Ben Carbone The Tale of Two Disciples Sun13:4:25

that's it come in and grab your

seats

fantastic awesome all

right now

um the uh as Emily shared we've been

looking at Easter and um I did the table

a few weeks ago steve did the garden

last week in a very different way i'm

not going to act out anything today for

you um but um he also in as part of the

garden he introduced the fact that there

was a denial and a betrayal involved in

the Easter story and so today it's my

responsibility to talk about the denial

and betrayal and I don't usually come up

with titles for my messages but I felt

bit creative this week so we're going to

call it the tale of the two

disciples that's a bit old-fashioned

it's from an old old book yeah

so but

um the reason we're talking about two

disciples is because the the denial and

the betrayal focuses on Peter in

relation to the denial and Judas in

relation to the

betrayal and as Steve so vividly

portrayed to us last week this was a

crazy time for the disciples obviously

it was uh a crazy time for for Jesus um

being betrayed and denied and arrested

and and taken to the cross to die uh for

our sins but it can you imagine what it

would have been like for these disciples

who had been following him for something

like three and a half years and all of a

sudden the thing that they had committed

their life to looked like it was falling

apart it was totally

uh as many of them were fishermen the

bottom had fallen out of their boat

their life was in chaos and uh in this

story we it focuses on two specific

disciples and so today we're going to

look at them and their responses because

I believe there's a lot we can learn

from their responses how they respond to

the situation and um the reality is many

of us all of us go through dark times

all of us go through difficult

challenging times in our life where we

don't understand what's going on times

where we sometimes feel that it's

hopeless and the reality is some people

come through those dark times and other

people do get trapped in those dark

times and do get stuck and I think it's

really important for us to learn the

keys to coming through those dark times

and I I really believe in the stories of

Judas and Peter

They reveal to us some really key things

we can do and some key things that we

shouldn't do when it comes to these

difficult and challenging times so let's

pray and uh we'll get straight into it

lord God we thank you for the Easter

story and everything it represents we

thank you that it's as relevant today as

it was 2,000 years ago when it happened

i pray that you open our eyes and our

hearts to what you would want us to

understand and learn today in Jesus'

