The Great Commission

John 20:21-22; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:46-49; Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:18-20.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty on January 24, 2021.

Last week, we talked about the importance of making the good confession to the world around us.  In short, it is a declaration of our faith in Jesus and his teachings.  We stand with him.

Today, we are going to recognize that this confession and testimony that we should give about Jesus is part of a larger task, or commission, that Christ has given us.

Let’s look at our passage.

John’s Gospel

We will look at each of the Gospel’s version of the Great Commission.  They all highlight various things.  Ultimately, Jesus had been crucified and resurrected.  Over the course of 40 days, he appeared to them in order to prove the reality of the resurrection before he ascended into heaven, and to leave the apostles and his Church, that they would help build, with a task, a mission.  Thus, we speak of Christ commissioning his Church and call it the Great Commission.

John emphasizes sending.  We have been sent by Jesus as he was sent by God the Father.  We are sent for a purpose, to do what he tells us to do.  This is not a cultural thing.  Jesus is not trying to spread first century AD Israelite culture all around the world, much less white culture.  It is beyond culture.  In fact, if we must use the term, it is the spread of heaven’s culture.  All cultures are found wanting in the face of the Gospel and its obligation upon us all.  Christians must never confuse the Gospel with their own native culture.  Yes, some cultures have been impacted by Christianity more than others, but still, we are not representing our country, but rather Jesus and The Father.

John also shows Jesus breathing on his disciples and telling them to receive the Holy Spirit.  The receiving is emphasized, but it is not explained why.  We will save this for later.

Jesus also says that they, and we, will be a conduit to the forgiveness of sins for others.  This statement sounds like the apostles can keep some people from being forgiven, but that is a misreading.  Only Jesus can forgive sins, and thereby also refuse to forgive sins.  However, we are sent by Jesus as his ambassadors with his words.  We will be the representative of Jesus to those that we meet.  We don’t create forgiveness or deny it to those who desire it.  Rather, we announce it according to God’s Word, and the Holy Spirit’s wisdom.  Like the prophets of old, we can speak to people because of the authority of the Word of Jesus.  We can confidently tell people how to be forgiven of their sins, and how they cannot be forgiven.  The emphasis is not on their inherent ability, but in the function, they serve in being sent by Christ.

Mark’s Gospel

Mark focuses on our proclaiming the Gospel, or good news.  The NKJV uses the word “preach,” but the connotations of this word would be better translated as proclaim.  It is not about standing behind a pulpit in a church, but about sharing the Good News with anyone anywhere.  Mark’s gospel also emphasizes the scope of this mission, “all the world.”

A second aspect that we see here is the fact that powerful signs would follow Christ’s representatives.  Jesus doesn’t command them to do powerful signs.  Rather, the signs would follow them, and the signs listed are not an exhaustive list.  As God’s people commit themselves to this task of proclaiming the Gospel, signs would follow them.  Signs are not the focus, nor our job to make happen.  Our job is to be faithful to the task of sharing the Good News with people.

I will take a moment to clear up the passage about taking up serpents, due to the fact that some Christians believe they should prove their faith in Jesus by handling poisonous snakes.  Jesus is not talking about a means of proving your faith to onlookers, and neither is he talking about a test that all believers must do.  The best example of what Jesus is talking about happened to the Apostle Paul on the Island of Malta in Acts 28.  He was a prisoner on a ship going to Rome.  The ship was wrecked by a storm and they all jumped ship and swam to nearby Malta.  The natives met them on the shore and people began foraging for wood along the shore to build a fire and warm up the soaked men.  While gathering a bundle of sticks to throw on the fire, the apostle Paul was bitten by a viper on the hand and he shook it off into the fire.  The Bible tells us that the natives saw the viper hanging from Paul’s hand and figured that he would die, and that it was a punishment for some evil that he had done.  Over time, it became clear that Paul was not harmed by the poison.  This opened the people up greatly to hearing the Gospel.  The point is not invulnerability of believers to poison, but that these kinds of signs would follow them as a whole as they took the Gospel to the nations.  We too should expect that amazing things will happen from time to time as we are faithful to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Luke’s Gospel

In Luke, we have some of the content of the Gospel described.  First, Jesus had to do all of the things that he did.  They had been prophesied in Scripture, and they were functionally important for the saving of people.  Jesus lived a perfect life, and perfectly revealed the Father’s love by dying in our place, and being resurrected as proof that his sacrifice on our behalf was accepted.  It is also proof that he has the power to resurrect us at the last day.

