Love And Betrayal

Well, good morning. It is a privilege for me to be able to open the Word of God with you this morning.

And we will read the passage out of chapter 13 in just a minute, but to tie it to what we talked about last week,

and to tie it to where we are in the Gospel, let me just say a couple of things.

One is in early part of chapter 13, it says this,

Jesus knew that His hour had come.

You know, throughout the Gospel, He says,

My hour has not come. My hour has not come.

And now He says here in chapter 13, My hour has come.

What hour is He referring to?

It's the hour that He would give up His life, where He would be willing to go to the cross.

He'd be willing to die on behalf of His people.

That's the hour He's referring to.

Where we are in the Gospel of John is we're in chapter 13.

We're looking at the very day that He would be arrested.

This evening, chapter 13, going forward, He will be arrested.

He will be tried. He will be convicted.

He will be elevated on the cross the next day.

So we're very close to the last day of Christ's earthly life.

And I would just remind us of a couple of things He said in the early part of chapter 13

that's really going to speak to what we're going to read this morning,

starting in verse 18, where we're going to read.

But He says this in verse 2.

He said,

This morning we're going to read about a great betrayal.

And this great betrayal is at the hands of Judas Iscariot.

And we see here that Christ is telling us before it happens that this is going to come to pass.

He says this to Peter as he is washing the feet of the apostles and disciples.

And Peter says to Him,

You shall never wash my feet.

And Jesus says this,

If I don't wash your feet, you have no part with me.

And He says,

Not only my feet, but my hands and my head also.

Wash all of me, Peter would say.

And Jesus says that I only need to wash your feet.

It is enough.

What He is symbolically saying is that the washing of His sacrifice,

the sacrifice of His life is sufficient for salvation.

But I want us to catch this in verse 11.

He says,

He knew who was going to betray Him.

That was why He said,

Not all of you are clean.

There's this truth in the Scripture in John that says that there's this one

who is a part of my close friends,

who is one of the apostles,

who is going to betray Him.

He's telling them this ahead of time.

And He says,

Not all of you are clean.

In essence, He's saying that the covering of my blood has not covered Judas.

And we'll talk more about that as we look at his betrayal.

And as we step into verse 18,

I would ask if you're able to stand in honor of God's Word,

I would ask you to do that.

If you're not physically able, we understand.

Please remain seated.

As we read chapter 13, starting in verse 18,

reading through the end of the chapter.

I hope you brought your Bible with you.

I would encourage you to open it and read with us.

As we read, starting in verse 18.

I am not speaking of all of you.

I know whom I have chosen.

But the Scripture will be fulfilled.

He who ate my bread has lifted up his heel against me.

I am telling you this now before it takes place,

that when it does take place,

you may believe that I am He.

Truly, truly, I say to you,

whoever receives the one I send receives me,

and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.

After saying these things,

Jesus was troubled in His spirit and testified,

Truly, truly, I say to you,

one of you will betray me.

The disciples looked at one another,

uncertain of whom He spoke.

One of His disciples, whom Jesus loved,

was reclining at the table at Jesus' side.

So Simon Peter motioned to Him

to ask Jesus of whom He was speaking.

So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus,

said to Him,

Lord, who is it?

Jesus answered,

It is He to whom I will give this morsel of bread

when I have dipped it.

So when He had dipped the morsel,

He gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

Then after He had taken the morsel,

Satan entered into Him.

Jesus said to him,

What you are doing, do quickly.

Now no one at the table knew

why He had said this to Him.

Some thought that because Judas had the money bag,

Jesus was telling him,

Buy what we need for the feast,

or that He should give something to the poor.

So after receiving the morsel of bread,

He immediately went out,

and it was night.

When He had gone out,

Jesus said,

Now is the Son of Man glorified,

and God is glorified in Him.

If God is glorified in Him,

God will also glorify Him in Himself,

and glorify Him at once,

little children.

Yet a little while I am with you.

You will seek Me,

and just as I said to the Jews,

so now I also say to you,

where I am going,

you cannot come.

A new commandment I give you,

that you love one another,

just as I have loved you.

