Calm In Chaos

Passage: Matthew 26:57-68

Intro: Once is a while we witness it; that person who remains calm in the middle of chaos.

Il) my father-in-law received the Silver Star for Valor for standing on the deck of a baby flattop in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and directing return fire while under terrific attack.

1. as great as that story is, and others, here is one that stands alone.

2. look at this story, easy to focus on the illegalities, the inequities, the cruelty of this so-called “trial”

3. but in the middle of the swirling storm stands a calm, peaceful, even joyful man.

4. suffering innocently, unfairly, denied even the most basic rights, he stands.

PP lighthouse in a storm

5. while we stand in awe of Jesus, we will see at the end of this message that His demeanor in the midst of chaos is to be ours.

6. chaos that involved…

I. Conspiracy That Wasn’t Just a Theory

1. lots of conspiracy theories out there.

2. who shot JFK, was 9-11 planned by US government?

3. but here is a conspiracy to commit murder that is well-documented.

4. v57: saw Jesus arrested last week, very calm.

5. now taken to house of Caiaphas…but notice something!

6. “Where the teachers…had assembled” aorist=point in time in the past.

7. the whole thing was planned out, because they had a small time window.

8. had to avoid people finding out, so everything had to be ready to go to the Romans by daybreak.

Il) Romans liked to work early in the morning. (Probably getting old) Also hot later.

9. v59, really lays it out. False witnesses sought, so they could kill him.

10. we have names for this: railroad, kangaroo court, miscarriage of justice.

11. this was a illegal government conspiracy to commit murder.

Il) governments usually run by lawyers, and they are good at working the system.

Il) remember talking to someone about whether President Obama was US citizen, response was “they’ll find a way around the law”

12. highest powers in Israel working outside their own rules to kill Jesus.

II. Deception on Steroids

1. once they got on this deceptive, lawless pathway, things just get worse.

2. They paraded a bunch of liars past the group to see if they could find something to stick.

3. it is a great word in Greek. Pseudomartupian=false testifier

4. talk about a oxymoron!!

5. but as much as they wanted something to stick to Jesus, none of the stories had legs.

6. and of course they had to find one charge that would allow them to execute Jesus.

Il) 31 OT laws that had death penalty

7. one sounded good, v60, but it was a terrific misinterpretation of what Jesus said.

8. so lame He would not even respond to it. (Principle: some statements are better off ignored, lest you look defensive in your answer)

9. that takes tremendous security. Where did Jesus get His?

Il) garden of Gethsemane, in SS we realized He had “pre- decided” a course of action before the attack began

10. He expected lies, mistreatment, unfairness, illegality, so was

11. numerous laws broken: no night trial, can’t do it in someones house, no defense attorney provided, private interrogation of witnesses, etc etc.

12. don’t expect fairness, justice, from man’s system when it comes to faith.

13. gov’t says “we will do whatever it takes to achieve our goal”

III. Dangerous Truth

1. Caiaphas was frustrated with how things were going.

2. took a desperate measure, put Jesus under oath, (did not ask) to answer the main question they all had.

3. if Jesus refuses to answer, He would be breaking a legally imposed oath attached to God’s name.

4. but notice something. The trial had finally gotten into the arena of truth.

5. not response to lies, but a request/demand for the truth.

6. very dangerous question for Jesus, because if He said yes, then He had given them exactly what they wanted.

7. they would consider it blasphemy, claiming equality with God.

8. but it would also be dangerous for the Sanhedrin, because they would be called to decide whether it was the truth or not.

9. the answer is clear, and then even clearer.

10. “it is as you say”=your statement is correct. I am everything you have said.

Il) “but wait! There’s more!”

11. rest of statement seems rather vague, except that it was not the first time these men had heard it.

PP Daniel 7:13-14

12. now that’s the truth! And that is what Jesus came to proclaim and to be

PP John 14:6

13. the events leading up to and including

the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was the greatest revelation of the truth of God the universe will ever witness.

14. it is a very dangerous truth in the short term, because those who proclaim it do so in a world that is hostile to it.