For those who believe the message about who Jesus is and what he has done for us, repentance from sin is in order.  Those who believe and repent of their sins will have their sins remitted from them.  Luke also records that this is for all nations, not just one people group.

Lastly, Luke also records that they were to wait for the Promise from the Father to come upon them and empower them before going out to accomplish this commission.  The Promise from the Father is talking about the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon all of God’s people, instead of just a select few.  This is a task that is not intended to be done only by our power, strength, and abilities.  God Himself will work through us and assist us by His Holy Spirit.  Thus, we are not to hang back in fear, nor are we to rush forward in self-confidence.  We are to be a people who are led by the Holy Spirit, and empowered by Him.

This should remind us of Acts chapter 1 verse 8.  The book of Acts is technically Luke’s second volume.  It is not a second Gospel, but rather describes the apostles doing what Jesus told them to do.  We could think of Luke’s Gospel as the good news of what Jesus did, and his second volume as the good news that the apostles faithfully walked in his footsteps.  Another way to look at these to books is to see Luke as the acts of Jesus and the book of Acts as the acts of his apostles. 

Regardless, verse 8 emphasizes why we are to wait for the Holy Spirit and what the Holy Spirit would help us do.  The Holy Spirit would fill their whole being and enable them to be witnesses of Christ everywhere.  They would be empowered by God Himself.  A person cannot believe the Gospel without the influence of the Holy Spirit in their life.  He is the one who convicts us of the judgment that hangs over our head.  The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit takes up residence or dwells inside of those who believe on Jesus and repent of their sins.  However, we are to also open up our hearts and minds to Him through prayer so that He can fill our whole inner being.  This is not a one-time thing, but a daily empowering experience that we can have to help us in our battle against sin, and our task to proclaim the Gospel.

Matthew’s Gospel

John emphasized our being sent, but in Matthew we are shown why that is so important.  Jesus has authorized us to go to all nations and call them to repentance and faith in him.  What gives Christians the right to tell Romans that the idols they serve are lies and they need to repent?  We could ask the same question today.  Multiculturalism has some good to it.  It reminds us that we should not look down upon styles of life simply because they are different from our own.  However, Christianity is not supposed to be a cultural oppression. 

The Spirit of God started with Israel and challenged the sin in their culture.  It then moved to all other cultures.  We are authorized by the God who made and loves all people.  All of our cultures were, and still are, full of sin and ignorance.  Satan wants to make people feel that they are doing something wrong when they tell people that God commands all people everywhere to repent of their sins and believe on Jesus.  We must not give into this persuasion.

Next, we are to disciple those who believe by teaching them the commands of Jesus.  The disciple is a student who is learning to become like their master teacher.  Another image that is used in the Bible is that we are children of God.  God’s people are a family that baby Christians are born into.  We help the spiritually young to grow up and become more like our heavenly Father, which has been perfectly imaged to us by Jesus.

Lastly, Jesus tells us that he will be with us even to the end of the age.  How important it is to know that Jesus is still with us through the Spirit of God that is within us.  He hasn’t forgotten us no matter how difficult it may get at times.  We must hold onto this promise.

The Conclusion

When we put all of these things together, we end up with a lot of powerful concepts, so I have broken this up into two statements.

First, we have been authorized and sent by Jesus to proclaim the Gospel to all nations that only He can forgive and remove their sins because of his life, death, and resurrection.

Second, we are to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, which will have powerful signs as we teach people the commands of Jesus.

All of this emphasizes the task and purpose that Jesus has given us, and so it is missing an important component found elsewhere.  God so loved the world that He sent His One and Only Son that whoever believes on him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  God’s love for you, for me, and for those lost in this world, could not sit by as we destroyed ourselves through sin.  The love of God and the demonstration of its depth by Jesus on the cross are the foundation of a relationship that we can have with our Lord and invite others to join.  This is the Great Commission.

Great Comm audio

The Good Confession

1 Timothy 6:11-16.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on January 17, 2021.

For the next six weeks, we are going to put a pause on our study through the Gospel according to Mark.  We have reached chapter 15 which details the crucifixion and then chapter 16 details the resurrection of Jesus.  We will pick them up so as to ramp up to our Easter service.

Today, we will go to First Timothy.  I want to talk about making the good confession in the modern world.  We are in a spiritual battle that requires faith in Jesus, in his teachings, and his actions.  

Jesus came into the world to testify to the Truth.  All others before him could really only confess what the Holy Spirit had told them.  Jesus is unique in that he is the only one who is an eye-witness of the Truth and who actually came from heaven to give that witness to the world.  He has told us the truth about the world’s plight, about each of our sin, about the way that it can be fixed, and about the only one who can do the fixing (Jesus himself).

