Matthew 26:17-35 The treachery of Disloyalty Who likes betrayal? Who likes someone whom you thought you could trust and that turns on you The worst part of betrayal- is that it’s ruminating in the heart of someone and the person that is about to be betrayed doesn’t even know its coming- But its typically been brewing for a while. You don’t know its coming though. You thought you were good. 

• We’re at the Thursday in the Holy Week, Nisan 13. The festival actually began at sunset of the 14th which was called the day of preparation, because the lambs for the feast were slain in the afternoon of that day, to prepare to be eaten before the morning of the 15th. 
• Involved preparing the house–  involving the removal of all leaven from houses and the use of unleavened bread, began on the 13th; why is was called “the first day of the Unleavened.”
• This was a Passover meal, celebrated by the Jews for thousands of years, 
• they remembered deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Jesus transformed this ancient ritual into a new covenant of salvation and redemption for all who believe in him.
• Passover and its significance to the Jews: In the book of Exodus, God sent ten plagues upon Egypt to convince Pharaoh to release the Israelites from their bondage.
•  The final plague was the death of the firstborn in every household, but the Israelites were instructed to sacrifice a lamb and mark their doorposts with its blood, so that the Angel of Death would “pass over” their homes. They celebrated this every year. 
• it marked the beginning of the Israelites’ journey to the Promised Land.
• For the Jews, the Passover meal was a time to remember their history and God’s faithfulness to them. They ate unleavened bread, bitter herbs, and roasted lamb, and drank four cups of wine, each with a specific meaning. This meal was a symbol of their deliverance from slavery, but it also looked forward to a future deliverance, when God would send a Messiah to save them.
• At the Last Supper, Jesus took the bread and the cup and told his disciples that they were his body and blood, which would be given up for them. He was foreshadowing his own sacrifice on the cross, where he would become the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
• Jesus was also fulfilling the prophetic promises of the Old Testament, which pointed to a Messiah who would save his people. He was the fulfillment of the Passover lamb, who would deliver his people from sin and death. And he was instituting a new covenant between God and his people, one that was based on faith in him, rather than on keeping the law.
• There’s a lot that’s going on in this part of the Gospel of Matthew
• Feast of the unleavened bread and Passover: Tells his disciples to arrange for it to happen at someones house. They have the meal, Jesus says someone will betray him. They take it to heart- Who is it Lord? And then it comes out that it’s Judas. Jesus uses this time as an opportunity to point the disciples to now seeing the Passover meal as the new covenant for them to have to with Jesus when they have a Passover meal. 
• The implications of this are HUGE. Can you imagine that this meal that the Israelites have done for thousands of years is now a whole new meaning? Now Jesus forgives sin? 
• It changes the meaning of the Passover, the atonement for sin, the future reign of Christ etc. Lots. Remember this- The early Christians were Jews who believed Jesus was God. 
• For me, it brings up questions about predestination, free will, sovereignty, and betrayal. 
• People always want to bang on Judas in this story. How could he betray the Lord? And then Peter is in this as well- “even if I have to die with you I will not deny you” 
• What they forget is Context-  31 Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night,
• All of you. We all will stumble we all will deny Christ. We are all equally guilty
• We’re moving towards the crucifixion here. I’ve cut it up that we’ll come to the resurrection on Easter Sunday- The next few months are going to be thick. These final verses- stick with it. 
• So, going through this portion of Scripture, how do we not become betrayers? How do we stay?

• 1. If you don’t want to become a betrayer Never Stop self examination
• 22 And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?” 
• I can’t exactly determine Jesus motives here, because they are not made clear- I can only guess
• Why the statement when Jesus knew the answer? I find it interesting that he states it and they all ask- “is it I”. He asks this AFTER Judas ALREADY betrayed him. 
• Going simply on the text- we can see a few things- 1. They all thought it could be them 2. None of them knew who it was  (if Judas was sus, they would have said) 3. Judas lies to his face
• Jesus knew that Judas would betray him (and had already betrayed him), and he warned his disciples that they were not above temptation. Jesus knew the propensity of every mans heart
• You can be in the room with Jesus and not even know that you’d betray him. You can also be in the room with Jesus and lie to his face. But you’re not fooling Jesus. He knows it all. 
• This is why I don’t trust everyone. Judas lied to the face of Jesus “is it I” psssh. Bro. Yesterday
• Ps Cary had a great sermon last year talking about there’s always a Judas in the making- We should always be asking ourselves, ‘is it I’? why? Because none of us are outside the realm of betrayal
• We should examine our own hearts and be honest with ourselves about any areas where we are struggling or tempted to sin. This is the lynch pin to a sanctified life. You never stop this. 
• This week- Driving with Crystal- I hope I’m not being a tool of Satan. I pray I’m not. 
• Galatians 6:4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
• Running with Crystal and Faith “is there something You need to tell me I can’t see”
• This type of talk changes your relationships! (start asking your spouse, friends etc) 
• But its not just human relationships- Its your God relationship as well. 
• This story is about communion (bible shows us) and how we take it including self examination
• 1 Cor 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
• God, Am I living contrary to the scriptures? Am I lying to myself and others? Am I steeped in Sin? Am I Judas? Am I destroying myself? Is there wickedness in me that is destroying others? What areas of my life am I not fully submitted to you? Where do I need to grow?
• This is Bible! This is holiness and sanctification! Its not whats the plan do you have for me, help me to prosper, grow my business. Its:
• Psalm 139:24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
• You are never going to be where you need to be spiritually if you never ask God to reveal your shortcomings to you. Same with your marriage, your friendships, your work relationships etc. 
• The truth is you want to live in lies because you don’t want to face the reality of your sins. 
• Job 13:23 How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin.
• Make me know! Don’t let me sleep! I want to honor you with my life Lord!
• Some people disagree with this notion “make people feel bad” “focuses on the negative” “they wont come back because they feel conviction” 
• Honeymoon- Small dish out to McD. Never went back- Memos. Full for 7 dollars. Why? hunger
• Psalm 26:2 Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart.
• 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
• This isn’t a questioning your salvation every day. It’s a ‘give us this day our daily bread’ moment. Same with my wife- are we Good today? Just checking in. What do you need?
• This is why I run the church the way I run it. Since I was a kid- quit wasting people’s time. Lets go. Some people don’t like it. That’s ok. I want to grow. I don’t want to be complacent. 