You also are to love one another.

By this all people will know,

that you are My disciples,

if you have love for one another.

Simon Peter said to Him,

Lord, where are you going?

Jesus answered him,

Where I am going,

you cannot follow Me now,

but you will follow afterwards.

Peter said to Him,

Lord, why can I not follow you now?

I will lay down My life for you.

Jesus answered,

Will you lay down your life for Me?

Truly, truly, I say to you,

the rooster will not crow,

till you have denied Me three times.

Let's pray.

Father,

I recognize even this morning,

my weakness,

and my inability to accurately share Your Word,

unless You do it through me.

So God, I ask that You would lead our time together,

as we open Your Word.

I pray that You would speak to our hearts,

not just our ears,

not just our head.

I pray that You speak to our hearts.

Father, I pray that You would open our eyes,

and our ears to see the depth of Your Word this morning,

and You would move us to obedience,

I pray in Your name.

Amen.

You can have a seat.

So this morning, I want to talk about,

and I see four things we really want to look at in this passage.

One is a great betrayal.

We see, and we know that in the life,

in the example of Judas Iscariot,

we'll talk about that.

And also, we see a great love in this passage,

in the person of Christ.

We also see a new commandment,

and we'll talk about what that means for you and I.

And then lastly,

there's a great need that each of us has.

A great betrayal,

great love,

a new commandment,

and a great need is what we'll talk about.

First, a great betrayal.

Consider this.

How is it possible

that Judas Iscariot would live with Christ for three years,

be one of the disciples that was with Him,

that ate bread with Him,

that watched all the miracles that He did,

watched how He loved people and cared for people,

not just the elite of the society,

but the down and out.

How He loved them,

how He healed those who had limbs that didn't work,

how He opened the eyes of blind men,

how He fed 5,000 in the wilderness.

He saw all of this.

How could He see that?

And how could He see how selfless Christ was,

how much He loved and cared for people,

and even Judas himself received care from Jesus?

They sat at the table together.

They lived together.

And yet,

how is it that He'd be willing to kill the Lord Jesus?

We look at that and we can't fathom

why He would get to this place,

or how is it possible He'd get to this place?

Let me just share this.

It's not just that He betrayed Jesus as a friend,

and He said,

oh, He's not my friend anymore.

anymore.

That's not what is being shared by Christ here.

This betrayal is greater than just turning and walking away.

We will remember what He did,

that He sought out an opportunity to betray Him.

Remember, as Christ was doing ministry,

especially in Jerusalem,

that the chief priest and the council

were seeking to arrest Him and kill Him, right?

Many times they sent people to go arrest Him,

and one time they came back and said,

never man spake like this.

We couldn't take Him.

Oftentimes, the people were so amazed

at the words of Christ

that the leaders of the Jews

didn't want to take Him at those moments

for fear that they would be attacked.

But know this,

that they were trying all along

to find an opportunity

to take Jesus

so that they could kill Him.

Judas knew that.

And one time when they left town

and they were getting ready to come back,

he says,

Lord, what are you doing?

Don't you know they're seeking to kill you?

Why would you go right back to Jerusalem?

There's a strong probability

they'll find you and arrest you.

Judas was part of that.

Judas heard those conversations.

Judas knew that they wanted to kill Him.

And so what did Judas do?

In his betrayal,

he went to those very men

and said,

what will you give me

if I hand Him to you?

What will you give me

if I take you to Him

and I put Him in your hands

so that you can arrest Him

and you can kill Him?

Understand that the betrayal of Judas

was a willingness to kill Jesus.

Doesn't that amaze you?

How is it possible

being around Him and seeing Him

that He would get to this place

where He'd be willing

to hand Him over

in a manner of speaking

to those who sought to kill Him?

Well, there's two sides to this story.

That is the betrayal of Judas.

One side is the side of Judas.

The other side is the sovereign side.

That is from God's perspective.

How is it possible

that God would even foreknow

or foretell or prophesy

or let us know that this is coming?

Look with me, if you will,

in verse 18.

Christ is speaking and He says,

He quotes the Scripture.

