Matthew 26:47-56 | Restraining Angels

This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

This morning, and we welcome you to join us in following Matthew as he relates the life of Christ.

It's been a lot of scholarly work done on the Gospels, and one of the things that, at least in my mind, has been conclusively proven is that the Gospels, by and large, follow the pattern of ancient Greek biographies.

They're telling us the story, the true story, of Jesus, who is the Christ.

And this morning we are in Matthew chapter 26, going to be looking specifically at verses 47 through 56.

Matthew 26 · chapter mention

I'd like to begin reading just to refresh our minds a little bit and give us some context.

Back in verse 44, Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane with the disciples, and this is the end of that period.

If you are visiting with us, we want you to know that we take the end of Ephesians chapter 4 quite seriously.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

We want to preach Scripture so that what you hear from this pulpit you can be confident in is the Word of God.

It's not our opinions.

We don't want you to be swayed by worldly opinions or philosophies, but by the word of God alone.

So we would encourage you to follow along so that you can see that what is said comes from the Lord Himself.

Matthew chapter 26, verse 44, it says, So, leaving them again, Jesus went and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.

Matthew 26:44

Then he came to his disciples and said, Sleep and take your rest later on.

Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Get up, let us be going.

Look, my betrayer is at hand.

While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs.

They came from the chief priests and the elders of the people.

Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, The one I will kiss is the man.

Seize him.

He came up to Jesus at once and said, Greetings, Rabbi.

And he kissed him.

Jesus said to him, Friend, do what you came to do.

Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.

And 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 cut off his ear.

Then Jesus said to him, Put your sword back in its place.

For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.

Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?

How then should the scriptures be fulfilled that this must be so?

At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me?

Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me.

But all of this has taken place that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.

Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Lord Jesus, may we have the prayer that we have just sung answered this morning that we might see you.

May you do a work in us that is the opposite of these disciples, that we would run to you, not flee away, but to run to you and embrace you wholeheartedly.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Did you notice as we read through this that there are a list of characters in this account?

Only two of them are named.

Jesus and Judas.

Judas is only mentioned once, however, by name, and that is in the very first verse of the section in verse 47.

While Jesus was still speaking, Judas came.

From there on out, no other individual is named except for Jesus.

Judas is given other descriptors.

He's one of the twelve.

He's the betrayer.

He's friend.

I say that because I want you to see that Matthew's writing this very purposefully.

He wants us to see all of the characters that are here.

But he wants us to leave this room this morning with only one person in mind.

And that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Lord Jesus has full authority over heaven and earth.

Yet he fully submitted to the Father's authority and obeyed God in everything during his earthly ministry.

Now, that word submission is a tricky one.

We don't tend to like it.

So let me define what I mean when I say Jesus submitted to the Father.

Submission to God is entrusting all and any outcomes to God.

That means it relinquishes control of myself.

Because I love and trust my God.

I love and trust his sovereign purpose for my life.

And I trust his providential outworking of all situations in life.

And so in the end, submitting to God is trusting his way.

All the way.

Right away.

Our text for this morning in Matthew's biography of Jesus shows us how God the Son submitted to God the Father in complete submission to fulfill the divine plan of salvation.

Notice verse 56.

All this has taken place that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.

After waking the disciples, Jesus faced the last 12 hours or so of his earthly life.

We don't see any indecision.

There's no hesitation here.

There's no questioning any longer.

He had asked the Father, Father, if it's possible, let this cup be taken away.

And the Father said, Sorry, son, there's no other way.

You have to drink the cup.

Now Jesus sets his face.

He's determined to go forward.

The time had come.

Judas was in the garden with authorities and armed agents to take Jesus into custody.

And there are six critical components of Matthew's narrative.

There's a determination to be rid of Jesus.

There's a deceitful betrayal.

There's a defensive reaction.

There's a devotion to Scripture.

There's a deference to the Father's will.

And there's a desertion of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The narrative has many characters.

