The Reason for the Season Tuesday 26th March 2024

What He is doing in the season, and so for that reason, we

just want to thank God from the depth of our heart and bless us name.

Amen. On Sunday, by God's grace, I started a series on

the reason for the season, and today, by God's grace, I just

want to add a little bit of meat to it so that we can all

be guided in the season of passover, where we are expecting God to usher

us into the season of freedom and liberty. Amen. So we'll still dwell

on Luke chapter twenty two, but today we are going to look at from

from verse thirty one to about to about verse sixty six. So be a

long scripture reading, but I'll take my time and then go through the salient

points so we can glean something from it to learn. Amen. And so

we look twenty two verse thirty one. Jesus based on where we left off

in Service, Jesus foretold Peter's denial, how Peter would deny him three times,

and after he spoke to Judas's carry out going to betray him, the

next betrayal that he foresaw was Peter denying him three times. And like I

mentioned in Service, on Sunday, the pass Over the last part over Jesus

had was heart breaking one because it wasn't joy for him in that he could

see, he could feel that the time for him to be crucified was very

near. And I believe if any of us perhaps hear some bad news,

what we expect is that people who are close to us would at least be

of some comfort to us. But unfortunately, our Lord did not experience that

comfort when he was grieving towards the greatest sacrifice that he had to sacrifice for

us. Amen. And so in verse thirty one of chapter twenty two,

Jesus says Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you that he

might safet you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith

may not fail, and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren.

Then Peter said to Jesus, Lord, I'm ready to go with you,

both to prison and to death. And Jesus said, I tell you,

Peter, the rooster will not crow this day until you deny me three times.

That you don't know, amen. And so after Jesus said that Satan

had desired to safety like wat, I don't know if Peter wanted to say

some kind of words to Jesus by trying to make Jesus feel hid or feel

important. He says that I am willing to go to prison with you.

I am willing to die with you. I am willing. I'm ready.

I'm ready here, I am I'm ready. But Jesus, seen the content

of his heart, said that, yes, you are using amount to proclaim

this, but before the cock crows this dawn, you would have betrayed me

three times. Amen. The bestge five, Jesus said to them, when

I sent you out with no money back. So they're talking about when Jesus

sent them two by two. I said, don't take anything with you when

you are going. He asked them a question that when you went, did

you lack anything? And they all confirmed that they lacked nothing. So Jesus

said that I tell you the best thirty seven, for I tell you that

the scripture must be fulfilled in me. Amen. He said, scripture must

be fulfilled in me, And what has been written about me has to be

fulfilled. Amen. What has been written has to be fulfilled. And so

tonight. The place I'd like to dwell is from the Vest thirty nine,

where Jesus went to pray on the mound of olives. And so the Easter

story also foretells or tells us about what our Master had to endure, what

our Master had to do, the preparations he had to make, the negotiations

he had to try to negotiate before that great sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary.

And so the verse thirty nine the Bible says that he came out and

went as his custom, to the amount of olives, and his disciples followed

him. So Jesus had the habit of going to pray on the mount of

Olives. And when he had come to the place, he said to them,

pray that you don't enter into temptation. And so this was a mystery

that Christ Jesus revealed to the disciples, and by extension, revealed to as

one way you avoid temptation, one way you avoid entering or falling into temptation

is by praying. Because he said that pray that you don't enter into temptation.

So he withdrew himself from them for a short while, and he knelt

down and prayed, and in his prayer he was praying to negotiate with the

Father, because he could foresee the sacrifice he had to make, and how

difficult and how grievous that sacrifice was. So Jesus said that, Father,

if you are willing, remove this cup of suffering from me. So Jesus

began to negotiate, and so we need to be thankful to go that Jesus

didn't change his mind. If it was somebody I know, he said,

Oh, I won't do it again. I won't do it again. We

will all be in trouble. Amen. But after Jesus try to negotiate out

of the cup of suffering, which will bring him to the great sacrifice on

the cross, he said, nevertheless, not my will, but yours be

done. Not my will, but yours be done. Many times, as

believers we go through hard times, we go through difficult times, we go

through imperfect times and opportunities, and quite often as believers, especially Born again