He quotes Psalm 41

and He says this.

He says,

He who ate my bread

has lifted His heel against me.

He who ate my bread

has lifted His heel against me.

Who is He referring to?

He's referring to the betrayer.

You know,

this is prophesied

that there's coming a time

when one who is part of His inner circle,

if you will,

the twelve,

is going to betray Him,

is going to hand Him over

to be killed.

God knew ahead of time.

God told us ahead of time.

And Christ is doing the same.

Christ is saying that

He is going to

lift His heel against me.

He is going to

betray me.

We saw it as I

talked about it early

in verse 11.

The one who is going to betray

is Judas.

And we could look at other places

in Scripture.

And we would

see that

Judas is

the one

who is going to betray.

Christ talks about this

more than once.

For sake of time,

I'll not turn

to all those passages.

But it begs a question,

how is it possible?

How is it possible

that He would be willing

to do that?

And the passage this morning,

it answers that question.

Look at this.

It says in verse 18,

I am not speaking

to all of you.

Speaking about what,

Jesus?

It would go back

to verse 12.

He was washing the feet

and He's saying,

do you understand

what I'm doing for you?

Do you understand

as I wash your feet?

This is a demonstration

of the forgiveness

that I give you.

That my death

on the cross,

my sacrifice

in my life

is sufficient

for you

that you would be

cleaned,

cleansed.

But there's one

who is not cleansed.

It's this one

that was foretold.

It's this one

that never received Christ,

never understood

Him to be the Messiah.

And we see here

in verse 18,

I'm not speaking

to all of you.

I know whom

I have chosen.

Christ,

what are you saying?

Is there one

whom you have not chosen?

That's exactly

what He's saying.

Of the twelve,

one is not chosen.

One is not cleansed.

John 17 says this.

It says,

While I was with them,

this is a high priestly prayer,

this is Christ.

We get an inside view

of Christ speaking

directly to the Father.

And here's what He's saying.

While I was with them,

that is the twelve,

the disciples,

I kept them.

In your name,

which you have given me,

I have guarded them.

Isn't it a beautiful picture

that Christ has kept

and guarded

His apostles,

His disciples?

And none of them

has been lost

except the Son of Destruction.

In His prayer

to the Father,

He acknowledges

that Psalm 41,

the fulfillment

of Psalm 41

happens in the person

of Judas.

Does that mean

that Judas was forced

to betray Him?

No, not at all.

Judas did it

of His own will.

So we see two sides

of this great betrayal.

It's the side

of Judas choosing

to betray Him,

choosing to go

to the priest

and say,

What will you give me

if I betray Him,

if I hand Him to you?

What will you give me?

And they agreed

to give Him

thirty pieces of silver.

Listen,

for the sake of money,

for the sake of money,

He was willing

to betray Jesus.

You know,

the Scripture does indicate

that He had the money bag.

Even in our passage,

He was the one

that carried the money bag

so when they had

a need for food,

they would go to Judas,

Can you go and get us

the food we need

for our group?

Or go give money

to the poor,

whatever was the purpose

of the moment.

But the Scripture indicates

that often He would

pilfer out of the bag.

He would reach

His hand in.

He would grab the money.

He would use it

for Himself.

You know what we see

in Judas

is an extreme selfishness.

That He would be willing

to betray another,

someone that had loved Him

and cared for Him.

He was willing

to betray Him.

Why?

Because of His selfishness.

That He,

we see in His life

this picture

of Him living for Himself.

This great betrayal.

how is it possible

He could live

and not understand

that Jesus is the Messiah?

And then I want you

to look at

the second point

is great love.

So we see great betrayal

in the life of Judas.

Something that we can't understand.

And I'm reminded of

an illustration

I want to share with you

in reference

before we look at

this great love of Christ.

I want to remind you of,

I want to just share with you

a little quick story.

So I'm sitting recently,

within the last year

I'm sitting in a restaurant

and I got a guy

that's a friend of mine

who's in his 30s

and he's sharing with me,

he's opened his heart to me,

he's saying,

man, I think I've finally found

the girl that I want to marry.

