Betrayed Series

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• Over the next four weeks, we are going to examine four words that are a part of Easter. Three of the four words are heartbreaking to think about; nonetheless, they are a part of what happened to Jesus as He was going to sacrifice His life so that people could have their sins forgiven.

• This week, the word is BETRAYED.

• Have you ever been betrayed by someone close to you? Someone who was in your inner circle, someone you trusted? How do you feel about that person now?

• Would you sacrifice your life for one who betrayed you?

• Being betrayed can bring out the worst in people. Betrayal can lead to feelings of anger, and can lead to thoughts of revenge. Betrayal ruins relationships, some which may be decades long.

• Betrayal is hard to deal with.

• Jesus spent the better part of three years with His disciples. They were a close-knit group, although the group has its struggles at times.

• Jesus knew He was going to be betrayed, He knew Judas was going to sell Him out, yet here is Jesus, getting ready to go to the cross for mankind.

• As it is with Jesus, even in the midst of betrayal, Jesus was able to show us what He was all about.

• He was not wrought with anger, hatred, and vengeance, instead Jesus was able to display to the world who He was.

• The way Jesus was able to deal with the betrayal from Judas can inspire us to make the best out of a bad situation.

• Today we will examine how Jesus acted in the face of betrayal.

• SLIDE #2

• John 18:1–4 (HCSB) — 1 After Jesus had said these things, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, and He and His disciples went into it. 2 Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with His disciples. 3 So Judas took a company of soldiers and some temple police from the chief priests and the Pharisees and came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. 4 Then Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to Him, went out and said to them, “Who is it you’re looking for?”

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

I. Jesus displayed supreme courage.

• After He said these things refers to John 14-17. Once they left the upper room where Judas departed In order to go betray Jesus, Jesus and the remaining 11 disciples left to head to the Garden of Gethsemane.

• WE are told they went out across the Kidron Valley.

• SLIDE #4 KIDRON VALLEY

• It was a valley that ran north and south between Jerusalem and the Mt of Olives.

• Jesus goes with His disciples to pray to get ready for what was about to happen to Him.

• John does not go into the time in prayer Jesus spent, John goes right to the arrest in the garden.

• The garden was a place of comfort for Jesus. When He entered the garden, Mark 14:33-34 tells us that Jesus asked the disciples to wait outside the gate, SIT HERE, while HE was going to pray, we are further told that Peter, James, and John entered the garden with Him.

• Why did Jesus pick the garden?

• Verse 32 states, “Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with His disciples”

• Jesus was not hiding! He showed great courage in the face of betrayal. Why didn’t Jesus simply walk the streets of Jerusalem?

• Jesus had another reason for choosing this specific place to allow His enemies to seize Him.

• Jerusalem was teeming with pilgrims, many of whom had fervently hailed Him as the Messiah just a few days earlier.

• His arrest could have sparked an insurrection by the passionately nationalistic crowds.

• That is exactly what the Jewish leaders feared would happen. MacArthur New Testament Commentary, The - MacArthur New Testament Commentary – John 12-21.

• SLIDE #5

• Matthew 26:4–5 (HCSB) — and they conspired to arrest Jesus in a treacherous way and kill Him. “Not during the festival,” they said, “so there won’t be rioting among the people.”

• Jesus did not want to be the catalyst for a revolt; His mission was not to be a military leader that would lead to an overthrow of the Roman government.

• Jesus came for a greater purpose, and He showed great courage in staying true to that mission.

• A riot could have led to the deaths of His disciples, which would not have been helpful in the fulfillment of Jesus’ mission.

• In the face of betrayal, Jesus did not betray His mission.