of it. For as often as you eat this bread and this cup, proclaim the Lord's death until he comes again. This is where I'll go to what you all read this week. We've covered John 13. John 14, Jesus answers questions about his destination, the father and the Holy Spirit.
If you didn't read it, it's so good because you might have the same questions. I don't understand why you're going, what you're doing, where you headed. That don't make any sense. I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. Nobody comes to the father except by me.
The vine and the branches which Carl mentioned this morning, fresh on his mind because he read this this week. Jesus says, I'm the vine, you're the branches apart from me, can do nothing. Connected to me, just be abiding in me and you'll bear fruit. You are gonna have opposition from the world, Jesus said. That'll happen.
Expect it. It's coming. You still need to be loving. You still need to be caring. Sixteen five, the arrival and the ministry of the comforter, the paraclete, the helper.
If I didn't go away, he would never come. It's good for you because I can only be in one place at one time, but the Holy Spirit can be in all of your heart. It's gonna be good for you. I know you don't understand it. There's so many things I'd rather be telling you right now, but you just can't take it right now.
That's right there. You will be joyful. I know that it's sad. I know it's upsetting to think about me going away. I love you all too, but you all are going to be joyful.
Look at this, sixteen twenty. Truly, truly I say to you that you will weep and mourn and I know that, but the world will rejoice. The world will rejoice because the gospel is right here. You will grieve but your grief will be turned to joy. Promise of answered prayer and peace.
Oh, so good. And then Jesus' prayer not only for his disciples, he's praying for those guys in the room, but he specifically says out loud and says he specifically saying it out loud so they can hear it, so they understand it, that he's praying for everybody who will ever come to know Jesus because of their testimony. That's good. Jesus' high priestly prayer. He said, I'm praying for these that you've given me.
I'm not lost a single one of them. I'm holding on to these guys and I'm praying right now for them that they'd be unified and that everybody that ever comes to me through their testimony that they would be unified, that they would be one just like we are one. All that happens right there. And after singing a hymn, was probably four chapters or maybe five of Psalms, Psalm one fourteen to one eighteen or one nineteen, that's the hymn. They went out to the Mount Of Olives.
Oh, that's where that discourse was from a couple weeks ago. That's right. Or last week maybe. Yep. It was a common place for them to go overlooking the Temple Mount just on the other side of the Kidron Valley.
Then Jesus said to them, y'all are all gonna fall away because of me this night. We just had the best time we've ever had at the upper room discourse. You just told us how you love us. You just told us how you're going to answer our prayers. You just told us all that stuff and he says, listen, you all are all going to fall away tonight because of me this night.
It's written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. Mark, after singing a hymn, they went out from the Mount Of Ovals and Jesus said to them, you'll all fall away because it is written. He trusted scripture and he understood it. I'll strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. That's from Zechariah 13.
Strike the shepherd, capital s and the sheep will be scattered. But after I have been raised, I'm going ahead of you to Galilee. He's speaking resurrection again. He's mentioned it multiple times. Hard to say how many times, but a lot.
After I've been raised, I'm going ahead of you to Galilee. After I'm raised, I'm going ahead of you to Galilee. But Peter replied to him, even if they all fall away, now he's setting himself apart from the crowd again. Even if every one of them falls away because of you, I will never fail, doggone it pound pulpit when you've got a weak point. Jesus said to him, truly I say to you this very night before a rooster crows, you're gonna deny me three times.
And Peter said, even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. And all the disciples said the same thing as well. So Satan's asked to sift them like wheat and it's gonna happen. Peter said, even if they all fall away, this is Mark, truly I say to you this very night before a rooster crows twice, You yourself will deny me three times, but Peter repeatedly said insistently, even if I have to die with you, will not deny you. And they all were saying the same thing, yeah, me too.
And he came out and he went as it was his habit up to the Mount Of Olives and the disciples also followed him. Now, when he arrived at the place, he said to them, let's wait on that. When Jesus had spoken all these words, he went away with his disciples across the Ravine Of The Kidron. There was a garden. Oh, a garden.
I love John. We failed in the garden. They were not in our federal head, Adam and Eve, both of them, federal head Adam and Eve failed in the garden. And this is just kinda cool that it's a nod back where there was a garden and he entered that with his disciples. This is what we have for the next little bit.
Jesus said, then Jesus comes with them to a place called Gethsemane. It means the olive press, where all the oil is squeezed out of the olives. And he told his disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray. And he took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, James and John, and began to be grieved and distressed. And then he says to them, my soul is deeply grieved.
It's grieved unto the point of death. This is not a suicidal ideation on Jesus's part. Some have claimed that it is, it's not. He's saying, I am so grieved that it is about to kill me. I feel like I'm going to die from the grief.
My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death. Y'all remain here with me. Keep watch with me. And he just did the upper room discourse, abide, remain, abide, remain, abide, remain. Now, these three remain here and keep watch with me.
