Praise the Lord, everyone.
Welcome to Imperative Life
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Lessons, I'm Pastor Ryan
Johnson, our destination today
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is a quiet servant's orders
looking over the shoulders
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of a bloody man as he
stares to the mirrored surface
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of the looking pane.
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He's contemplating
what Jesus has done for him
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on the backdrop of what
he himself has been through
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with Jesus. But getting there
however, means a stroll through
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the Upper Room, the
ancient streets, and eventually
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the Garden of Gethsemane.
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But before we paint a portrait
of the characters in this story
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of this man or of Christ's
cowardly disciples or even
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of the disciple who
betrayed Jesus, why don't we dig
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into the history to gain
a little bit of context to
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walk a mile as it were,
even if by armchair study
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in their shoes.
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And of course, before embarking
on any journey, we ought to
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pray. Father in heaven,
be with us as we look at the
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power of having
you as our master.
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In the name, we
pray, Amen and Amen!
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Ancient Palestine was a
violent contentious place as are
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many places where people
are struggling for independence
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against an
oppressive government.
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Here's a little history,
the kingdom of Israel had split
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into the kingdoms of
Israel in the north and
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Judah in the south,
eventually Israel in the north
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fell to the Assyrians
and over a century later,
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Judah in the south
fell to the Babylonians,
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you can read of the fall
of of the northern kingdom
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in II Kings and of the
approaching fall of Judah
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in the books of
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.
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It was an awful series of days
when in the temple in Jerusalem
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was plundered and then
later, destroyed, burned,
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many of God's people
were taken into Babylonian
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captivity. Daniel opens with
his experience being kidnapped
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in chapter one of his
book but eventually the temple
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was rebuilt, Praise the
Lord, and later under the
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Medo- Persian empire
Israel experienced a restoration
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of sorts but it was
never quite like it was.
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In the time between
of the Old Testament and
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the New Testament, the
Greek empire arose and they did
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some awful things to
the Jews and to the temple.
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If you are interested
in highlights from this
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intertestamental period
Google the Maccabean War
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and read why the
name Judas became so
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popular among the Jews.
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But moving on through history,
each section of the Greek Empire
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was eventually conquered by
the Roman Empire and all of this
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war and stirrings up
of the waters of humanity
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were accomplished at
the edge of the sword.
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Boundaries were established
in blood, freedoms lost,
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gained, lost again in flesh,
so by the time of Imperial Rome
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which set into local power the
Kings Herod along with governors
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like Pontius Pilate. The
Jewish community was no stranger
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to violence, vigilantism,
lynching's, public executions
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in the thousands,
violence was the language spoken
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at even the highest levels.
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Look at King Herod, the
builder who murdered his sons,
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his wife, and even babies,
and pregnant women in Bethlehem.
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Violence was the language
spoken even at the lowest levels
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as is illustrated in Jesus'
parable the Good Samaritan
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who helps a stranger that
has been half killed by thieves
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and in this environment a
man, a carpenter, a woodworker,
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hung out with fisherman and
tax collectors and was preaching
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Blessed are the peacemakers
for they shall be called
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the children of God,
they shall be conquerors
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but not by shedding
innocent blood but rather by the
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bloodshed by the carpenter
man who also happens to be
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the Son of God. Blessed He said
are the meek, for they shall
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inherit the earth, the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy.
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When an odd message among the
massacres, a holy vision amid
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the violence, Jesus was
clearly a blossoming Rose among
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the weeds, a jewel in the sand.
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He was not one to
react violently even if when
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they assaulted Him but His
disciples, men of the docks,
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men of the sea cursing and
rowdy, ah they were different.
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How many fights and
street justice deals have they
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witnessed? What number of
crucifixions have they seen
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as children? Two of them
were called the sons of thunder.
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One was called Petrus, Peter,
Rocky, and the tax collector
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collections were free-lance
jobs were as long as the Romans
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got their quota, one
could charge whatever premiums
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they wanted. And this is
why tax collectors often used
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violence and intimidation
to squeeze the populous
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they were gangsters and these
were the men whom Jesus chose.
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Just as you and I, flawed
people are the men and women
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Jesus chooses. Hmm!
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But those were the
men who said unto Jesus in
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Luke chapter 22, verse 38...
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This was in response to
Jesus speaking in parable about
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the nearness of
prophecy coming to pass.
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This particular exchange
occurred in the Upper Room
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as Jesus was nearing the
end of His earthly ministry
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He's trying to teach them
and they're like we have swords.
