2013.05.12
Victory in trials and
tribulation
Luke 22: 21-30
Since the Fall of
Adam and Eve in the Garden….. Sin has damaged the hearts and lives of every man
woman and child that has been born…… Suffering and death dominate all of
creation…… Things are falling apart…. I don´t have to look far…… I just need to
look in the mirror…. The problem is not just here…. in what we see….. The problem is in here….. I
just need to look in the mirror of God´s
Word to see it……
This morning we are
surrounded by storm clouds…… I know that some of our lives are also surrounded
by storm clouds too….. The cross is the
answer for every trial and Jesus is the cure for our deepest needs…… The cross
is Good News for a lost and dying world…. His Word comforts and teaches us to
trust him no matter what is happening in our personal lives…… He is faithful….
He said… I will never leave you… I will never forsake you…. AMEN
All through the history
of salvation….. God triumphs over trouble….. Job said, “Man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward.” This world
is in trouble…… There is danger everywhere….. Trouble defines a fallen world…..
Sin entered the world because of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3….. and because of
sin the world was cursed and trouble abounds……
The whole history of
redemption is the history of God triumphing over trouble….. All through history
God gathers and redeems people…… And in order to achieve that redemption….. He
has had to overcome constant trouble…… The reality that dominates the world is sin……
Sin is in every son of Adam and effects every part of this created universe…...
So that the history
of redemption…… is the history of the power of God overcoming the power of sin
and the power of evil…….
Jesus summed this up
in His own words in John 16:33b…..
John 16:33b NLT Neues Leben
33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace
in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome
the world.“
33 Hier
auf der Erde werdet ihr viel Schweres erleben. Aber habt Mut, denn ich habe die
Welt überwunden.
God is constantly
overcoming the evil that stands in the way of His purposes……
He does not need a
perfect world to achieve His goals…... He will
achieve everyone of His goals in this imperfect and sinful world…… He will be
glorified even though His enemies are in the way….. and though His disciples
often fail and fall short…...
Sinners often stand
in the way of God´s plans….. Sometimes even Saints stand in the way…. But God
always achieves His purposes…….
God will do everything he wants to….. He will
not fail…… As we study the Scriptures…..
in every story of history…. We see God
overcoming trouble...... triumph over troubles….. God is sovereign……
As our Lord Jesus
faces the cross…. which is the final goal of redemptive history….. He must
overcome trouble to triumph…… And the trouble in this particular text is
identified with certain persons....... Judas, the Apostles, Satan, Peter and
the unbelieving, persecuting world….. They are all presented in these verses as
obstacles which God overcomes…. The Constant thread woven all through this entire
section…. is victory over trials and trouble…..
God accomplishes his
work by triumphing over trouble…... because the whole world is fallen and full of
trouble…... That trouble comes from believers and sinners…… As we open our
Bibles this morning….. Jesus is with the disciples in the Upper room….. They
have celebrated the Passover together……. A celebration of God´s deliverance
from bondage and slavery in Egypt….. He has transformed the 3rd
Cup…. The cup of redemption into the communion cup…… In the same way he has
transformed the use of unleavened bread into the representation of His broken
body……. He is spending His last hours of freedom teaching His disciples and of
showing them what true Godly leadership looks like….. But this is also the
night of His betrayal into the hands of His enemies…… That´s where we left off
last week….. Let´s read our text for this morning…. Luke 22: 21- 30…..
Luke 22: 21- 30 NLT
21 “But here at this table, sitting among us as a
friend, is the man who will betray me. 22 For it has been determined that the
Son of Man must die. But what sorrow awaits the one who betrays him.” 23 The
disciples began to ask each other which of them would ever do such a thing.
24 Then they began to argue among themselves about who
would be the greatest among them. 25 Jesus told them, “In this world the kings
and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the
people.’ 26 But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest
among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant.
27 Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves?
The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as
one who serves.
28 “You have stayed with me in my time of trial. 29
And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant you the right 30 to
eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging
the twelve tribes of Israel.
Jesus has spent this
evening loving and caring for His own….. But now he turns to talk to His
disciples about the very troubling times….. First of all, let’s look at a traitor
who caused trouble…. Judas….
