The Meekness Of Christ — Luke 22

0:00 Well, my name is Ben Davies. I have always wanted to know what it looks like on the other side of the lake, and now I know. I've seen Lake Erie a lot from the Canadian side my whole life. That's where I'm from. I'm not from the lake.

0:19 I live in Windsor, Ontario. I attend Oakwood Bible Chapel with my wife and our four kids between 10 and 17. And it's a pleasure to be here with you this morning. Let's just open up in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we are thankful that we can be here in your presence to worship you and praise you for who you are and for what you've done.

0:49 And Lord, we're thankful that you love us and you care for us. And Lord, we just pray that you would, as we just sang, open our eyes and ears so that we can see and hear you this morning and be encouraged by your word. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Well, it's my first time here. So when the offer came to speak on what you guys are already going through, I took it because you like to get asked back.

1:23 And your first time at church, you're like, I don't know what speak on. You don't want to step on any toes. Not the first time, maybe the second time. But we're going to look at Luke chapter twenty two thirty five to fifty three and sixty three to 71. And I I really like focusing on, the practical things we can take and learn.

1:47 And we're gonna be looking at Jesus in the Garden Of Gethsemane, Jesus being arrested, Jesus before this illicit trial that happens at night that should never have happened in the Jewish community, and how he reacts to all of those things. And and just trying to think of a theme of something that we can learn from in this passage, I wanna look at this vein. It's a master class in spiritual warfare. A master class in spiritual warfare. We like to fight, don't we, for the things that are ours?

2:33 We like to stand up for ourselves. We don't like it when we're treated poorly. But this passage, everything that happens to Jesus should never happen to him. Of all people. He doesn't deserve any of it.

2:53 He's worthy of far more, and his authority and power could have stopped it all. But he didn't. In this chapter, Satan is introduced in the beginning as he enters into Judas. And I think there's a theme that grows through this chapter as you see the intensity of this invisible battle that's been going on. That the disciples haven't seen yet.

3:28 They're they're waiting for Jesus to pull out the sword and for them to run conquer Rome. They're arguing about who's going to be at the right and left hand of the Messiah when he reigns. They're thinking that when the Messiah comes, it's going to be a huge battle and they're on the right side of it. And finally they will be out from under the thumb of Rome and all of the world will be bowing to their king. And they'll be right beside him in places of authority.

4:06 And man, did their mind have to shift before the beginning of the church. And you see that starting as Jesus starts pulling away the curtain on like the reality of things. And how his kingdom, it will come, but what he's about to do is not gonna be something that they expected, anticipated or could have even thought of. And so in this chapter Satan and the dominion of darkness have arrived at their hour. In 20 two:three, Satan entered Judas.

4:46 The disciples, even after Jesus washing their feet, are drowning in their own pride and selfishness. Talking about who will be the greatest in the kingdom. Satan desired to sift Peter like wheat. And he and his followers, Satan and his followers would work out their plan to snuff out the light of the world. And this passage brings us to this front and center of one of the greatest spiritual battles between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness.

5:22 And with this backdrop, these verses we'll look at this morning, especially the beginning ones, will seem confusing to the disciples. But Jesus will give them a great lesson and what it means to prayer... Pray on behalf of another. He'll teach us how to seek God's wisdom and will in great times of temptation and difficulty. And he'll teach us how to yield to the will of God even when the pressure from the evil one is so great it would leave mortal men exhausted.

6:51 For I tell you what is written must be fulfilled in me. And he was counted among the lawless. Yes, what is written about me is coming to its fulfillment. Lord, they said, look here are two swords. That is enough, he told them.

7:10 This is a really confusing passage, isn't it? That's a lot of rain. I don't know if you've ever had a conversation with someone maybe at work, maybe with your spouse, and you thought you understood what they wanted you to do. Those of you who are about to get married, if you've never experienced this, you will. You will.

7:39 And then you go and do it, and then that person says to you, that's not what I asked. And you're like, well, no, that's what you said. That's not what I meant, but that's what you said. And then you you have to come to an idea of understanding of what is it you were trying to get at in the first place. I think that's what's going on here with the disciples because you look at this passage and you're like, oh, come on, guys.

8:05 Really? You're gonna pick up two swords? Like, say, we got two that and really, that's that's not enough. But then Jesus after saying, guys, when you went out, and I supplied your needs, did you lack anything? And they say no.

8:19 And then Jesus says, well, wait a second. You're gonna need your wallet. You're gonna need your jacket. And in Canada we'd pick up a stick. You guys can have a handgun.