Just like there's many different kinds of people here this morning.

But the grand narrative, God's story, is not about the individual characters, but about Jesus and how those characters respond to him.

In that grand narrative, we see, first of all, in this account, a group that is determined to be rid of Jesus.

Matthew uses one of his favorite terms to identify this group of people.

And not only is it a crowd, it's a great crowd.

Whenever Matthew refers to a crowd, it's an unbelieving group of people.

And in this case, this crowd is composed of sword and club-bearing people.

John, in his gospel, tells us it's a band of soldiers with their captain and officers of the Jews.

So that means that Judas led a large group of people into the Garden of Gethsemane in the middle of the night that included Jewish and Roman soldiers, meaning they were either professional Roman soldiers sent by Pilate, or they were professional Jewish temple police, or some combination of both.

But what Matthew wants us to visualize is a group of people, a great crowd in a small garden experienced in the use of weapons, willing and able to use them.

This crowd came to an olive garden, not the restaurant, in the middle of the night, as if apprehending a dangerous criminal.

The Jewish leaders treated Jesus like a common criminal, leading a ragtag band of petty revolutionaries.

And that's where we begin to see their determination.

Matthew tells us that this group of armed police came directly from the chief priests and the elders.

So this isn't a primarily Roman squad seeking to put down a rebellion.

This group was sent by the Jewish high court to arrest Jesus specifically when there would be few witnesses and less chance of generating a riot.

These leaders of Israel were supposed to be the wise rulers who understood Scripture and could lead people in the ways of God.

But in the end, they saw the light of Jesus, and rather than run and embrace that light in the midst of a dark night, they sought to extinguish it.

Their determination is quite remarkable if you think about it.

They refused to acknowledge over and over and over again what God was trying to tell them.

Just like the prophet Isaiah.

God asked for a volunteer, and Isaiah said, Here I am.

Send me.

What do you want me to say?

Go and tell these people that they're going to have ears to hear, but they will never hear.

Tell them that they have eyes to see, but they will never see.

That's what Jesus encountered.

They refuse to acknowledge over and over that Emmanuel was in that garden.

Are we that much different though?

There are people who are determined to be rid of Jesus today.

Certain radical groups around the world want to extinguish Christians, exterminate them, get rid of them all.

But aside from those groups, all people are mirrored in this crowd.

For we all, each of us individually, have times when we hear what God says in the gospel and we refuse to trust in it, do we not?

We listen to what God says about our attitudes and our actions, and we say, Oh, you know what, God, that's just the way I am.

And God says, Oh, really?

We hear what God says about our actions toward other people other people and we balk in our pride.

Let's not so quickly hold this determined crowd off to the side and say, I'm so glad I'm not like them.

Because in many ways we do parallel them.

But you know what?

They're not the worst character in this account.

Because the deceit that we see in the betrayal of Jesus is worse than the determination of the chief priests and the elders.

Because we know the betrayer.

It's Judas Iscariot.

We know him.

We've followed him in the gospel.

Matthew has recorded the initiation of his betrayal back in chapter 24, verses 14 and through 16.

And so we have been waiting for this moment since the last Passover meal.

Jesus dismissed him and said, Go.

Start doing what you're going to do.

It says, at that moment Satan entered him.

So we've been waiting for this moment for Satan in Judas to arrive.

Remember that this is nighttime.

So it is dark in the grove of olive trees.

The only way to see is by torchlight.

Most likely the crowd is carrying torches, but even with a great crowd, how do you distinguish the leader of this rebel band of men from everybody else?

Judas has the answer.

He says, I will approach Jesus and kiss him.

Kiss is a standard greeting in the Middle East, even today.

In Jesus' time, people might kiss the feet, they might kiss the hand, the cheek, even the lips of someone in greeting.

It all depended on who was greeting whom.

Now we are not told how Judas intended to kiss Jesus or where.