You might have
expected that on the last night that our Lord had before He went to the cross……..
That He would have a night of peace and comfort…… And while Jesus was alone
with His disciples who had been with Him for three years…. that this would have
been a night of love and fellowship….. They were for now safe….. They were far
away from the crowds of people…. Jesus and the disciples were Hidden safely away
from the leaders who wanted to kill him…. In the darkness beyond that Upper room….. Jerusalem
was filled with serious trouble.....
The Lord has been teaching
and talking to His disciples for many hours….. He was using His last time with
them to encourage and warn them…. You see….. A Passover celebration lasts for
several hours…. Jesus doesn´t waste a single minute of it……This is His last opportunity
before the cross to be with them….. John´s record of what He said is found in John 13
through 17….. A great place for your personal quiet times…. Our text begins with difficult news….. Verse
21
Luke 22: 21-23
NLT
21 “But here at this table, sitting among us as a
friend, is the man who will betray me. 22 For it has been determined that the
Son of Man must die. But what sorrow awaits the one who betrays him.” 23 The
disciples began to ask each other which of them would ever do such a thing.
Jesus says a shocking
thing….. “Right here at this table is my betrayer…..
Now remember….. the
disciples knew Jesus was hated by the Jewish leaders….. They
knew that Jesus´ coming to Jerusalem was very
dangerous…… When Jesus said…. Let´s go to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover….
one of the Apostles said, “Well, let’s just go and die with Him….. They
were very aware of the danger of Jesus being arrested……
But here comes
shocking news…. One of you is betraying
me….. Judas was already in the process of betraying Jesus…… He had already made
the deal….. he would deliver Jesus for 30 pieces of
silver...... the price of a slave……
Satan had already put
it in his heart…. Jesus reveals that He
knows the betrayer and that his hand is on the table……In that culture it was
unthinkable that you would be betrayed by someone who ate bread with you….. But
that was what Psalm 41:9 prophesied…..
that one who eats bread with Me has
lifted up his heel against Me……
When Jesus says….
“Behold the hand of the one betraying Me is with Me on the table,” it doesn’t
move Judas at all…… It doesn’t frighten him at all….. He thinks that he has
fooled the Lord and all of the others…… He thought that Jesus couldn´t possibly
know…..
It does have an effect on the other disciples…… but not on Judas…… In the next verse thought we see
how Jesus already saw the victory over Judas´ betrayal…. verse 22….. “For indeed...... there’s no doubt there, “For indeed,
absolutely, it is so...”
“Is going to death as it has been determined…..
exactly as it has been planned…..
By Judas? By the
Jewish leaders? By the Romans? By Herod? By Pilate?
Planned by Who? Peter
tells us after the resurrection in
Acts 2:23 NKJV Schlachter 2000
23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and
foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put
to death;.
23
diesen, der nach Gottes festgesetztem Ratschluß und Vorsehung dahingegeben
worden war, habt ihr genommen und durch die Hände der Gesetzlosen ans Kreuz
geschlagen und getötet.
It is
predetermined….. not by Judas….. and not by the High Priests….. but by God…..
In Acts 3 and 4 we see Peter and John
arrested for preaching Jesus in the Temple…. When they are set free they
pray…..
Acts 4: 24- 28
NKJV
24 So when they heard that, they raised their voice to
God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and
the sea, and all that is in them, 25 who by the mouth of Your servant David
have said: ‘Why did the nations rage,
And the people plot vain things?
26 The kings of the earth took their stand, And the
rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ.’
27 “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom
You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people
of Israel, were gathered together 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose
determined before to be done.
As Peter and John
pray they quote Psalm 2….. v25…..
Then in verse 28.......
They say that all of Jesus´enemies were doing exactly what The Father´s hand determined would happen….. Our story is full of bad actors……
Wicked men doing their wicked deeds…. But None of them acted on their own……
They are playing into God´s perfect plan
of redemption…. They all acted within the framework of God’s predetermined
plan….. Jesus is not a victim…… Was
there big Trouble from the betrayer? YES! Dose Jesus Triumph over the betrayer?
YES!
He is going to death as it has been determined…..
