Condemned and Denied

Heavenly Father, we do praise you for this beautiful weather.

We praise you for your good creation.

When we look at all that you have made,

we're reminded as Psalm 8 says,

what is man that you are mindful of him?

The son of man that you think of him.

We thank you that you have invited us,

gathered your people in a new place,

but in beautiful weather to be able to do what we're made to do,

just as all of creation is made to do,

to cry out your worship.

We thank you, oh God, we don't take it for granted

to be able to gather in a public place like this

without fear of persecution.

And we do pray for our brothers and sisters

who are gathering on this Sunday to do the same,

boldly, but underground, hidden.

We thank you for their faithfulness.

God, as we dive into your word this morning,

may we remember that these are the words of life.

To whom else shall we go?

There's so much noise in this life.

There's so much world.

The world talks so much,

but your word is what we need.

It is a lamp onto our feet.

So may we give it the proper respect,

the reverence that it is due

as we listen,

as we hear what you have to say to us.

Fill us with your spirit.

Illuminate your words to us.

We do it for your glory.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

If you're able,

I invite you to please rise

to honor the reading of God's word.

Starting in verse 57.

Then those who had seized Jesus

led him to Caiaphas, the high priest,

where the scribes and the elders had gathered.

And Peter was following him at a distance,

as far as the courtyard of the high priest.

And going inside,

he sat with the guards to see the end.

Now the chief priests and the whole council

were seeking false testimony against Jesus

that they might put him to death.

But they found none.

Though many false witnesses came forward.

At last, two came forward and said,

this man said,

I'm able to destroy the temple of God

and to rebuild it in three days.

And the high priest stood up and said,

have you no answer to make?

What is it that these men testify against you?

But Jesus remained silent.

And the high priest said to him,

I adjure you by the living God.

Tell us if you are the Christ,

the son of God.

Jesus said to him,

you have said so.

But I tell you,

from now on,

you will see the son of man

seated at the right hand of power

and coming on the clouds of heaven.

And the high priest tore his robes

and said,

he has uttered blasphemy.

What further witnesses do we need?

You have now heard his blasphemy.

What is your judgment?

They answered,

he deserves death.

Then they spit in his face

and struck him.

And some slapped him saying,

prophesy to us,

you Christ.

Who is it that struck you?

Now Peter was sitting outside

in the courtyard

and a servant girl

came up to him and said,

you also were with Jesus,

the Galilean.

But he denied it before them all saying,

I do not know what you mean.

And when he went out to the entrance,

another servant girl saw him

and she said to the bystanders,

this man was with Jesus of Nazareth.

And again,

he denied it with an oath.

I do not know the man.

After a little while,

the bystanders came up

and said to Peter,

certainly you too are one of them

for your accent betrays you.

Then he began to invoke

a curse on himself

and to swear,

I do not know the man.

And immediately,

the rooster crowed.

And Peter remembered

the saying of Jesus,

before the rooster crows,

you will deny me three times.

And he went out

and wept bitterly.

This is God's holy

and authoritative word.

Please be seated.

In the late 1830s,

the leader of the USSR,

Joseph Stalin,

staged a series of trials

against some of his

most ardent political opponents.

He had more than 50 of these men

arrested under fabricated charges

and dragged into courtrooms.

On paper,

these trials had all the elements

of a fair trial.

Opening statements,

cross-examinations,

final verdicts.

But in reality,

this was anything but fair.

Behind the scenes,

Stalin brutally tortured these men.

Sleep deprived them,

threatened to kill

all of their families.

So under all of that pressure,

they would go on to court

and confess guilty

to all of these made-up charges,

which only led to their speedy execution

just a few days later.

This kind of injustice

in the court.

Injustice enrages us,

doesn't it?

Right?

We are people who intuitively,

naturally understand

how wrong it is.

We hate injustice,

especially when it's done towards us.

How dare he cut us in line?

It's not fair for her

to speak to us that way.

And in particular,

injustice in the courtroom

feels especially wrong.

In the one place

where justice should be upheld,

any sense of injustice

riles us up.

