So we're in Mark chapter 14, and we're going to pick it up in verse 12 today, but let me pray. Our Father and our God, we pause before we read your word, Lord, to acknowledge that this is the very word of God. Lord, it's truth, and we need to be aligned to your truth. I pray you might open our ears so we could hear your word. and open our hearts that we can receive it, enable our minds that we can understand it, and then apply it, Lord, to each individual life. We thank you, in Jesus' name, amen. So we begin with the Passover meal and the preparation for the Passover meal in verse 12. And let me just read it down to verse 21. Now on the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, where do you want us to go and prepare that you may eat the Passover? And he sent out two of his disciples and said to them, go into the city and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him. Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, the teacher says, where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with my disciples? Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared. There make ready for us. So his disciples went out and came into the city and found it just as he had said to them. and they prepared the Passover. In the evening, he came with the 12. Now, as they sat and ate, Jesus said, assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with me will betray me. And they began to be sorrowful and to say to him one by one, is it I? And another said, is it I? He answered and said to them, it is one of the 12 who dips with me in the dish. The son of man indeed goes just as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if he had never been born. Let's start with that, just the Passover meal to begin with. We looked at that last week. I don't want to cover a whole lot of this again because we did look at that together last week, but a little bit just to remind ourselves that this was a memorial meal. It was a meal of remembrance. They were to remember the significance of what God had done in delivering them from Pharaoh and out of Egypt to be his people, uniquely his people, to go and worship him. And Exodus 12, I read to you last week. Let me read it again. Exodus 12, 14, which is speaking about the memorial meal, not the actual event, but the memorial meal says, so this day shall be to you a memorial and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. So it's a remembrance meal, but it's also a revelatory meal or a meal that has typological impact because Jesus clearly tells us that there's some future fulfillment that was gonna occur that had to do with him and his dying, that he was the sinless lamb of God. So for all these years, they had been celebrating this Seder meal in remembrance of what God had done to deliver them from tyranny and slavery to be God's own unique people. And Jesus says, but there's this greater fulfillment and what I'm about to do when I go to the cross and I die for the sins of the world. Um, and Luke 22, uh, Luke records for us in verse 14 says, when the hour had come, he sat down and the 12 apostles with him, Then he said to them, and listen to what Jesus has to say about this particular meal. He says, Jesus says to them, with fervent desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Then he says, for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. So you see Jesus, even though he's predicting the suffering that will come, he'll be arrested that very night. He looks beyond that to the victory that he'll achieve, because he speaks of a future eating and a future meal in the kingdom of God. As a matter of fact, I'm almost tempted to preach to you John's gospel, because John spends so much time explaining all that happened that wonderful night with our Lord and his disciples. And when you go to John chapter 13, and I'm not going word for word here, but if you go to John 13, the Bible says that Jesus loved his disciples and that he loved them, the way it puts it is he loved them to the end. And then he starts to talk about this meal and what Jesus does during the meal. But the point is that it's all in love, that Jesus loved them and he loved them to the end. And that word in the Greek is telos. It means the destination point. Jesus knew what he was doing and where he was taking us, which is ultimately to glory. And it's all in love. As a matter of fact, Jesus in that text in John 13, it says that he knew he came from God and he knew he was going back to God. Now in between that is what? His ministry, his life, his dying on the cross, his going to the grave. But he knew that he had came from God, and ultimately he was going back to God. And so there's this almost triumphant expectation, even within this sort of sad passage of, hey, somebody is going to betray me, 1 of the 12. And I think I read last week, and this is all the farther I'll probably go with this, where Paul tells the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 5, for indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. So you can see the connection and really the ultimate further fulfillment of what the Passover was all about in Jesus. Now Mark only tells us that Jesus sends two disciples to go and make this preparation for the meal. And Luke's the one that tells us who those two were. It was Peter and John. You can find that in Luke 22.8. It's interesting because if you remember in the opening book chapters of the book of Acts, like chapter three, the very beginning of chapter three of the book of Acts, you'll see that Peter and John are ministry partners, that they go about, Jesus had trained them to go two by two, and there they were, the two of them doing