This passage before us today is no different. Luke has deliberately included some
things of this last discourse in the upper room and left others out because he
is primarily concerned with emphasizing certain important principles. He is not merely presenting a biography
of the life of Jesus – none of the gospel writers are. That’s why they are called
evangelists. That means that they
are presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is their goal in writing their respective gospels. They may have different perspectives; Luke
was a Gentile whereas Matthew was
a Jew, for instance. But their
goal was the same. To present the
gospel of Jesus Christ. So in a
sense, each of them are preaching a message. The thing for us to do is to correctly interpret that
message as they delivered it.
I see in this passage before us Luke presenting three
portraits in this upper room that illustrate three categories in relation to
the truth of the gospel. The three
categories are the sinner, the saints and the Servant. They represent three
possible responses to the message of the gospel.
The first portrait in this passage that we will look at is
the sinner, and that is Judas. He
should not need an introduction. He is the quintessential picture of a sinner. Actually, we looked at him a couple of
weeks ago when we studied the first 6 verses of this chapter. I mentioned then that the most tragic
thing about Judas was stated in vs. 3, which says that he was one of the
12. He was part of Christ’s inner
circle for three years. He heard
every message from the greatest preacher that ever lived. He witnessed the greatest miracles that
the world has ever seen. And yet
Judas becomes a traitor. It’s one
of the great tragedies presented in the scriptures.
The question that brings to my mind is how did this
happen? How did a person that was
so privileged turn away from the truth about Christ? And furthermore, even if you can accept that he turned away
from Christ, how did he go from being a disciple, to rejecting Christ, and then
to conspiring to murder Christ?
How does that happen?
At first that prospect boggled my mind. How a follower of Christ could not only
turn away from Him, but turn against Him, eventually actually hating Him enough
to conspire to murder Him. But
after thinking about it, I realized that it is not that difficult. Actually, I would suggest that is a
natural progression in the life of an unbeliever. They progress from some sort of professed interest in
Christianity, to a rejection of the truth, and then to a hatred of the truth
and anyone involved in proclaiming it.
And that hatred can then easily morph into a diabolical plot to kill or
destroy those people that dare to convict them of sin. Everyone that rejects
Christ is capable of that.
Jesus often made that connection. For instance in Luke 11:23 "He who is not with Me is
against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.” The point He is making is that there
really is no middle ground in regards to real Christianity. You are either for Christ or you reject
His truth. And if you reject His
truth you reject Him.
The devil loves to tell us that we can choose a less
controversial form of Christianity.
That we don’t need to go to extremes. That we can accept some of the truth of the Bible, but we
don’t have to accept everything.
But Jesus says there is no middle ground. You are either for Him or against Him. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth
and the life.” You cannot separate
the truth of Christ from Christianity.
It is the purview of God alone to decide what truth is, what sin is, and
what sin is not. God alone decides
how He will be worshipped. And God
has expressed that truth in His word.
So when you reject the truth you actually end up hating
God. You hate the fact that His
word convicts you. So you put
yourself in the place of God and decide what is wrong or what is right as if
you were god. And so you hate
anything or anyone that attempts to show you the truth of God’s word. Paul says in Rom. 8:7 it is “Because
the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be.” And James
as well makes it clear that the sinner is at war with God. James 4:4 “You adulterers
and adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity
with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of
God.”
There is no middle ground. You are either for Christ or against Him. But you might say, “Ok, but Judas isn’t
just a normal sinner. He goes
beyond that. He was entered into
by Satan.” Yes, he was. But that too is something Christ
associates with all sinners. Jesus
said in John 8:44 "You are of
your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a
murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is
no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for
he is a liar and the father of lies.”
John expands on that principle in 1John 3:8, 10. He says “the one who practices sin is
of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God
appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. ... 10 By this
the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does
not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his
brother.” So the principle then is
simple, a sinner who has rejected the truth and conviction of God’s word is not
a child of God, but a child of the devil.
And his deeds prove it. If
you are a child of God, then you will do the deeds of your Father; you will
practice righteousness. But if you
are a child of the devil, then you will do the deeds of your father. You love evil because your heart is
evil.
The point that we need to conclude from Judas’s example is
that sin is not an innocuous thing.