But the fact that he kissed Jesus at all is simply disturbing.

It was acceptable for disciples of a rabbi to greet their teacher with a kiss in first century Israel.

But we don't have any evidence that suggests that it was expected.

And we are left through all of the Gospels with the impression that it was not common between Jesus and the disciples.

None of the gospels ever recorded the disciples greeting Jesus in this way other than this time.

Let me say that differently.

This is the only time we are ever told that a disciple kissed Jesus.

So Judas feigns a deeper and more intimate relationship with Jesus than the gospels ever picture for any of the disciples.

In other words, to put it bluntly, he's lying to Jesus' face.

Remember that Satan had entered Judas.

Judas is fully responsible for his actions, but Satan's guiding them.

This is an act of Satan working within one of God's created beings to destroy the word of God.

Just like that first garden.

The word that Matthew uses for kiss in verse 49 is the same one as verse 48.

Verse 48, the betrayer given them a sign, saying, The one I will kiss is the man sees him.

And he came up to Jesus at once and said, Greetings, Rabbi, and he kissed him.

Same word.

But the second time in verse 49 has a prefix that intensifies the action.

We don't know what that looked like.

Perhaps Judas grabbed Jesus to kiss him and then held on a moment longer and held a bit tighter for just a moment to allow the crowd to respond.

Whatever the case might be, there was no mistake to be made.

Judas ensured that those who were with him knew this is the guy.

And Jesus knows that Judas is not one of his sheep.

He says, friend, do what you came to do.

I wish I knew what tone Jesus used.

Friend, do what you came to do.

Friend, do what you came to do.

How did Jesus say that?

Well, in a way it doesn't matter.

I know what I would have said.

Get away from me, creep.

No, Jesus didn't respond that way.

But he did, verbally at least, hold him at arm's length, because the word that Jesus chose for friend is not the typical word for a close friend.

Instead, he used a word that means something like a companion, somebody who's just with me.

It's a word you would use for someone you knew, but who wasn't quite a friend.

Matthew highlights this kind of irony over and over again by noting that Judas is one of the twelve, but he's not a close friend.

He's a betrayer.

Which means he's kind of close to Jesus, like a companion, but he's not a disciple.

And while it might be hard to admit, this is a reality today.

Some claim to follow Jesus and yet are not faithful to him.

Some follow him and come to church week after week.

They say they follow him, they say they're a Christian, but they're still deceitful, acting like sheep, but are wolves in sheep's clothing.

In fact, the Apostle Paul warned the elders of the church of Ephesus that there would be some who would come up from within their own church that would be like vicious wolves.

So this kind of thing is not unusual.

It carries on.

Yes, this particular incident happened once.

Jesus was betrayed once, but the attitudes and the actions that we find here are attitudes and actions that are found in characters of all time.

And at this point, when Judas grabs him, kisses him, and Jesus says, Friend, do what you came to do.

The crowd initiates the painful road ahead of Jesus.

They advance and they roughly apprehend them.

And it's at that moment that we see Peter act in defensiveness to protect Jesus.

Some translations include this detail, but do not include this detail, and some do.

But Matthew tells us here, verse 51, and behold! He's highlighting it.

He says, Here's this situation, and you can just picture this, right?

Judas is reaching out to Jesus and as though he's hugging him and he's displaying this close relationship, but we didn't really know that it's not close, but he wants everybody to.

Think it's close, and he kisses him.

And you can just imagine Peter sitting there watching, what's going on?

What's happening here?

Then all of a sudden, the crowd closes in, and behold, one of those who were with Jesus.

You see how Matthew doesn't name him?

We know him from the other gospels.

Matthew doesn't, because he wants us to look at who?

Jesus.

One of those who were with Jesus pulls out a short sword and initiates the fight to defend the Lord.

John tells us that it's Peter, and we are not surprised.

It's interesting that one scholar believes that Peter thinks this is the beginning of Jesus' kingdom.