8:29 We're not allowed. But he'd say, take a weapon because you're gonna need it. And then the disciples, they do exactly what it seems Jesus is asking them to do. They pick up a sword and they say here, we have two. And then Jesus is like, that's enough.

8:51 He's not saying that'll be enough swords. He's saying that's enough with this kind of conversation. And in the middle of this, he says, the things concerning me have an end or are about to be fulfilled. And then for those who like apologetics, he cross references Isaiah 53. It's one of the few times in the New Testament, I don't know how, I'm not geeky enough to know how many exactly, but one of the few times that Isaiah 53 is directly referenced where Jesus himself is connecting.

9:33 It is me that's being talked about here. And these things have fulfillment. But then if you listen to what he's saying, and then you go and read Isaiah 53, you're like, what does this have to do with me picking up a sword? It seems like whoever this guy is in Isaiah 53, he's not going to win at the end of this. At least not in a human perspective.

10:02 And even commentators on this say this is a really confusing passage that Jesus just gives. And then we'll see it later, it's even more confusing. They get out into the garden. The the massive people come with clubs and swords and all the things. And while one is asking, should we fight?

10:23 The other one's swinging the sword already cutting someone's ear off. And Jesus is like, no. We're not doing this. And it doesn't make any human sense when that's what he just asked them to do. Because it looks like they've just obeyed him.

10:45 And he's like, no, no, that's that's not it. What's Jesus saying? There's a lot of thoughts on this. I'll give you, I hope it's not my thought. I hope this is the right interpretation.

11:49 I wear a jacket because I'm I'm a wuss. I hate the cold. I hate feeling cold. I like to be warm. But if you're making me sell my coat to buy a sword, I am setting aside comfort in favor of protection.

12:10 So what's he saying? He's saying, What is written of the Messiah in the Old Testament is about to come true. It's gonna blow their mind in many ways. First, in a very negative way. They never would have thought the Messiah would die.

12:34 They're shocked. But then the church would be born, and they would have to set aside their comfort and tap into the power of heaven to enter into the greatest fight that they would fight. Not with a worldly weapon, but their battle, it wouldn't be in flesh and blood. But it would be against powers and principalities, against the ever present darkness of this world. The kingdom of darkness.

13:11 And if you look at Jesus' actions through this passage, as we'll observe, he is fighting like he's never fought before. He is determined despite what's coming to do the will of his father. He is determined to show the love of God to Judas even though he's betrayed him. He is on his knees begging that God the father would strengthen his servant Peter. So when Satan comes to just wreck him emotionally and spiritually, that Peter would have a faith that wouldn't fail.

13:54 He would go to the garden and he wouldn't swing a sword. But man, was he ever in battle as he agonized over what lied ahead. And he chose to do the will of the father. To set aside his comfort and fight for his father's will. That's what he's telling his disciples.

14:22 You have had it pretty good as you hop from town to town and when you said, be gone in the name of Jesus. The demons went. And when when you knocked on someone's door they fed you and they took care of you. But these disciples were about to enter a time when every door they knocked on wouldn't be a friendly one. Many of these men would be killed for their faith.

14:54 And as they took the good news of the gospel of Christ to the world, they would find that they were in a hostile battle. In enemy territory. Bringing the light of the gospel. You would think that the world would embrace it. But even today, even today, Satan and his powers wage war against God and his church.

15:29 I've often said there's two institutions God could, or the devil could destroy and prove God wrong. One is the nation of Israel. The other is the church. If he could snuff out either one, he could prove God to be a liar. And is it any wonder that two of the most targeted groups of people in this world are Christians and the nation of Israel.

15:58 We're in a battle. And Jesus warns them that there's hostility coming. But the fight won't be what they're thinking it is. It'll be one of a spiritual kind. And in that sense, yeah, two swords, two bibles, give me 10.

16:18 You're gonna need them. And you're gonna need the power of God to do it. It's amazing to me how determined Jesus was to make sure every prophecy about him was fulfilled before he died. Can you imagine the kind of brain power that would take in the most stressful time of your life? Like he he was God, but he was in our body.

16:51 And he's concerned about making sure his father doesn't look like a liar. He's concerned that his disciples don't feel abandoned. It's amazing. It's amazing. So the first thing he teaches us in his actions here are that those who follow Christ are going to need to prepare themselves for a battle of a spiritual kind.

17:54 And the disciples followed him. When he reached the place he told them, pray that you may not fall into temptation. Then he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, knelt down and began to pray. Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.

18:17 Then an angel from heaven appeared to him strength strengthening him. Being in anguish, he prayed more fervently and his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he got up from prayer and came to the disciples, he found them sleeping, exhausted from their grief. Why are you sleeping? He asked them.