Don’t Deny Jesus 

• 33 Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.”
• Judas lies. Peter lies. Disciples are oblivious. They will deny him as well. 
• The difficult part of this scripture is that Peter declares “I will never be made to stumble”
• Again, the why and the how isn’t as important as the what- Peter denied Jesus- 3 times. 
• Jesus told Peter that he would deny him three times, but peter Didn’t listen
• You’d think he’d straighten up- Listen to Jesus and ask- “how do I not do this” or “help me”
• This actually gives me hope. If Peter didn’t listen to Jesus- why would they listen to me?
• No basis in reality. No admitting the reality of his own inner heart condition. No self awareness
• Jesus knew what was in Peter’s heart, but peter either a. lied about his heart b. was oblivious
• people who don’t know who they are? Its frustrating! Bro- You are THIS- see in others not self
• So the application is quite simple- We need to know our own propensity for Denying Christ, and not do it!
• “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” is our heart Cry- I’d never do that Lord!
• That’s the right heart condition! It’s important that we don’t deny Jesus! 
• Matt 10:33 – “But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” We don’t want to be denied by Jesus before the father! 
• Mark 8:38 – “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” We don’t want Jesus to be ashamed of us!
• Luke 12:8-9 – “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.” We don’t want to be denied before the angels! 
• But you’re sitting there- saying- If I was Peter- I know it- I could never do it- I’ve done it many times!
• Eventually we’ll Get to the story of Peter denying Christ- He’ll do it. 
• But WE tell ourselves- No. Never me. But then you’re somewhere and the Lord impresses on your heart to share about Jesus and you don’t. You’re in a social situation where the talk is going sideways and you don’t speak up. You go somewhere you know you shouldn’t be at.
• That’s denial! It’s not someone asking you- Do you know him- Its pretending that you DONT
• Revelation 3:8 – you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”

Take communion Seriously

• Self examination, don’t deny Jesus, take communion seriously. This is the remedy to betrayal
• Communion is one of only a few ordinances that Jesus requires of his followers besides baptism
• In this portion of Scripture- we see Jesus instituting communion, lords supper, Passover etc
• 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins
• I think that people minimize communion because they don’t understand the meaning behind it, the purpose of it, and the benefit of it. Communion, forgiveness, closeness. 
• We live in this post enlightenment post modern  information Christian society where everything is filtered through a presuppostioned lens that impedes peoples ability to receive
• Renaissance age- Humanism empiricism, Reformation- destroyed Catholicism, brought individualism, Science age- rational thought, observation, materialism 
• Enlightenment Era (17th-18th century): emphasized reason, empirical evidence, and individualism. growing skepticism of religious authority and a move toward secularism. challenged traditional understandings of faith and emphasized the importance of individual conscience and freedom of thought.
• Postmodern Era (late 20th century): rejection of grand narratives and a focus on subjective experience, cultural diversity, and social power dynamics. more nuanced and contextual approach. challenges the notion of a single, objective truth and emphasizes the importance of multiple perspectives and interpretation.
• Information Age (late 20th century to present): democratization of information. interactive and collaborative approach challenge traditional understandings of faith and authority.
• The Bible was written in the ancient age- a strong emphasis on tradition, religion, and authority. The idea of questioning or challenging the status quo was often seen as dangerous or heretical. Jesus did this. But now- you’re not reading the Bible through the lens it was written. You’ve been programed 
• All of those have been ingrained in all of us- so when we read scripture, the way in which we have been taught to learn and process information invariably influences how we read scripture. 
• READ Matthew 26:26-28, John 6:53-56, 
• Here’s what we know from this scripture- we are drinking Christ’s blood and eating his flesh when we take communion. It takes away our sin. We have no life if we do not do this. It gives us eternal life. It keeps us in relationship with the father. 
• You already want to challenge it- skepticism, rejection, individualism, reason, multiple perspectives etc. It all influences how you process that information- you don’t even realize it. 
• Lets see what Paul says about communion
• READ 1 cor 10:16-17, 11:27-29 
• When we take communion we participate in the blood, it brings the body of Christ together, if we do it an an unworthy manner we sin against God, ourselves and the body of Christ. If we don’t we bring Judgement on ourselves. We do this constantly because Jesus asks us to. This was central to early Ch. 
• Judas and Peter soured the disciples and the work of Christ by their actions. 
• We, as Christians, can sour the body of Christ and our relationship with him and the Body by how we live apart from the communion meal. How we take communion. How we believe
• Enlightenment- Individualism Post modern- no objective truth- my truth Info- Its just bread
• See when we come together, if we’re examining ourselves, communing with Christ and each other, we become the Bride of Christ. We’re forgiven and brought into fellowship with HIM- no betrayal. 
• There is no betrayer in that group. There is no division in the group. Just unity. 
• And in that Unity is where Christ reigns. Where we are able to be truly set free and commune with him. And not be a betrayer. 

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