Sin is opening one’s heart to Satan. Sin is an affront to God. It does injury to God.
Sin offends the holiness of God.
To say that you have no sin is to make God a liar. To continue in your sin is to trample
underfoot the blood of Jesus Christ, to scorn it, to consider it
worthless. And unrepented of sin
is an open invitation to Satan to take dominion over you, to enslave you and
make you his servant of unrighteousness.
It is no wonder then that Judas is presented as the ultimate example of
a sinner.
Yet, what a tragedy.
This man had every opportunity to repent. Jesus gives him another opportunity here in this
passage. Right up to the last
minute Jesus is giving Judas a chance to repent. And we can learn from Jesus in this passage how we as
Christians should approach the sinner.
Someone said to me the other day, “we need to show the love
of Christ to the sinner.” Yes, we
should. But how do we do
that? By coddling them in their
sin? By accepting their sin? By telling them that they don’t need to worry
about their sin? No, God
forbid. That isn’t love. Showing the love of Christ to the
sinner is to tell them that they are lost and doomed to judgment because of
their sin. But Jesus has paid the
penalty of God’s judgment by offering Himself as a substitute on the
cross. Showing them the love of
Christ compels me to tell them that God so loved the world that He gave His
only Son to die on the cross. But
whosoever calls upon Him in repentance and faith will be saved from the wrath
to come. Urging them to repent is
love. Telling them that their sin
is not sin is not love. Far from
it.
Jesus gave Judas a chance to repent. First He let Judas know that He knew
about his sin. Jesus confronted
Him. Vs. 21 "But behold, the
hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table.” And then He told him of the
judgment to come upon him for his sin. Vs. 22 "For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been
determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!" But Judas hardens his heart and does
not repent. The other gospels say
that he tried to blend in with the other disciples by facetiously saying, “Is
it me, Lord?” even as they were doing.
He knew, and he knew that Jesus knew, but he was trying to save face by
faking innocence.
The Bible doesn’t tell us for sure what the sin of Judas was
that he wouldn’t repent of. But we
can make an educated guess. He had
the money bag. And he used to
pilfer money from the bag. So we
know he loved money. He was in it
for the money, for the position, for the prestige that he had hoped would come
from his association with Christ.
His sin was the same sins that we all are guilty of; the lust of the
flesh. 1John 2:16 tells us “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh
and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the
Father, but is from the world.”
The root of all sin is pride.
It was pride that caused Satan’s fall. It was pride with which Satan tempted Eve. The Bible says that pride goes before a
fall.
So whatever manifestation Judas’s sin took, it’s basic root
was pride. And in harboring that
sin, refusing to repent of that sin, it metastasized to the point of allowing
Satan to come in and eventually control him that so he was an instrument of
Satan to destroy Christ. And
Judas’s sin ultimately destroyed him as well. That is the natural progression
of sin.
The second portrait is a group of characters that we encounter
in this passage - the disciples.
And they were a group of characters. Not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble, as Paul said
in 1 Cor. 1:26. Just 11 ordinary
men. Flawed, fleshly, and nothing
to commend them to become this extraordinary force that would soon turn the
world upside down. Except for one
thing. The power of Christ. These 11 ordinary, flawed men, were
sinners saved by grace. God had
chosen them to be His instruments.
They had left all that they had in the world and followed Christ. They had been saved by faith in
Christ. And that made them
saints. The Bible makes it clear
that saints are believers. Sinners
that have been sanctified through repentance and faith in Christ.
Paul makes that evident in 1Cor. 1:2 “To the church of God
which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints
by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
their Lord and ours.” Saints is not a title of those that are dead, but those
that are made alive in Christ Jesus.
Those that have been born again into the family of God. Eph 2:19 “So then you are no longer
strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of
God's household.”
But as we see in this passage, the fact that you have
believed and become a saint, part of God’s household, does not eliminate the
presence of the old flesh. We are
still in our bodies, still in the flesh, and still prone to the desires of the
flesh. And nothing illustrates
that principle better than these 11 disciples. When Jesus says that one of them was going to betray Him,
they all start asking who it was.