Mark says, they come to this place, the name is Gethsemane, it means olive press. And he said to his disciples, sit here until I've prayed and he took with him Peter, James, and John and began to be very distressed and troubled and he said to them, my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death. I feel like I'm gonna die. Remain here, keep watch. He went with a little beyond them and he fell on his face prostrate before his father and prayed saying, my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.
If there's another way, I see it. I've declared what is gonna happen. I see the cup that is coming at me. I I understand it. And if there is another way, perhaps he was thinking about Abraham right here.
Right? Abraham had to believe that he was gonna sacrifice Isaac. He did. He went up there. He had everything necessary to make that and perhaps Jesus is thinking back to Abraham and going, maybe there's a ram in the thicket.
Maybe there's another way. My father, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet, not as I will but as you will. I'm not taking my path or the easy path. I'm taking the path but if there is another way, there is no other way.
He came to the disciples and he found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, so y'all, you men, y'all couldn't keep watching me with me for an hour. Keep watching and praying so that you don't come into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I'm just telling you, I know because I feel like I'm gonna die because here I am in the flesh with you.
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went a little beyond and fell to the ground, began praying. This is basically saying, Abba, father, daddy, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will. And he came and he found them sleeping and said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep?
Couldn't you keep watch with me for an hour? Keep watching and praying so that you'll not come into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. He went away again a second time and he prayed saying, my father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink from it, your will be done. Again, he came and he found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy and he left them again and went away and prayed a third time saying the same thing once more.
Then he came to the disciples and said to them, are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, the son of man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up. Let's go. Behold, the one who is betraying me is near.
Mark tells the same story almost exactly. Luke, now when he arrived at the place, he said to them, pray that you don't come into temptation. He withdrew from him about a stone's throw. He knelt down and began to say, father, if you're willing, remove this cup from me. You know, Jesus, the Lord's prayer that he taught us is wonderful.
This prayer is wonderful. If you have something hard that you are facing and you think there's gotta be another way around this. Father, if you're willing, remove this cup from me, Yet not my will, but yours be done. If not, Lord, be glorified in the way that I go through this. There are brackets right here.
The brackets up there mean this is a questioned as to whether it's part of the original text. I'm gonna read it anyway. Now, an angel from heaven appeared to him strengthening him and being in agony, he was praying very fervently and his sweat became like drops of blood falling down upon the ground. Now, when he rose from prayer, out of the brackets, he came to the disciples, he found them sleeping from sorrow, so they cried themselves to sleep. Thank you, Luke.
They were as distressed seeing their master and they their flesh was weak and they fell asleep from crying themselves to sleep. And he said to him, why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you don't come into temptation. While he was still speaking, behold Judas, of the 12 came accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs. Oh, that makes sense that Jesus mentioned the swords because when people come with a sword and a club, they're planning on using it.
Right? He came accompanied by a large cloud with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now, he who was betraying him gave them a sign previously saying, whomever I kiss, he is the one. Arrest him. I'm gonna skip all those other guys and go straight to the one.
Think about this for a minute now. We know what people look like because we've seen pictures of people. These guys might have heard of Jesus for the last three years and never actually laid eyes on him. So this is the symbol. I'm gonna kiss the guy that it is.
He's about this tall. No. I don't know. I'm I'm just gonna kiss the one that is. I know him.
I'll point him out to you. Whomever I kiss, he's the one who rest him and immediately Judas went up to Judas and said, greetings, rabbi. Teacher, and he kissed him, but Jesus said to him, friend, do what you've come for. And the sign was the kiss. He'd already done what he came for, but Jesus said, do what you've come for.
Then they came and laid hands on him, Jesus, and arrested him. Now while they're still speaking, Luke says, behold, a crowd came. The one called Judas, one of the 12 was leading the way for them, and when he approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, Judas, are you betraying the son of man with a kiss? That's the way it's gonna go. While he was still speaking, one of the 12 came up accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs who were from the chief priests, scribes, the elders.
Now, he who was betraying him had given them a signal, whomever I kiss, he's the one. Arrest him. Lead him away under guard. And after coming, Judas immediately went to him said, Rabbi, and kissed him. And they laid hands on him and arrested him.
I told you I was getting up through their arrest. Now Judas who was betraying him also knew the place because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. Now, didn't know the place of the upper room until he was in the upper room. Right? We know that.
I imagine that Judas took those guys, that for that crowd, they probably stormed the upper room, found it empty. No. No. I really do know where they are. I know what they do because in the mornings, he goes to the temple, but at night, goes to the Mount Of Olives goes to the Mount Of Olives, knows the place.
Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas having obtained the Roman cohort, the officers, and the chief priests, and the Pharisees, he came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, all the things that were coming upon him, came out into the open and said, whom are you seeking? And they answered Jesus the Nazarene and he said to them, I am he. And Judas also who was betraying him was standing with him now.
Then when he said to them, I am he, they drew back and they fell to the ground just at the power of his word. He then asked them again, whom are you seeking? They said Jesus, the Nazarene. Jesus answered, I told you that I am he, So if you're seeking me, let these men go on their way. He's he's looking out for them.