ministry in the book of Acts after the ascension, after the resurrection. So he tells these two, Peter and John, that there's a sign, you're to go. And this is going to be a sign that you're going to see. And it's kind of interesting. And he says, you're going to see a man carrying a picture of water. That's the sign to you that you're to follow that man and whatever house he goes into, that's the house you go to. And you have to go talk to the master of that house. Kind of cryptic, isn't it? A little bit? I was reading one of the commentators who said that it was very unusual. I mean, it's not like you'd go there and like all the, well, there's a hundred men carrying around pitchers of water or jugs of water, but that was typically a task that the females performed to go and go to the wells and get the water and to bring the water back. So it was a bit unusual to see a man, And so that was assigned to them. And when they saw it, it was just like Jesus had said, there he was. And they followed him and did exactly what Jesus had said to do. John MacArthur says in his commentary, Jesus had evidently made these arrangements clandestinely or secretly. He had already made these plans with whoever that homeowner or that master of the house was. So MacArthur says, in order to prevent his premature betrayal, had Judas known ahead of time where the meal was to be eaten, he would surely have alerted the chief priests and elders. But none of these things were to happen until the time was at hand. All of this reveals how Jesus himself was sovereignly in control of all the details of his own crucifixion. which you'll see over and over again in scripture that Jesus is in absolute control. So it's the guest room that they're looking for, but they have to go talk to the master of the house. That word in the original language is the same root word that's translated in Luke's gospel in the early chapters for in. There was no room at the in. So this is probably a situation where either just the second floor of this home was preserved to be rented out to pilgrims that would come into the city at the times of the three festivals. And it does appear that Jesus had some prior interchange with this master of the house and had already reserved the room. It was already prepared. He had it prepared. with a table and lounging couches, because they would recline when they ate in those days, even though my translation is going to say they sat. And so you get Michelangelo doing his famous painting with them all sitting around. That's not how it was. They were reclining at these tables. So it's a little different than we think in our English-thinking Western minds. And it does say that Peter and John were to go and make the preparation. And I did a little digging on that. As it turns out, that's a lot of work. Peter and John did a lot of work. I was telling my wife, and all I did yesterday was I baked a chicken and did some stuffing. And I was trying to make a nice meal because my daughter and son-in-law were coming with my granddaughter. And I got done doing all that and I was exhausted. I thought, that's a lot of work, you know, and, and it had to be done just, just right. You know, we need to understand that. My mind went a little bit, if this isn't irreverent to bring up Charles Schultz, but my mind went to the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving dinner. If you ever watched that cartoon movie where, where, you know, Peppermint Patty kind of, kind of strong arms Charlie Brown into hosting a Thanksgiving dinner. And she starts inviting every friend they have, you know, and poor Charlie Browser trying to figure out, well, how do you put together a Thanksgiving dinner? And with the help of Snoopy and Woodstock, they make some toast and popcorn and they put that all out. And when Peppermint Patty and the kids come, they're outraged. And Peppermint Patty, you know, the spokesperson for all the kids is like... What's this? Where's the turkey? And she starts listing all the stuff that we expect at Thanksgiving dinner, right? And she lists it all out. And it's true, at least in our American thinking, that somebody invites you to Thanksgiving, you have some expectations, right? And that's true here, but it's even more so because this was a holy meal. It was a meal that God had prescribed. It was a meal to commemorate what God had done in His grace for the people of Israel. And so it was a very particular preparation, probably involved a sacrifice that Peter and John would have had to go and have done. And then the meat they were allowed to take from that sacrifice would have been prepared along with bitter spices, herbs, dips, that type of thing. So the meal had to be just so, and they put all that together. And that's what Jesus sends them to go do. So you have this beautiful meal. Jesus here, if you can see in his role as rabbi, is carrying out his function to make sure that he hosts the Seder meal properly. And there would have been things he would have said as they ate certain things. And that's what Jesus is doing. He's the host of the meal. And at this beautiful, you know, sort of love feast, if you will, where you're honoring God for his grace and goodness, Jesus says, assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with me will betray me. That was shocking. And you can see from the reaction, it immediately says they all began to be sorrowful. And then my King James, one by one, they said, is it I? Is it I? And then he answers, and he doesn't say, yeah, it's you. He doesn't point out who it is. He just simply says, it's one of the 12. It's one of my group. Yes, it's one of the 12. It's one of my disciples. One of