That Peter takes out his sword because this is it.

This is the moment we've been waiting for.

This is the moment that we get to conquer Rome.

This is the moment that Jesus takes the throne as king over Israel.

In that view, Peter is fighting with Jesus, not defending him.

And I suppose there can be some credence given to that kind of a view, but I don't think that's what's happening here.

Because what we've seen from Peter so far in the Gospel of Matthew is that Peter reacts.

And his reactions, like most of ours, are often the wrong action.

See, Peter perceived the danger to Jesus.

The words here for laid hands on him speak of roughness.

These are soldiers, temple police who really don't care if the subject is hurt during the process.

So Peter's natural inclination is to defend Jesus at all costs, to protect his Lord.

As one of the three trusted disciples, we can imagine Peter standing close to Jesus.

Remember, Jesus went off by himself.

He took the three close disciples, Peter, James, and John, with him, beyond the others.

They come back, they're together.

We can imagine, we don't know this.

I'm kind of imagining how this would go.

We can imagine that Peter is close to Jesus, standing close to him.

At the same time, the chief priest would likely send his servant as his representative in this kind of situation.

And so the chief priest's servant would be the one possessing the authority, the temple authority, the religious authority, the ruling authority to arrest Jesus.

That servant would be leading the crowd, so it makes sense that Peter would go after the man in charge with his short sword.

And let's be honest here.

Peter wasn't intending to joust.

He was intending to inflict harm.

Serious harm.

Since this is a short sword, we can imagine just a couple of possibilities.

One is that Peter is standing here and he attempts to stab at the man's head or neck.

The man dodges it and so it pokes into his ear instead of his nose.

Whatever.

The other option is that Peter took a swipe at the man's head in order to cut off his head.

The man ducks sideways and instead gets his ear sliced off.

Matthew doesn't record the healing of the man's ear.

But Luke does.

All that Matthew wants us to see is that Peter is out to defend Jesus.

And taking out the man in charge would go a long way in protecting Jesus.

At least that's what's in Peter's mind.

But look what Jesus says.

He says, put your sword back in its place.

For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.

What in the world is Jesus saying?

Some say that Jesus is teaching his followers to be pacifists.

Okay, maybe, but I think that's reading into the text, something that really isn't there.

This is occurring in the context of submission to God's eternal plan.

This is not the time, Jesus says, to defend him.

His kingdom is not of this world, is what he will tell Pilate in just a few hours.

So using worldly means to initiate it is inappropriate.

God's purpose and plan is for Jesus to go to the cross, and Peter should have remembered that.

Maybe Jesus is also implying that Peter, this is not the time for you to die.

That'll come, but it's not now.

And whenever you use weapons to advance a cause, it only leads to death.

The inevitable result is that someone will die.

And at this moment, that is not part of God's purpose for Jesus or for Peter.

And besides that, Jesus doesn't need Peter's protection.

Why is it that Matthew doesn't tell us the name of the sword holder?

It's because we're not supposed to notice him.

Who are we supposed to notice?

Jesus.

And Jesus doesn't need Peter's help.

Jesus' command is a subtle hint that Peter isn't in tune with God the Father's plan that Jesus go to the cross and die.

This is Peter yet again inserting his will into the equation.

And Jesus is telling him, my kingdom is not advanced through warfare.

That kind of effort only brings death and destruction.

History is full of prime examples of that, like in the Crusades.

The kingdom is not advanced by mankind's forceful actions, whatever they might be.

The cause of Christ has always suffered whenever the church has attempted to use force or physical warfare.

And you know, some followers of Jesus are still like Peter today.

We're still defensive.

We want to take action.

We want to get something done.

We want to motivate things, thinking that Jesus needs to be defended.

But does Jesus need us to protect him?

Who was the one that said, I will build my church?

That doesn't mean that apologetics is unnecessary.

Apologetics means a defense.

Scripture tells us that we are always to be prepared for a reason for your hope.