If the Christ had a true testimony that all Christians are to confess before the whole world (that is, speak the same testimony as he) then know this.  The antichrist system of this world has a false testimony that it pressures and forces all to confess.  It is the anti-confession in regards to Jesus, and it will find its climax in the whole world worshipping the Beast through taking a mark, a loyalty pledge that is just as much a confession as it is an economic choice.

Let’s look at our passage.

Our Pursuit

In this passage, we have an older minister, Paul, making sure that a younger minister, Timothy, has a full understanding of how to teach the believers in the churches that were under his care.  Paul was not sure when he would be able to visit Timothy again.

Thus, Timothy is not a new convert and most likely the words here are not new to Timothy either.  Paul actually addresses him as “man of God” in verse 11.  These words are the encouragements and commands of a general to those fellow solders under him in the midst of battle.  We too must understand that we are on a battlefield that has progressed for millennia.  What is the pursuit of my life?  If I am truly a man or woman of God then I will hear the commands of the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul and respond in kind.

Before Paul reminds Timothy of his pursuit, he reminds him of what he must flee.  It is hard to go after something when another thing, or things, has our hearts.  Thus, Satan has filled this world with philosophies and lies that seduce our hearts into false pursuits.  He leverages the desires of our flesh against the call of the Holy Spirit.  They are things such as: riches, power, pleasure, fame, pride, and the list goes on.  We must flee these things because our lives depend upon it, and the lives of those we influence.  It is not that these things should not be had, but that they can never be the pursuit of our life.

The anti-confession of this world draws us into these anti-pursuits.  In this passage, Paul has been warning against the teaching of those who think that godliness is a means of gain (vs. 5).  He says that they think this way because they are full of corrupt desires and their minds are destitute of the truth (vss. 4-5).  It is in this context that we are given the statement, “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows (vs. 10).”

Godliness is not a means of obtaining riches, it is gain in and of itself.  You cannot obtain anything greater than being more like God, like Jesus.  The Gospel is not about making us rich and powerful in this world, but rather about taking on the image of our Father in heaven.  We do not live godly in order to get salvation, or natural blessings in this life.  No, we pursue a godly life because He has already saved us, while we were yet sinners, and has blessed us beyond belief.  We just couldn’t see it before we believed in Him.  Just as we are to flee sexual immorality, so we are commanded to flee the love of riches, and those who would pervert the Gospel into a means of riches.

With our hearts free from false-pursuits, we are then enabled to pursue what is true, God Himself, His image, and His character.  In truth, we cannot accomplish this on our own.  We cannot even accomplish it with the help of well-meaning believers who come alongside of us.  Without the powerful work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we would be lost to the seduction of The Lie, the lie that we don’t need God, or Jesus, to satisfy our hearts and minds.

Paul lists righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.  These are all fruit, or evidence, of the Holy Spirit within us.  Yes, we are to pursue them, but our obtaining of them to any measure is enabled by His presence.  This world cannot obtain true righteousness because it lacks the Spirit of God.  It can only redefine righteousness to match exactly what it wants to do.  We have seen over the decades the raising up of a false-righteousness that is now being used to condemn those who cling to the righteousness of God found only in Jesus Christ.  Christian, never forget that we are not called to pursue the desires of the flesh, but rather to pursue the image of God in our life.

Our Fight

In verse 12, Paul then commands Timothy, and us, to fight the good fight.  It involves a battle in which we will face enemies and contestants that desire to defeat us.  Some of them are sentient (spirits and humans), and some of them are abstract such as our internal weaknesses.  The false pursuits are the “bad fight.”  Too many people are fighting the wrong battles, and thereby, they are being used by Satan to become useful idiots in his plan to destroy God’s people and the Truth to which they cling.

It is called in the passage, “the good fight of faith.”  Eternal life is offered to all who will fight the good fight of faith.  In fact, the fight of faith is all about “laying hold of eternal life.”  When we believe upon Jesus, eternal life takes up residence within us through the Holy Spirit.  This eternal life continues to work within us to make us fit to dwell in the direct presence of God in eternity.  However, our faith will be tested in this world.  Just like love is tested by our experiences with others, so our faith is tested by the things we face in life.  This battle, both to keep believing and to agonize over what faith should do now, does not end until we finish this life.  It is in that day of resurrection that we will once and for all lay hold of eternal life.  Each difficulty begs the question, “Will you continue to believe and follow Jesus now?”