He said,

here I am in my 30s,

mid-30s,

and I've just not been

the type of guy

that wanted to settle down.

I wanted to do my own thing,

but I think I've found the girl.

I really believe I have.

And he was sharing with me

that he was,

the very weekend

we were sitting

at a restaurant together

and he was sharing with me

that he was intending

to ask her to marry him

that very weekend.

And I'm sitting on the past tense.

He's sharing with me

the story of his intention.

He said,

but this weekend

after I got home from a trip,

I came back

and she didn't return my call.

I texted,

she didn't return my text.

We were supposed to meet

and she didn't show up.

It's like,

what is going on?

And it turns out

that he found out

that she was with another guy,

hugging on another guy,

kissing on another guy,

spending time with another guy

after they had talked about marriage

over an extended period of time.

And that very weekend,

he was intending

to ask her to marry him

and it all fell apart.

You can imagine the pain

that he was carrying

as we sat at the table together.

It's a betrayal,

isn't it?

It's a picture of a betrayal.

One whom indicated

that yes,

I love you,

yes,

I'm willing to marry you

and was heading down that road

only the very weekend

he was intending

that she turned

to another guy

and left him.

It's painful.

I walk with him

through that process.

The picture of betrayal

in the life of Judas

is painful.

It's hard to understand.

But let me just say this.

You know we're all capable

of that same thing?

Do you realize that

in a manner of speaking,

that's us?

Lest we think that we're not capable of that,

I would caution you

to consider who we really are,

to really look deep

and see who we really are,

what we're really capable of

apart from Christ.

Now let's look at Christ,

this incredible great love

that we see pictured in Christ.

We've seen this through the book

as we've walked through John.

I won't spend a ton of time here,

but I do want to highlight

the beauty of what Christ

is willing to do for us.

We see here in verse 31,

when he had gone out,

Jesus said,

now is the Son of Man glorified.

What does he mean?

Now is the Son of Man glorified.

You know what he's saying?

Is that it is time,

now is time.

And I will be betrayed

this very night.

And I will be taken captive

this very night.

And I will be killed

and crucified tomorrow.

Now is the time

when the Son of Man

is going to be glorified.

God is going to be glorified

in and through the Son

as he gives his life away.

For our sakes, right?

We understand what he did here.

We understand what his death meant.

Listen to what John 15 says.

It says this,

greater love has no one than this

that someone would lay down

his life for his friends.

Greater love has no one than this

that he would lay down his life

for his friends.

You know that's what Christ

has done for you and me.

He has laid down his life

for you and me

that we might have life.

You realize,

and I'm confident

that most if not all of you

understand that

we can't ever earn

eternal life.

We can't ever earn

salvation

apart from one who is perfect

that would die on our behalf.

We had no hope

and that perfect one

was Jesus.

And he was willing to die

a cruel, painful death

that you and I

might have life.

We look in the Word

at some powerful passages

in 1 Peter 2.

It says this,

it's that he, Jesus,

bore our sins in his body

on the tree,

meaning the cross,

the wooden cross,

that we might die to sin

and live to righteousness.

It says, listen,

this is an echo

of Isaiah 53.

By his wounds

you have been healed.

By the spear

that pierced his side,

by the hanging on the cross,

the death,

the grueling death,

the agony of death

that Christ experienced.

By his wounds

we have been healed.

By his death

we have been made righteous.

It's the great exchange, right?

Our sins were placed on him

and his righteousness

was placed on us

that we might be accepted

by the Father.

He was willing to die

on our behalf.

Romans 5 says it this way,

but God shows his love for us.

Do you realize

that our salvation

is an expression

of God's love?

He shows his love for us

in that while we were still sinners,

Christ died for you and me.

This great love,

one who would be willing

to go to the cross

for you and I.

Do you see the extremes here?

This incredible betrayal

that is self-focused.

It's hard to imagine

someone who is more selfish

than he'd be willing

to cause another man

to be put to death.

He would betray one

who he is in friendship with.