Action Chapel believers who know how to command and override, we always end up

trying to find ourselves or negotiate ourselves out of the situation that in itself is

not bad. But sometimes God will allow set and things. God will allow

us to go through certain things so that His will can be done in our

lives. Amen. So the question we want to ask ourselves tonight is that

if there is a cup of suffering ahead of you, and it is God's

will that you should drink of that cup, as a child of God who

wants to be blessed all the time, are we yielded enough that we can

drink from that cup of suffering? Because Jesus saw the death on the cross,

and he prayed to negotiate with the Father, that Lord, if you

are willing, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless,

not my will, but let your will be done. And while he

was praying this prayer, there appeared to him an angel from heaven to strengthen

him. Amen. Says that God will not allow us to go through anything

that we can't bear, and so He has given us grace to go through

anything, any type of suffering we need to go through. God has given

us grace, and even need be he will send his angels to strengthen us.

Amen. And so the verse forty four the Bible says that but being

in agony, he prayed, he prayed, he prayed more earnestly. Amen.

A lot of francis, I see your hand up. You have something

to say or ask, francis your hand is I think my hand is the

one that touched the Sorry. Oh, I thought you had some revelation to

add to it. I'm following crab. Amen. Amen. And so the

Bible says that being in agony, he prayed even the more endnestly. He

prayed and prayed to the point where his sweat became like drops of blood falling

down to the ground. And there is a medical condition that can make the

sweat of a person become like blood, and that is the highest level of

stress, the highest, so Jesus was, if you think you are stressed,

you think you can be stressed. But Jesus was more stressed that his

tears turned into blood. The sweat on his face turned into blood. When

he fell on the floor, it looked like blood. That was how he

wished that the cup of suffering will be taken from him. But at last

God's will had to be done. He had to be sacrificed because he was

there. He came to the earth as the pass of alarm, and he

needed to be sacrificed. And the time and the season for the sacrifice had

come. Amen. And so when Jesus rose up from the prayer, he

came to his disciples and he found them sleeping. They were sleeping for sorrow.

They were asleep when he came. Imagine Peter saying the Lord, I

am ready to go to jail with you. I am ready to die with

you, giving him raps, toasting Jesus that I am ready to die with

you me while stay and pray. The guys were asleep. They were totally

asleep. So there is a season where when you sleep and lots can go

wrong. Amen. And us believers and children of the Most are God.

God wants us to stand in the God and pray without season. And so

Jesus asked them, why are you sleeping? Rise up, pray that you

may not enter into temptation. Jesus said that, pray so that you don't

enter into temptation. Amen. And so the verst seven now begins to talk

about when and how Jesus was arrested. When and how Jesus was arrested.

So Jesus prayed in the night, hoping to negotiate with God. At least

if God can postpone it more so his tress can come down. But what

had been determined had been determined there was no amount of prayer that could turn

back the will of God from coming to being and to pass amen. And

so while he was speaking with them, a crowd of people came and the

man called Judas, one of the twelve disciples, who was he was the

team leader. He was leading the crowd. And so look at this from

this perspective that while Jesus was having pass Over supper with them, he felt

that he was going to be betrayed. He told Peter, even though Satan

desired to saft you like wat I pray for you. Peter tells Jesus that

I am ready to die for you. I'm ready to die with you.

I will go to jail with you. But while praying, he comes and

realizes that they are not even praying with him. And it is a thing

with modern Christians. If anyone tells you that, Charlie, I'm praying with

you, you need to really ask the Holy Spirit, is this person really

praying with me? Or I need to pray for myself, because I'm sure

The typical example was that Peter said, oh Lord, we are praying with

you. But when he came, they were sleeping and most of the time

that is the situation. You'll be going through a hard thing. Somebody will

say, oh, I am praying with you, brother, I am praying

with you, sister. But like Peter and the rest will be sleeping and

snoring. So you need to stand and pray for yourself. So the second

betrayer of the night, apart from Peter and the rest sleeping, was that

Judas, his finance minister, also came. The finance community chairman carried also

came. And when he came, he came with the last blow of betrayal,

where he came with a group of people to come and to arrest him.