Yes, it is a battle, but the battle is worth it.  We have been called to eternal life!  Sin has put us under a death sentence, but Jesus came that we might have eternal life, and life more abundantly.  Jesus told his disciples to take possession of their souls by faith, and in so doing, we strengthen our grip upon eternal life.  No one can take it from you, but you can surrender it by shipwrecking your faith in Jesus.  May our faith be strengthened in Jesus, and not just a redefined Jesus that the world can accept.  No.  It must be the same Jesus that this world crucified 2,000 years ago, and would crucify all over again if he appeared again.  Can the world see the true Jesus in me?

Paul reminds Timothy that he had made the good confession before many witnesses (vs. 12).  All faith is expressed and is activated through confession.  We believe in our heart and confess with our mouths (hands, and feet) that Jesus is Lord.  Paul most likely has Timothy’s initial statement of belief in Jesus.  The many witnesses were other believers who are rejoicing in his confessing the truth of Jesus.  However, life always leads us to places where we must confess before witnesses who are hostile.  Just like Jesus before Caiaphas, and Peter before the servant girl, we will be faced with the opportunity to deny or confess Jesus, and thus the Father, before all men.  We must do the spiritual work now so that we are prepared for those moments.  Otherwise, we will crash and burn just as Peter did.

In verse 13, Paul reminds Timothy and us that Jesus testified the good confession before Pilate.  Most Gospels only have the question, “Are you the King of the Jews?”  Jesus then answers, “It is as you say.”  However, John 18 adds that his kingdom is not of this world, now, which implies that it will be one day.  Jesus came from heaven to testify to the Truth so that we can confess, agree with and stand by, his testimony, and thereby participate in his victory.  This sounds wonderful until you are face to face with a hostile enemy challenging you to deny Jesus.

Our Charge

Paul ends this part with a charge, a statement of strong urging, to believers.  We must hold fast to these things.  Paul reminds Timothy that he is in the presence of God and Jesus Christ.  In fact, everything that we do and hear is in the presence of God.  The Latin phrase is, coram deo.  How careful we should be of the things we flee and the things we pursue.  He who will judge all men looks upon us now.  How will we choose and how will we respond now?  The past is important, but the present is always what matters now.  Yes, I had faith yesterday.  Praise God!  But, what will I do today, now that I face this, whatever this may be?

When Jesus testified before Pilate, he was going before us blazing the way.  Jesus testified to the Truth as in a legal witness.  He knows the truth as an eye-witness because he is from heaven.  However, he knows the truth because he is Truth and one with Truth.  He went before us as a great captain of our salvation.  And, so, we must learn to follow him and agree with his testimony with our own confession before the people and powers of this world.

Ultimately, we are to keep this command to pursue the image of God and fight the good fight of faith without spot and blameless (vs. 14).  This is not about never making a mistake, but taking responsibility for our mistakes through repentance and turning back to Christ.  The daily maintenance of faith is a daily cleansing of our lives before our Lord Jesus.

We are not released from this command until Christ appears at the Second Coming.  Paul’s description of the Lord as the Potentate, or Sovereign over all things, is to encourage us.  We are on the right side when we stand with Jesus.  It may not look like it in this world, but all other sides, even those of the “new and improved Jesus,” will fail. 

What truths of Christ are being contested today and in what way?  Over and over again, we see the Scriptures being re-interpreted and obvious meanings cast aside for more modern, acceptable ones.  Will we stand with Jesus, or will we fold like an adulterous spouse?  O friend, hang on to your faith and go to work strengthening it, because you are going to need it in the days ahead!

Good Confession Audio

Denying Jesus

Mark 14:66-72.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on January 10, 2021.

In Matthew 10:32-33, Jesus says, “Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.  But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”  Jesus puts confessing him and denying him in opposite positions, and declares that our present actions toward him will affect his future action towards us.

It is a sobering thought that we will all stand before the Lord, Jesus Christ, and through him give account to God the Father for our lives.  In that day, all the things of this earth will be absent, and it will only matter what our Creator thinks.  It will only matter what I did with Jesus in this life.  Did I deny him, or did I confess him?

Even though God will hold us accountable, He is gracious and merciful.  Our passage today involves the Peter, the disciple of Jesus, denying Jesus three times.  In doing so, he helps us to see the mercy of God to those who are worthy of punishment, but have repented of their sins, picked up their cross, and have followed Jesus.  Praise God that we are not shackled to our worst moments in this life.  Through Jesus, our greatest failures can be forgiven. 

Now, let’s look at our passage.

Peter denies Jesus three times

No doubt, Peter would describe this as the worst day of his life.  Everything that he had been doing for three and a half years was now going up in smoke, and he was powerless to do anything about it.  The worst part of it will be that he was unable to stand by the Lord in his darkest hour.