18:38 Get up and pray so that you won't fall into temptation. We're not going to look at all of the other gospels and connect all of the other details. I like, when you're going through one, I like to just focus on what did the holy spirit inspire Luke to write about this account. Now we know from other gospels he's in the Garden Of Gethsemane. He goes back and he prays multiple times.

19:09 But here, he reaches a place and he tells his disciples, pray so that you won't enter into temptation. And then he goes and he models that for them. I don't know how far Luke could throw a stone, but if he's anything like me in my scrawny office arms, if I chucked a stone and you went that far away, I could still see you and I could probably still hear you. And Jesus seemed to be in a state where it would have been very evident. You probably could have heard the agony as he prayed.

20:06 And he's letting the disciples know, listen. Again, another warning. Satan is like, Satan is on the doorstep. And you are about to be tempted in ways you never would have imagined. You are about to be attempted to abandon, to deny, to run away.

20:25 And they couldn't believe it. Even Peter's like, no, no, never. I would never deny you. And then the Lord said, well, before the rooster crows, you'll deny me three times. They were not prepared for the spiritual battle they had to fight.

20:47 And I don't think they could have been because until the spirit of God indwelt them and they had that kind of power, it would have been very difficult. But let's look at what Jesus does. He goes off by himself. He bows down before the father. And instead of complaining, instead of griping that it had to be him, he just asks the question, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me.

21:26 But not my will, but thine, your will be done. This whole thing, If you really dig into it and and just picture yourself there. And listen to the little details that the Bible gives us of how, just how trying this moment was for Jesus and his disciples. This prayer of Jesus is not just put there as a, well, if it can... If there's another way, let's do it.

22:04 It's not it's not for show. It's a it's a cry of someone. This is the this is the weird thing of what it must have been like to be Jesus. If if we see a hard time coming, we shudder. And half of what makes us shudder is the unknown.

22:26 But imagine knowing the whole thing. From start to finish. You know you're going to be whipped. You know you're going to be spat upon. You know you're going to be nailed to a cross.

22:44 You know that your father is going to pour punishment of all the world's sin on you in a very short span of time. You know that there's going to be this gap between the father and the son that you've never experienced. He knows it. If we had that knowledge of hard times before they came. Anybody would stick around for them?

23:15 Would anyone pray for the strength to go? If you knew all of the hard things that you've endured in your own life, if you knew them on the outset, how much harder would they be as what you knew would happen starts to play out just the way you knew it would. And so he's praying. And the father doesn't answer himself. There wouldn't be a voice from heaven this time.

23:50 But an angel would come and strengthen him. I'm really glad that God puts the emotion of it all into the passage so that we can understand a little bit of what Christ felt. But even after an angel from heaven coming and strengthening the Lord. What's the next verse? I find this remarkable.

24:22 To me, it seems like it should be reversed. It should be Jesus prays. He's in great agony. Sweats great drops of blood. Then an angel shows up and strengthens him and he's better even though he's walking through it.

24:37 But that's not how the order goes. An angel from heaven comes down. If if you want some insight into just how daunting your and my sin was to him. Even after being strengthened by an angelic being, he's still in agony. And his body under great stress would produce sweat mixed with blood.

25:08 And he would pray again to the father. One of the amazing things about Jesus being God in the flesh is that he was able to endure more than the regular human body could. Because he was in control of turning his life on or off. What did he say? No one takes my life.

25:43 Father into thy hands I commit my spirit. It was a, you couldn't just kill him. It had to be his choice when he was to go. There is a lot of people who would die under this kind of stress. Not even making it to the cross.

26:37 You couldn't even help him. He would be alone. But then you read on in this passage and you find something. Why why were they sleeping? What is the reason this passage gives for their inability to stay up?

26:58 Verse 45 says, he found them sleeping exhausted from their grief. Some of you here know what that feels like. Trials, loss, the death of a loved one, where the only time sleep comes is when you've exhausted your body in crying, in stress, and grief, and you finally just turn off because there's no energy left. Whatever happened in the upper room leading out to this, the disciples knew something really horrible was on its way. And it was so emotionally exhausting for them that they couldn't even stay awake anymore.

28:06 But Jesus could. He stayed away and he knew it was coming. And he prays. He is on his knees because even though this is his hour, this is also the hour of darkness as well. Jesus knew that he needed to be connected to the father more than ever.