It just feels so wrong.

Yet,

this injustice

is precisely what Jesus undergoes

in his unjust trial this morning.

But that's not the only injustice

that Jesus endures.

In fact,

one could argue that

the second injustice

is even worse than the first.

The first injustice

could be expected

because it's at the hands

of those who have

long hated Jesus.

But the second

is at the hands

of one of his closest friends.

He who ate,

laughed,

cried with Jesus

for years,

for years,

is now not denying him

just once,

not twice,

but three whole times

just to save his own skin

and to leave him

to die alone.

Like a cheating spouse

like a backstabbing best friend,

Peter tosses Jesus aside

as if he never mattered to him.

Jesus experiences

terrible injustice

in this passage this morning.

But he endures it all

not because he is helpless,

not because he deserves it,

but simply because,

we'll see,

he does it

so he could be

the justifier of the unjust.

That's the main point

of my sermon this morning.

Jesus endures

injustice

to justify

the unjust.

My outline's

really simple

this morning

as we just compare

and contrast

how both Jesus

and Peter

endure their

quote-unquote

trials.

First,

how Jesus

faithfully endures

his unjust trial,

and then how Peter

fails his informal trial

when he's interrogated

by bystanders.

After Jesus

is arrested

in the Garden

of Gethsemane,

the Jewish authorities

bring him to

Kiveh's house

to sentence him

to death.

If you're

reading this

and you've been along,

following along with us

in the book of Matthew,

you might realize

that we've been here before.

It's the same place

where the Jewish authorities

gathered

to,

where they schemed

and planned

to abduct

and kill Jesus.

And now that

kind of prejudiced

prejudgment

shows up

in the total sham

of Jesus' trial

for his life.

The so-called

high court of the land

is a total

kangaroo court.

They jump,

hop,

skip over

the proper

legal proceedings

just to confirm

their predetermined

verdicts.

There is

no humility,

no intellectual

honesty,

no actual

pursuit of truth.

Unfortunately,

today we're all

too familiar

with that kind

of attitude,

are we not?

Especially if you

just have been

on the internet

for even just

ten minutes.

We have all

been infected

by this little bug

called pride.

And pride

makes us think

that we are

always right

and everyone else

around us

is just stupidly

wrong.

Generally,

I think this

applies to

every single

one of us

and we should

grow in

humility to

admit that

maybe we

don't have

all the

answers.

But maybe

this actually

applies to you

a little bit

more specifically.

Maybe in your

mind you have

already put

Jesus on trial

and you've

already determined

that Jesus

isn't God.

Jesus isn't

the Messiah.

All of the

miracles that

he's performed

are just made

up fairy tales.

Instead of

open-mindedly

considering the

evidence,

you've just

written it all

off as total

bogus.

So I'd argue

if that's you,

you're not too

far off from

these Jews

in this passage.

For they

display their

own pride

by unbendingly

digging their

heels in

and concluding

who Jesus

is without

sincerely,

seriously

considering the

evidence.

But though

this trial is

an utter

false farce,

the Sanhedrin,

the high court,

they still need

to hold up

the illusion

that this is

a legitimate

trial.

In John,

we learn that

the Jews,

they lacked

the proper

jurisdiction

from their

Roman rulers

to execute

or carry out

capital punishment

themselves.

So if they

wanted to

kill Jesus,

they then

now needed

to convince

their Roman

rulers

that Jesus

was this

nefarious

criminal

that was

deserving

of death.

In their

courtroom,

a place

where witnesses

ought to tell

the truth,

the whole

truth,

and nothing

but the

truth,

they rather

sought

false

testimony.

That's what

Matthew even

puts it as.

They seek

false testimony.

They set up

an open

mic night

just for

anybody to

just mosey

on up in

there and

level life-threatening

accusations

against an

innocent man.

though many

try,

no one

brings a

credible

charge

against

Jesus.

And it

sort of

makes sense,

right,

that against

the one

who has

not even

committed

one sin

against God,

not even

in his

mind or

in his

heart,

can they

find even

just one

prosecutable

crime against

the state.