name

amen now the betrayal and denial are

introduced to us at the last supper as

was shared last week in Luke 22 and it

says "In the same way after the supper

he took the cup saying this cup is the

new covenant in my blood which is poured

out for you

but the hand of him who is going to

betray me is with mine on the table the

son of man will go as it has been

decreed but woe to that man who betrays

him they began to question among

themselves which one would do

this so around communion Jesus drops

this bombshell one of the disciples one

of you in this room is going to betray

me i don't know about you but I've been

in meetings and staff meetings where

someone drops a bombshell like that

someone challenges someone and everyone

in the room is pretty well looking at

the floor you've been in meetings like

that where you just don't want to look

up don't want to make eye contact i can

imagine that's what it would have been

like that and and then the disciples

start to sort of make reasons why they

wouldn't be the one that would betray

him like and that somehow the

conversation gets to who's going to be

the greatest amongst them i'm not going

to betray you because I did this I did

that and I of course I'm not going to

betray you because and I'm you know when

I when you get to heaven Jesus I'll be

with you at your right hand sort of

stuff and it's really interesting that

out of that conversation about who's

going to be the greatest Jesus reminds

them that in the kingdom of God if

you're going to be a leader if you're

going to be someone who's guiding and

leading others then you need to become a

servant and Jesus didn't just talk about

this he actually then in the gospel of

John it talks about the fact that he

washes the disciples feet so he showed

practically what it looked like to be a

leader in God's kingdom and in that act

the act of washing their feet he is

displaying that the one of the core

values of God's kingdom as we've even

talked and sung about this morning is

humility

not thinking of yourself more important

than you ought not thinking that your

position as a leader is something you

can use to control others but realizing

it's by God's grace that you have been

given that and you treat it with the

respect that it deserves and so in that

act of washing their feet including at

this time

Judas Jesus washed his betrayer's feet

as well as an act of love and humility

to show them this is what it looks like

to be a part of my kingdom

and it's a great reminder as well on the

other side is Jesus is also reminding

them to beware of the stumbling block of

pride of thinking of yourself too too

well and too highly that uh you you

think of yourself I can do whatever I

can i I can be whatever I can be and

realizing I can't I need God's help is

what Jesus is talking about so in that

space he's revealed to them this value

of humility and love and then Jesus as

he does drops another bombshell and in

this time he points to Simon and he says

Simon Simon Satan has asked to sift you

all has asked to sift all of you as

wheat but I have prayed for you Simon

that your faith may not

fail and when you have turned back

strengthen your brothers

but he replied "This is Simon

speaking,"Lord I am ready to go with you

to prison and to death." And Jesus

answered "I tell you Peter before the

rooster crows today you will deny me

three times you will deny three times

that you know me."