So, we have Peter in the courtyard of the high priest’s compound warming himself by a fire along with servants and soldiers of the high priest.  The interrogation and trial of Jesus appears to be on a balcony of some sorts.  They cannot hear and see all of the proceedings, but Peter is able to keep tabs on what is happening to Jesus. 

In this situation, Peter is confronted by a servant girl and then later by several other servants.  There is a contrast here of the strength of Jesus and the weakness of his disciples.

Jesus is confronted by the strong “bulls” of Israel.  They are the ones who have great power within Israel, even with being dominated by Rome.  However, Peter is confronted by a servant girl, and other servants of the high priest.  I do not mean to diminish his situation, but rather to point out the contrast.  Peter was not ready for such a confrontation with the big boys, but neither was he ready for this chance to cut his teeth on taking a stand for Jesus.  Our Lord is ready and able for all that our enemy can throw at him, but we are weak and in need of strength, and spiritual growth.  How wonderful it is that our gracious Lord sticks with us and enables us to grow stronger by his Holy Spirit and through our failures.

We are told in the other gospels that this servant girl was the one who was in charge of the door.  Having seen Peter fairly well at the door, she recognizes him as one of the followers of Jesus.  Peter is confronted several times by her on his relationship to Jesus.  The first confrontation is, “You also were with Jesus of Nazareth.”  The second is actually spoken to the group of servants, “This is one of them.”  The third confrontation comes from the group and clearly involves multiple accusation from “those who stood by.”  Mark records one of them recognizing his accent, “Surely, you are one of them for you are a Galilean and your speech shows it.”  It was no secret that the followers of Jesus were Galilean- Judas seems to be the only exception to this.  In John 18:26, we are told that one of the servants happened to be a relative of the man, Malchus, whose ear Peter had cut off with a sword.  “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 

After each of these three confrontations, Peter denies Jesus instead of confessing his relationship with him.  To deny is to reject the claim of something that is stated, and in this case, thereby rejecting Jesus himself.  He disowns Jesus as his acquaintance, friend, or teacher, and thereby, he becomes guilty of the actions Jesus had warned them of earlier in Matthew 10.  Peter should have confessed Christ.  To confess is to speak the same as, or agree with someone or something.  The statements that Peter is confronted with are true, but he refuses to agree with them (speak the same thing as).  However, because they are statements of relationship, Peter refuses to confess Christ as his Lord and Teacher.

Clearly the servant girl is not physically intimidating, but she can notify the larger group and get Peter arrested too.  It is amazing how people who have very little natural power in this life can suddenly have great power over our choices because of the situation.  Peter’s fear is the true source of her power over him.

We don’t know what is going through Peter’s mind fully.  Perhaps, he intends only to nip it in the bud at the first denial.  Perhaps, he justified it because he was finding out what would happen to Jesus.  Regardless of his justification, there can be no justification for refusing to stand with Christ and denying a relationship with him.  “I do not know this man of whom you speak!” 

As if this wasn’t bad enough, Peter even invokes a curse and swears that he is not lying.  The KJV and the NKJV say that “he began to curse and swear.”  Cursing and swearing here is not cussing with vulgarities and profanities.  He is actually using a curse formula to back up the truth of his statements.  This is similar to our childhood years when we might say to someone regarding our veracity, “Cross my heart, hope to die, poke a needle in my eye.”  Clearly, we were being hyperbolic when we said that- I know of no one who had a needle poked in their eye when it was found out that they lied.

Swearing is similar.  We might say, “I swear on my mother’s grave!”  In Israel, it was common to swear on the altar or the temple, etc.  It was a way of making a kind of informal affidavit that others could hold you to.

We are never told to use a curse formula to back up our statements, and Jesus warned us not to swear by anything either.  Rather, he tells us that we are to let our yes be yes and our no be no.  What a different world this would be if we would operate in such a fashion.  Truthfulness is passé.  Only people who are prone to lying feel the need to swear and invoke curses on themselves in order to get others to believe them.  Of course, Peter is lying now.

By his own words and by his own judgment, Peter is condemning himself eternally.  How could he stand before God with such evidence against him?  These are the kinds of things that would stand against us before God on that day, not to mention that even our thoughts and the schemes of our heart can be brought against us as evidence.

Mark tells us that the rooster crowed for the second time at this point.  Luke tells us that, even as Peter was swearing that he was telling the truth, the rooster crowed the second time.  The gravity of the moment sinks in to Peter as he hears the rooster crow, and then, as Luke records, he looks up to see Jesus looking at him.  Jesus who is in his darkest hour and is even then being accused by others looks over and locks eyes with Peter for a moment.