It just is crazy to think

that he'd be willing

to go to that level

of selfishness

that is all about him,

all about what he can get,

the money that he would receive,

and yet you look

at the selflessness of Christ.

You see the extremes?

The selfishness of Judah

and the selflessness of Christ,

that he would be willing to die.

The beautiful picture of love,

what does it look like,

a willingness to die?

Now let me ask us this question.

And it gets real

as I ask this question.

Do you see yourself

as more like Judas

or more like Jesus?

Do you see yourself

as more like Judas

or more like Jesus?

You know,

until we recognize

that we're capable

of doing exactly

what Judas does,

until we recognize

that we don't have

the capacity

to honor God.

You know,

the truth is

that the Word of God

says we're enslaved

to sin

in our natural state

before we're redeemed,

before we're born again,

that we don't have

the genuine capacity

to love selflessly.

You know that all of us

are selfish by nature?

Romans 6 said it this way,

we're enslaved to sin.

Brothers and sisters,

I want us to see

that we,

in our natural state,

are a whole lot more

like Judas

than we are Jesus.

Jesus.

We don't want

to believe that.

We want to believe

there's a lot of good

in us.

And there's no way

we would ever go

to that extreme.

You know,

perhaps we never would

betray someone

to their death.

Perhaps we wouldn't

be as bad

as we could be,

but you know what

the Word of God

says about us

in our natural state?

There's nothing good

in us.

We're slaves to sin.

All we do is sin.

It might have

a different picture

than betrayal,

but nonetheless,

it's offensive

to a holy God.

And until God

does a work

in our life

and changes us,

we will never

be like Jesus.

That we're

like Judas.

And until we

understand

the depth

of our sin,

we don't need

a Savior.

At least we think

we don't need

a Savior.

If we feel like

we're mostly good,

then our mostly

goodness might

earn our way

into heaven.

You know that's

not biblical.

There's nothing

you can do

that has any

spiritual value,

that has any

credit to your

account,

that has any

effect in God

accepting you

as His child.

Apart from the

gift of salvation

on our behalf,

we would never

be in His kingdom.

We're just like

in many ways,

Judas.

Brothers and

sisters,

I hope that we

will acknowledge

the depth of

our sin as God

continues to reveal

it.

In Sunday school

this morning,

we talked about,

you know,

we know a lot

because God's

revealed it,

but you know

it's a whole lot

deeper than we

think.

Paul even said,

I'm the chief

of sinners.

As I've

sought Him

and I've

pursued Him,

I've recognized

in comparison

to His holiness,

I've seen my

sin now that

it's darker

than I ever

thought,

it's deeper

than I ever

thought.

So,

this,

the third

point I want

to share.

First point is

great betrayal,

the second is

the great love

of Christ.

The third is

a new commandment.

Read with me

if you will.

In verse 34,

this is Christ

speaking to His

disciples and He

says this,

a new commandment

I give to you

that you love

one another

just as I have

loved you.

A new commandment

I give you.

What is that

commandment,

Christ?

What are you

asking us to do?

And Christ says,

to love one another.

But I want you

to notice the

phrase here,

just as.

Don't miss

the just as.

Bill,

He wants you

to love

just as He

loved.

The same way

that He loved,

His commandment

is that you

would love

the same way.

All of us.

I'm not picking

on Bill.

I just happened

to look back

there and see

him in the

corner.

He was almost

going to sleep

and I had

to wake him

up.

So,

I got his

attention.

He's awake

now.

Bill,

He's called

us all to do

that.

To love

just as Christ

loved.

Let me ask

this,

what did that

love look

like?

You know

what's selfless?

Do you

find that in

your life

that you're

crucifying self?

Do you

find that you

treat people

in a selfless

way?

You know,

if we were to

read 1 Corinthians

13 about love

and what it

looks like,

it's not

self-focused,

is it?

It's others

focused.

Genuine love

is selfless.

And apart

from being

in the

kingdom,

apart from

receiving the

new life

that he

gives us,

apart from

being born

again,

apart from

genuinely having

the Holy Spirit

indwelling us,

you know what

chance we have

of being

selfless?

None.

