Luke chapter 22 verses 21 through 23. And consider the hand of betrayal. Hand of betrayal. We've been looking at this knight in which Jesus was betrayed. And this includes material that we're very familiar with as we survey the last week and especially just the days surrounding Jesus' death, his suffering, his death, burial, and thankfully his resurrection. And on this night before his crucifixion, Jesus gathers with his disciples in order to share this, what for him, in the context of his earthly ministry and life, it will be his last supper, but is the first supper that believers share together as what we know as the Lord's Supper, communion, and take this ordinance together, which we've considered now in the past weeks as being full of the symbolism of Passover, so that we understand that Jesus is the one who has fulfilled all of these promises which Passover represents. And furthermore, the Lord's Supper is, as we think about it in its past, present, and future orientations, causes us to reflect on everything that Jesus has been and has done for us and for our salvation. We look back at his sacrifice. with Thanksgiving in our hearts. We meet with him presently at his table. We meet with him at his table and we enjoy that communion with Jesus Christ by his spirit. And we look forward to the day when he will personally and bodily sup with us in the new heavens and the new earth at the marriage feast of the Lamb. And so all of this, it focuses us really on the Savior, and it is a great blessing to us. But in the midst of this, the institution of the Lord's Supper, there is betrayal. And we know this, the disciples don't know this, at least all of them but Judas, the one who will betray Christ. And Christ knows, Jesus himself knows that he's going to be betrayed. How does he know this? Could it be that according to his divine nature as God, he knows all things and he even foresees his betrayal? And that could be. Also, the Old Testament is filled with references to betrayal and all of the men who are like Christ, who are sort of pictures of Christ, all of them were betrayed. If you think about it, whether we're talking about Joseph or his brothers and the way that they betrayed him, or David and Absalom, And so it would be natural for Jesus to have looked at all of the strongest pictures of Christ-like figures in the Old Testament who foreshadowed the coming of Christ and to see the betrayal that they faced not at the hands of those who were outside of their close friends and family, but within their inner circles. and for Jesus to have almost naturally, just with his knowledge of scripture and insight into the truth of scripture and the way that it was all being pulled together and resolved in Christ, who is the fulfillment of all these promises of salvation, for him to almost assume that there would be one at table with him from within his inner fellowship who would betray him. But regardless of how this knowledge came to Jesus, he knew it. And he says in verse 21, behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. Imagine the shock that this must have been to the disciples. They had heard Jesus speak of his impending suffering, his coming death, and they were a little incredulous. No, certainly not, not you, Lord. And Jesus had to rebuke them for this. and explained to him that it was necessary that he die, but for them to have this further revelation that not only is our Lord going to die, but he is going to be betrayed by one of us, this must have been totally shocking. And we know, I think, that it's shocking because no one knows who it is. No one is like, well, I always thought that Judas would be the one to betray you, Lord." But notice what they ask in verse 23. They begin to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this. In the other Gospels, they ask the Lord, is it I? They find it so unbelievable that one of these men could betray Jesus, they're in, I think, great humility, wondering if it's them is going to be the one that's going to betray Jesus. It's totally shocking to them. It ought to, I think, shock us that anyone could betray someone like Jesus. The more that we understand his character... The more that we see that this is Jesus, gentle and lowly. He's the lily of the valley. He's fairer than 10,000. This is the one who gathers the little children to come to him, to bless them. He heals those who are sick. He forgives those who are sinners, who in great humility and faith come to him. This is the Lord Jesus. in whom all blessing is found. And yet, there's one who will betray him. And so we'll read these verses and ask for the Lord's blessing on our time in the word this morning. Let's read starting in verse 21. But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed. and they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this. Let's pray. Father God, we ask that you would help us to focus our minds on the truth here that you've revealed, to understand it, to wrestle with its teaching. God, we pray also that you would put us into the right frame of heart, that this truth would fall on us and impact us in the way that it is intended, God, to have its full effect in our heart. To humble us, to shock us, to humble us, to warn us. God, we pray that you would accomplish your purposes as we know you always do. And we're so thankful to know that in all things you You work out