That is

until

two come

forward

and they

threaten

Jesus of

attacking,

breaking down

the temple

of God,

saying that

he said,

I am able

to destroy

the temple

of God.

To the

Jewish

ear,

this is an

incendiary

charge and

one that

really touches

a nerve.

For the

temple symbolized

the nation

itself.

So to

threaten the

temple is to

threaten the

nation,

everything that

it believed,

everything that

it stood

for.

So this

accusation is

really pure

rage bait for

the Jews.

But much like

really rage bait

on the internet

today, it's

just full of

lies, right?

Number one,

they even get

the quote

wrong.

John 2.19

records the

right quote.

It says,

Jesus said,

destroy this

temple and

in three days

I will raise

it up.

Jesus never

said, I

will destroy

this temple,

but that

simply the

temple would

be destroyed.

Number two,

as John

confirms,

Jesus is not

speaking literally

about the

temple itself,

but figuratively

about the

temple of

his body.

And then

three, if

that's not

clear enough,

Mark actually

adds that

these two

witnesses,

their stories

do not

corroborate,

they don't

match up.

Deuteronomy

19.15

stipulates the

wise Jewish

principle that

no charge

can stand

unless you

have two

harmonious

accounts,

unless you

just have

one bad

actor just

leveling off

false

accusation

left and

right.

So this

accusation is

Swiss cheese.

There's so

many holes in

it that Jesus

could have

just poked

his fingers

right through.

But when

Caiaphas asks

Jesus to

defend himself,

what's his

response?

He is

remarkably

silent.

not a single

word.

And that

silence

speaks volumes.

First, it

indicts the

Jewish

authorities.

Perhaps this

proverb is

running through

Jesus'

mind.

Don't answer

fool according

to his

folly lest you

become a fool

yourself.

It's not even

worth it for

Jesus to

respond to such

a foolish

accusation.

So he saves

his breath.

And sometimes

it's not worth

it for us

either lest we

stoop down to

the level of

fools.

But it also

displays Jesus'

total control

of the

situation.

On first

glance, the

ruling Sanhedrin,

they seem to

be the ones who

are calling the

shots.

They're the ones

who are in

power.

But they

betray their

insecurity when

they're the

ones who are

putting stock to

such flimsy,

baseless

accusations.

They reach

desperately for

straws because

they're desperate.

But Jesus, he

calmly,

coolly,

refuses to

answer,

revealing who

is feeling in

control.

No, actually

who is rather

in control.

He is so in

control, in

fact, that he

actually fulfills

century-old

prophecies.

Written about

him in Isaiah

53.

We've been

quoting this

chapter a lot

in the last

couple of

sermons because

this whole story

in Matthew 26,

it harkens back

to that chapter

a lot.

He says,

he was oppressed

and he was

afflicted.

Yet he opened

not his mouth

like a lamb

that is led

to the slaughter

like a sheep

that before its

shears is silent.

So he opened

not his mouth.

Jesus knows

this rigged

trial will lead

to his death.

But instead

of defending,

claiming his

individual rights,

demanding justice,

as I'm sure

all of us

would,

he rather

is silent.

That silence

only exacerbates

Caiaphas.

He's had

enough and

finally wants

to put an

end to this

trial.

So by the

strongest

possible sanction,

by an appeal

to God,

he demands

that Jesus

answer,

whether he

is the

Christ,

the Son

of God.

Finally,

Jesus

speaks.

He responds

with the

curious,

you have

said so.

An affirmative

answer,

but you also

hear these

elements of

distancing,

of qualification.

I think

commentators

convincingly

argue that

Jesus is

basically saying,

yes,

I am the

Messiah.

yes,

I am the

Son of

God,

but that

doesn't mean

what you

think it

means.

I'm not

the political

revolutionary

that you

expect the

Son of

Man or

Son of

God to

be,

but let

me explain

what it

really means

to be the

Messiah.

And then he

proceeds to

say,

I am the

Daniel 7

Son of

Man,

to whom

will be

given

everlasting

dominion,

indomitable

glory,

and an

eternal

kingdom,

to whom

every person

on earth,

all peoples,

tribes,

and tongues

will worship

one day.