28:39 So instead of taking a rest, which I was thinking, would you blame him for sleeping a few hours before he knew he was about to be crucified, taken to an elite? You know what I mean? Like if he went out to the garden and said, hey guys, I just need like five hours of sleep. We'd be like, yeah, okay, that makes total sense. But no.

29:05 In that time of great temptation and of great trial, he knew he needed to be before his father in heaven. And I think there's a lesson for us to be learned here as well. When the bank account's running low, when I've gotten a diagnosis I wasn't expecting, when I get a phone call that shakes my world, when I'm having problems with my family or my kids, or I'm having issues with people in church, or when church is going through a rough time. Do we pray first? Jesus had all of the power of heaven at his disposal and he prayed first.

30:17 Is God the first one we turn to when life starts to crumble? Or is he the last one we go to when we've exhausted all of our other human resources and we can't do it on our own? Jesus shows here a model of what it means and what it takes to be strengthened by God in a hard spiritual time. A time that might leave all others exhausted to the point of sleep. He is before the father praying for help.

31:07 We need to do the same. The Christian life should be filled just as Jesus' life on earth was with coming to the father. Asking for God's power. Asking for God's strength. Asking for God's direction, and asking for God's will to be done.

31:26 Laying aside our comforts in this life, and we live in a, we live on a piece of land that's off, at least this half of it, it's awfully comfortable. We have, we don't just have a coat to sell to buy a sword. We have five coats we could sell to buy a sword with. But Jesus shows us what it really means to fight the spiritual battle that's before us. It's fought on our knees before the father.

32:00 Getting our strength from him, our direction from him. As we surrender our comforts, the things we want, our own will to his will. And give our life to obedience to him. Oddly enough, this would be one of the most joyful works that Jesus would do. It's insane to think of from a fleshly perspective.

32:36 But prayer, Part of the master class in spiritual warfare is seeing how our Messiah depended solely on his father for help in a time of need. And was willing to do whatever it took to obey him. Last section. Verse 47. While he was still speaking, suddenly a mob came and one of them, or one of the 12 named Judas was leading them.

33:29 But Jesus responded, no more of this. And touching his ear, he healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, temple police, and the elders who had come for him, have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a criminal? Every day I was with you in the temple, you never laid a hand on me, but this is your hour and the dominion of darkness. What do you think it took for Jesus to allow Judas to kiss his face?

34:23 No doubt he probably knew what Judah said to the chief priests as he sold them for 30 pieces of silver. This is the wonder of God coming to earth. And we see this in Philippians. Though he was God, came in the form of God. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God.

34:54 Some translations say he didn't use it as something to be exploited. You guys are in The United States Of America. Nobody crosses The United States. You guys have enough gunpowder to blow away the world. When you have that kind of power, we pay a lot of attention to living in Windsor.

35:18 Like I only listen to US politics because Canadian politics is kind of boring compared to that. But how many times over the last like eight years have you heard? Are we gonna give that guy the nuclear codes? We're gonna give that to him? The power to blow up like half the world?

35:36 We're gonna give that to... You fill in the blank. And the thing about power is the more you have, the more you get, the more you get slapped in the face, the more you're willing to pull the trigger. Right? The more you're willing to say, okay, you wanna keep this up?

35:58 I'll show you what kind of power I have. It is very hard to restrain yourself against someone weaker who's taunting you. Jesus knit Judas together in his mother's womb. And he took great care in doing it. He knew everything about him.

36:28 He created him in the image of God. And he loved him intensely. And as Judas walks over to the Lord and kisses his face, Jesus had all of the power of heaven to just utterly destroy him and doesn't. It's one thing to be persecuted by someone bigger than you. Not having the strength to retaliate.

37:09 But it's something I don't even think we understand. To have the ability to speak someone out of existence. To have the ability to call 10,000 angels and show them just how big the army of heaven is. And to stand there and allow him to do it. That, friends, is strength under control.

37:37 He was kind to him. He didn't even deserve it. He betrays him with a kiss. And then the chief priests come with clubs and stuff like, man how amusing that must have been to the Lord. Really guys?

38:08 That trial at night, totally illegal under Jewish law. Should never have happened. But he entertains it. He goes into this fight and all of the way to the cross, it seems like he's the weakest party. Even his bodyguards can't swing a sword for crying out loud.

38:33 Peter, you just took his ear off. That's just gonna make everybody mad if you're gonna swing the sword. Like, go for the jugular. Hit his head off. Do something that's actually gonna lower the numbers.

38:45 But don't go for the ear. And that's all he can do. All Jesus has is a quivering... The bunch of them are like, should we take... We got two.

38:55 Who wants one? Should we do it? Should we not? And Peter's like, we should do it. And it's a total miss.