The crowing of the rooster and the look of Jesus stirs up Peter’s memory.  What seemed like an eternity ago in the upper room, Jesus had told him that he would do this.  He had vehemently denied that he would leave Jesus, and here he was just as vehemently denying Jesus.  Peter is broken emotionally, leaves the area, and weeps bitterly.

It is difficult to come face to face with the weakness of our flesh, especially when we are insistent on seeing ourselves stronger than we are.  However, there is a contrast here between Peter and Judas.  Both are weak in the flesh and fail to stand with Jesus.  However, Peter truly desired to stand with Jesus, and is being tripped up by his flesh.  He has not fallen so as to be beyond recovery.  Judas, on the other hand, did not desire to stand with Jesus, and his flesh leads him to destruction.  God knows our hearts and aids those who are weak and yet still desire Him.

Peter’s mistakes

It would be good for us to pay attention to Peter’s mistakes because they are our mistakes too.

Peter kept his distance from Jesus out of fear instead of courageously choosing to remain by him.  He let his fear of arrest, and the subsequent bodily harm, separate him from Jesus.  He still believes in Jesus, but he can no longer follow Jesus where he is going.  This is also symbolic of a spiritual issue that we must all face.  Just hours before, Jesus had led Peter to a place of prayer and asked him to pray with him.  Notice that Jesus did not ask them to pray for him.  His intention all along was that they would pray for themselves and the coming trial.  Peter’s failure to pray in the garden is directly connected to his failure to confess Jesus in the courtyard.  His failure in private led to his failure in public.  His spirit was willing, but his flesh was weak.

Christ is calling us into the Word of God, and into a relationship of prayer.  This is a place where we can wrestle with our flesh and fears before the One who loves us.  When we neglect to shorten the distance between us and Jesus through the communion of reading his word and prayer, we are then at the mercy of our flesh and its inability to follow Jesus.  It is not enough to be a Christian superficially.  We must draw near to Christ in our hearts privately before we will ever be able to stand with him publicly.

A second mistake is that he ends up in the wrong company.  The separation from Jesus puts Peter in a group that will not help him grow spiritually.  They do not believe in Jesus.  Now, it is one thing to be surrounded by unbelievers when you are with Jesus, or surrounded by the enemies of Christ when he is with you. It is quite another to be on our own.  To stick with Jesus was to incur suffering, but to stick with the crowd was to be pulled into sin.  Hanging with the wrong crowd will always corrupt good morals and good decisions.  This connects to his third mistake.

Peter had shrunk back from suffering, but even worse, he was willing to say, or do, anything in order to avoid it.  This is where we all are in our flesh.  We do not want to suffer in this life.  It was important for Peter and the other disciples- and us- to come face to face with the reality that they were incredibly weak in the face of physical suffering.  This is precisely why Jesus sends us the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is not a guarantee that our flesh will never get the better of us.  Rather, He is a guarantee that God is with us.  He also convicts us of the right course of action, and then empowers us to follow through.  The empowering of the Holy Spirit is not as we would like in our flesh.  In many video games, a person may gain an item that strengthens them.  Typically, there is a sound or obvious action that lets them know that they are now powered up, or invincible.  The Holy Spirit does not empower in such a way.  Rather, He empowers us as we listen and step out in faith.  Like Peter stepping out of the boat, it may seem foolish, but if God directs us then we can trust Him to support us.

Peter made many mistakes and he sinned grievously.  We can surely relate.  Let us remember the love of Jesus for Peter that later found him fishing on the sea of Galilee.  Peter was forgiven of his sins, even denying Jesus, because he was repentant and turned towards Jesus, not away.  Let us be thankful that the warning of denying Jesus before men is not about an unpardonable sin, but about something that can be repented of, that can be washed away, and can be forgiven.

Denying Audio

Jesus before the Council

Mark 14:53-65.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on January 03, 2021.

Today, we will pick back up in the Gospel of Mark.  Jesus has been arrested and is brought before the chief priests and their council.  The events of this passage underline the importance of holding fast to Christ even when the institutions of justice in this world are perverted and twisted in order to bring about injustice.

Our Lord promised us that in this world we would have trouble, but that we were not to fear because he had overcome the world.  And, we shall too with the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells within those who are believing upon the Lord Jesus.

Let’s look at our passage.