You think

about the

high call

that he's

given us

here.

Dick,

he's calling

you to be

selfless.

He's calling

us to love

in this way.

And what

does that

love look

like?

It looks

just like

Jesus.

He was

fully

selfless.

And what

did he

do?

He died

on our

behalf.

He died

on the

behalf of

others.

He never

did a

selfless

act.

Now let

me ask

this,

can we

live

perfectly

and live

like

Jesus?

You know

what we

think with

this,

we think

in these

ways is

that I

know my

history,

I know

the way

I've

lived,

I know

more sins

than I've

ever told

anybody.

I know

God knows

them,

but I'm

not able

to do

that.

Why is

he asking

me to

do

something

that I

know

from

history

in my

life that

I can't

do?

God,

what are

you saying?

That I need

to live

just like

Jesus?

That's the

command to

love in

this way,

to have a

life of

selflessness,

to love and

care for

others.

God,

that's too

high.

We can't

do it.

God,

that this

is not

something

possible?

Praise God,

as the

natural man,

it's not

possible.

Left to

your own

ability,

it's not

possible.

We can't

do it.

You know

what God

did?

He transformed

us when

he made

us new.

it's

interesting,

if we

turn,

I'll

turn,

you'll

have to

turn,

but going

back to

John 15,

where he

said,

greater love

has no

man than

this,

that a

man lay

down his

life for

his friends.

You know

what verse

is before

it?

Listen to

the verse.

This is my

commandment,

that you

love one

another as

I have

loved you.

And he

says,

you know

what that

looks like?

It looks

like this.

that a

man would

lay down

his life

for his

friends.

You know

what he's

saying to

that inner

circle,

to the

apostles?

He's

saying,

this is

my

commandment

for you,

that you

love one

another like

I have

loved you,

that you

love in a

selfless way,

that you

lay down

your life

for others.

How is it

possible that

he would ask

us to lay

down our

life?

Is he

asking us

to jump

in front of

the bullet

and take

it?

For another

person?

Is that

what he's

asking us

to do?

Perhaps?

You know,

we've seen

movies where

there's one

lifeboat and

too many people

defend in the

lifeboat and

the decision

has to be

made who

goes in the

lifeboat.

And the

honorable man

would be the

man that

takes his

wife and

puts his

wife in

the boat

and he

perishes

because there's

not room

enough in

the boat.

That would

be a picture

in a sense

of taking

the bullet

or really

being willing

to give

our lives

away at

that moment

for another

person.

Is that

honorable?

Amen.

Yes,

it's

honorable.

It's

selfless if

we genuinely

do that

because we

care for

the other.

But you

know what

Christ did?

He gave

his life

away every

single day.

Every moment

of every day

he chose not

to sin.

He didn't

do selfish

things.

He was

selfless every

minute of

every day.

So Christ,

are you giving

us this

commandment to

be selfless

every single

day?

Yes and

amen.

If you

want to

hear the

high call

of God

you just

heard it.

A new

commandment

I give

you to

love like

I love

that means

to die

every single

day to

self and

to live

for me.

Matter of

fact,

Paul says

I crucify

my flesh

and I

make it

my slave.

He talks

about taking

every thought

captive that

we might

walk in

this obedient

life.

That we

would not

live according

to the

flesh but

we live

according

to the

spirit.

That we

would walk

in step

with the

spirit.

That we

would abide

in Christ.

John 15.

Abide in

me and

I and

you.

You can't

do anything

with any

spiritual benefit

unless I

do it

through you.

Apart from

me you

can do

nothing.

Do you

hear the

high call?

Paul says

the high

call of

God in

Christ

Jesus.

The high

call of

God in

Christ

Jesus as

we trust

in him

to do

through us

what we

can't do.

The Holy

Spirit is

willing to

live through

us in

this way

that's

amazing.

Philippians

3 even

talks about

it like

this.

If I

can get

there.

Paul says

these things

I used

to count

no no

Philippians

2 sorry

it said

I'm doing

this by

memory because

my tab was

in the wrong

place.

You know

when you

put these

tabs in

it's a

quick way

to turn

but I

messed up.