And so like he had negotiated with the high Priest and with the captains

of the soldiers, what he said to them was that when I draw near

to kiss him, then he's the one who arrested him. And so when

he came, he did what he said. He drew near to Jesus to

kiss him. But Jesus said to him, Judas, would you betray the

son of man with a kiss? And when those who were around him saw

that saw what would follow, they said, Lord, shall we strike with

the sword. Imagine, I'm sure this is Peter who was speaking after sleeping,

he woke up and told the Lord that should I throw my sword and

come and defend you. And one of them who was peter his truck the

High Priest and cut off his ears, his right ear, he cut it

off with a sword. But Jesus said, no more of this, and

he touched his ear and healed him. That high Priest is a very ungrateful

person, because if it was me who my ear was cut off, and

Jesus had put it back, I would have repented then then. But no,

no, no, no, they didn't repent. They carried Jesus away.

They arrested him, and they carried him a man. So Jesus said

to the chief priest and the officers of the temple and the eldest who had

come out against him, this verse fifty two. Have you come out as

against a robber with swords and clubs? When I was with you day after

day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this

is your hour and the power of darkness. This was the icing on the

cake of the betrayal that the Lord received. Amen. This was the icing

on the cake. Amen. And I believe that as children of God,

many times in our day to day Christian lives, we often behave like these

people who betrayed Jesus. We often behave like them. Amen. But because

of that which is suffered on the cross of Calvary for us, we need

to renew our minds so that we walk worthy of our calling as the sons

and the daughters of the Most Amen. There was fifty four to verse sixty

two about what happened when Peter denied Jesus three times. So Jesus said that

before the cock crows three times, you would have dinnered. Before the cock

crows, you would have denied me three times. So that from verse fifty

four to sixty two it gives a vivid description of how Peter denied Jesus.

A young girl saw Peter standing afar off and said to Peter, ay,

he said, to the people stand by me, is this guy not one

of the men who followed Jesus? Because they had seen him. They had

seen him walk with Jesus when Jesus was doing all the miracles. They had

seen him. You see the way when a pasta is going and armor bear

is following him. They all had seen him. But the guy lied.

He said that I don't know him. Hey, he said, I don't

know him. I swear my manner, God, I don't know this man.

I don't know him. And it happened three times. And on the

third time the cork crowed, and so Peter remembered the saying of the Lord.

How he said, before the rooster crows today, you would deny me

three times. And he went out weeping bitterly. He wept bitterly. He

wept bitterly because he remembered what the Lord has said. So our children have

got many times we deny the Lord. Our attitude as Christians, tells the

story that I don't know him. We mock him, we deny him,

we betray him by our behavior, by our attitude. Many times we behave

that way, and we deny the Lord. Amen. But in this season,

let us renew our minds so that we come to the place of honoring

our God, even in hard times and in good times. Amen. So

Jesus was mocked. Jesus was mocked when the men who were holding Jesus in

custody were mocking him as they beat him. They mocked him, they beat

him. They were saying, prophesy Prophet, Jesus Prophesy prophest I. They

were slapping him, and they were saying many bad things about him and against

him, and blaspheming him, saying all sorts of things. If you,

indeed you are the son of God, why don't you vanish? Why don't

you disappear? Where are your angels who are supposed to watch over you?

They blasphemed him. They mocked him just because of you and I, because

of God's redemned plan for us. The son of God, who is the

Word of God, who is God, who dwells with the Father, came

to the earth that he created, and he bore the mockery of Sinnists.

