“If I Had It To Do Over Again, …”
Text: Luke 22:1-6
I. Welcome
II. Introduction
Have you ever regretted a decision you made? Guys, has your wife ever asked you: “If you had it to do over again, would you still marry me?” And, I hope you had sense enough to know how to answer! This morning, I want to focus on some events leading up to our Savior’s death. To do this, I want us to look at some individuals who made some poor decisions. As we all know, hindsight is 20/20 and perhaps some of these would do things differently if they only could. We’re going to begin by looking at the infamous Judas Iscariot. We’re all familiar with this man who betrayed our Lord but I hope you’ll open your Bibles as we study together for a few minutes. As always, we urge you to be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 and search the scriptures daily to make sure I’ve preached the truth.
III. Lesson
Verse 3 of our text always gets to me: Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. Just remember, Judas had to open the door to let him in! We talked about this Friday night in men’s Bible class using James 1:14-15. Now look at the end of John 6 after one of the saddest verses in the Bible – verse 66 – when many of the Lord’s disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Jesus then asked the twelve if they wanted to go away also. And Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Notice the last two verses: Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve. I want us to go to the parallel text of our scripture reading as found in Matthew 26:14-16. But, before we read these verses, please observe verses 6-13 that record the anointing of Jesus by Mary in Bethany with the expensive oil.
Now verses 14-16: Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him. Judas asked how much money he could get for betraying Jesus. The amount was what a slave was worth or about a month’s wages by some accounts. Whatever the amount, it was not worth the price of a man’s soul. Now, turn to John 12:1ff. where we have the account of Mary anointing Jesus in Bethany with the expensive spikenard. Read with me verses 4-6: But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. John further records that Satan entered Judas while they were eating a meal – John 13:27. Judas’ greed and thievery made him an easy target for Satan. As we well know, Judas betrayed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane with a kiss – but his satisfaction was short-lived. Less than 12 hours later after the Sanhedrin agreed to put Jesus to death, we read the following in Matthew 27:3-5 – Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!”
Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. But, the key word is in verse 3 – “remorseful”. The Greek word means: to have regrets about something, in the sense that one wishes it could be undone, be very sorry, regret The second man we want to notice is Simon Peter. After the Passover meal, Jesus and His disciples went out to the Mount of Olives. Our Lord stated that they would all stumble that night because of Him. Peter was adamant that he would never be made to stumble. Then we have this exchange in Matthew 26:34-35: Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”
Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!”
And so said all the disciples. It was only a matter of hours before our Lord’s words came true – Matthew 26:69-75 – in the courtyard of the high priest’s house: Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.”
But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.”
And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
But again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!”
And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.”
Then he began to curse and swear, saying, “I do not know the Man!”
Immediately a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly. There’s one little detail that Luke includes that makes this denial scene more poignant – Luke 22:60b-62 – Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So Peter went out and wept bitterly. Our next men to consider are introduced to us in Luke 3:1-2 – Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. The 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar would be about A.D. 28. The Roman governor had removed Annas as high priest in A.D. 15 and then his son-in-law Caiaphas was appointed high priest in A.D. 18. Annas wielded a lot of influence and five of his sons would also become high priests. Due to the Jews’ resentment of Roman interference in their affairs, it is no wonder that Annas was still considered a high priest instead of the latest one appointed by the Romans! This will help us understand why Jesus was first taken before Annas and where Peter first denied our Lord. Let’s read John 18:12-14 – Then the detachment of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound Him. And they led Him away to Annas first, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year. Now it was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. This prophecy of Caiaphas is recorded in John 11:49-52 after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. After this farce of a trial, Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest (John 18:24). We won’t take time to read all the illegal maneuverings of this court as they sought false testimony against Jesus. Eventually, Caiaphas was forced to tear his clothes and charge Jesus with blasphemy. The council then declared that Jesus deserved death. But notice how they mistreated our Savior – Matthew 26:67-68 – Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, “Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?” When morning finally came, the Sanhedrin legally convened to pass their death sentence on Jesus and deliver Him to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. He was a cruel tyrant but isn’t really portrayed as one during the trial of Jesus. In fact, Pilate could find nothing in Him worthy of death – offering to release Him instead of the horrible criminal Barabbas. Even Pilate’s wife urged him to have nothing to with this just Man Jesus. Pilate knew that the Jews had handed Jesus over because of envy. In the gospel accounts, we see a Roman official trying hard to release the innocent Jesus but encountering an angry mob intent on crucifying our Lord. Pilate’s problem was that he could not afford a big Jewish problem at this time because he already had two strikes against him. He had seriously offended the Jews twice and the Roman emperor was sympathetic to their complaints. So he gave in to save his own political skin. Notice Matthew 27:24 – When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.” There’s one final man I want us to consider this morning – a man mentioned only in Luke’s gospel as a participant in the crucifixion of Jesus. Turn with me to Luke 23:8-12 as we read how Pilate allowed the governor of Galilee, Herod Antipas, to examine Jesus. According to Luke 9:9, Herod had been seeking to see Jesus for a long time. However, Luke 13:31 indicates Herod also wanted to kill Him. Let’s pick up in Luke 23:8 – Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him, because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him. Then he questioned Him with many words, but He answered him nothing. And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him. Then Herod, with his men of war, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate. That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other. Herod had wanted to see Jesus for a long time and now he wanted to see a miracle done by Him. When Jesus remained silent, Herod and his soldiers were content to make fun of Him.
IV. Conclusion/Invitation
We have quickly looked at six men who were involved with the arrest and trials of Jesus. If they had it to do over again, what would they do? It’s easy to look at these men today and condemn their actions. But, as we look down on them, we must remember that our sins put Jesus on the cross just as much as theirs. Have we ever betrayed Jesus like Judas? Has the love of money ever kept us from serving God as we should? Have we ever denied our Lord like Peter? Have we ever failed to stand up for what’s right because we were afraid of what people would think? Surely, we’ve never been like Annas or Caiaphas. None of us would ever have a holier than thou attitude. I know none of us would ever just go along with the crowd as they did – even if it was wrong. Have we ever been like Pilate and done the wrong thing for fear of any repercussions? And, none of us would pretend to be religious just to see what we could get out of it. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ve probably failed morally like all of these men at one time or other. Or, perhaps, we were part of the crowd that evening and next morning. To the best of our knowledge, only Peter took advantage of a second chance. What about you this morning? We’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory but, by His grace, He’s given us all another opportunity to get things right with Him. We’re going to extend the Lord’s invitation and we beg you not to miss this opportunity to have your sins washed away in baptism or be restored to a right relationship with God. Whatever your need might be, won’t you come as we stand and sing?