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Now because we are nearing
our narrative destination,
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let's slow our racing
review through history and
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further appreciate the
circumstances that led these
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violence taught disciples to
proclaim that they were armed
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with swords.
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Such aggression had practically
been baked into their past,
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it was their reality
their boast their burden.
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In John 14 after promising
that He would come again
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and receive us to
Himself, Philip had proclaimed
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show us the Father
and that will suffice.
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To which Jesus responded, all
this time I have been with you
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and you still ask
to see the Father.
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I imagine that later the
echo of those words came to them
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when they remembered how
they had boasted that they had
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two swords among them all
this time I've been with you
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an you still brandish swords.
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But the point is these men were
the product of their environment
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programmed by centuries of
Darwinian politics at it were
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survival of the
fittest, retaliatory in nature.
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Their survival instincts had yet
to surrender to faith in God.
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At its root, a sword is a simple
device. It's basically a handle
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with a blade, the handle is
for holding and manipulation
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the blade, well
that's for business.
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Now a well-made sword is a
product of millennia of culture
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and purpose and engineering
a well-made sword is balanced
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forged, functional, and
beautiful sometimes it is named
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passed down from generation
to generation marinated
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in the wars and confrontations
the victories and defeat
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that gives it personality.
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But a simple sword, the sword
for instance that a fisherman
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might carry, that's most
likely a crude weapon you know
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purchased for the price
of a few extra fish probably
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shoved into the belt and
slightly hidden under the
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outer cloak. I wonder who it
was among the disciples of Jesus
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that owned each of the
two swords mentioned in Luke?
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Well, we know one
was Peter as we will see,
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but the other be swordsmen.
I don't know his identity
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but when you picture
these men bearing arms
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even as Jesus washes their feet
it is anathema to the spirit
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of love that Jesus invokes
in John chapter 14 verse 17.
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It flies in the Upper Room
experience in Luke chapter 22
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verses 14 to 16, it says...
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Then it says in John
chapter 13 verse 4...
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And then Matthew
picks up the narrative in
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chapter 26, verse 26...
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You know what this is.
Yes. The washing of feet
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the breaking of bread,
the drinking of grape juice
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this was his first
Communion a ceremony with us,
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the last supper before
the cross, a solemn moment,
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a deep experience, Jesus
condescending to wash our
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dirty feet and to
teach us humility and love.
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Jesus showing symbolically
the nature of His mission,
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it was heartbreaking,
it was moving, and to think
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throughout the entire communion
with Jesus, Peter had a sword.
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You got to wonder how
many times we come to church
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armed, not with the
word of God, I don't know,
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but with the swords of
our tongues, oh have mercy.
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With spew-cutting words that
cut our hearts of our brethren
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and sister and then
in Matthew 26, verse 30
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the Bible states...
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To the Garden of Gethsemane
where Jesus wept as they slept,
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where Jesus prayed
as they were passed out.
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We're told in Luke 22 and verse
44 that great drops of blood
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mingled with sweat
flowed from Jesus' brow,
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a sure sign of great stress.
Yes, Christ's stress response
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was so great that blood
leaked from His capillaries
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and invaded the sweat
glands and all that time,
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through all that agony, the
fate of the world hanging in the
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balance, the disciples
slipped with their swords.
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And that friends, that is
how one side of our coming
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confrontation has the history,
the mentality, and the humanity
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to bring blades to a
prayer meeting brawl.
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But hold that thought, and
lets change perspectives here
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for even now in the narrative
the opponents of Christ
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His betrayer. The religious
leaders and some Roman soldiers
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are making their way to
the mount with orders to arrest
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Jesus. Let's learn a
bit about them shall we?
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The gospel of John Chapter
18 verse 3 states...It says...
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That word band of men is
Spiera in the original Greek
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and it means a cohort or a
tenth part of a Roman Legion.
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So soldiers came to grab
Jesus by his betrayal Judas was
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probably trying to force
Jesus to manifest His power
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and become king on earth.
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Judas had followed Jesus
but as is evidenced in certain
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Bible verses including the
one where Mary anoints Jesus'
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feet. Judas never felt
that Christ used his resources
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to greatest affect, so now
in the garden he hopes to cast
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Christ in a more confrontational
role and notice the Bible
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said that He had
received this mob.
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That sounds tense, doesn't it?
00:14:46.38\00:14:48.85
I wonder what His
receiving of the mob was like?