Some even say, “Surely it isn’t me, is it Lord?” They couldn’t imagine that Jesus could
possibly be talking about them.
Kind of reminds me of some of my sermons when I start
talking about sin. I see some
people start looking around the crowd a little uneasily, wondering who I could
be talking about. “Certainly not
me. Hey, don’t look at me. I wouldn’t do such a thing.” But the disciples reveal that
they aren’t far from Judas’s sin.
Even though they are saved the root of pride is still there and it
becomes evident in the next verse.
In vs. 24 they seamlessly transition from discussing who might betray
the Lord to discussing who was the greatest among them. “And there arose also a
dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest.”
So even though they have been saved from the penalty of sin,
there is still a process going on where they are being saved from the power of
sin. That’s what we call the process of the sanctification of the saints. These disciples have the same human
weaknesses that Judas has. They
are giving in to the sin of pride.
“Oh, I could never betray Christ!”
But in their hearts they have already displaced Him from the throne and
climbed back on the throne themselves.
Folks, as we look around this room today and think we could
never betray Christ, we need to look closely at our own hearts. We may not have many here today that
are guilty of some gross sin like conspiring to murder. But all of us are guilty of taking care
of number one. We all are prone to
the sin of pride. We all have to be on guard against dethroning Christ, of
wounding others for the sake of our pride.
James says in chapter 4 that our conflicts can be traced
back to pride. He says we don’t
get our prayers answered sometimes because we ask with selfish motives. He says in vs. 6 that “GOD IS OPPOSED
TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” The opposite of pride is
submission. Submit therefore he says to God. “Resist the devil and he will flee
from you. Draw near to God and He
will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts,
you double-minded.” In other
words, stop trying to love the world and love Christ. That is double mindedness. Furthermore, James shows us the relation between pride and
the devil. He says resist the
devil, resist the temptation to be proud and self serving and the devil will
flee from you. But Judas harbored
his pride, and Satan saw it as an invitation.
James continues his admonishment against harboring pride by
saying, “Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into
mourning and your joy to gloom.”
That means recognize your sinfulness and then repent of it. Don’t just be sorry for your sin when
you get caught in it, but mourn over your sin. That is the proper attitude of repentance. And then James says, “Humble yourselves
in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
All of our boasting in our possessions of this world, all
our boasting about our business acumen, our ability to make money, to make a
profit, James says is arrogance.
It is pride. Such boasting
is evil. And he concludes that chapter by saying in vs. 17 that sin is not only what you do, but what you
don’t do. “Therefore, to one who
knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
So what is the right thing to do? What is a Christian supposed to be like? Well, Jesus is the example and portrait
of the third character which is a servant starting in 22. He presents Himself as a servant as an
example of how we are to be now that we are in Christ. James rebukes us for being self
serving; that is the essence of pride.
Jesus exhorts us to serve one another as unto Christ.
Listen, this is what is fundamentally wrong today with
people’s attitude towards church.
You hear people say they went to church. Or ask where do you go to church? The perspective is that church is something you attend where
you are served, rather than a place you go to serve. The Biblical principle of church is that you not only go to
be fed, but submit to become a part of it, a vital body part that serves the
other parts which is necessary for them to be able to function so that the
whole body is healthy.
Jesus illustrates that for the disciples with a comparison. First He compares the world’s way with
God’s way. He says “The kings of
the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are
called ‘Benefactors.’” In other
words, the world serves in such a way to make sure they bring credit to
themselves. They do their good
deeds to be seen of men. We name hospitals after benefactors. We have banquets to honor people who
give large sums of money for civic needs.
But Jesus says that is not the way the church is to do
things. Vs. 26, “But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the
greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the
servant.” The contrast that Jesus
is making here is the contrast between self serving pride or humbly submitting
in service to God. It starts
with the church leadership, but it’s to be carried out through the church
body. It means putting other
people’s needs above your own.
Putting other’s well being above your own.
Vs. 27, “For who is greater, the one who reclines at the
table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I
am among you as the one who serves.”
The obvious answer to the disciples earlier discussion of which of them
was the greatest was Jesus Christ.
He is the Son of God. And
yet He lowered Himself from the throne of heaven to become one of His creation, to be a servant for us.