those who I call to be apostles. It's one of those. And it's also somebody who's dipping their bread with me. Now, I don't think Jesus was pointing out Judas when he said that. You might get that from some of the other gospel readings. I think what Jesus is conveying is, it's one of my own, it's one of my friends, it's one of my beloved. And it's not only that, it's somebody who I've invited to this intimate meal, who sits at the table, or reclines at the table with me, and dips their bread with me. There's nothing more intimate in the Near East than to invite somebody for a meal like this, especially the Seder meal, or the Passover meal, and to have them there as your guest. And one of those that came as your guest is conspiring against you, while you're extending your love to them. It's the depths of the pain of Jesus's suffering. The NIV and the NAS, a numeric standard, translate that a little differently when they react. In those translations it says, they were saddened and one by one they said to him, surely not I. It's probably more accurate to what they were really saying. Surely, not I. Or the New Living Translation paraphrase says, they were greatly distressed, and one by one they began to ask Him, I'm not the one, am I? And there's a hint of doubt in that. They're asking, Lord, tell me, I'm not the one, am I? It's not me. Surely it's not me. I love you, Lord. And they all had that same thought, and I think they all thought, But for the grace of God, I could be the one that slips away. And I think we kind of have a similar view when we pray for God to help us and to constrain us and to keep us and to cause us to persevere. But they all have that little bit of a doubt there. Hendrickson, the commentator says, were not the 12 disciples dipping morsel of food into the bowl that was filled with a broth consisting of mashed fruit, probably dates and figs and raisins, water and vinegar? Judas surely was not the only man doing this. What the Lord is doing therefore is this. He is emphasizing the base character of the betrayer's deed. He is saying, quote, think of it. My betrayer is a man who's sharing this meal with me, unquote. As has been indicated, Jesus himself was the host. All the others were eating his food. That very fact, especially in the Near East, a region where accepting someone's hospitality and then injuring him, it was considered to be most reprehensible. And I think that's exactly what Jesus is conveying here. Why would Jesus disclose this and disclose it the way he did, Everybody's left to wonder, who is it? You know, as you're looking around the room, nobody seems to have doubted that Jesus was telling the truth, that something was gonna happen. But why did Jesus convey it this way? And I'll borrow from Hendrickson, because he saw like a fourfold reason why Jesus did it this way. One, without giving it away, it was a strong warning to Judas. It was a strong warning to Judas. What you're about to do is utterly wicked. It's utterly wicked. It's reprehensible what you're about to do. Leon Morris in his commentary says, the fact that God overrules the evil, the bad people do as he brings his purposes to pass, does not make them any less evil. And that's what Jesus is conveying. And Judas, I'm sure heard those words. knew what he had already conspired to do. The second of the fourfold purpose would be it underscores the suffering of our Lord. I went back to the Psalms. There's a couple of Psalms. If you ever have a friend betray you or a family member hurt you, here's a couple of Psalms. If you want to go feel sorry for yourself for a while, you can go and pray to the Lord as God's doing a work in you. But Psalm 41.9 says, Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me." Do you see the sting of pain in that Psalm? The entirety of Psalm 55 is about that subject. I'll just read you a little bit of it, but Psalm 55 verse 12 says, For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me, who has exalted himself against me, then I could hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, my companion, my acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together and walked in the house of God in the throng. And then you move on to verse 20 of that psalm. He says, He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him. He has broken his covenant. In other words, he's broken his promise to me. The words in his mouth are smoother than butter, but war is in his heart. His words were softer than oil. yet they were drawn swords." He came at me with daggers, is what the psalmist is saying, because their friend, their close friend, who they went to church or fellowship with, had betrayed them. Jesus feels the sting of this betrayal. It's not as if Jesus kept Judas at arm's length. Jesus taught Judas as much as He did the others. Jesus expressed love as much to Judas as He did the others. Even on the night of His betrayal, when Judas will betray Him with a kiss, it says in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus says to him, Friend, can you imagine that? Friend, why have you come? And he came to betray Him. Third of the four-point purpose reason why Jesus discloses this this way, thirdly, it demonstrates that Jesus is in complete control. He's in absolute, complete control. In John chapter two, when they run out of wine and Mary asks Jesus, hey, you gonna do something about this? And Jesus says to her, woman, why is this concern, what does that do with me? And then he says, what? My hour has not yet come. And when you get to chapter 12 of John, Jesus says, now my soul is troubled. And what shall I say? Father saved me from this hour. But for this purpose, I came to this