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Did the mob
really respect Judas?
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Seeing that he was a traitor,
a snitch, or was traveling with
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these soldiers to Gethsemane
an example of what is meant by
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holding the tiger by the tail.
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Judas was probably
scared to death. Okay.
00:15:07.87\00:15:12.94
We are only two
steps from our destination
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there was an officer
of the Jewish leadership
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who was not among the mob
and his name was Caiaphas.
00:15:20.98\00:15:27.62
his office, the High
Priest, the Kohen Gadol formerly
00:15:27.66\00:15:36.83
the Kahana Rabbah. Now
remember that Aaron himself,
00:15:36.87\00:15:41.60
brother of Moses was the
first appointed High Priest
00:15:41.64\00:15:45.67
the role changed over
the centuries but eventually
00:15:45.71\00:15:49.94
the High Priest became the
religious and even political
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figure among the Jews
until and unless there was a
00:15:54.72\00:15:59.82
sitting king. High
Priest's used to be chosen from
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the paternal line of
High Priest and they got
00:16:04.59\00:16:08.50
complicated through
history surprise, surprise,
00:16:08.53\00:16:10.87
but when the Greeks ruled,
the Greeks began to dictate
00:16:10.90\00:16:15.44
who would be High Priest.
00:16:15.47\00:16:16.81
And when Rome took over
it also dictated who would
00:16:16.84\00:16:21.41
be High Priest, he told
him so men were appointed,
00:16:21.94\00:16:26.51
they were deposed, they were
appointed, such that by the time
00:16:26.55\00:16:31.02
the average tenure of a
High Priest was only four years.
00:16:31.05\00:16:37.16
Annas was High Priest
for ten years and then a new
00:16:37.19\00:16:41.76
Roman guy came and removed
him and Ananus son Eleazar
00:16:41.80\00:16:46.37
was appointed High
Priest, Anna's other son got
00:16:46.40\00:16:50.27
assassinated and Eleazar
got removed, are you getting
00:16:50.31\00:16:53.78
the picture here? And Anna's
son-in-law became High Priest.
00:16:53.81\00:16:57.78
And who was that
son-in-law? Caiaphas.
00:16:57.81\00:17:01.45
Caiaphas was the
official High Priest of the Jews
00:17:01.48\00:17:07.56
during this cut-throat
time in history, struggling for
00:17:07.59\00:17:11.79
political dominance and
longevity when a man named
00:17:11.83\00:17:15.30
Jesus came along working
miracles and being called
00:17:15.33\00:17:19.63
the coming King of Israel.
00:17:19.67\00:17:21.47
So of course Caiaphas cahooted
with Judas to capture Christ.
00:17:21.50\00:17:26.14
Annas was still alive and
influential and they both had a
00:17:26.17\00:17:32.31
vested interest
in killing Jesus.
00:17:32.35\00:17:34.32
So, back to the garden, among
the soldiers, among the ruffians
00:17:34.35\00:17:40.12
and the rabble, Caiaphas the
paranoid High Priest of the Jews
00:17:40.16\00:17:45.29
sent his own servant to
observe and the servant's name
00:17:45.33\00:17:51.80
was Malchus. Malchus came
to the garden to supervise and
00:17:51.83\00:17:58.51
and observe the arrest
of Jesus Christ and there
00:17:58.54\00:18:03.88
the stage is set, we are but one
step away from our destination.
00:18:03.91\00:18:11.52
Jesus says to His
disciples in Matthew 26:46
00:18:11.55\00:18:16.39
And there they are an
armed mob coming with torches
00:18:24.70\00:18:29.10
and swords and handcuffs Jesus
and His disciples with their
00:18:29.14\00:18:33.84
two swords...
00:18:33.88\00:18:35.21
Jesus asks in John 18:4
00:18:37.85\00:18:40.18
Ahh, don't you like it?
00:18:47.49\00:18:49.36
Moses, way back in Exodus
asked God who He is amidst the
00:18:49.39\00:18:55.13
burning bush and God says,
I am, so here in the garden
00:18:55.16\00:19:00.24
Jesus says I am He and
the mob falls to the ground
00:19:00.27\00:19:05.67
as Jesus says His name.
00:19:05.71\00:19:07.58
You know one recalls
David as he faced Goliath
00:19:07.61\00:19:11.28
he said you come with swords and
spear, but I come in the name
00:19:11.31\00:19:16.62
of the Lord. There's power
in the name of the Lord, haha.
