Jesus’ Sacrifice For Our Redemption (Luke, Part 12) Series

Jesus’ Sacrifice for our Redemption (Luke, Part 12)

Luke 22:39-23:56

Introduction / Recap

- Last week, we discussed the Lord’s Supper and its importance for today

-- What Jesus does is give them a covenant they can stand firm on

-- If they serve, they will earn a place in eternity by His side (so will we)

• The cup represented the new covenant made between man and God

• The bread symbolizing His broken body; broken for our sin

• How we respond to this sacrament really helps us press into obeying Him

-- FOCUS: Do we honor Jesus’ sacrifice in our life or not?

- Traditionally, today is referred to as Palm Sunday

-- The day Jesus made His triumphant entry (ref message from March 20th)

-- Today we are going to examine the arrest, trial, crucifixion, and burial

- Now, I covet your prayers on this because I want this to be applicable

-- If you have been in church for at least a year, you’ve heard this message

-- So, my challenge to you is this: hang with me and ask God to speak:

-- “God, what is that I need to learn as we enter this Holy week?”

- FACT: This is perhaps the most challenging message of this series

-- And for ease of study, we will break the reading into three parts …

- Read Luke 22:39-63 / Pray

Point 1 – What can we learn from the prayer, arrest, and denial of Jesus?

- IMP: It was customary for Jesus to seek time alone with God (v39)

-- While He does, His instruction to the disciples was also to pray for themselves

-- Pray to not fall into temptation; to be bold in their faith; to be ready to fight

- In this moment, Jesus was desperate for time alone with His Father

-- Crying out in brokenness and dependency – He knows God will hear

-- The word He uses is “pater”, or Daddy – child crying out to a parent

- The ask is simple: “Please daddy, let there be another way if possible”

-- It shows the struggle of His will – the flesh is weak for what is coming

-- But the dependency on God is seen in His resolve, “Not my will …”

-- APP: This surrender is what makes Him the perfect sacrifice for us

-- Even to bear the wrath of God for all of our sin; He is dependent on God

- We get to see something unique: the response of God to His Son (v43-44)

-- An angel is sent to comfort, to strengthen, to encourage Him

-- Surely, Jesus would have known this angel …

-- And it causes Jesus to pray more earnestly; with more resolve to follow

-- We see that his determination is so steadfast, “thromboi” occurs (sweat blood)

- When He is arrested, we finally see the fulfillment of Judas’ purpose

-- He was a professing disciple; but he was a leader of sinners (deceptive)

- The kiss is a sign of friendship – and his betrayal is now complete

-- Consider: it’s dark, they might miss Jesus, so Judas has a plan to ID Him

-- APP: True – his sin was terrible … but the deception was even worse

- What Judas had was a problem with his heart – affects his commitment

-- Jeremiah 17:9, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”

- Remember last week we talked about the disciples ready to wage war?

-- Even Peter was willing to go to the ends of life to support Jesus

-- Their passions are obviously stirred when they come to arrest Jesus

- But they have missed Jesus’ teachings – He does not want a fight

-- Jesus stops them from any further bloodshed – even performs a miracle

-- Miracle: Even the ear of a soldier is healed from Peter’s outburst

-- They’ve missed the purpose – Jesus brings redemption, not war

- Following the arrest, we see an interesting event unfold: Peter follows

-- Now, why is this critical to us? Because we need to see ourselves here

-- Peter follows from a distance; and runs into a challenge of his faith (v54)

- Three times he is asked if He is a follower (the world does this to us btw)

-- APP: How you act, how you live, how you share all is representative of Jesus

- Instead of interfering, Peter sits down with the crowd (sits among them)

-- It is almost as if he is trying to blend in – to be part of the world

-- Re: Peter has this problem later in Galatians 2:11-13

“But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.”