That's why Charles Spurgeon said, You don't need to defend Jesus, just let the lion out of the cage.

He can defend himself.

What Peter is blind to, and what we are often blind to, is the unimaginable power Jesus has at his disposal.

Do you not think, Peter, you unnamed swordsman?

Do you not think that at any moment I can have twelve legions of angels right here?

At the time, a Roman legion consisted of approximately six thousand soldiers.

Jesus said there would be a minimum, then, of six thousand angels to defend each of the twelve disciples.

Peter, do you not think that just like that, I can have seventy-two thousand soldiers right here?

Not just any soldiers, but heavenly soldiers.

I'm the commander of the heavenly army.

Do you not think that I can have six thousand soldiers to defend you in this moment?

He says, Peter, I don't I don't need your help.

They're waiting at my command.

And it's not outside the realm of possibility that those angels were not only ready and willing, but that they were eagerly waiting for Jesus to say the word.

Some creative novelists have described this very scene where there's this small garden on a hillside, and as you move back, you see rank upon rank upon rank upon rank upon rank upon rank of heavenly angel soldiers waiting to annihilate.

Only the lack of command from Jesus prevented the angels from annihilating those leaders, those soldiers, and Judas.

But there is no need for the commander of heaven's hosts to utter a single word, because Jesus was devoted to Scripture.

That unbreakable word of the living God.

After stating the obvious, that is, that he didn't need help, to which Peter was oblivious, Jesus says, so then how should the scriptures be fulfilled?

That it must be so.

Matthew has stated directly eight times that Jesus has fulfilled Scripture.

And that doesn't count all of the other implications and indirect implications.

One of Matthew's intentions is to say in no uncertain terms that Jesus is the one about whom the whole Bible speaks.

Jesus is there to complete what God intended.

And that's not about to stop because Judas is there and dwelt by Satan.

Even though Jesus has the entire heavenly army at his disposal, at his immediate command, he is not willing to compromise his commitment to his own word.

Knowing fully what is before him, Jesus upholds his devotion to the revealed word of God.

And friends, we ought to be challenged by that devotion.

We must have that same sense of duty, to remain steadfast to the word of God, to what he has said, regardless of our circumstances.

That should include a desire to read it, to study it, to know it, to know what God has said so that we can remain committed to it.

It would be right and normal to expect the Jewish leaders to do the same, but they refuse to hear God's word.

Do you see that in this moment Jesus is in the minority in standing firm to Scripture?

It still holds that those who are wholly devoted to Scripture are in the minority in this world.

And if that is the direction that you choose, you will be viewed as strange and even as a stranger to your own.

Then Jesus speaks directly to the large crowd.

Torches in the air.

Clubs and hands, swords in hand now.

Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me?

Didn't you realize it?

For days.

All week long.

I've been in the temple every single day, sitting down.

How difficult is it for soldiers to capture somebody sitting down?

You had an easier job.

I was in the temple.

Why didn't you come and get me then?

One author calls this crowd despicable opportunists.

Friends, this is full of injustice.

Jesus is a teacher with nothing to hide.

Yet they come after him as though he were in hiding.

Yet they go after him as though they will fight back.

Hmm.

Wonder why, Peter?

Thanks, Peter.

They arrest him, yet he's done nothing wrong.

So Jesus cries out to the Father about how wrong this is, about how this is an abuse of human power, authority, and position and privilege.

He makes sure his disciples know that this is wrong in every point so that they can begin the campaign to free him from the religious system and start Jewish reform.

No.

Jesus does none of that, does he?

His kingdom is not of this world.

So Jesus shows deference to the Father's sovereign will.

We've seen this already.

Jesus, as he humanly contemplated the road ahead, he asked the Father, Can you take this away?

But he asked that, knowing that he would submit to the desires of the will of the Father.

And we see that same attitude here in verse 56.

All of this has taken place so that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.