Isaiah 53:11-12 “As a result of the anguish of His soul, [God] will see it
and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify
the many, as He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He
will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death,
and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and
interceded for the transgressors.”
Listen, we need to comprehend what it meant for Christ to
humble Himself. We need to
understand that not only did He do so for our salvation, He humbled Himself for
our example, that we might follow in
His footsteps. This is how God has designed the kingdom to operate. This is the purpose of the
church. So we are to humble
ourselves in service even as Jesus humbled Himself to be a servant. For as Jesus said, a servant is not
above His master.
Paul establishes that principle in Phil. 2:1-8 “Therefore if there is any encouragement
in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of
the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of
the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one
purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of
mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look
out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which
was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not
regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the
form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He
humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a
cross.”
So here is the progression of the gospel then as outlined in
this passage; sinner, saints, and then servants. Like Judas, we are all sinners, in opposition to God,
enemies of God, doing the works of our father the devil. But when the truth of God convicted us
of our sin, we repented of our sins and had faith in Christ to forgive us our
sin. We are spiritually born again
as children of God. But though the wrath of God towards our sin was poured out
on Jesus Christ, we still have a battle going on between the flesh and the
spirit. We have been born again in
the Spirit, but we are still living in the flesh. Our victory over sin comes from putting to death the desires
of the flesh. Instead of serving
ourselves, by the strength and conviction which God now supplies through the
Holy Spirit we serve God. It is a
battle sometimes. Our flesh will
continue to want to rise up again and again, seeing to serve ourselves, to
satisfy our pride. But we must die
daily, crucifying the flesh and it’s evil desires through confession and
repentance. That is how we walk in
the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit
is not some mystical, goose bump inducing experience. It is day by day dying to
the flesh, so that we might live in the Spirit. Rom. 8:13 “for if you are
living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are
putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
So that is the progression, we go from sinner to saint, to
servant. We emulate Christ’s
example by humbling ourselves and serving the church. Eph. 5:25, “Even as Christ also loved the church and gave
Himself up for her.” We too give
up our lives to serve the church, to serve Christ.
And then finally there is a promise for those that follow
that progression. Jesus says in vs. 28 "You are those who have stood by Me
in My trials; and just as My
Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at My
table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.”
Now though this promise is specifically tailored to the
disciples there that evening, it is a promise that can be generally applied to
us as well. All who suffer for Christ here on earth will be glorified with Him
when He comes in the fullness of His kingdom. God has granted the kingdom to
Christ. It’s a spiritual kingdom
that is manifested on earth as the Church. The citizens of the kingdom are those that have placed
Christ on the throne of their hearts.
But one day Christ will physically come back for His church as a
bridegroom comes for his bride.
And on that day, we will be seated at the marriage supper of the Lamb in
the eternal reign of Christ in the new heavens and new earth.
And though the 12 disciples are given the specific honor of
reigning over the 12 tribes of Israel, all those saints who have persevered to
the end will receive a crown, and sit on thrones with Christ. Rev. 3:20-21
says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and
opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He
who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also
overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
Listen, I want to encourage you today, even as Christ
encouraged His disciples on the night before He was crucified. He knew that the disciples would soon
go through trials for His sake. He
knew that they would suffer for His sake.
And so Jesus says this to them to encourage them. He wants to give them a hope that
extends beyond the temporal thrones, temporary greatness that they were
squabbling over, and which Judas had stumbled over. Jesus wanted to give them a glimpse of the glories of the
kingdom and the eternal reign in glory that God has promised to those who love
Him.
So I want to encourage you as well. The time is short. Some of you are going to suffer for
Jesus Christ if you continue as His disciple. To some extent we are all called to suffer the trials that
Jesus suffered. At the very least,
if we are going to really follow Him all the way, we will suffer the loss of our pride. We will suffer the loss of some of the
worldly prestige and honor that could be ours if we abandoned the principles of
Christ. But take courage. Even as Jesus overcame the world, so we
are going to overcome this world.
I pray that you overcome the temptation to forsake Christ for temporary
money or fame or glory. That like
Paul in Phil. 3:7-11 we may say, “But
whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the
sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the
surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the
loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and
may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law,
but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from
God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His
resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His
death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
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