Jesus is interrogated during the night

The Law of Moses (more properly, the Law of God given to Israel through Moses) had protections for the accused, which would counter humanity’s penchant for rash lynchings.  Several aspects of the proceedings before Christ’s crucifixion do not pass muster and make the proceedings illegal.  Yet, it is still being done under the color of law.  When those who are responsible to uphold the law are intent on breaking the intent of the law, they have a powerful ability to make an illegal thing legal, as if they were innocent of any wrong and merely providing justice.  This abuse of power is not a rare thing among human governments.  Thus, we see that the most righteous human who ever lived received injustice at the hands of those in this world who were responsible for giving justice.  This is an indictment of all of us.

Mark’s Gospel does leave out some critical details that the Gospel of John helps us to see.  There are actually three meetings between Jesus and religious authorities.  The first is a meeting with Annas who was a previous high priest and also the father-in-law of Caiaphas.  It is unclear who all is at this meeting.  It may have taken place as the greater council was being assembled.  The second meeting is where Jesus is brought from Annas to Caiaphas and the religious council of Israel, the Sanhedrin.  The time is roughly around 4 am, and thus this is an informal interrogation, or trial.  An official trial could not take place in the middle of the night.  Mark’s account does not mention the first meeting and details the second one.  The third meeting is mentioned in Mark 15:1. This happens as soon as it is morning.  It appears to be the official, on the books, meeting of the Sanhedrin where they determine to send Jesus to Pilate with a petition of execution.

The setting of this second meeting is in the compound of the high priest.  It has an inner courtyard surrounded by buildings, and perhaps even a large balcony.  I mention a balcony because Luke’s account will mention that, when Peter denies Jesus the third time, a rooster crows and Jesus turns to look at Peter.  Jesus must be either in the courtyard with the Sanhedrin, or on an elevated balcony with the group of 70 or so men.  It is quite likely that the meeting with Annas also took place somewhere within this compound.

I have mentioned Peter already, but it is the Gospel of John that tells us the details of how he was able to get into the high priest’s courtyard.  John records that another disciple was known by the high priest and his house.  This disciple first went in and then arranged for Peter to be admitted.  Most scholars believe this other disciple is John because John displays a tendency to leave himself anonymous in his Gospel.  Is John with Jesus, or in the courtyard with Peter?  The biblical account does not tell us.  This is where Peter’s infamous denials will take place, but we will save that for next week.

This second meeting with Jesus involves many witnesses who are brought forth for the event.  Obviously, they had been told in advance that they would be needed for such.  Mark tells us that none of their testimony was trustworthy.  However, one charge does surface from among the others that has legal clout.  It is purported that Jesus claimed to destroy the temple and then rebuild it in three days.  This is not exactly what Jesus said in John 2:19. The witnesses are talking about the time when Jesus had cleansed the temple.  Afterwards, Jesus is asked to give a sign to back up his actions.  Jesus tells them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up.”  John then goes on to say that Jesus was talking about his body, and not the temple building.  So, on one hand there is a misunderstanding of what Jesus means by temple.  However, on the other hand, there is a twisting of just who Jesus said would do the destroying.  Notice that Jesus does not say he will destroy the temple.  He posits that they would destroy the temple and that he would do the rebuilding.

Now, to destroy the Temple of God was an unthinkable thing to the Jews, but even the Romans held the destruction of any temple in its lands as a capital offense.  It was treated as an act of terrorism that would threaten Rome’s control over an area.  Ultimately, the religious leaders needed something that they could use in order to convince the Roman Governor Pilate to execute Jesus.  This would do it.

Even then, Mark notes for the second time that their testimony didn’t agree.  Thus, the testimony in general didn’t agree, and then on the one item they were able to treat as legitimate the testimony was still flimsy.  The Law called for at least two witnesses.  The witnesses would clearly have to agree on the salient points for there to be a conviction.  When you testify against the truth, your testimony will be full of errors.  An individual who is not telling the truth has enough trouble keeping a story straight, much less multiple people called at a moment’s notice in the dead of night.

It is clear that the high priest recognizes the weakness of the case because he first questions Jesus about the temple allegations.  Jesus does not answer it.  This leads to the high priest asking Jesus straight forwardly if he is the Christ, that is the Messiah.  This would be a second point of contention with Jesus that the Romans would also take as serious.  If Jesus claimed to be the Messiah then Rome would see that as a threat to their political authority. Remember, Messiah would not only be king of Israel, but ultimately of the whole world.