To no

other but

me,

but only to

me,

is given

the power,

the authority,

the honor,

to be

seated at

the right

hand of

the all

powerful

God.

You think

that you're

in the

judge's

seat,

but from

now on,

from now

on,

you will

see who

is really

in power.

That from

now on

that Jesus

says,

it hints

at really

the immediacy

of this

prophecy,

I think.

Meaning that

I don't

think Jesus

has in

terms,

or in

his mind,

the long

awaited

second

coming of

Jesus,

the one

that we're

still waiting

for,

but rather

the power.

He's thinking

about the

power and

the authority

that is

bestowed

to Jesus

in his

soon coming

resurrection

and ascension

just a few

days later.

So all

in all,

though he

is a

lone,

uneducated

Galilean

carpenter,

before some

of the most

powerful men

in all

the nation,

they will

see with

their own

two eyes

who is

actually

in power.

There is

far more

than meets

the eye,

brothers and

sisters,

far more

than meets

the eye

with Jesus

and with

us.

Do you

know that

you will

resurrect

in unspeakable

glory and

power just

as Jesus

was?

Do you

know that

you will

reign in

the new

heavens and

the new

earth as

co-heirs

with Christ's

brothers and

sisters?

Remember,

last week,

Steve spoke

convincingly just

how powerful

one angel

is.

Just one

angel.

But do you

know that you

have angels

that are sent

to you to

serve you

and that you

will actually

judge them?

it's easy

to feel

weak,

to feel

small,

to let

just what

you see

dictate what

is true.

But especially

when we are

put on trial

for our

faith,

when we're

ostracized at

work for

being a

Christian,

when we're

made small

by our

friends for

believing in

the Bible,

remember the

truth.

Remember who

you are.

Jesus knows

the reality

of who he

is and you

ought to

too.

Don't let

them take

that away

from you.

Take

confidence in

this spiritual

reality of

who you

really are,

lest the

fear of

man control

you.

It's easier

said than

done,

I know,

and it won't

be easy,

for they will

treat us like

they treated

Jesus.

for instead

of recognizing

Jesus'

response as

truth and

appropriately

repenting,

hard-hearted

Caiaphas,

he labels

Jesus'

claims as

total blasphemy.

Then he,

along with the

rest of the

council,

pronounce their

judgment,

he deserves

death.

And then they

descend upon

Jesus with

unruly

treatment.

Not even

mass serial

killers are

treated like

this today.

They spit

in his face,

they slap

him up,

they mock

him,

they cover

his eyes,

demand him

to prophesy.

Who struck

you,

oh Christ?

Verbal

abuse is

one thing,

but physical

salt is a

totally other

thing.

And yet,

again,

Matthew

doesn't record

a single

response from

Jesus.

The God

of the

universe,

he just

takes it.

Oh,

the amazing

patience of

Jesus to

endure this

kind of

injustice.

Oh,

the amazing

patience of

the Father

to just let

this happen

to his own

son.

is

to

God

Christ

endures

this

injustice

to justify

the

unjust.

As we've

seen,

really,

this whole

scene is

soaked in

irony,

I think.

Really,

even down

to its

last line.

While they

mock Jesus'

ability to

prophesy,

ironically,

the whole

second half

of this

passage,

shows

Jesus'

ability to

do just

that.

There's a

second

character that's

interwoven

throughout this

passage.

We first

read of him

in verse

58,

where Peter,

he follows

Jesus at a

distance,

it says.

this picture

is worth

a thousand

words.

Peter

follows

Jesus,

but only

within a

distance that

he deems

safe for

him.

Peter

follows

Jesus,

but as

long as

it doesn't

cost him

anything.

Peter

follows

Jesus,

but it's

on his

terms.

And I

wonder,

how closely

do you

follow Jesus?

You might

be convinced

that Jesus

is someone

worthy to

be followed,

but you

only do so

when it's

convenient for

you.

You might

be following

Jesus,

but it's

only the

commands that

you deem

agreeable.