00:19:16.65\00:19:20.76
But the mob, after
falling they recover,
00:19:20.79\00:19:25.79
and after identifying
himself again they take Jesus
00:19:25.83\00:19:29.73
and this is when Peter
steps forward with his sword...
00:19:29.76\00:19:38.71
You know what? let's have
the Bible tells this part.
00:19:38.74\00:19:44.31
Peter swung,
attacked, pulled the trigger.
00:20:01.30\00:20:06.94
Now Peter was a fisherman, he
was not trained in swordsmanship
00:20:06.97\00:20:13.07
he had no technique, no
form, you know a trained man
00:20:13.11\00:20:16.88
might have lunged to
pierce Malchus's heart but Peter
00:20:16.91\00:20:20.72
who flung nets for a living,
he swung in rage and desperation
00:20:20.75\00:20:26.59
and he cut off Malchus' s ear.
00:20:26.62\00:20:30.16
Now, if he had chopped at
Malchus and he would have also
00:20:30.19\00:20:35.46
gotten his shoulder possibly,
but Peter went for the head
00:20:35.50\00:20:40.24
and Malchus most likely ducked
away causing Peter to graze
00:20:40.27\00:20:46.98
his skull and cleaved
the right ear which meant
00:20:47.01\00:20:51.08
that unless Peter
did a backhanded swing,
00:20:51.11\00:20:55.45
Peter was most likely a lefty.
00:20:55.48\00:20:58.85
And being a lefty might also
explain why he was able to get
00:20:58.89\00:21:02.32
the drop on Malchus because
opponents are always expecting
00:21:02.36\00:21:06.49
a right-handed attack, but
Peter grazed Malchus' s skull,
00:21:06.53\00:21:12.43
possibly tearing the cheek,
breaking the bones like the
00:21:12.47\00:21:17.01
zygomaticus, the
sphenoid, hmm, hematomas anyone?
00:21:17.04\00:21:21.21
He might have
fractured the occipital bone,
00:21:21.24\00:21:24.08
this was a serious injury and
Peter would certainly have been
00:21:24.11\00:21:28.62
killed for it. But then, Jesus!
Isn't that the start of every
00:21:28.65\00:21:35.39
testimony, I would
have been lost but Jesus.
00:21:35.42\00:21:39.06
I would have been
destroyed but Jesus, Jesus does
00:21:39.09\00:21:44.50
what He did in Genesis
chapter 2, He does what He does
00:21:44.53\00:21:50.47
in John chapter 8, He
stoops in the dust, Yes,
00:21:50.51\00:21:56.91
stoops in the dirt and
picks up Malchus' s ear and
00:21:56.95\00:22:02.18
makes him whole, restoration,
put him back together.
00:22:02.22\00:22:06.35
Luke chapter 22,
verse 51, it says...
00:22:06.39\00:22:11.79
And they led Jesus into the
city hauled Him before Annas
00:22:19.00\00:22:23.94
and Caiaphas, the servant's
master and they had Jesus killed
00:22:23.97\00:22:28.68
shamed, beaten, shamed,
stripped, shamed, crucified,
00:22:28.71\00:22:34.22
and now we arrive
at our destination.
00:22:34.25\00:22:36.72
A quiet servant's quarters
looking over the shoulder
00:22:36.75\00:22:42.22
of a man as he stares into
the mirrored surface of the
00:22:42.26\00:22:45.59
looking pane, he got
a brand new right ear.
00:22:45.63\00:22:49.20
And oh how fine his healed
oracle must look, no scars,
00:22:49.23\00:22:54.60
no ringing in his head, his
skull has been reconstituted
00:22:54.64\00:22:59.37
he is healed, he's
whole, but his blood is
00:22:59.41\00:23:05.51
still on his shirt isn't it?
00:23:05.71\00:23:07.05
A strange and powerful
juxtaposition of circumstances
00:23:07.08\00:23:11.59
sort of spins its
own narrative doesn't it.
00:23:11.62\00:23:15.12
The testimony of what
Jesus has done for him,
00:23:15.16\00:23:18.23
the evidence of what he
has been through, the hurt and
00:23:18.26\00:23:21.60
the halleluiah all
visible at the same time,
00:23:21.63\00:23:25.03
what's the lesson here
Malchus, servants of Caiaphas?
00:23:25.07\00:23:29.87
who even now pushes
to kill the Messiah.
00:23:29.90\00:23:32.94
As you look at yourself in
the mirror, what's the message?