all things according to the counsel of your will and for the good of those who love you and are called according to your purposes. We pray that you do that this morning as we consider your word and that you would glorify your precious son Jesus Christ in us. We pray all of this in his name. Amen. The first thing we see in these verses is the hand of betrayal here. As I mentioned, this shouldn't take us by surprise because we see betrayal all over the or the Bible really, if you've never thought about betrayal as a theme of Scripture, now I hope that you'll look back as you read through the Old Testament with eyes to see that some of the figures that God raises up, and especially those that are most prominent, that God raises up to be saviors among the people, and they're all of them imperfect. None of these men are gonna be the one who will bring salvation But God raises them up to bring a measure of salvation, to give them a temporary and primarily an earthly sort of salvation from enemies of state and things like this, from famine in the case of Joseph. But in each of these cases, the men that God raises up to prefigure the coming of Christ, the Son of God, are all men who are betrayed. You think about Joseph. And in Genesis chapter 50, if you look at Genesis chapter 50, you see the confrontation between Joseph and his brothers who have betrayed him. If you recall, they were jealous of him. There was jealousy at work in their hearts as they saw the favor that he had with his father. And they put him in a pit and there was a caravan from Egypt and the brothers sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt and expected him not to be seen or heard from ever again. That was that. They made up a story and they fabricated some evidence that he had been killed. And yet, God in his providence does what he does in the life of Joseph to raise him up from slavery to this position of highest prominence in the land of Egypt in order to bring, well, For one, you think about all of the good that God does through him just on an ordinary level, a common grace level of causing many in Egypt who didn't even believe in the Lord to be preserved through this multi-year famine. But it's especially God's purposes to protect and to preserve his people through this famine that he causes this misfortune to fall upon Joseph and this great evil. And yet Joseph has a great perspective on this. We see that when, and this is in Genesis chapter 50, and in verse 19, Joseph said to his brothers, Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me. And then he says, but God meant it for good to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. So do not fear. I will provide for you and your little ones. Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. But there was great betrayal here. Likewise, if you recall the story of David and Absalom where Absalom is hypocritical and false in his honoring the king and then turning around and going and sowing seeds of division within the kingdom that this king doesn't hear your complaints. But if I were judge in the land, I would listen to all of your concerns and he begins to really to ingratiate himself among the people and gain favor and over the course of years undermines the authority of David and causes this great division and it is a great betrayal because of how close to home this is within, in both cases, within the one who is God's chosen champion king, the one that God has raised up to be a savior among his people and there is betrayal within these men's own families. Psalm 55, David himself pens these words in verses 12 through 14, for it is not an enemy who taunts me, then I could bear it. It is not an adversary who deals insolently with me, then I could hide from him. But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend, We used to take sweet counsel together within God's house. We walked in the throng. David is speaking about this hurtful betrayal at the hands of someone that he attended church with and had a close friendship with this man. whoever he's referring to here, but this is a kind of betrayal that we see, I think, in Luke chapter 22. It's easy for us to think about what a scoundrel Judas was, and what we know about him helping himself to the money bags, and already greed consumed his heart, and we can almost see this coming if we understand some of the things that are revealed about him. And it's easy to think that he was really kind of an outsider, but he wasn't an outsider with Jesus. He was an insider. He wasn't on the fringe of the Twelve. He was right there in the midst of them. And he was a close friend of Jesus. This betrayal was painful. The Bible talks about Jesus in ways that are very helpful to us because it reminds us that Jesus in his earthly life, that Jesus faced many of the things that we face, not sin, but temptation to sin, and many of the hurts, the trials, the sufferings, the betrayals that we face. And so he can be a sympathetic high priest with us in all of our troubles. And one implication of this, I think, as we think about what it means for us to live for Christ and following Christ as his disciples, that there is no disciple who is greater than his master. And to sort of paraphrase what's said there, if Jesus was betrayed, then we ought also to expect this kind of hurtful betrayal in our life, personally, in terms of our friendships, even