You might

be following

Jesus,

but it's

only on

your terms.

Take heed

that really

at the end

of this

verse,

who is

Peter

sitting

among?

Peter

is not

closely

next to

Jesus,

but he's

among the

Jewish

guards.

Peter

is blended

in with

Jesus'

enemies.

You might

think that

you might

be part

of Jesus'

posse,

but in

the end,

if you

indefinitely

follow Jesus

from a

distance,

the result

might be

that you

too might

be numbered

among Jesus'

enemies.

You either

deny yourself

or you

deny Christ.

And that

distance between

Jesus and

Peter,

I think it

hints at

what's to

come.

Verse 69

sets the

scene of

our second

quote-unquote

trial this

morning.

While sitting

in the

courtyard,

a servant

girl,

perhaps only

10 to

12 years

of age,

she comes

up to

him and

accuses him

of being

with Jesus.

Only a

little girl,

probably

pearl's age.

Yet she

makes Peter,

a grown man,

quake in his

boots.

Afraid to

be revealed,

he feigns

ignorance.

Oh,

you're talking

to me?

Oh,

I have

no idea

what you're

talking about,

little girl.

As he

says,

while he

wipes off

beads of

sweat from

his brow.

That verbal

dodging then

only turns to

physical dodging.

He goes out

to the

entrance of

the courtyard

trying to

avoid this

little girl,

only to

further move

away from

Jesus.

In fact,

really throughout

this three-fold

trial,

Peter seemed

to progressively

move away

from Jesus

physically.

That mirrors,

it really mirrors

his distance

away from

Jesus

relationally.

And while

he tries to

avoid that

first girl,

I think

really almost

comically,

he yet

runs into

another little

girl.

It's little

Ingy this

time.

Finds him

and accuses

him.

And you

can tell

that these

accusations,

they're

ratcheting

up.

While the

first one

accuses

Peter of

just one-on-one

for the

bystanders to

then listen

in,

this second

girl explicitly

brings in

the crowd

in the

accusation.

To match

that mounting

pressure,

then Peter

ramps up

his own

denial.

Surely he

remembers his

Lord's

teaching on

the Sermon

on the

Mount.

He says,

do not

swear by

oaths.

And yet

here he

is adding

an oath

explicitly

denying all

relations with

Christ.

I swear,

I swear to

God,

I do not

know him.

Compare

really

Peter and

Jesus on

how they're

handling their

trials so

far.

one pastor

said,

and it's

right,

when the

Jewish

leaders

lie to

Jesus,

Jesus

responds

with

truth.

When the

bystanders

tell the

truth to

Peter,

he responds

with

lies.

After

some period

of time,

maybe he

finally thinks

he's in the

clear.

But then

the final

and greatest

accusation

comes.

This

time,

multiple

people

come to

convict

Peter simply

because he

talks like

him.

Apparently,

the southern

Judeans

made fun

of the

northern

Galilean

accent.

They hated

their accent

so much

that Galileans

were actually

not allowed

to speak

in some

parts of

the Jewish

worship

service.

Maybe

this

accusation

was a

good

educated

guess.

Perhaps

not a lot

of people

around them

had this

accent,

so just

simply by

power of

deduction,

they reasonably

guessed that

Peter too

must have

come with

Jesus.

Or

maybe their

accusation is

just a

wild,

even

racist

guess.

I had

this

conversation

with

someone

once.

They

asked me

if I

knew

his

Asian

friend.

And

when I

asked where

his

friend was

from,

he said,

oh,

he's from

Mississippi.

Mississippi.

Oh,

I'm

sorry,

did I

ever say

that I

was from

Mississippi?

Oh,

no,

no,

didn't,

but,

you know,

he's

Asian,

you're

Asian.

Maybe

this

accusation

against

Peter is

completely

stupid,

unfounded,

xenophobic,

but

correct

guess.

With that

weird accent

of his,

he might

be saying,

you've

got to

be

kidding

me.

So

to this

final

accusation,

he holds

nothing

back.

Adding

on to

this

forbidden

oath,

he now

invokes

a curse.