So again another bombshell one of the

most prominent disciples the one who

seemed to be the spokesperson for the

disciples every time something needed to

be said Simon seemed to put up his hand

and say it he was part of the inner

circle the the three that were closest

to Jesus Peter James and John

and so in this space of a short while

Jesus has declared these two men will

either betray him or deny

him and and that they would turn their

back on Jesus in Jesus' most difficult

time but if we look ahead in the story

we discover that the outcomes for each

of them are very very different and the

reality is the Bible teaches us that

both of them were very

sorry for what they had done

and but after their failures the way

they responded were very very different

and showed very different motives for

their remorse so today we're going to

start with

Judas look at him first now we don't

know a lot about Judas from the Bible

yeah there's he's only mentioned a few

times mostly in relation to the betrayal

but the main time he's talked about

before that is in John 12 and there's a

story not long before the Passover and

the washing of the feet and and the last

supper and the betrayal there's a story

where Jesus goes to the house of Mary

and Martha and Lazarus in Bethany and uh

at

that meal time Mary comes in and brings

a a a bottle of very expensive perfume

and pours it on Jesus' feet and anoints

him and Judas we hear from Judas and

John isn't very positive about Judas in

this face but he says and then Judas

said "What a waste what a waste we could

have used that that perfume that's worth

300 daer which is about a year's wages

at that time and we could have used it

to help the poor and John

says Judas wasn't really interested in

helping the poor because it was he was

helping himself to the kitty anyway as

the treasurer of the group this is uh

what it says and so it's not a real

positive look at Judas and uh

interestingly in Matthew and Mark

straight after this is when it talks

about Judas going to the priest and

making a deal to betray

Jesus and so and in that deal he agrees

to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver

now some commentators talk about the

fact that in the story with Mary is the

perfume is worth 300 dinari which is a

silver coin but Judas is willing to

betray Jesus for just a tithe of that 30

pieces of silver which is an interesting

thought and uh and other commentators

talk about the fact that in another part

of the Bible where it talks about 30

pieces of silver is in the Old Testament

in the law where it says if your slave

is killed by someone else's oxen then

you must compensate them with 30 pieces

of silver

just think back to

Jesus' statement in their conversation

is that if you're part of my kingdom you

need to become a servant and he was

literally relating he was sold as a

servant his life cost 30 pieces of

silver as a

servant Jesus became a servant for you

and

I the next time we meet Judas after he's

betrayed Jesus and done what

he took money to

do is in Matthew

27:es 3 and 5 after Jesus' arrest it

says there when Judas who had betrayed

him saw that Jesus was condemned he was

seized with remorse and returned the 30

pieces of silver to the chief priests

and the elders

i have sinned he said for I have

betrayed innocent

blood in other translations it actually

says I have betrayed an innocent

man and the priest say to him what is

that to ask that is your

responsibility so Judas threw the money

in the temple and left and then he went

away and hanged himself

see Jesus was g not Jesus Judas was

remorseful and he brought back those 30

pieces of silver to the priests thinking

that that could help him absolve

his act of

betrayal but the reality is feeling

sorry is not enough to set things right

and even a making amends by returning

the 30 pieces of silver will not

fix a guilty conscience because Judas's

problem was that he thought he had only

betrayed an innocent

man he didn't realize or didn't believe

that he had betrayed God

himself that was his mistake

that's that was the issue at the core of

Judas's failure is that he didn't really

believe that Jesus was God that Jesus

was the Messiah and so he tried to clear

his

conscience by going to the old system of

the law and paying back what he had to

the priests thinking that that would fix

him in reality what Judas was doing was

trying to fix things in his own strength

in his own power in his own ability in

reality that is him trying to clear his

name for the wrong he had done rather

than seeking

God to make his heart right again

see if G if Judas really believed that

Jesus was the living God he would have

gone back to Jesus for mercy rather than

trying to make himself right with God

through the priests

if he really knew that Jesus and

believed that Jesus was the son of

God then he would have known that the

only way he could

find forgiveness and atonement and rest

reconciliation was by going to Jesus

himself

and there are that's Judas is really a

picture of many of us today trying to

fix up our mistakes in our own

strength trying to work out ways that we

can make things right rather than

throwing ourselves at the mercy of God

and realizing that the only answer for

our failures and our mistakes is God

himself