This took place so that the word which he spoke would be fulfilled. Of those whom you have given me, I lost not one. And you might say, you might say, but Judas was one, he lost him. Apparently from the text, Judas was never his. Behold, one of those who are with Jesus reached and drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear.
That's Matthew's version. Behold, one of those who are with Jesus reached and drew his sword, struck the slave, the high priest and cut off his ear. Mark's version, but one of those who stood by drew his sword, struck the slave of his the high priest and cut off his ear. That's Mark's version. Luke's version is a little longer then.
When those who were around him saw what was going to happen, they said, Lord, shall we strike with the sword? Like they asked permission first. And one of them didn't wait for the answer. Struck the slave of the high priest and cut off is right here. That's Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
One of them. One of them. One of them. John, then Simon Peter. I outran him to the grave and doggone it.
That's the guy who I know you're wondering, John, by tradition wrote later, and so we have some gaps that are filled in by John. Simon Peter, since he had the sword, he drew it, he struck the high priest slave, he cut off his right ear. Thank you, John. And the slave's name was Malchus. So Jesus said to Peter, put the sword into the sheaf, the cup which the father has given me, am I not to drink it?
He had prayed that God would provide another way but when God's answer was, there is no other way. He's ready. Jesus said to him, put your sword back into its place for all those who take up the sword will perish by the sword Or do you think that I cannot appeal to my father and he will at once put at my disposal more than 12 legions of angels, 6,000 times twelve, seventy two thousand angels. If one of them has to say fear not, imagine how terrifying 72,000 of them would be. He could have called them, but he didn't because this is his cup.
How then would the scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must happen this way? But Jesus responded and said, stop. Stop. No more of this. And he touched Malchus' ear and he healed him.
And Jesus said to the chief priests and the officers and temples and the elders who had come against him, have you come out with swords and clubs as you would against a man inciting a revolt? Have you really? At that time, Jesus said to the crowds, have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as you would a man who was inciting a revolt? Every day, I used to sit within the temple grounds teaching and you didn't arrest me. They were chicken.
When they were looking for a place, they said, not during the festival, not in the temple, not where we can start a riot because we don't want to mess with Rome. We just want to get rid of him. Every day I used to sit within the temple grounds teaching, you didn't arrest me. While I was with you in the daily in the temple, you didn't lay hands on me, but at this hour in and under the power of darkness, this hour and the power of darkness are yours. All of this has taken place so that the scriptures of the prophets will be fulfilled.
Then all of his disciples left him and fled. So now he's under arrest and the disciples are scattering like the sheep from Zechariah. Jesus said them, have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as you would a man inciting revolt? Every day I was with you. All his disciples all left him and fled.
Mark adds one thing. I'm gonna say, Mark traditionally is Peter's story. Okay. Peter the fisherman tells his story, John Mark writes it down, and I think this is funny, and it's near the end of the sermon. A young man was following Jesus wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body, and they seized him, but he pulled free a linen sheet and escaped naked.
And if you're trying to take off, if you're trying to not take off the naked, like no. If you're trying to take something off of your story and you're going, he told me I was gonna deny him. He told me I was gonna deny him. He told me
I was gonna deny him. And then you have to
tell that I'm gonna deny him. At least add a detail. They will draw the attention away from you for a moment. Naked guy fleeing. Anyway, John 18.
So the Roman cohort, the commander, and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and they bound him. Now from here, we're gonna go to the trials and the crucifixion. Spoiler alert, trial doesn't go well. That's what we're gonna talk about next week. But it gets us to the crucifixion and then resurrection Sunday.
Would you all pray with me? I know that that's been more information. It's been more about information that has been formation. What I took away from the this study this week was the individual and the collective. And at the very beginning of this sermon where I was pointing out the you's and the y'alls, anytime that we stand up and say, I am different from all the rest.
In this way, I'm with you Jesus. Be careful with that. We are the plan that God has. We, the way we love one another is the plan. The way that we love one another will let everybody know that we're actually his disciples.
Would you all stand with me? I'm gonna invite the band back up. They'll know that we are Christians by our love, by our love. Yes, they'll know that we're Christians by our love. May it be that we are so unified within the love of Christ that as we as we are drawn closer and closer to him, we'll draw closer and closer to one another.
And the way that we treat one another will bring people into harmony with God. They'll bring people under the love of God. In Jesus name, amen.
Walk with each other. We will work side by side. We will work with each other. We will work side by side. And we'll guard each one's dignity and save each of your stride.
And they'll know we are Christians by God love. How y'all love? Yes. They'll know we are Christians by our end. All praise to the father from when all things come, And all praise to Christ Jesus, his only son.
And all praise to the spirit who makes us one. And they'll know we
Amen. In Philippians four six and seven says this, don't be anxious about anything but in every situation by prayer and by petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Lord, would you bring that peace to us and would you allow us the grace to be able to effectively articulate it to anyone and everyone that needs you in Jesus name. Amen.

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Written up from the message given at First B Jackson. If something here reads oddly, the recording is the record.

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