He bought the mockery of Sinnis before he was crucified as a lamb on across

Amen. And so there is a lot to glean from this season. And

if you are a believer whose heart seeks after God, if you are a

believer who yeens for, whose heart loves God, who wants to know all

about Christ, Jesus and all that he has done, this season will be

a season where you want to lend the most out of what the Master suffered

for you and I on the cross of Calvary, that we can walk worthy

of our calling a sons and daughters of the Most God. Amen. And

so Jesus went through trials. He was tried as a criminal. He was

tried. They took him to the assembly of Elders, where people had gathered

together, both the chief priests and the scribes. They led him also to

the council the sah Indrii, where they asked him questions. They asked him

if he was the Christ tell us, But he said to them, if

I tell you, you will not believe me. This was after he had

been beaten and abused. And if I ask you, you will not answer.

But from now on, the son of Man must shall be seated at

the right hand of the power of God. And so they said, are

you the son of God? Then? And so even him telling them about

his identity, they felt he was blaspheming girl. They took him from them

to Pilot. They put him before Pilot to be judged. And their accusation

they took to Pilot was that we found this man, this man who healed

many people, who raised the dead the dead, who healed the lepis,

who healed many sicknesses, who delivered many people. They said that we found

this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and

saying that he's saying that he himself is the Christ, he's a king.

And so then Pilot also asked, are you the king of the Jews,

And Jesus said, you have said so. So Pilot and the priests said

to the crowd, he said that I find no guilty of this man.

Because Pilot said, I don't see anything wrong with what this man has said

or what he has done. But they ad gently the people, the haters,

the Jews, the people that Jesus came to save. They stared up

the people, saying that he's starring the people up, teaching them throughout the

whole nation Judea from Galilee, so that they rebel against against you. So

Pilots saw that this matter is above his pay grade. So they referred their

case to Herold. They're referred this to Herold. And when Herold had this,

he asked whether the man was a Galilean, and when he he learned

that he belonged to Herold's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herold. So

this was Pilot. He sent him to Herold and it's amazing because the man

had done nothing wrong. But look at the levels of trials that he had

to go through, the levels of trials that he had to go through,

and even with Herold he found nothing wrong with him. So he sent him

back to Pilot. So then Pilot called the chief priests and said to them,

you brought this man to me as one who was misleading the people.

And after examining him before, I did not find any guilt with him or

your charges against him. Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to

us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done, and by him I

would therefore punish and release him. And so even the punishment that he was

to receive, he didn't deserve the punishment. And so Jesus, the Son

of God, was lashed. He was whipped as punishment for you and I,

so that scripture can be fulfilled, So that scripture can be fulfilled.

When it came to Jesus, they chose a murderer Barabas over him, a

man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and for murder. They rather

chose him to be released rather than Jesus. They rather chose a criminal.

And they said to Pilot that crucify him, crucify him, crucify him.

Unknown to them, Jesus is the lamb of substitution. And so instead of

a murderer going to the cross, they put him who was innocent on the

cross, so that all of us can have redemption through this blood. Amen.

And so this season should not be like any other Easter you have celebrated.

After this season, your life as a child of God should be with

full meaning and full understanding, and should walk in the calling worthy of your

calling as a son of God, as a daughter of God who has been

bought by precious blood, who has been bought by in will send precious blood,

so your calling as a child of God will not be in vain.

Amen, That Jesus will not feel hard broken, that despite all he has

done and accomplished, so that we can be redeemed onto God, that we

crucify him over and over and over again. Amen. And so this is

the word I have for you tonight, and I believe on Friday, during

our Good Friday Service you hear more from the various scripture readings that will be

read. Amen. Shall we pray, Father, we give you thanks for

your word. Lord Jesus, we thank you from the depths of our hearts

that you have dealt well with us, that you chose to die for us,

a painful death on the cross that you did not deserve, so that

the redemptive plan, that ultimate plan to redeem man onto God, could be

brought to be and to be brought into establishment. We give you thanks that

you loved us enough that you humbled yourself even to death on the cross,

and that by your great sacrifice, we also, who were once far off

and far away from the grace of God, that we also now where great

light has appeared to us, and that we also now can be called the

sons and daughters of the Mosacle. We give you thanks from the depths of

our hearts, and we give your praise and glory in Jesus' precious name. A man