Today's Bible passage brings us to the arrest and trials of Jesus that took place on 6 April, AD 32, during a nine-hour period. The Jews put together a plan that was totally illegal, fallacious, unfair, and unwarranted. Jesus was innocent of the charges brought against Him. As Jesus stood before the Roman authorities, where did He find His help and strength in those trials?
In our text today, Jesus was passing a point of no return, to willingly give Himself to be arrested, tried and sentenced to the cross. This is the beginning of the Passion of the Christ. The word "passion" comes from the Latin word for "suffering". We see Jesus, the perfect son of God, suffering in an imperfect world.
We recall that Jesus said to His disciples: "In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (Jn 16:33 ESV) Jesus didn't teach His disciples with mere words about facing trials. Rather, He modelled it for them with His life. Jesus had a mission to fulfil in loving obedience to His Father. Jesus will not walk away even in the face of trials and sufferings.
As disciples of Jesus, called to follow faithfully and fully after the footsteps of our Master, there are TWO REALITIES we must expect from this morning's Scripture passage:
I. Expect Strong Opposition (Luke 22:39-23:25)
Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man, faced six attacks of cruel opposition, more agonising than any man could ever face:
A.He was Deserted! (22:39-46)
And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, (v. 45)
At the point of Jesus' greatest need, lowest strength, and deepest cry for companionship, support and encouragement, the disciples deserted Jesus. They left Jesus all alone at the time when He most needed His disciples to be with Him.
Jesus had His inner circle of disciples who were with him at Mount of Transfiguration, as well as here at the Mount of Olives where He prayed (Mt 26:37). Peter, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were the privileged disciples with Jesus, but they deserted him. They were found with heavy eyes and asleep. Luke states that the disciples were "sleeping from sorrow" (Lk 22:45). The disciples were afraid and sorrowful, because Jesus had told them that His time was near and He would be taken away from them. Jesus was not rebuking them for falling asleep, but warning them to pray so that they will not fall into temptation: "Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation." (Lk 22:46) All kinds of temptations come when one is lonely and deserted.
B. He was Betrayed! (22:47-53)
"Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?" (v. 48)
In order to bring Jesus to trial, they had to arrest him. John 18:3 tells us that the "crowd" was literally a "band" of 600-1000 men who came with lanterns and weapons. In John 18:12, the word "captain" in Greek means "leader of a thousand soldiers." So there could have been 1,000 soldiers who came prepared for a fight to arrest Jesus. So Judas agreed to cooperate with them for 30 pieces of silver, to betray Christ. It was the cost of a common slave, a very cheap price. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss. That was the pre-arranged signal with the religious leaders: the person whom Judas kisses, that would be Jesus whom they were to arrest (Mk 14:44). It couldn't have been easy for Judas to betray Jesus. Judas spent a good three years walking with Jesus, hearing His teachings, dining with Jesus, having his feet washed by Jesus. Yet Judas' heart was so hardened that he could now betray his Master with a kiss. The arrest was made. Jesus would have been handled roughly by the soldiers who were trained to arrest an accused with a technique using force.
C. He was Rejected! (22:54-62)
"Woman I do not know him." (v. 57)
Jesus was denied three times by Peter. We would expect to be denied and rejected by people who hate us, perhaps our enemies. But for Jesus to be denied by His most loyal, courageous and outstanding disciple, and not once but three times, is certainly too much to take and too painful to bear!
D. He was Ridiculed! (22:63-65)
Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. (v. 63)
As the soldiers beat Jesus, they mocked, insulted and humiliated Jesus and His prophetic office. They also blasphemed His identity as the Son of God.Later on, Herod and his soldiers (Lk 23:11), as well as Pilate's soldiers ridiculed and mocked Jesus as King of the Jews (Mt 27:27-31; Mk 15:16-20; Jn 19:2-3).
E. He was Condemned! (22:66-23:2)
At day-break, Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin council – the highest judicial body of seventy to seventy-three men. In their mind, Jesus was guilty of blasphemy and they voted unanimously to take him to Pilate. But that charge would not stand in a Roman court. So they twisted the accusation into treason because, in Rome, death is instantaneous for those found guilty of treason. They claimed that Jesus was not the Son of God; He was a rebel attempting to overthrow the Emperor.
Pilate later gave in to the demands of the Jewish leaders and people for Jesus to be crucified. "So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted." (Lk 23:24)
F. He was Judged (23:1-25)
The Sanhedrin council brought Jesus and their verdict to the Roman governor Pilate who had the power to pronounce final judgment and the death sentence. They accused Jesus of misleading the Jews, stopping the Jews from paying taxes to Caesar, and claiming himself Christ the King. But Pilate could find no guilt in Jesus. When Pilate knew Jesus was a Galilean, he quickly handed Jesus to Herod Antipas, governor of Galilee. Herod had looked upon Jesus as a magician and longed to see Jesus do a trick or two for entertainment. When Jesus wouldn't cooperate, Herod and his soldiers mocked Him as a king before sending Him back to Pilate. Pilate offered to beat Jesus then release him, but the Jewish leaders and people rejected it. They wanted Jesus crucified.
Pilate then tried to release Jesus through a custom they practised – to release a prisoner on the Passover. Barabbas was a notorious prisoner – an insurrectionist and a murderer – awaiting death by crucifixion. Pilate thought that if he were to put Barabbas next to Jesus, and offered to release one of them, the crowd would say, "Don't release Barabbas! Release Jesus!" But it backfired as they said, "Release Barabbas! Crucify Jesus!" See: Mt 27:15-23; Mk 15:6-14; Jn 18:39-40.