39:02 And then he says, that's enough. Some translate that word, permit even this. I think the New King James says, allow it. And then we don't see this in this passage, but in another gospel we see they ask if he's Jesus, he says I am and then boom, everybody falls to the ground. Now, if you're one of those police, who's got the handcuffs?

39:34 Anybody willing to cuff this guy? Not me. That's enough. I've had enough. But he shows them, I have the power.

39:44 The only reason you're doing this is because I've allowed it. And then I don't know what happened. Whether he picks the ear up or he just grows a new one, but he reaches out and he just heals the ear. Of the high priest's servant for crying out loud. Let the high priest's servant go without his ear to remember that like you guys did this to him.

40:06 But no, Jesus, what, how could that high priest not know after that? When Melchus is like, I don't know what happened. Like there's no stitch marks. He didn't use glue. It's just there.

40:20 And Jesus shows leading up to his death, he had all of the power. And then going in front of these men in verse 63, it says the men who were holding Jesus started mocking and beating him. Now again, don't forget this. I know we're almost out of time. He holds all things together.

40:47 The muscles needed to club his face were held together by the power of God. The muscles needed to speak, The mocking came from him. And our Lord shows us that though it seems like he's surrendering to the power of darkness, he's actually delivering its death blow. The real battle wasn't being fought against this small group of guys that he could have very easily just like. The real battle was Satan trying to snuff out the light of the world.

41:44 The real battle that was going on here was a God in heaven who was so determined to conquer sin and death, to redeem us that he would endure being spat upon, being mocked, having his beard ripped out. If I was him, and I don't mean to treat this lightly, I would have shaved my beard the week coming up to that. But he he didn't. All of the little things he could have done that he did not do show us how much he loved us. Cause we see finally that he's a messiah focused on victory of a different kind.

42:30 They even said after blindfolding him, not that that would have done anything had he wanted to see past it. Prophesy who hit you. You know what I would have done? I'd have let him know who hit me. You would too, probably.

42:45 Say his first, middle and last name. And the year he was born, and give him his social insurance number. Give him the whole nine yards. Let him know. I know who hit me.

42:56 But he doesn't respond. They even blasphemed him. Ironically, they would accuse him of blaspheming. And then daylight comes, the elders and people gather together, they bring him and they ask him, if you're the Messiah, tell us. And he says, if I told you, you wouldn't even believe me.

43:50 And that was enough to put him to the cross. Jesus shows us in this account how the will of the father is worth laying down everything for. Jesus shows us in this account how much he would be willing to go through in order to show the world that he loved them. How much are you willing to go through to show the world that Jesus loves them? You know, it's...

44:34 I find it funny sometimes we as Christians, we gripe and complain a lot about how... Now I believe we should be free to worship, so don't get me wrong. But oh, we're losing this freedom and that freedom. Jesus gave away all of his freedom so that he could show the world he was their savior. And he freely, the one thing he freely did was give his life a ransom for many.

45:01 And in doing that, he showed the world the power of God because we know the end of the story, don't we? That he died and they did as good a job as they could on him. And the father poured all of our sin on him. But that could not keep our savior in the grave. He rose victoriously.

45:25 You know where he's seated today? The place he told those guys he'd be when he was done all this. The right hand of the power of God. And you know what we have this morning? We have the Holy Spirit inside of us, and we have the same privilege as Jesus did.

46:23 He is better than we could ever imagine and will have all eternity to discover how great he is. Heavenly Father, this morning we are thankful for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who would come to this earth and totally dismantle the powers of darkness in a very unsuspecting way. By allowing himself to die. And Lord as we look at this great spiritual battle that ensued leading up to the cross. We take through from this passage Lord lessons that we here who are part of the body of Christ need to depend on the father for strength, for direction, and for help.

47:13 Lord, we can come to you even in our grief and in our brokenness through great trials and find a God who hears and listens. Lord, we pray that you give us the humility that Jesus had, Who's only willing to use his power if it was in the will of his father. But Lord, one thing we often miss was the absolute power it must have taken to allow it all to happen. To allow those hands to be nailed down, those feet to be nailed down, to allow his back to be ripped apart, having the power to stop it all. Lord, what great love you have for us.

48:04 And Lord, we pray that you would help us to tap into the power of God in our daily lives. And we pray for your will to be done just like Jesus did. And we pray for your power and strength just like Jesus did. And that we would pray for others, that they would be protected from the power of the devil, just like Jesus prayed for his disciples. Help us to do that as well.

48:37 In Jesus' name, amen.