Up to this point, we do not see Jesus defending himself and arguing with those who are giving false testimony.  He is essentially silent before them.  Isaiah 53:7 prophesied that Messiah would be “as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”  The main point is not about never uttering a syllable, but rather about defending himself and trying to get himself out of the charges.  Even a guilty man will brashly rail at truthful charges against him.  How much harder is it to hold your peace when those who accuse you are lying through their teeth?  Jesus is showing us that we are to have as our main defense the testimony and decision of God.  He is completely trusting God, which may seem foolish at the cross, but is clearly wisdom at the resurrection.

When authorities have a flimsy case, they fall back on getting the accused to talk so that their words can be used against them.  We don’t need the 5^th Amendment to teach us that there is wisdom in holding your peace and trusting God.  Yet, now the approach of the high priest has switched from labeling Jesus as a terrorist, and has moved to claiming he is a false Messiah.  Jesus does answer the direct question from the high priest, “Are you the Christ the son of the Blessed One?”

It is clear in the answer of Jesus that he is giving them the truth, and at the same time giving them the political ammunition that they will need to execute him.  First, Jesus answers, “I am…”  He clearly owns the title of Christ, Messiah, but he doesn’t stop there.  Jesus adds to the claim of Messiah an allusion to a figure in Daniel 7:13-14, “and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven!” 

This passage opens with 4 beastly empires that have their way on the earth until the Ancient of Days holds court.  The judgment of God the father is that three of the beasts will have their dominion taken away and the fourth beast will be slain and given over to the burning flame.  At this point, Daniel sees a being that comes on the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Days, who is seated on His throne, in order to receive an everlasting dominion and kingdom over the whole earth.  This being is described as “like a son of man.”  Son of man is a way of describing someone as human.  However, the text says that he is “like” a son of man. 

The history of how this cryptic figure was viewed in the first century is shrouded in the history that happens after it.  The destruction of Jerusalem destroyed many documents and religious groups.  The Sadducees and their interpretations disband and do not survive.  The Pharisees that went with Israel as it was dispersed to the nations became the sole religious leaders.  They passed down their ideas by word of mouth, until their interpretations were written down in the fourth century AD.  Much of the original religious discussion of that time was lost and even purposefully hidden because of its closeness to Christian theology.  Archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls have helped to shine some light on the beliefs of those days.  Instead of going into that, we can determine much about what they thought by how they responded to what Jesus said.

Caiaphas takes this statement as complete blasphemy, even ripping his robe as he declares it.  How is what Jesus said blasphemous?  It cannot be a blasphemy to admit to being the Messiah, at least not up front.  The Messiah would one day come and would need to be able to declare he is Messiah.  There is no law in the Torah that forbids claiming to be Messiah.  It could be seen as blasphemy once a person has proven they are not.  So, it is possible that they believe Jesus has more than proved that he is not Messiah.  I think this is a stretch.  I believe the declaration of blasphemy has more to do with the Daniel 7 allusion than the claim to being Messiah.

The Daniel 7 character is “like” a human, and yet rides the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Days.  No mortal can ride the clouds of heaven.  It is clear that some groups saw this figure as a heavenly being that looks human. This would be one of the ways to see the statement as blasphemous.  The logic would be that Jesus is clearly a human being, and yet he is claiming to be a heavenly being.  Therefore, he must be a deceiver of the worst sort.

This leaves us with the main witness against Jesus as his own words, which are both truth and anything but blasphemous.  Though this is an informal trial, the group is asked what their decision is.  Jesus is declared guilty of blasphemy and deserving of death.  At first light, they will have an official meeting of the Sanhedrin that will rubber stamp this decision officially, but the real work happened in the dead of night under the hour and power of darkness.

At this point, Jesus is physically abused, which from the Gospels has happened several times before now.  This reveals the hideous hatred that was among the group towards Jesus.  It was an undeserved hatred, much like David of old.  Some were spitting on him as a show of contempt and humiliation.  A cloth is tied over his face so that he cannot see.  Then, different ones take turns hitting Jesus, and some of the servants slapping him.  A sick game commences with them taunting Jesus to prophecy which of them had hit him.

In all of this, the Lord of Glory restrained himself and took it all.  He did so for you and for me, for them, and he did so trusting in the judgment of his Father.  O, how difficult it would be to trust God when He allows such gross injustice.  Yet, trust he did.  If they treated the King of kings and the Lord of Life in such a way, how much more will this world treat us?  Is it only for Jesus to receive shame and only for us to receive glory?  Is not our participation in the coming glory of Christ dependent upon our participation in the present shame and humiliation of Christ before the world?  May God help us to stand with Jesus in the midst of a world that is still seething with a hatred and a rage for Jesus and any who will follow him in truth.  Yes, difficult days lie ahead, but those who know their God will do exploits in his name, amen!

Jesus before the Council audio