Holy Week Devotional - Thursday (How To Be Clean)

Hello, welcome back to our all-new week study.

Today, we'll be looking at what Jesus is doing on Thursday.

Thursday is an incredibly important and busy day for Jesus, especially when

it comes to him and his relationship with his disciples. We've got Judas' betrayal,

Peter's denial, the Garden of Gethsemane.

And so, man, this could be a really long podcast, but I'm going to do my best

to keep it around 10 minutes.

Those who know me know that's a little bit of a joke, but we're going to do our best.

So we're going to jump around a little bit, but I want to start just in Mark, Mark chapter 14.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

Jesus walks into this Thursday. Remember, he's cleansed the temple.

He's been prepared for burial.

There's a lot that's already happened at this point, but he gets to this day

and they're getting ready to take the Passover meal. This was a big meal.

I think when we think of the Lord's Supper, we think of specifically what Jesus

institutes at the end of the Passover meal.

But they've been eating. They've been sitting around.

Jesus, of course, watches his disciples' feet during this time.

Lots of things have went on, but I want to, just for today, focus in on two

specific things, mainly two specific people, Judas and Peter.

Judas and Peter, I think they will tell us the story, not only of what Jesus

is doing, but also what Jesus is doing for us.

And so if you remember where we left off in Mark 14, Judas has just agreed to

betray Jesus because of his greed.

And coming out of that day, Jesus prepares to take the Passover with his disciples and.

It says in verse 17 of Mark chapter 14, And when it was evening, he came with the twelve.

Mark 14 · chapter mention

And as they were reclining at the table and eating, Jesus said,

Truly I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.

They began to be sorrowful and to say to him, One after another, is it I?

He said to them, It is one of the twelve who is dipping bread into the dish with me.

For the Son of Man goes as it was written of him, But woe to that man whom the Son of Man has betrayed.

It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.

So it's an incredibly dramatic scene. Obviously, Jesus has come in Jerusalem

with a triumphal entry, and everybody's thinking he's come to overthrow the

Romans and put the Israelites, the Jews,

back on their seat of power where they believe they are rightfully supposed to be.

Even though we saw in the temple that the condition of their hearts spiritually

they are completely bankrupt this is why jesus cleanses the temple in the first place,

but these religious leaders the pharisees want to kill jesus because he has

some sway over the people and they're concerned about losing their power and

on the other side the people aren't guiltless they really just want jesus to

take power so that they can have power over the people that have power over them.

And so there's a lot that's gone on to get to this point, but then we get to

this, what feels like the climax of the story where one of Jesus' closest disciples,

Judas, is going to be betraying Jesus.

Now, again, verse 21 clues us in to what's really going on here.

Has Judas just gone rogue?

Is God's plan going to have to be edited because of the actions of one man or

the actions of the Pharisees? Well, no.

Verse 21, for the Son of Man goes as it is written of him.

Again, we started this study by saying that Jesus is in complete control of

every single thing that's going on here.

He's in complete control of every single thing that's ever gone on anywhere, always.

But specifically in this moment, Jesus is not being taken advantage of.

He is laying his life down for his sheep.

Now, does that minimize Judas's actions? Of course not.

Judas is doing one of the most heinous things that's ever been done in the history of mankind,

sinning against the sinless one against the

one who has come to save his people from sin against the

god man in the flesh judas is sinning

against him based solely on the fact that he would like some money he needs

more money if you know your bible you know that judas has been stealing from

the disciples coffers since he's been their banker essentially but this is the ultimate betrayal.

Now, what gets even more interesting is, as Judas leaves, we learn in Luke,

the disciples have already had an argument about who's the greatest.

I really like Luke's account of this in Luke 22. It says, "...a dispute arose

among the men as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest.".

Listen to what they said. The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them,

and those in authority over them are called benefactors.

But not so with you. This is Jesus speaking to his disciples.

Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as the one who serves.

For who is greater? The one who reclines at the table or the one who serves?

Is it not the one who reclined at the table, but I am among you as the one who serves?

Again, Jesus is setting the table. Judas has went off to betray him.

He's going to make the ultimate sacrifice. He's going to become the ultimate

servant to his people and sacrificing his life for them, giving up his life for them.

And yet, as he's doing that, his disciples, his closest confidants,

the people who've heard him teach and been around him more than anyone else

walking the earth still don't get it.

They're still arguing over who's going to be the greatest.

Sure, Jesus, you're going to sit on the throne, but who's going to be your right-hand

man? Who are you going to give the power to?