Luke 23:22 records a very significant historical fact declared by Pilate: "I have found in [Jesus] no guilt deserving death." Pilate stated his finding not once but three times, that he could not find any reason, ground, or basis to sentence the innocent Jesus to the death penalty (Lk 23:4, 14-15, 22). However, Pilate gave in to the pressure of the Jewish crowd (and the threat of being reported as disloyal to Caesar: Jn 19:12). Pilate delivered Jesus over to their will! (Lk 23:35) Jesus was judged…by the crowd!
Those were the six strong opposition attacks that Jesus faced in his trials – being deserted, betrayed, rejected, ridiculed, condemned, and judged. Jesus suffered incalculable injustice, immense shame, immeasurable torture. Later, Jesus would go on to suffer the unimaginable pain and unfathomable agony of crucifixion and being forsaken on the cross by His Father. Why did He willingly go through all this? It was for the sake of all who would believe in Him for salvation.
The first hard reality all believers must expect in our discipleship journey is: Expect Strong Opposition! That is why the Apostle
Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:12 "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted".
Today's text shows the strong opposition Jesus experienced. For us Christians, strong opposition and difficult trials are to be expected as part of the broken and fallen world we live in. But how do we as Christians respond to opposition and trials? We depend on God. God's Word teaches us to expect supernatural intervention from Him.
II. Expect Supernatural Intervention (Luke 22:39-46)
In expecting supernatural intervention, Jesus made two decisive choices:
A. Seek God Constantly (22:39)
And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.
"as was his custom" – it was Jesus' usual practice to go to the Mount of Olives to pray. Further, Luke records for us that during Jesus' last seven days of ministry in Jerusalem, Jesus sought the Father every night: "And every day he was teaching in the temple but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet." (Lk 21:37) Out of the four Gospels, Luke is the only writer that records what Jesus did "every night." What was Jesus doing every night on the hill?
That was Jesus' daily, consistent, well-guarded, planned, consecrated, sacred time with His Father. What we would today call our devotional or quiet time with God. Jesus knew the time has come for Him to go to the cross. The strong opposition will be there. The severe trials, troubles, testing, temptations and tribulations await Him. The final hour has come. And Jesus would need the Father's presence even more than ever. The only way to find help in times of trials is to seek and pursue God constantly.
Jesus constantly positions Himself to be ready and rooted in God the Father for His Father's timely and miraculous intervention – seeking God constantly! Jesus was about his busy day teaching in the temple (so no excuse for busy Singaporean Christians), but in the evening He sought constantly the Father's direction, will, pleasure and delight. Jesus was always available for His Father to speak, to lead, to direct, to empower, to strengthen, to comfort, to encourage, in times of trials.
The second decisive choice is to trust God completely.
B. Trust God Completely (22:42)
"Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done."
What does "this cup" refer to? Biblical scholars point to two possible meaning:
1. The CUP of Suffering – points to Jesus being in such great physical pain and anguish as he approaches the cross. "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Lk 22:44)
2. The CUP of Judgment – The Triune God (Father, Son and Spirit) has never been separated throughout all eternity. But soon, the divine wrath of God's judgment on the sin of the whole world will be upon Jesus. And for the first (and only) time in eternity, the Father will turn His back on the Son. In some sense, the communion of the Godhead will be broken and Jesus separated from the eternal Godhead.
It seems that it is more likely that it refers to the cup of judgment. The spiritual pain of carrying the sin of the whole world is greater than the physical pain of suffering on the cross. And despite the unfathomable pain and agony of holding this cup of judgment, Jesus said, "Not my will, but yours, be done." Because Jesus trusted His Father completely!
As Jesus sought His Father constantly and trusted His Father completely, a supernatural intervention took place. "And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him." (Lk 22:43)
But note that while the angel may have strengthened Jesus, He continued to be in anguish and He prayed even more earnestly till His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. It reminds us of the reality of life on this side of eternity: While we may be strengthened supernaturally, this strengthening and enabling is not a one-off strengthening, but ongoing, continual. In other words, we are continually revived, renewed and strengthened in the midst of our trials and struggles.
Illustration: The testimony of a Dr Richard Teo Keng Siang. On March 2011, he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. 18 months later, Dr Teo went home to the Lord. On 24 Nov 2011, 8 months after his diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer, Dr Teo gave a testimony at the Dental Christian Fellowship. One key lesson in his life was this: "I think true joy comes from knowing God. Not knowing about God – I mean, you can read the Bible and know about God – but knowing God personally; getting a relationship with God. I think that's the most important thing."
Cancer was Dr Richard Teo's greatest trial. And God's supernatural intervention was not supernatural, complete physical healing for him. However, God clearly intervened supernaturally to reveal Himself to Dr Teo and drew him to know the Lord Jesus personally and intimately. As a result, Dr Teo testified that the true purpose of life is to worship God, and not wealth. And that the true priority in life is to further God's Kingdom, rather than to further ourselves.
CONCLUSION
Jesus crossed the point of no return. The text shows us two realities to expect in our discipleship. First, expect strong opposition through trials in our life. Second, expect supernatural intervention by seeking God constantly and trusting God completely.
Let's look ahead to experience Christ's overcoming, resurrection power, and receive God's help and victory in times of trials. As Psalm 18:16 says, "He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters."
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Regards,
Ryan Chia
It is not so much the case that God has a mission for his church in the world,
as that God has a church for his mission in the world.
Mission was not made for the church; the church was made for mission—God's mission.
From The Mission of God by Chris Wright
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