The suffering servant is going to redeem all who will cry out to Him…. Judas acts
as if there is no God….. He is acting like a Godless atheist….
He thinks he´s choosing
his own path…. He is doing exactly what
His greedy wicked heart wants to do……. But at the very same time He is
fitting into God´s perfect plan for
good……. Just like the record of Joseph in Egypt….. His brothers sold him
into slavery…. They hated Him….. but God allowed it….. It was necessary for His perfect plan to redeem an entire
Nation and of course….. the very brothers who sold him in the first place….As
we look at the Big picture… we see that the whole Old Testament pointed to the death of the Messiah…... He is the suffering servant of Isaiah 53……
He is the crucified one of Psalm 22…… He is the Passover Lamb pictured by every sacrifice in the
whole sacrificial system……
Matthew 26:54 He says He has to go to the cross that Scripture be
fulfilled….. This is not some kind of violation
of the plan…… This is the plan….. and the plan was that there would be a
betrayer and Judas would be that betrayer…….. The sovereign power of God weaves
every good and evil contingency into His plan….. even working through Judas’ wicked
heart…..
This is how it is……
No sinner ever operates independently of God…… Some things God allows…. Some
things God prevents….. God is sovereign…..
God takes every choice and weaves
them perfectly into His sovereign purpose….. And when I think about the
wisdom and the power of God, that’s what I think about…… In the end….. everything
ends up exactly the way God designed it to end up…… God´s perfect plan from before He created the world becomes actual……
So on this night Judas brings big trouble…... Yes, Judas
will betray Him…… Jesus will be arrested and killed….. But it is All in God’s
plan…….
And God does His work
through fallen creatures........ No one acts independently of God….. no one…… Even
in our sin and rebellion….. Everyone fits into the sovereign purpose of God…….
We might say….. Then
It doesn´t matter what anyone does….. If it’s all part of the sovereign plan of
God…… Wrong..... What we do matters very much….. That´s why Jesus went on to say this in verse 22b…
Luke 22: 22b
NLT Neues Leben
But what sorrow awaits the one who betrays him.”
Doch
wie schlimm wird es erst für den sein, der ihn verraten wird!«
The NKJV says…..
woe….. Woe?
Judgment is certain….
Judas is cursed……
Judas is damned…... And he fully deserves it…… He chose of his own sinful heart
to do what he did…… This is a tragedy….. He will be condemned for his sin and
suffer eternal judgment…. But remember God finds no pleasure in the death of
the wicked…….
Nobody else knew who
the betrayer was….. They all thought it might be them….. Jesus knew who it was…..
Judas was so confident that Jesus didn’t know….. that he was bold…. . He was so confident that Jesus couldn’t know….
that in Matt 26 we learn that he said,
“It’s not I, is it, Rabbi?”
Because of his sin
and rebellion…. Satan has entered his heart….. Judas is unmoved at being found
out…… Now even at this late hour….. when he knew that Jesus knows……. He has a
perfect chance to repent and ask for mercy….. But he doesn´t…… He doesn´t hesitate from betraying Jesus at all…. Even after his sinful heart is exposed…..
Judas remained unmoved…… But the others are deeply moved….. Verse 23
Luke 22: 23 NLT Neues Leben
23 The disciples began to ask each other which of them
would ever do such a thing.
23
Da begannen die Jünger einander zu fragen, wer von ihnen denn so etwas je tun
würde.
They asked each other
if they were the one….. I think that maybe others also had similar thoughts…. They
knew they were weak……. They knew that they struggled with doubts……. They knew that their
hearts were sinful….. even though they belonged to the Lord and had been
forgiven……. They knew their weaknesses….. They knew they were capable of
anything….. And in a few hours from here….
They will all forsake Him and run away…..
Even Jesus´disciples
were fooled by Judas….. He was a perfect deceiver…. A perfect Hypocrite…..
As the eleven are
wondering who it might be….. I´m sure that they searched their hearts…. Bad news and hard times of trial should
cause us to search our hearts…..
So, they start out
wondering who of them would be so sinful to do this…… they are saying to
themselves….. I wouldn’t do that…… He
might…. But I’m too loyal to do that……. But their
ability to focus on Jesus and this bad news was very short….this discussion between
themselves starts to go the wrong direction…... Instead of asking how to
prevent this betrayal….. they start to argue again about who will be the
greatest…..