hour. He keeps talking about his passion, his suffering, the cross he would go to. And then you get to John 17 and his great high priestly prayer. And Jesus is praying to the father and says, father, the hour has come. The hour has come. Glorify your son. that your son also may glorify you." Jesus was in absolute control. The Trinity of the Godhead was in absolute control of all the timing of everything that would happen, and especially the fact of the manner in which Jesus would die. It was all prophesied about, and it all came to pass. Jesus clearly said in John 10, He says, therefore, my father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it from me. Judas didn't take it from him. The Roman soldiers didn't take it from him. Jesus laid down his life. He says, no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down. I have the power to take it again. This command I've received from my father. And the fourth of the fourfold purpose is it really does prod all of his disciples to do some soul searching. some self-examination, as we're called upon to do in the Bible as well. It isn't me, is it? I think, and I've taught and preached on this passage before, but my mind always goes to this thought, and I don't know why, but if we were having service here in church and suddenly, The room was lit with blazing glory, and an angel appeared in this room. And all the angel said was, looked around the room and said, one of you is going to fall away from the faith. You're going to apostate yourselves. And then was gone. Which of us wouldn't say, Lord, don't let that one be me. I know my heart. I know how weak I am in the faith at times. Lord, it isn't me, is it? Wouldn't we all say that? Wouldn't that direct our prayers to God, that He would be our keeper, that we'd stay in close contact with Him, we'd be in the Word, we'd be in fellowship with each other? Lord, it isn't me, is it? 2 Corinthians tells us to examine yourselves as whether you're in the faith. 2 Peter says in chapter one, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure. The Lord's at work in us, and I think we'll get to glory, and we'll find that God had a hold of us the whole time, and that's why we persevered, no doubt. But we have some skin in the game, don't we? To be where God tells us to be, to be under those, I always call them the fountains of grace, where God feeds us spiritually. And that leads us to one of the fountains of grace, the Lord's Supper. So we begin in verse 22 of Mark 14 to verse 26. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, Take, eat. This is my body. Then he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And he said to them, this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." So the institution of the Lord's Supper. And what Jesus is doing in this is he's taking the Passover meal and he's bringing it to its greater conclusion, that the ultimate sacrifice was about to take place. It was gonna be Jesus himself on that cross. And so now that the symbolism of a meal shifts and finds its true endpoint, its own telos, And Jesus says, well, this cup, this is representative of my blood. This bread, this is not the lamb that we partake of in this meal. No, this is me. This is my body, which is broken for you. New King James language there, I'm so used to. So I was reading and somebody had a good point on this. When we come to the Lord's table, somebody said, where should we look? when we come to the Lord's table. And they suggested this, and I thought it was good, so I stole it. They said we should look back when we come to the... It's a memorial meal as well, and we should look back to the cross. We should always be mindful of what Jesus says here, that He's pointing to His execution by crucifixion on the cross, where He died as our atonement. We should look around the fellowship of the community that we're in. It's not a individual serving size, it's a communal meal. We always do it as we come together as a community, the community of the faith as we come to it, the communion of the faith, I was trying to find that term, that was in the Apostles' Creed, that we believe in the communion of the believers, the communion of the church, right? We're also to look up and be reminded that Jesus is in what the theologians call, He's in His session. That just means He's seated. He's seated at the right hand of the Father, where He does what? He makes intercession for us. He's our High Priest. Isn't it wonderful to know that we have Jesus as our Savior and Lord, and He intercedes for us? And you get the understanding in the book of Hebrews, it's a continual intercession on behalf of His people. And then lastly, we're to look forward to the future, the marriage supper of the Lamb. So that's helpful to me, to look back to the cross, look around to the fellowship, to Christ in this session and to look forward to that marriage supper. This language here that he's using, this is the blood of the new covenant. It's the new covenant. It's the inauguration, if you will, of the new covenant that was spoken of by the prophet Jeremiah. back in Jeremiah 31, where he writes and says, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Always remember that that covenant, even the new covenant, is with the house of Israel, the house of Judah. The Book of Romans says we're grafted into that as Gentiles, but that's what the Bible says. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people. There's other prophecies that speak of the new covenant of us being permanently indwelt with the Holy Spirit, which we are in Christ. Not to spend a lot of time on it, but it emphasizes what exactly is this inauguration? What's this new covenant? Is Jesus dying for sinners? Because the first covenant that Israel made with God, Israel broke immediately. It was a broken covenant. They sinned. They did not keep God's law. And that was the mission of the Messiah. That's Jesus's entire mission, is to come and to live out perfect obedience that Israel never could do, nor you or I. And He, in His dying, His atonement, taking that sin upon Himself, and then giving us His perfect righteousness, and that great exchange of salvation. He ushers in this new covenant, where God says, Okay, you broke my first covenant. I sent my Son. You killed Him. But listen to this. If you just put your faith in this risen Son, All is forgiven, and I'll cloak you in His righteousness." It's a glorious announcement. It's a glorious covenant. But Hebrews 9, if I could read this with that in your minds, Hebrews 9.11 says, But Jesus came as high priest, of the good things to come with a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is not of this creation, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood. He entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason, he is the mediator of the new covenant by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. Max Licato wrote a book of small, short stories that I really like. And every time I get to a passage where we're heading towards scripturally Easter or Even in the seasons, if we're heading towards the spring, I tend to pull that old book out and reread it. And I was doing that, and I wanted to share a story that's in that book. He bases it on, and the book I'm referring to is, And the Angels Were Silent. I think it's a wonderful little book. But he has for his heading scripture of this particular story, Luke 12, 37, where Jesus is telling a story of the master, and it's obviously a picture, he's the master, who returns and finds faithful servants. And it says, blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching assuredly, I say to you, that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. Now, Max Arcado tells this incredible story. And in the story, he wants us to be the main character. So it could be a man, could be a woman, depends on who you are. And in the story, you're the character, and you work at a restaurant. And you're working late at night, and you're in the kitchen, and you're doing the chores, and you're putting up the dishes when the door knocks. And you go to the door and you wipe your hands on the apron you're wearing to dry them. And you open the door and there's a man there in a $500 suit holding a briefcase. And he says who you are. And you say, yes, that's who I am. And he opens the briefcase and pulls out an envelope from the president of the United States. and you get the envelope and you open it up, and to your shock, it's an invitation from the President of the United States for you to come to the White House and have a dinner in your honor. And you tell the man there's got to be some mistake. You know, I'm just some cook in the kitchen that's doing the dishes. And the man assures you there's no mistake. You're the one that's been invited. So you go. You accept it and you leave and you go and you go to the White House and you're brought into a great banquet hall. And there's a huge table there and you're told to take a seat. You take a seat and it has all the dishes laid out with way too much to figure out what you're supposed to grab first. And behind you, you can hear a cart coming up. And it's a food cart. And then you hear the voice of the President of the United States. And you turn around. And there's the President of the United States wearing an apron. And he comes over to serve you. And you say, Mr. President, no, no, no. I should be serving you. And the President says, no, this is a meal in which I want you to feel honored. And I've come to serve you. And he comes and gets your bread plate and puts a roll on it and begins to serve you. And then Max Lacado, masterfully, because he's such a great writer, says this. And I do want to read a little bit of a quote from that book. He says, And at the supper Jesus is not a guest, he is the host. And Jesus gave to the disciples. The subject of the verbs in the message of the event said, He took, He blessed, He broke, He gave. And at the supper Jesus is not the served, but the servant. It is Jesus who, during the supper, put on the garb of a servant and washed the disciples' feet. Jesus is the most active one at the table. Jesus is not portrayed as the one who reclines and receives, but as the one who stands and gives. And he still does this. The Lord's supper is a gift to you. The Lord's supper is a sacrament, not a sacrifice. Often we think of the supper as a performance, a time where we're on the stage and God is the audience, a ceremony in which we do the work and He does the watching. That's not how it was intended. If it was, Jesus would have taken His seat at the table and relaxed. That's not what he did. He instead fulfilled the role of a rabbi by guiding his disciples through the Passover. He fulfilled his role as a servant by washing their feet, and he fulfilled his role as a savior by granting them forgiveness of sins. He was in charge. He was on center stage. He was the person behind and in the moment, and he still is. It is the Lord's table that you sit at. It is the Lord's supper that you eat. Just as Jesus prayed for his disciples, Jesus begs God for us. When you are called to the table, it might be an emissary who gives you the letter, but it is Jesus who wrote it. It is a holy invitation, a sacred sacrament bidding you to leave the chores of life and enter his splendor. He meets you at the table. And