Coming right out of this, we see our second and where we'll close story where

Jesus tells Peter he's going to deny him.

So if you know your Bible, again, even somewhat well, you know that Peter's

kind of the leader of this bunch.

He usually is the one that speaks first. He's the one that steps out of the

boat to walk on the water first.

And so I think there is some assumption that Peter is thinking,

I'm your guy. I've always been the one that's stepped up for you,

that's taken the big risk for you.

Later on in this day, he's going to cut off someone's ear who's going to take Jesus.

And so Jesus zeroes in on him and says, Simon, Simon, or that's Peter's name.

Behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat.

Now, that's interesting because in verse 3 of Luke chapter 2,

Luke 2 · chapter mention

we read, Then Satan entered into Judas, called Iscariot, who was the number of the twelve.

A good question to ask yourself is what's the difference between Judas and Peter?

And I've heard it said that, well, the difference is Peter repented. And I think that's true.

I think from a human perspective, the way that we see things, that is true.

Judas goes on to kill himself and never repent, even though he's sorrowful.

But Peter repents. And I think, again, that's a true statement.

But listen to what Jesus says to Peter. We know that Satan came into Judas and

therefore betrayed him. Listen to what Jesus says to Peter.

He says, Simon, Simon, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat.

But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.

And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.

Of course, Peter says, Lord, I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to death.

Jesus said I tell you Peter The rooster will not crow this day until you deny

Three times that you even Know me.

So what's the difference between Judas and Peter?

Well, I think the main difference on the front end from an eternal perspective

is Jesus says, I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.

Now, again, what does this mean for us?

Well, first and foremost, what Jesus needs from you is not your promise that

you won't ever do anything wrong again.

You don't bargain with the King of Kings. You don't bargain with Christ.

You don't bargain with God and say, I'll do this, God.

I'm going to go to the ends of the earth with you, just like Peter.

I'll never deny you. I'm ready to go to prison or to death with you.

That's not a good place to put your faith in yourself and in what you can accomplish.

Instead, learn from what Jesus tells Peter and ask God, God, would you be with me?

God, when my life feels like it's being sifted by Satan himself,

when my life feels like everything is against me and everything's not going

away and I've sinned against you and I've failed and I'm struggling or my life

is filled with things that I wish were not there,

the worst thing we can do is say, God, I'll do this if you do this.

Instead, we bow our heads before the Father and before the Son and ask the Spirit,

God, would you be with me?

Would you be with me? I know if you're with me, my faith will not fail.

I'll fail. I'll stumble.

I'll do things I shouldn't. I'll mess up. I'll do things that I know I should mess up with.

There'll be things that happen to me that won't go my way. But if you were with me, my faith won't fail.

We see this in the epistles. Where is Jesus?

He's at the right hand of God. It says that Jesus sits at the right hand of

God, making intercession for us.

That's another way of saying Jesus sits at the right hand of God and he prays

for his saints. He prays for those that believe in him.

Because he knows, just like Peter, every single person that he has come to save will fail.

And if given the opportunity, Satan himself would sift us like wheat.

But Jesus has promised that he will make intercession for us,

that he will be our advocate before the Father.

So don't bargain with God.

Right? Don't, obviously, don't be Judas. Don't sell your relationship with Christ

or money or fame or clout. We talked about that at length yesterday.

But when we look at Peter, don't bargain with Jesus.

Don't try and convince yourself that you would never do it. You would never do anything wrong.

Jesus, I would never make that mistake. I would never sin in that way.

I would never fall that way.

No, instead, we come humbly before God through the person and work of Jesus

Christ by the power of his spirit and say, God, would you strengthen me? Would you be with me?

God, I have sinned. Would you forgive me?

God, there's things in my life going on that I do not understand.

Would you help me to trust you and trust your plan for my life?

This is the call in our lives as Jesus makes his walk towards Calvary.

Now if you're a member of trinity or would like to listen more we're gonna cover

the garden of gethsemane sunday morning during our easter service but for today

remember the words that jesus says to peter i have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.

And when you have turned again strengthen your brothers listen is your faith

not failing are you in a strong place right now you feel like you and god are

very close that sin is far from you.

Do what Jesus prays for Peter. And when you have turned again,

strengthen your brothers. Find a brother or sister to strengthen.

Thank you guys again for joining us today. Looking forward to Friday.

Obviously, good Friday. So much we could talk about. I will see you guys then.