and so Judas makes gives us a really

clear picture of what we shouldn't do

when we fail and make

mistakes and he reminds us that the

first step that we should do is in

overcoming our mistakes and our failures

is to run to God for

help if Judas really knew who Jesus was

and think about it for a moment he he

lived with Jesus for over three years

saw Jesus do amazing miracles saw Jesus

forgive people's sins if he really knew

that who Jesus was and that he was God

and that God is faithful and just to

forgive sins because time and time again

people would come to Jesus and he would

forgive them think of the story of the

the woman of disrepute

who cried and and wept at his feet and

he forgave her

think of the woman caught in the act of

adultery where he talks about forgiving

her sins your sins have been forgiven he

says think about

Zakius where Zakius

uh offers his his

his repentance by saying "I'll give h

all the money that half of the money

that I've stolen back to those who need

it and I'll I'll live for you." Now they

have this so Judas had seen all these

things and seen Jesus' heart to restore

and bring them into relationship with

him so if Judas had really known who

Jesus was he would have realized that

there was no reason that he couldn't run

to

Jesus for forgiveness but he didn't

really believe in who Jesus

was now let's take a look at Peter now

we know a lot about Peter uh from the

gospels he as I said he is part of the

inner circle he was the one who kept

putting his foot in his mouth and and at

the same time this is a guy who walked

on

water can you believe that that's pretty

cool there's a guy who was there when

Jesus transfigured and was with with

Moses and Elijah and and this amazing

stuff that he saw and was a part of and

he was also the disciple that received

the revelation of who Jesus was in

Matthew 16 and 17 where it says Simon

Peter answered you are the Messiah the

son of the living God and Jesus replied

blessed are you Simon son of Jonah for

this was not revealed to you by flesh

and blood but by my father in heaven so

God the father revealed to Peter and

gave Peter this ultimate revelation that

Jesus was God and that he was the

Messiah he was the one come to save the

world and it's always

uh I've always thought why would Peter

be the one who was chosen and I I went

back to look at Peter's life and and in

Peter's life when he was called there's

a really interesting story um when Jesus

called him and it's it's in um where is

it luke 5 and it talks about how Jesus

was preaching to the multitudes and it

got the crowd got so big he couldn't uh

he was getting crushed so he asked Peter

and his brother Andrew if he could stand

in their boat and preach to the

multitude out on the lake and and so

that was happening and it was great and

then after that happened he said to

Peter and Andrew "Let's go out a bit and

throw your net in the water." And they

threw the net in the water and there was

so many fish in the net they couldn't

contain it all so they called John and

James over to help them pull in the fish

and at that point in in Luke 5:8 it says

Luke 5:8

this when Peter when Simon Peter saw

this all the fish and everything that

had happened he fell at Jesus' knees and

said "Go away from me Lord i am a sinful

man go away from me Lord for I am a

sinful man." So Peter knew from that

moment that Jesus was no ordinary man he

knew from that moment that Jesus was

more than a

man he real and he realized his own

inadequacy in front of Jesus and he he

and rather than running away he fell at

Jesus' feet and said "Leave me i'm not

worthy to be in your presence." There

was a humility that Peter

carried that I believe was one of the

would have been one of the reasons why

the father trusted him with this amazing

revelation

and the gospels tell us that when Peter

denied Jesus he wept

bitterly but here's the incredible thing

is the next time we meet

Peter is when Jesus has been

resurrected and in that moment Mary goes

to J John and Peter and says the the

tomb's empty the tomb's empty jesus is

not there and the incredible response of

Peter this is the person who has denied

Jesus three times he doesn't run the

other direction he runs straight to the

tomb he runs straight to that place that

Mary has said Jesus isn't there he's

gone he runs straight there with John

they race there see who can get there

fastest i'm sure Peter got there before

John but um because he was pretty

competitive but the reality is he went

to the place where he knew Jesus was and

he wasn't afraid to go

there why was that because he knew who

Jesus was he had had the revelation that

he was God and he knew the God that

Jesus showed them was a God who loved

and forgave and restored people when

they came to him with everything they

had when they came to him with humility

and so he ran there because he knew that

Jesus would embrace him not reject him

and I believe that revelation Peter had

about Jesus is what kept him from

complete

destruction notice the revelation didn't

stop him from messing up sometimes we

think we have the revelation of who

Jesus is that he is God and we we come

to him we we humble ourselves before him

we repent and we follow him and then we

mess up and we think "Oh I've stuffed up

i I can't do it anymore i can't follow

Jesus."