when the bread is broken, Christ breaks it. And when the wine is poured, Christ pours it. And when your burdens are lifted, it's because the king and the apron has drawn near. Think about that the next time you go to the table. And then he says, one last thought. What happens on earth is just a warmup for what will happen in heaven. So the next time the messenger calls you to the table, drop what you're doing and go. Be blessed and be fed. And most importantly, be sure you're still eating at his table when he calls us home. I just love that little story. If you want to borrow that book, I got it. And the last little section of scripture we'll look at, the stumbling disciples, chapter 14, 27 to 31. It says, then Jesus said to them, all of you will be made to stumble because of me this night, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. But after I've been raised, I will go before you to Galilee. Peter said to him, even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be. And Jesus said to him, assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. But he spoke more vehemently, if I have to die with you, I will not deny you. And they all said likewise. So Jesus here reveals the truth. He makes this statement. It's a statement of fact, and Jesus bases it on scripture. And when Jesus states a fact, it's a fact regardless. But when Jesus underscores it and says, this is gonna happen in fulfillment of this passage of scripture, it's gonna happen. They rejected that truth. Peter says, I will not. And they all said likewise. They all had the same heart. Peter always gets the brunt of it from us because he's the spokesperson all the time. But they were all thinking the same thing. But the truth and reality, Peter did deny them. They all did scatter. Jesus was true. They all abandoned him. at his most difficult moment there. And truth would be recognized. Peter would weep. They'd all remember. I don't think any of them forgot for the rest of their days that Jesus had said they would scatter. They thought they wouldn't. But when push came to shove, they all ran. They all ran. Proverbs 16.18, we know. Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. But Psalm 37 says in verse 23, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down. Bible talks about somebody falling seven times, but getting up, the righteous man, because God will get us up. And when we fall like that, it's another opportunity for us to humble ourselves before the Lord and to be restored by the Lord. One thing I want to touch on on that prophecy that Jesus quotes, I will strike the shepherd. You have to ask yourself, who strikes the shepherd? You have to go back and read it to see in Zechariah. Was it Judas and his betrayal that struck the shepherd? Was it the Sanhedrin who conspired to murder Jesus that struck the shepherd? Was it Annas? They took Jesus to Annas. Was it Caiaphas? Or was it Pilate, who so weakly just allowed the crowd to make judgment that was against justice? Or was it the crowd who shouted, crucify, crucify? Was it the Roman soldiers who took him and literally drove the nails through him on the cross? Well, what does the Bible say? Who struck the shepherd? In Zechariah 13, it says in verse 7, Awake, O sword! Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is my companion, says the Lord of hosts, strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. The ultimate striker of the shepherd is the perfect unity of the will of the Godhead. Jesus is the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. Isaiah prophesied on Isaiah 53. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. Probably a better translation. It pleased the Lord to crush him. He has put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied by the knowledge. My righteous servant shall justify many for he shall bear their iniquities." It pleased the father to have Jesus come, the eternal son, to bear the brunt of the wrath of God against us because of our sin. And it pleased the Lord to do so. Last thought, and then I'll close. I like this, going back to what we talked about when we think of Jesus saying, one of you is gonna betray me. And they all said, Lord, is it I? JD Jones says, Lord, is it I? It is a question that often leaps to the lips of a man who has looked into his own heart, who really knows the enormities of which he may be guilty, who knows what possibilities of evil lie latent within. This much I know. We find it easy still to sell Christ. We sell him in order to succeed in business. We sell him for pleasure. We sell him for social position. We crucify him afresh and put him to an open shame by forgetting him, repudiating his authority, bringing disgrace upon his name. One of you, he says to us in these latter days, shall betray me. I cannot treat that warning as if it did not concern me. Like the disciples, knowing my own weakness, I know that one may be myself. All I can do is give myself and this treacherous heart of mine into the keeping of almighty love and say with the psalmist, Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless and I shall be innocent of great transgression." Well, let's end with that. Our Father and our God, Lord, if we truly knew our hearts, we'd all be clinging to you so tightly in prayer, asking you to cause us to persevere. And Father, that's my prayer for all of us. Lord, that you'd cause us to persevere, to keep the faith, to continue on in Christ until you call us home. Father, for that, I thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. Receive a blessing of the Lord. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Go in the peace of Christ Jesus to a world that desperately