our close friendships, and in our church. John says in 1st John 2.19, I mean this is said almost so matter-of-fact as an explanation for why some come in and they're a part of the church, and then they leave us. John says in 1st John 2.19, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of us. They all are not of us. So this is something we see. And it's hurtful, I think, whenever you have people come in. You have high hopes on a personal level. You like the people that you like. You enjoy their company. And you want to see them grow. And in a church like ours, especially, we have such a church family. And there's a feeling of closeness. with our church, and so when someone comes and joins this family of faith, it is all the more hurtful. I suppose in much larger churches that maybe this isn't quite as felt in such an acute way. It's not such a sharp parting when someone leaves the fellowship of the church, especially when they go out into the world because the relationships are just not as close, but for us it is very hard and hurtful. And I still periodically I remember people who've come in, who've left and gone. And I thank God for the ones who are a part of other gospel preaching churches. I don't have concerns for them in quite the same way, although I do miss them. But it's those who leave and who are out in the world and not within the safety of of the local church. And so this is hurtful. We see this personally and maybe you've experienced this kind of betrayal. This is some of the most difficult. I mean the world can oppose us and we can face even persecution that's not as hurtful. I mean, we can really lose quite a bit and know in our own personal experience the cost of discipleship when it comes to where our own relationship with the Lord, our following Him, when that cost us from the world, the outside, those who are enemies of the people of God and are no friends, that's hurtful, that's costly and difficult. But whenever those who are within betray us, then that is a different pain, pain on a different order. We see this betrayal here in Luke chapter 22. But secondly, we see the hand behind the hand, as it were. And first of all, I think we see it beginning in verse 21. Because Jesus says, behold. Before this happens, Jesus understands that this is going to happen. And so there's knowledge of this. Well, how can that be? Well, in verse 22, we see this. The Son of Man goes as it has been determined. So here's a teaching that is maybe difficult for us to understand, but we may not be able to fully understand it. But we've got to affirm it, even when we can't understand it. That is that God is in absolute control of all things. There's several different perspectives that people have when they try to put together how can God be in control and accomplish all of his purposes, as the Bible seems to teach, and yet how can man have choices that we make that are real choices? People put these two things together in different ways. Some people will, there's two extremes. One is that God actually is not in control of anything. There's some theologians who believe this. It's called process theology, or open theism, all part of these really heretical beliefs that God has the power of persuasion, but not the power of coercion. In other words, the only thing that God can do, God looks at the world, all of the evil, the lostness, and it really pains him, but the most that God can do is to suggest. to his morally free creatures a certain course of action. He can seek to persuade them, but he's really, his hands are totally tied. And I know people who believe this to such a degree, even around here, there's a pastor I know who believes this to such a degree that he, there are many things he doesn't pray for because he doesn't think there's anything that God can do about this. So God's hands are totally tied. And this is to exalt the choice of man so far and above the will of God that God is basically impotent and powerless to do anything. and man is all-powerful. Now, thankfully, there are very few who believe this. On the other hand, there are people, and this is also, thankfully, very few people believe this. They believe that, really, God is in control of everything. He determines everything to such a meticulous degree that there are no real choices. We think we have a choice, but it's already been decided in such a way that choice is an illusion. So man has no choice in the matter, in anything, and God is the only one who decides everything. Well in some ways that's better because at least it's not diminishing God. I'd rather diminish man than God. But it's also not the teaching of the Bible and these are two extremes. And then we have positions that are in the middle mediating positions. And I just want to suggest to you this morning that when we try to reconcile what the Bible teaches which is that God is in control. of all things. So for example, think about Ephesians 111. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him, that is God, who, what does God do? He works all things according to the counsel of his will. All things. Is there anything outside of that category which God does not work according to the counsel of his will? No, because Paul says that God works all things according to the counsel of his will. That much is clear. And similarly we have the teaching of Romans 8 28. We know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. So all things God is able to work together for good. I think in the story of Joseph we see that very plainly where Joseph tells to his brothers he says you meant evil against me. But God meant it for good. So God is able to sort of overrule the intentions of these men who they did choose to do evil in the sight of the Lord. And yet, does that tie God's hands? No, because God is able to bring good out of it. And so Joseph knows God meant it for good. God was at work in your working evil, but God was working good in it to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. And so we have this teaching that's just inescapable in the Bible that God is sovereign, not over a certain sphere of creation or activity, but over all of history, all of creation, all of providence, over all the world, over salvation. God is sovereign over all His creation and in all the universe. And yet what we see is that man is responsible. So notice here that even as he says that the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, woe to that man by whom he is betrayed. So it's not as if Judas had no say in the matter or no choice to make. He made a choice for which he was held accountable. And the same goes for Joseph when he talked about God meaning these events that had transpired for good, but these came about according to the evil choice of his brothers. And Joseph makes that clear. You meant it. You had a choice. You made your choice. And your choice was an evil choice. It was intended to cause evil, to me, harm. And yet God is also at work. in accomplishing His will. Well, here's where as Christians we may have trouble reconciling two things. Well, how can God be in control of things and man have these choices to make? But here's what we have to do is never deny something the Bible clearly teaches. And we hold these things together. And so these things are what we might call compatible. We have choices to make, but God, He doesn't eliminate our choices, but He works in and through them. And here's the upshot of this. This is where the real blessing of this knowledge comes to us. We have a God that can never be taken by surprise. And there's no amount of evil, there's no work of the devil or no degree of sin that can overrule God's intentions to bless or to save. If that's God's will to bless, he's going to bless and bring good out of a situation no matter what. There's nothing that even approaches God's wisdom and power and his ability to accomplish his purposes. And so that powerful view of a God who is in control ought to give us great comfort as believers. And especially when we look at the evil that we face, the betrayal that Jesus faced, and the suffering that we go through, and even sometimes the sin that we've committed, because sometimes sin, you know, it has lifelong repercussions. And we've had the thought before, and maybe you haven't had this thought, but I suspect that many, if not most of us have had the thought, I have, through my choice, I have ruined my life. Not maybe totally. but I have, there's some great regret because I've made an unalterable decision with lifelong ramifications and we look at maybe a strange relationship with a relative or we look at some decision we made that we can never go back on and we have this regret. But the question is, the suffering, the evil that has been committed against me, the suffering that I've faced, the choices that I've made, and I've made my bed, now I've got to lie in it and all of this, is this hopeless? No, we're accountable for the things that we do and yet God still can bring good out of it. And if we're ever tempted to doubt this, I think this is the perfect place for us to look, is the betrayal of Christ and the evil that was committed against this one person who of all people least deserved to be wronged. And yet God brought, and he was most wronged. Nobody has faced the degree of evil, suffering, pain that Jesus himself experienced. And yet of all evils that have ever been committed, God brought the most good out of this. You see the power of God here. And Peter points this out in Acts chapter 2, when at Pentecost he preaches this sermon and he gets to his point, he says, men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know, this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men." So you have Peter there. He's not jumping into a philosophical explanation of how these two things are possible, but he is preaching both of them. that Jesus death and his sacrifice that God planned that before the foundations of the earth to save for himself a people and so don't don't think that any of this took God by surprise when we see that in Luke chapter 22 the Son of Man goes as it has been determined and yet Peter also preaches and you're responsible for his death. And don't think that lets you off the hook. And you'd better repent of your sin and trust in the Savior, lest you be destroyed. And so we have both of these things, and so it's important for us, we see the hand of betrayal, it's easier for us to see the evil manifest in our own lives, our church, in the world, evil that is committed against God at the hands of someone like Judas, or someone that we've known. And it's easy for us to see that and not to see the purposes of God that don't do away with the human responsibility and accountability, and yet give us hope in the midst of it that God is at work in a big way. That is very heartening and comforting. But here's something else that we see here. We see not only the hand of the betrayer, but we see our own hand, your hand and mine. And in verse 23, they began to question one another. Which of them it could be who was going to do this? Well, I think this is significant. I think it's significant that Jesus allows them to wonder, to question. It's actually a biblical command that we, as in the word of 2 Peter 1.10, therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election. For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. or the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 13, 5. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you fail to meet the test? So we're called to actually search our own hearts, to examine ourselves, to ask ourselves, for example, Could it not be me who might betray the Lord, who might fall away from Him, who might sin against Him gratefully? Jesus could have pointed to Judas immediately, and certainly He did give indication of who it was there at the Lord's Supper. We see that in another of the Gospels, but here He allows them, we see, time to question. They question one another, and they ask, is it I, Lord? We ought to all be asking that question, I think, to some degree. Is it not possible for me to sin in this way? It takes humility to see ourselves as not beyond the possibility of falling away, of not beyond the possibility of sinning against Him, of dishonoring Him. I remember when the Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson, love that guy, I know he's got, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sure he's done some pretty bad things, but it's kind of a wild card, but such a manly man. The Passion of the Christ comes out, and we went to see it in theaters, and my friend, you know, everybody comes out of that movie very somber, because, you know, it's a movie about the crucifixion of Christ, and it's been done so graphically, and a friend of mine, who I don't think was a believer, I'm quite sure he wasn't a believer, he came out of there, and he was also sort of in deep thought and we get in the car and he's very angry. And I'm kind of sensing that my response and his response are different. It's somber and I'm filled with some gratitude for what Christ has done. I'm also very humbled that he did it for me. My friend's angry and I said, what's going on? And he said, I want to just go over there and I want to kill all those Jews who put Jesus to death. I said, okay, well I think you're missing the point here. of this because you can't point to another group of people who are responsible for the death of Christ. It won't do to look at Judas and to say, I would never betray my Lord like Judas did. I would never crucify Christ like the Romans did or like the Jews did because the fact is that it was your sins and mine that led him to the cross for him to willingly suffer. No one Ultimately, no one caused Jesus to suffer except the Father, except for the Lord God himself, who in his own divine counsel made a plan of salvation and in time sent the Son in order to die for us and for our salvation. He came for us and the only thing that made it necessary was not the evil of a Judas in isolation or the Romans or the Jews, but was our sin. It was our sin. And so I think that we need to take a lesson from the humility of the disciples to look around and not point fingers elsewhere so much as we point a finger at ourselves and question here and ask, am I in Christ? Would I betray Him? Well, here's the sad, somber answer to that question. Yes, I have betrayed Christ. I have sinned against Him. And if I'm going to escape a worse fate than Judas, I must trust in the sacrifice that he made for those who betrayed him as Judas did. And so let us look to Christ in great humility for the grace and for the forgiveness that he so freely extends to those lawless ones, to those sinners, to those who have betrayed him as we pray together this morning. Father God, We do approach you in humility because it was our sin that drove you to the cross. And God, it was our sin that made the sacrifice of your son necessary. And we have no one else to blame because we were ourselves part of the problem and the reason And God, members of humanity, of a sinful humanity that has turned from you and has not known our creator or our master, has not given thanks to you for the many things that you've done for us or sought to follow your will rather than our own. God, we have rebelled, not known you as we ought. We've betrayed you. God, we pray that you would Remind us of this to keep us humble. God, we would continually see ourselves as not above a fall, but God, that we would walk with you humbly in order that we might not fall. And we pray that you would keep us from falling. God, that you would extend to us the kind of mercy that Judas did not receive because his heart was hardened, but mercy which Peter received after his betrayal. when he was restored. And God, we pray that that would be so for all of us and God that you would use us as instruments of your redeeming grace to call others from their betrayal to a new relationship of peace. With you to walk with you in forgiveness by trusting in your son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, Amen.