And the discussion
then goes to which of them is the greatest…..Verse 24….
Luke 22: 24- 27
NLT
24 Then they began to argue among themselves about who
would be the greatest among them. 25 Jesus told them, “In this world the kings
and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called ‘friends of the
people.’ 26 But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest
among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant.
27 Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves?
The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as
one who serves.
They stop thinking
about what He will suffer when He is
betrayed….. and start to think about what they deserve……. They have already forgotten
the fact that Jesus is about to be
betrayed….. which means He will be arrested and led to His death on the cross……
And instead of focusing the Lord´s suffering…… they want to argue about which of them is
going to be the greatest when He sets up His Kingdom…… They were being very insensitive and self-centered….. This is
embarrassing…….
Jesus will be
betrayed by one of them….. but their conversation eventually becomes an
explosion of ambition and pride…..
All they can think
about is themselves…… Same old issue….. We saw it in Matthew 18, Matthew 20, Mark 9, Mark 10. This is the old argument
that they always get into…… I´m the
greatest….. I´m the most Godly….. I deserve to be at the Lord´s right
hand…..
Jesus is headed for some serious trouble…. Jesus is
going to go to the cross…..
Soon Jesus will be
taken away….. He will die….. Then He’s going to rise from the dead and after
some time he´s going to go back to
heaven…… and the whole future of the
redemptive plan of God is in the hands of these imperfect disciples…... This is
not good……. These men are not world changers…… Their devotion to Christ is
questionable….. They are not even sure of themselves….. Yet there is something
good here….. they have stayed with Jesus all of this time…..
Let´s look at His gracious
response to their fighting among themselves…. It is amazing…. John gives us a
very good record of what Jesus said in his gospel……
Chapters 13 to 17
His answer is so gracious, so kind, so gentle…..
Jesus said…. I don´t
lord over you…. I am among you as one who serves…. Remember…. He had just washed their feet….. That was the job of
servants….. In everything we do….. He is
our great example…….. We are here to serve each other…. John records these
events in wonderful detail….. let´s turn to
John 13 verse 1...
John 13: 1 NLT Neues Leben
13 Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that
his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved
his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very
end.
1
Vor dem Passahfest wusste Jesus, dass für ihn die Zeit gekommen war, diese Welt
zu verlassen und zu seinem Vater zurückzukehren. Nun bewies er seinen Jüngern
das ganze Ausmaß seiner Liebe.
now he loved them to the very end.
Greek…. heis telos,”
He loved them to the max…... He loved these
men to the maximum capacity that He had to love…... He loved them to the
infinite level of divine capacity…... He loves His own to the end….. even
though they are so troubling to Him……. He could have rebuked them…… but They
were His….. And He loves them…… And so Jesus responds in three wonderful ways….. First He says,
1 “You need to change the way you think….. Stop
thinking like the world…..
The world operates by dictatorship and dominance……
They knew this…..
This is how life was in the ancient world…... but not among you….back to Luke
22
Verse 26,27…
Luke 22: 26,27
NLT Neues Leben
26 But among you it will be different. Those who are
the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be
like a servant.
27 Who is more
important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who
sits at the table, of course. But not here! For
I am among you as one who serves.
26
Unter euch aber soll der Größte den niedrigsten Platz einnehmen und der Leiter
soll wie ein Diener sein.
27
Normalerweise sitzt der Meister am Tisch und wird von seinen Dienern bedient.
Hier ist es anders! Denn ich bin euer Diener.
This isn’t how the
Kingdom works…..
In this Kingdom, the
one who is the greatest among you must become like the younger….. the least….
Jesus is saying…. In
My Kingdom it’s about servanthood and humility….. It’s not about power…..
You just need to
think differently…… the second thing we see….
He gives them Himself as an example…...
2 Be like me…. Think like me… “I am among you as one
who serves
Luke 22: 27b
NLT Neues Leben
v27b“I am among you as one who serves.”
v27b
Denn ich bin euer Diener.
What did He mean by
that? He had just washed the disciples feet….
Jesus said I am among
you as one who serves….. I washed your feet…..