He talked

about

Christ

he says

Christ

even though

he was

very

God

did not

consider

equality

with

God

something

to be

grasped

but he

humbled

himself

and he

made

himself

a

servant

for the

sake of

others.

He lived

selflessly

and in

that same

passage

he said

that we

should

count

others

as more

important

than

ourselves.

Do we

live like

that?

Do we

count

others

as more

important

than

ourselves?

Do we

have the

life of

a servant?

You know

that's the

call the

high call

of God

but I

want you

to see

where we

really are.

you know

it's

interesting

as this

passage

goes on

he gives

us this

example

of

Peter

so

John

shows us

an inside

view of

what went

down

with

Peter

and here's

what he

says

in 36

Lord where

are you

going

that I

can't

go?

He says

where I'm

going

you can't

go now

wait a

minute

I'm

willing

to go

anywhere

with

you

he says

I'll

even lay

down

my life

for you

and Jesus

says

really?

Peter

the heart

is willing

but the

flesh

is weak

and he

says here

I will

lay down

my life

for you

and Jesus

says

truly

truly

I say

to you

this

night

the rooster

won't

crow

before you

deny me

three times

you know

what Peter

was relying

on?

he was relying

on his own

ability

you know

what he

needed?

you know

what Peter

needed?

truly needed?

he needed

what Luke

22

talks about

this is

another

view

that we

have

through the

eyes of

Luke

and he

says this

Simon

Simon

behold

Satan

demanded

to have

you

that he

might

sift

you

like

weak

but I

have

prayed

for you

that your

faith

may not

fail

notice

what he

says

here

Simon

the enemy

is in

pursuit

of you

to destroy

you

he didn't

say

I've

rescued

you

out of

his

hand

I've

kept

him

from

doing

what

he

wanted

to

do

you

know

what

he

said

I

prayed

for

you

that

when

this

thing

happens

that

you

might

not

fall

away

that

your

faith

may

not

fail

what

is

happening

here

this

is

a

pruning

process

did

Peter

need

to

be

pruned

Peter

in

his

pride

said

I

can

do

this

Peter

thinks

he's

capable

of

loving

in

this

way

I'm

willing

to

die

for

you

but

was

he

what

did

he

do

in

the

moment

of

crisis

what

did

he

do

he

ran

he

protected

self

and

if

we

read

in

the

passage

in

Mark

and

we

would

read

for

sake

of

time

I

won't

read

but

in

Mark

it

goes

through

exactly

the

process

he

follows

at

a

distance

he

sees

Christ

being

taken

into

the

courtyard

of

the

high

priest

Caiaphas

place

and

he's

outside

the

gate

and

he's

looking

and

John

had

a

relationship

so

John

allowed

him

to

get

in

so

he's

inside

the

gate

and

as

he's

walking

inside

the

gate

there's

this

servant

girl

saying

wait a

minute

weren't

you

with

him

and

she's

pointing

to

Jesus

you're

one

of

his

right

and

he

goes

no

I

don't

know

what

you're

talking

about

listen

left

to

ourselves

you

guess

what

we

do

the

same

thing

and

he

goes

on

and

he

walks

up

to

the

circle

where

they're

warming

themselves

around

the

fire

and

somebody

says

hey

you're

one

of

them

you're

his

you're

a

Galilean

right

no

no

no

and

finally

says

he

curses

and

says

curses

me

in a

sense

he

said

no

I

don't

know

the

man

shut

up

why

you

keep

talking

about

this

left

to

ourselves

guess

what

we

do

we

protect

you

know

the

beautiful

thing

that

happened

afterwards

is

that

after

Christ

had been

resurrected

and he

spent

40 days

appearing

in various

scenarios

he appeared

to Peter

and he

said

to Peter

Peter

do you

love me

how

powerful

is this

that in

our weakness

and in

our failure

he still

loves us

and he

ministers

to Peter

when Peter

has been

broken

because of

his own

sin

his own

self

protection

his own

denial of

the words

he said

he would

never do

I'm

willing to

die for

you

in the

very

night