No just because you've had the

revelation you are still

human you will make mistakes you will

not be perfect the only thing that makes

us perfect is the price Jesus paid for

us

is what he has done for us and this is

the thing about Peter is that revelation

that he had was what kept him on solid

standing with

God that's why God literally declared

that the revelation that Peter

had was to be the rock on which all of

our faith must be

built yours and my faith as well that

the revelation is that Jesus is God and

Jesus is the answer to the world and

that Jesus saves us and restores us and

reconciles us to relationship with God

and it's only through him we can have

it this revealed knowledge of who Jesus

truly is must be the rock that we build

our lives upon

if our lives are built on this rock

Jesus taught very clearly that storms

will

come storms will

come mistakes will be

made but we will stand if we put our

faith in Jesus Christ our rock not

because of

us but because of who he

is because of what he has done

you know in our story the next time we

meet

Peter is when Jesus restores him in John

21 let's have a look at it here it's

really interesting this story is very

similar to his calling story because it

says then the disciple whom Jesus loved

said to Peter because that they were out

fishing in a boat so I should give you

some context before this they were out

fishing in a boat and they'd been

fishing for a long time and caught

nothing and then this person shows up on

the beach and says "Throw your net on

the other side." And uh they start

reeling in heaps of fish and and at that

moment the disciple whom Jesus loved

said to Peter "It is the Lord." And get

this as soon as Simon Peter heard him

say "It is the Lord," he wrapped his

outer garment around him for he had

taken it off so I don't know if that

means he was naked i don't know but uh

but and he jumped into the water and

swam to Jesus this is the man who has

denied

Jesus and he he he wasn't afraid to jump

in the water that tells me that he

knows that Jesus will accept him if he

comes with a humble heart and then he

goes on to say 'When they had finished

eating because Jesus cooked them a meal

from the fish they caught he said to

Simon Peter Simon son of John do you

love me more than these i think he's

probably talking about the fish in that

case um because the reality is Peter

shouldn't have gone back to fishing

because Jesus had said to him you know

don't go back to what you knew you

following me just follow me

and he said Peter said "Yes Lord." He

said "You know that I love you." And

Jesus said "Feed my lambs." Again Jesus

said to him "Simon son of John do you

love me?" He answered "Yes Lord you know

that I love you." Jesus said "Take care

of my sheep." And the third time he said

to him "Simon son of John do you love

me?" And Peter was hurt because Jesus

asked him the third time i'm not sure if

he was hurt because Jesus kept asking

him or G Peter was reminded of his three

denials that he had done by the three

questions of his love for

him and he says "Lord you know all

things you know that I love you." And

Jesus said "Feed my

sheep." You know in his simple act of

swimming into the beach it was an act of

humility is an act of I need God g it's

Jesus and I need Jesus i can't do this

on my own i can't fix this in my own

strength fishing doesn't even work

without Jesus i was catching nothing

until Jesus came so I need

Jesus and in that moment that tells me

that Peter

knows who Jesus is and this is the

incredible thing is that Peter knows

that Jesus loves him and he has nothing

to fear with Jesus he can boldly swim

out to be with

him the second important thing we need

to notice is in the question that Jesus

asks him "Do you love

me?" It's interesting Jesus didn't ask

why did you deny me

peter what on earth were you doing but

he addresses the most important matter

in the status of their relationship with

each

other see Jesus isn't interested in what

he's

done and he's not even focused on what

Peter will do for him in the future that

he knows what he will do but he's not

focused on that jesus is interested in

right now my relationship with

you is he's focused on what matters

most and the question probably should be

asked like this to Peter do you

love

me do you love me Peter is not saying

"Do you love me because I forgive you of

sins do you love me because you're going

to be an apostle who does amazing things

in the future for to help establish the

church?" He doesn't ask him those things

he says "Peter do you love

me do you love me?"

This tells us that our relationship with

God is first and

foremost built on

love everything else flows from

that as I was preparing I wrote this

statement that I think sort of makes

sense you see if God's relationship with

us begins with him loving us with

everything he has think of John

John 3:16

3:16 for God so loved the world he gave

his one and only son then it makes sense

our relationship with him needs to begin

with us loving him with everything we

have and that's the question Jesus was

asking Peter

do you love

me not do you love doing things for me

do you love serving me do you love the

ministry I have for you no do you love

me no do you love having eternal

life no do you love me do you love it

when I heal your body from sicknesses no

do you love

me peter came through the other side of

his denial because he learned that God's

love was everything he

needed and that's what the Easter story

is all about

knowing that God has done it all for

us because his love and all we need to

do is put our lives in his hands and

love him in return that's where Judas

got it wrong tried to fix it in his own

strength it's called

pride but where the key for us is to

humble ourselves and come to God say

"God I need you." And the incredible

thing is if we truly know who God is and

it's probably taken me a lifetime to

learn

this is that I don't need to be afraid

of approaching God with a humble heart

because he will always accept

me he will never leave me or forsake me

he will always accept accept me and

that's what Peter's story shows us the

Easter story shows us that even when our

life looks hopeless God restores us by

giving us a revelation of how much Jesus

loves us and Jesus restored Peter even

though he

failed because Peter had a relationship

with

Jesus where Peter's life was built on

God's love for him

and Peter in this response

declares to Jesus I love

you i love you more than anything else

so today as we come to a

close the question is here for all of us

in this place and Jesus would ask us the

same

question do you love

me do you love me

just close your eyes for a

moment i'll give you a moment to respond

to Jesus in your hearts

it's an opportunity to humble yourself

and say "God I need

you god I need your love i need you in

my life i can't do this on my own."

Maybe that question that Jesus is asking

is do you love

me more

than receiving that

healing do you love

me more than serving me

do you love me more than being a part of

the

church do you love me more than having

eternal

life i believe he's reaching out to us

today and reminding

us that at the core of our relationship

with him is

love and his love is available to

us nothing can separate us from his love

the Bible teaches

us it's just all that's required is a

humble heart that says "I need you God i

love you God in return for all that

you've done for

me." Let's

pray lord God I thank you for your word

thank you

for the

reminder of what really matters in our

relationship with

you that we would love you with

everything we

have and it makes sense for us to do

that when we understand that you love us

with absolutely everything you have you

gave your very best for us and God we

come to you with humble hearts and say

help

us love you in the same

way in Jesus name amen