In the

ESV,

it says

on himself,

which would

mean something

akin to,

may God

bring just

terrible

things upon

me if

I'm

lying.

But that

actually might

be a bit

of an

over-translation

because,

really,

the verb

in the

Greek

doesn't

actually

have a

direct

object.

It's

actually

possible

that Peter

could be

cursing

not himself,

but Jesus.

In the

early church

in the

second and

third

centuries,

the Romans

hunted

down

Christians.

How?

By requiring

people to

curse the

name of

Jesus,

to see if

they could

curse the

name of

Jesus.

Something

that they

assumed a

Christian

could never

do.

And yet

here is

the

apostle

Peter.

And he

might have

done just

that.

That's how

far Peter

is willing

to go

to save

his own

skin.

Immediately,

immediately,

the rooster

crowed.

Jesus'

prediction is

spot on.

Once Peter

hears that

rooster,

it all

comes back

to him.

Jesus said

that I

would deny

him three

times,

but I

said I

would never

do that.

Jesus said

that those

who deny

him before

men,

he will

deny before

his father.

What have

I done?

What have

I done?

How could I

do that to

Jesus?

Am I doomed

to hell

forever?

In that

moment,

Peter felt

the unbearable,

absolute crushing

weight of

his sin.

And his

body can't

possibly contain

all that

emotion,

so it

comes just

pouring out

of him in

this raw,

bitter weeping.

It's the kind

of guttural

wailing that's

only interrupted

by those

hyperventilating

gasps for

air.

air.

Here's a

man on

the worst

night of

his life,

but no

matter how

many tears

he cries,

he can't

take back

what he

has done.

Because of

the chief

priests and

Peter,

Jesus has

now been

condemned

to death

by his

enemies

and denied

by his

closest friends.

this ought

to enrage

us.

We who

hate

injustice

should cry

out for

justice for

Jesus.

They should

be held

responsible for

their actions.

But wait,

doesn't that

put us

in a

precarious

situation?

doesn't

that make

us

a wee

bit

uncomfortable?

We love

justice,

but

we're

hesitant to

cry out for

justice for

Jesus.

Because let's

be real.

We're

not

Jesus in

this passage.

We are

Peter.

here.

Don't

believe me?

How would

you have

fared?

Knowing that

it could cost

you your

life,

how closely

would you

have stood

next to

Jesus that

day?

Maybe you

feel like

you can

die for

Jesus in

some kind

of cavalier,

dramatic,

once-in-a-lifetime

moment.

But day

by day,

can you

live for

him?

Sometimes

it's not

dying for

Christ,

but living

for him

that is

harder.

For every

time you

lash out

at your

spouse,

you watch

that video

that you

really

shouldn't

have,

you hide

the fact

that you

go to

church,

in your

own way

you are

still choosing

yourself

before Jesus.

In your

own way,

while you're

not explicitly

denying

Christ,

you have

betrayed

him.

if Peter

is judged

for his

actions,

what hope

is there

for us

who have

failed even

lesser trials

than this?

One of the

next times

that Peter

and Jesus

talk is

just a few

days later.

They both

know what

Peter has

done.

But when

Jesus

speaks

to Peter,

there's no

guilt

tripping.

There's no

shaming.

There's no

anger.

There's no

disappointment.

There's not

even a hint

of coldness.

Instead,

starting from

a clean

slate,

he asks

not once,

not twice,

but three

times,

giving him

the same

three

opportunities

to get

it right.

Peter,

do you

love me?

Peter,

do you

love me?

Peter,

do you

love me?

Lord,

you know

I love you.

Lord,

you know

I love you.

Lord,

you know

I love you.

With these

three simple

questions he

or gives,

he reinstates

Peter.

Why?

Why is

Peter not

met with

the terrible

justice that

he is due,

that he

deserves?

Because

Jesus,

though he be

condemned by

his own

people and

denied by

his own

closest friends,

he walked

straight into

that trial,

straight into

the cross,

so that he

could die

the death

that we

deserve,

that Peter

deserves.

Christ was

our human

shield from

the fiery