The disciples who were all concerned
about which of them was perceived as the greatest….. They would not wash each
other´s feet…. So Jesus demonstrates humility and godly servant hood by doing
it Himself…..
“I am
among you as one who serves.”
I’m going to give you
a principle to live by….. It’s a different principle than the way the world
operates…… I’m going to give you an example so that it’s unmistakable what I’m
talking about….. Loving humble service to one another in which each considers
himself lower than the other…… That is the Kingdom way….. then comes the third point….. because you are still
here….. I’m going to give you a
promise....... Luke 22: 28-30….
3 Because you
have stayed with me…. I give you a promise
I now grant you the right to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom…..
And you will sit on thrones….. judging the twelve tribes of Israel…...
Luke 22: 28- 30 NLT
28 “You have stayed with me in my time of trial. 29
And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant you the right 30 to
eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging
the twelve tribes of Israel.
Isn’t that wonderful
and gracious? Instead of saying, “You are arguing again….. You haven´t learned
anything….. You are still proud and selfish……You´re not even worried about
me….. You´re only worried about yourselves….. Lovingly Jeus ignores their sin and failures….
He showers them with grace…… Jesus says…… You are
those who have stood by Me in My trials…..
You’re still here…..
you endured…..
In spite of their troubling…. and discouraging pride
and ambition...... in spite of their relentless
tendency to fail…. the Lord says you are Mine....... you’ve endured…… So...listen to this...just... verse
29, 30....... 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.”
What does that mean?
That regardless of their faults… and they are many…. pride, selfish ambition
and in a few hours they will all run and leave Jesus alone….. Peter will even deny that he ever knew the Lord
Jesus….. But they will all be restored……. They will be empowered by the Holy Spirit…..
They will carry the gospel to a lost and dying world….. And when the Gospel is preached to the ends of
the earth….. Jesus Christ will come to set up His Kingdom…… When He does…. they will be honored….. We know their history…….
We know they for the most part died as martyrs….. faithful to the very end…..
Instead of shaming them…. He gives them a principle to live by in the Kingdom,
it’s humility…… He says you have stayed with me and you will rule one day…… But
now….. you be humble like me….. serve each other …. Serve my people…… to the
very end…… I am your example…. They looked doomed to fail…... But as we know….
That’s not how it would end up….. You stood with Me in My trials…. Grace is at work in you….
In spite of their
weaknesses….. In spite of our weaknesses
and failures….. In spite of our sin….. God will complete the work that He
has begun in us……. And He will complete His wonderful plan of redemption
perfectly……. In spite of all the trouble we give Him….. Our Heavenly Father
says…. You will accomplish what I send you to do…..
God’s power at work in us by the Holy Spirit will
triumph over all our human weaknesses….. Philippians 2:
Consistent with the
history of redemption since the Fall…. Everything
God does….. He does in victory over sin and trouble…...
But that’s always the
way it is in the purposes of God in a fallen world….. This is a fallen world…..
The Fall recorded in Genesis chapter 3 affected everything…… Sin has stained
everything……
God always triumphs
over trouble….. and that night in the
Upper Room there was trouble…… Trouble from Judas the traitor…… Trouble from
the Apostles themselves who were arguing about which of them was to be the
greatest…. and they
were totally inadequate to be messengers of the GOOD NEWS of the gospel…..
But you see….. It is God´s
plan to use the weak and the imperfect….. people like us….. To accomplish His
perfect plans….. turn to 1 Cor 1….
1 Corinthians 1: 26- 29 NKJV
26
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish
things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak
things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the
base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and
the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no
flesh should glory in His presence.
The imperfect disciples
were a perfect fit for God´s plan…. We sinners saved by grace…… are also a
perfect fit for God´s plan….. we are nothing….. All of the purposes of God are fulfilled perfectly….. but always
because God triumphs over sin and trouble……. He wins the victory over the sin
in our lives too…. It´s good news! He will finish the work that he has begun in
us …… We will be like Him…. We will see Him as He is…. He will use us for His
Glory too….. Just like Peter and the others…. Imperfect people serving a
Perfect God…. So that
All Glory and Honor
belongs to the Lord alone!
Let’s pray.