00:23:32.97\00:23:36.71
That though you've been
saved you should never forget
00:23:36.75\00:23:41.22
how Christ delivered you, maybe,
possibly the lessons deeper
00:23:41.25\00:23:46.39
That though Christ redeems
us His own blood was spilled to
00:23:46.42\00:23:49.72
make it so.
00:23:49.76\00:23:51.09
Did Malchus realize that
to save him from his injury
00:23:51.13\00:23:54.76
yeah, even His own issue
of blood, Jesus' own blood
00:23:54.80\00:23:59.67
would be spilled. Caiaphas
sent Malchus to arrest Jesus
00:23:59.70\00:24:04.27
but rather it
being Malchus' prisoner.
00:24:04.31\00:24:07.01
Jesus was his emancipator,
haven't we all stood before
00:24:07.04\00:24:12.41
the mirror and contemplated
ourselves in light of what
00:24:12.45\00:24:15.88
Christ has done? What Christ
can do, are you right there
00:24:15.92\00:24:19.25
right now, forgiven but the
blood is still on your shirt.
00:24:19.29\00:24:25.39
Undeserving but desperate,
well then Malchus, servant of
00:24:25.43\00:24:33.03
Caiaphas, well then brother,
sister, servant of addiction,
00:24:33.07\00:24:41.71
iniquity, sin, Jesus has
given you another chance.
00:24:41.74\00:24:46.41
Maybe it's time
for a new master.
00:24:46.45\00:24:52.42
Maybe it's time
to give Jesus a try.
00:24:52.45\00:24:57.99
You know, I actually knew a
woman a recovering drug addict
00:24:58.03\00:25:03.43
who didn't like to
look in the mirror,
00:25:03.47\00:25:05.93
she used to say she
could see all the city miles
00:25:05.97\00:25:10.11
she didn't like what she
saw when she glanced into the
00:25:10.14\00:25:16.28
looking pane. But you know
what there's more than one way
00:25:16.31\00:25:20.82
to view one's self?
00:25:20.85\00:25:22.18
When you read the word
of God and we see what Jesus
00:25:22.22\00:25:28.49
has done for us, it not
only sheds a light on who He is
00:25:28.52\00:25:33.80
it sheds light on who we are.
00:25:33.83\00:25:36.90
And by God's grace, we
would study with this sister
00:25:36.93\00:25:41.37
and as we would break
open the word and we would
00:25:41.40\00:25:45.11
read about Jesus
the Christ the Savior,
00:25:45.14\00:25:49.11
despite her best efforts
was looking in the mirror
00:25:49.14\00:25:54.25
and she saw herself.
00:25:54.28\00:25:57.45
Oh like one day in the past,
I'd seen myself, just like you
00:25:57.49\00:26:04.39
maybe seeing yourself in
that strange juxtaposition.
00:26:04.43\00:26:10.30
between the hurt and
the hallelujah appreciative
00:26:10.33\00:26:18.07
of what God has done for you
but still aware of everything
00:26:18.11\00:26:23.21
that He's brought you through.
00:26:23.24\00:26:25.45
Is that you?
00:26:25.51\00:26:28.38
It was her, I remember when
it was me and the question was
00:26:28.42\00:26:36.29
posed to this young woman, same
question that was posed to me
00:26:36.32\00:26:41.16
years ago and now the
question that I pose to you.
00:26:41.20\00:26:45.80
Hey, isn't it about
time for a new master?
00:26:45.83\00:26:53.54
I got good news
Jesus is still accepting.
00:26:53.58\00:27:02.02
Father in Heaven, It
is time for a new master
00:27:02.05\00:27:08.82
and that master is You.
00:27:08.86\00:27:10.86
The only mastership that doesn't
bring bondage but brings freedom
00:27:10.89\00:27:16.16
the only servanthood
that comes with emancipation.
00:27:16.20\00:27:22.24
We are tired, we are beleaguered
but we see what you have done
00:27:22.27\00:27:27.04
for us and now Lord juxtaposed
between the hurt and halleluiah
00:27:27.08\00:27:32.38
we choose You. Save us.
00:27:32.41\00:27:36.82
In thy name, we pray. Amen.
00:27:36.85\00:27:39.65
You know God has plans for you,
you just walk with your hand
00:27:39.69\00:27:42.89
into His hand and He will
lead you to His destination.
00:27:42.92\00:27:46.73
May He bless you, friends
and as always be encouraged?
00:27:46.76\00:27:54.04