Jesus is not about to place his human desires above the Father's sovereign will.

To do so would not only destroy their relationship, but it would nullify the scriptures and send the whole creation to hell.

Even though he could have employed his divine prerogative, he was content to suffer without rescue.

Because he trusted that the Heavenly Father knew best.

And that's a challenge for us too, isn't it?

We can easily see what appears to be injustice in our world.

It might be injustice that we've experienced.

Maybe it's an employer, a boss, somebody that's just mistreating you.

Maybe it's a family member.

Maybe it's just in a culture or in a world, you just see all of this injustice, and we're concerned about such things, and we work to correct them as it is within our power.

But we also have to always have in mind the sovereign work of God.

What is he doing?

Yes, God calls us to be concerned about justice and righteousness and living rightly.

But sometimes God's purpose and plan include suffering and injustice to demonstrate how heinous sin is and how glorious God's grace is.

My friends, there has never been a greater injustice than here.

And Jesus said, Look at me.

Because here you will see the grace of God on display for you.

And to complete the stage setting for the trial, crucifixion, and burial, Matthew tells us, just so ever briefly, the disciples left him and fled.

We shouldn't be surprised.

Back in chapter 26 and verse 31, Jesus had said just a few hours earlier, you will all fall away because of me this night.

So Jesus is arrested.

He reminds them that this is all part of God's plan.

They're going to run away.

Jesus is left alone with the dark faces in the night, carrying swords and clubs as they whisk him away through the darkness, and all of that is to fulfill Scripture.

Don't worry about the betrayer who's one of the twelve.

Don't worry about the nameless, faceless crowd.

Don't worry about the twelve disciples.

Don't worry about the unnamed disciple who's a swordsman.

Focus your attention on Jesus.

So what does this tell us?

It tells us that Jesus is the one God promised to send to restore his sin-cursed world to himself.

Here we have in so many, so many images, this reflection, this familiarity of, hey, we've heard this story about a garden before, and that all went wrong.

And here's another garden, and it seems to all be going wrong.

But this is not Adam and Eve in a garden.

This is Jesus who will save his people from their sins.

And he would be named Jesus because he would be called Emmanuel, who is God with us.

He's not simply a man set to carry out God's purpose.

He is the God of the Bible in human form to accomplish the divine purpose.

But as a human being, he's experiencing human feelings, human emotions, human experiences, and he works to bring them into subjection to the will of God Himself.

See Jesus turning to face the cross, despising its shame, and calling us, don't run away.

Take up your cross and follow me.

We are promised a time when the love of many will grow cold.

It's a reminder then for us to keep the fire of our love for him burning.

Stoke the fire of love, stoke it with obedience and submission to Christ by reading his word, studying him, imitating him.

And as Jesus looked to the Father and entrusted everything to him, we are called to look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

I like the way C.S.

Lewis said it.

He said, Keep back nothing.

Nothing that you have not given away will not really be yours.

Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead.

Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay.

Also known as Judas.

But look for Christ and you will find him and with him, everything else thrown in.

Lord Jesus, we come and we bow before you, confessing that we have run away.

So often we've run away, and we will run away again.

But we know and believe that you are like the father of the prodigal who runs to find and to greet the child running back.

Coming home.

Lord Jesus, if there are any this morning who are in need of coming home, may you grant them your spirit to draw them back, to restore them, to bring them into a right relationship with you.

Maybe there are some who have never been in that place and need to trust you, the one who would die for them this very morning.

Lord, for all of us, cause us to look to you, to not get distracted by the crowds with their clubs and their swords, to not get distracted by the circumstances of life or discouraged by what might be, but to submit ourselves to you and to your word.

For it's there that we find life.

Fill us with your spirit so that we might be bold to tell others of this, to speak of you, that we might glorify your name by making disciples of those who are once your enemies.

Lord, most of all we ask that we might see you with eyes of faith.

May we follow you in that way.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.

Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.

You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.