"Christ's Finest Hour-Our Finest Hour" Series

PASSION WEEK

Sermon #4 in my series on Passion Week

Day #5(Thursday before the crucifiction)

A Day of betrayal and desertion

Title: "Christ’s Finest Hour: Our Finest Hour"

Text: John 12:23-32

Introduction-

Our Lord & Saviour, Jesus Christ, had spent

most of Tuesday afternoon, all of Wednesday, and

most of Thursday, in Bethany. We do not know

much about what happened on Wednesday, because

the Bible is mostly silent about it. It may be

that the annointing of Jesus for His burial took

place on Tuesday evening(Wednesday, Jewish time),

but it is difficult to be dogmatic about this.

Some of the Gospel writers were not interested

in giving a chronological account of the activi-

ties of Jesus. They were more interested in just

telling the story of His life, and using themes,

such as prayer, or the second coming, to organize

their materials, indifferent to their proper se-

quence. At the home of Simon the leper Jesus

was annointed by Mary of Bethany. Judas was

critical of this suppposed "waste" of expensive

oil, but he wasn’t concerned about the poor. He

only wanted the money for himself. After Jesus

rebuked him, he left and went into Jerusalem to

bargain with the religious leaders to betray Jesus.

The next time we hear of Jesus, it is Thursday

afternoon, our time (at sunset Jewish Friday

began). To their discredit, the disciples were

found arguing about who was going to be greatest.

They all seemed to want first place in Christ’s

coming kingdom. Jesus taught them a lesson on

humility and service to others by using the

object lesson of washing their feet. He identified

Judas as the betrayer, and then Judas departed

again. Jesus warned them that they all would

forsake him. Peter boasted that although all the

others might, he never would. He would go to

death with Jesus. Poor Peter. The rooster didn’t

crow twice until he had denied Jesus three times.

Jesus. Jesus had sent Peter and John into the

city to prepare for Passover. When the time came

to celebrate Passover He took the opportunity to

institute The Lord’s Supper, which would be sym-

bolic of His bruised and broken body, and His

shed blood. He told them that He was going away,

and they became very sad. In John 17, we read

of Christ’s great intercessory prayer, probably

prayed somewhere near Gethsemene. He told His

disciples to love one another as He had loved

them. He headed for Gethsemene, greatly burdened

and in intense agony. There He would sweat, as

it were, great clots of blood. His hour had come.

Jesus often spoke of His hour. He had reference

to His passion, His time of great suffering.

Here are some of the references supporting this

idea:

John 2:4-"Woman, what have I to do with thee?

Mine hour is not yet come."

John 7:30-"Then they sought to take Him: but

no man laid hands on Him, because His hour was

not yet come."

John 8:20-"These words spake Jesus in the treasury,

as He taught in the temple: and no man laid hands

on Him, for His hour was not yet come."

John 12:27-"Now is my soul troubled; and what shall

I say? Save me from this hour; but for this hour

I came unto this hour."

Matthew 26:45-"Sleep on now, and take your rest:

behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is

betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us

be going."

John 12:23-"the hour is come, that the Son of man

should be glorified."

Christ’s greatest hour, His greatest glory, was

the cross. It is there that He paid the price

for the sins of mankind, willingly, and obediently.

John 13:1-"Now before the feast of the Passover,

when Jesus knew that His hour was come that He

should depart out of the world unto the Father,

having loved His own which were in the world,

He loved them unto the end."

Jesus told the hypocritical religious leaders who

came with those who were arresting Him in Geth-

semene-"but this is your hour, and the power of

darkness."

It was the time when evil would have its way, and

the precious lamb of God would be slain, mocked,

spit upon. But, what Satan thought was Christ’s

greatest defeat, became His greatest victory.

Jesus crushed the serpent’s head on Calvary’s

cross. He was the final Victor.

* I am indebted to the the late Dr. William

Stephens, of Mississippi College, Clinton, for

this sermon idea. I visited in his church one

Sunday, and heard him speak on Your Finest Hour.

He said that our finest hour was when we accept

Jesus and what He did on the cross for our re-

demption from sin. Thank God. He(Jesus) paid

a debt we could not pay. And, by His grace and

mercy we are redeemed. Glory to Him for all

eternity!

Comments-dannymoss@hotmail.com, or

dannymoss777@yahoo.com