Betrayal, Beauty, and Fear

About this sermon

Today we celebrate the resurrection. But in truth, Christians celebrate the resurrection every Lord’s Day. In fact, we have reason to celebrate the resurrection every day. We serve the living Savior. And because He lives, we live. Our life is IN Him. Our life is FOR Him. And we live our lives every day in view of the day when we will SEE Him face to face. But before there was a resurrection, there was a crucifixion. The resurrection matters, in part, because of what Christianity claims for the crucifixion. The resurrection tells us the truth about that crucifixion. Three men died on the same hill on crosses that day. But the reason why Jesus was raised from the dead three days later is because Jesus truly is Lord. And the reason why the eternal Son of God, who is the Lord, came into the world, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, and died on the cross, is because He came into the world to save sinners. We deserve the wrath of God. We deserve it based on our very nature (Ephesians 2) and based on our deeds. Jesus came into the world to die as the substitute for His people. He took the wrath of God upon Himself to deliver those of us who will trust in Him for the forgiveness of our sins. It is that forgiveness, along with a gift of imputed righteousness, that delivers us from eternal wrath. This is the claim of Scripture. This is the good news of the gospel. This was the claim of Christ. And the empty tomb says that it’s all true. And this is not just ONE truth regarding salvation. It is not just the Christian truth regarding salvation. It is the EXCLUSIVE truth regarding salvation. Jesus is the only way to Heaven. Jesus is the ONLY hope for mankind. And the proof that Jesus is no empty hope is that there is an empty tomb. The verses we come today, in our study of Mark, represent the first step of Christ being given into the hands of sinners, after which those sinners would execute what God had ordained. This was Peter’s message on the day of Pentecost. How do we understand what happened to Jesus? ESV Acts 2:22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, aa man attested to you by God bwith cmighty works and wonders and signs that dGod did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know-- 23 this Jesus,1 adelivered up according to bthe definite plan and cforeknowledge of God, dyou crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 aGod raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because bit was not possible for him to be held by it. Acts 2:32 This Jesus aGod raised up, band of that we all are witnesses. Acts 2:36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that aGod has made him bboth Lord and Christ, this Jesus cwhom you crucified." Christ was crucified by the plan of God. Christ’s death purchased salvation. Christ’s resurrection was not only necessary — the conquering of death and the grave — it was the demonstration of the truthfulness of His claims. Well, before there were trials, and before there was a cross, there was a great betrayal. That’s what we see this morning. It is an ugly scene, and yet it is a majestic scene. Against the dark backdrop of Judas’ betrayal, and the fear of the disciples, we see the beauty and majesty of the Son of God. We will look at this scene under five headings. Here’s the first one. A POWERFUL FORCE SENT TO ARREST THE PRINCE OF PEACE (vs.43) This scene is a pitiful one from the outset. As Jesus will point out, the approach taken by those who came to arrest Him emphasizes the hypocrisy present in this whole event, and the fear and cowardice of men that drives this whole event. They came to Him as though He was a robber, when they certainly knew He was not. But the scene is also a wonderous scene in another way. One of the wonders of this scene is that the captive is in charge of the captivity. The one who is arrested directs the events that are taking place as He’s arrested. Out of all the people on display in this scene, the one who is unruffled, the one who is calm, the one who is in control, is the one who is under attack.

Topics

• Anxiety & Worry