to be as it always would have been for the first century Jew in that time to celebrate. It would always have been a special time. Much like the time that we just had with Thanksgiving. Most of us that spent some sort of a time eating and gathered with those close to us. It would have been a special time, but Jesus is going to insert some tension into the situation by telling them, his disciples, the truth. I believe here we're going to see two important things as we go through this short text today. First, I think we will see the absolute truth that Jesus is completely in control. He's the sovereign Lord. He's the king of kings in control of it all. Even though sin and betrayal are at work, and we'll see them at work, God's plan's unfolding as He intends. But secondly, we're going to see the absolute sinfulness of mankind put on display. We're gonna see that even those who it seems are in close proximity to Jesus, how they can choose to follow rebellion and selfishness and be overcome by sin. Today I want you to think about Jesus's power as Lord, Master, Sovereign King. how that reality elevates his sacrifice, his eventual sacrifice that we Remember often but I also want you to see in yourself in the mirror of God's Word the depravity the Sinfulness that we're all capable of apart from the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and us and so I want to read this text to you beginning in verse 17 of Matthew chapter 26 there the Bible says now on the first day of the feast of the unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus saying to him I Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover? And he said, go into the city to a certain man and say to him, the teacher says, my time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples. So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and they prepared the Passover. When evening had come, he sat down with the 12. Now as they were eating, he said, Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. And they were exceedingly sorrowful. And each of them began to say to him, Lord, is it I? He answered and said, He who dipped his hands with me in the dish will betray me. 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 not been born. Then Judas, who was betraying him, answered and said, Rabbi, is it I? He said to him, you have said it. Let's pray for a moment. Our Father, I just pray that you'll use your word in these next few minutes, that you'll use it to expose our hearts and to cleanse us. I pray you'll use it to draw us to repentance where that's necessary. I pray that you'll use it to elevate our view of you and your work in our lives. I pray that most of all that we have a higher view of you, Lord, when we leave this place today. And in doing so, God, it is likely that we'll have a lower view of ourselves before Your holiness and Your righteousness, Lord, but understanding that because of all that You've done, You have lifted us up. The Bible says You're the lifter of our head. And so, Lord, we look to You to do that today. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. And amen. Here in the beginning of this passage, what we simply see is the We see just preparation being made for the Passover. Now, in Mark's account of the same situation, Luke's account, we get some extra detail about this time of preparation, but we don't necessarily have to dive into that today. It just think about it like this. This is what's going on. This is the equivalent of you talking to your relatives right every year and saying, hey, are we going to do Thanksgiving at grandma's house? Are we going to do Thanksgiving at your house? Are we going to do Thanksgiving at my house? What do you think, right? Trying to figure out where you're going to have the big meal, the big celebration. That's kind of what's in view here. This is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the Feast of Unleavened Bread was a feast that had developed around Passover. Okay, Passover was to be celebrated, but the feast had been expanded, and it usually started, you know, it was a seven- to eight-day festival, and it usually started the day before the Passover, right? It was the first day of the Unleavened Bread, of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And so that night would have been the Passover. They called it that because all of the yeast would have been banished from the household during this time, as was commanded during the Passover. And so Jesus sends his disciples to find them a place, right? And so one of the things that people kind of look at this and they wonder, well, why is this included? Well, if you read this through a first century lens, There is something monumental happening even here. Because think about it. Think about how many people in a first century Jewish setting would have descended upon Jerusalem for the Passover. Think about how many people would have been there. It would have been another time of pilgrimage for many, many people to come and to participate in the Passover in Jerusalem. And in the same, as that happens, a lot of these people don't have big places. They don't have big homes. They don't have the capacity to contain all of these that would come to town. And so there would be a necessity for large areas for them to gather with their family. And that's what Jesus sends his disciples. because they needed a large area, right? There's at least 13 of them that was going to be there and they needed a big area in order to eat. And for them to be able to go and to find a place on such short notice, that's a miracle in and of itself, okay? That'd be like getting into Texas Roadhouse after a three minute wait on a Friday night, okay? That's what we're talking about. and not even having to sit in the bar to do it, okay? This is crazy. Now, some people, because of that, they say, well, I think it's probably that Jesus had just made preparation ahead of time. Well, I think Mark's account and Luke's account give us some details that probably show us that that is not true, that this was a supernatural thing. He sends them into Jerusalem. He says, go and find this man. And notice what he tells them to say to this man. He says, tell them this, say to him, the teacher says, my time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples. There doesn't seem to be any previous expectation. He's being told in that moment, I'm coming to your house. We learn again from the other accounts, there's a large upper room is where they end up. I'm coming to your house with my disciples to celebrate the Passover. He also says something else that's important there. He says, my time is at hand. Now, did this man know Jesus? It would seem likely, right? Because they told him, tell him that the teacher says, maybe God just worked out supernaturally in his mind when he heard that phrase, he would be prepared. Whatever the case may be, Jesus says, as he tells them to say to this man, to say, my time is in hand. My time is at hand. Jesus already knows what's going on. Remember, we took a break from it last week, but Judas has just agreed to betray Jesus just before this passage in verses 14 through 16. Judas is gone. He's received 30 pieces of silver. He is committed to betrayal. And Jesus comes and His sovereignty, His power, His knowledge is put on display because He's sending His disciples to tell this man, hey, my time, my time's at hand. He knows it's coming. He knows what's going to take place. He's known all along. He has been headed for the cross at this time and this place all of His life. All of Jesus' life was pointed this direction. And so the disciples go, they do as Jesus has commanded. In verse 19, I'm sorry, verse 20, after they've prepared, they all come. The evening falls, and they all sit down to eat. He sits down to eat with the twelve. And in verse 21, Jesus drops a bomb into the middle of their gathering. He says, now as they were eating, he said, assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. One of you will betray me. Jesus drops this, just drops it off. I mean, I hope nothing like this happened in your Thanksgiving gatherings, right? Where somebody just dropped a piece of information that just blew it all up, right? This is what this would have done. This would have slapped these men in the face. They wouldn't have known what to do. Jesus didn't say, someone is going to betray you. That's not what Jesus said. Jesus said, one of you are going to betray me. It's going to be one of you. This was a shocking revelation. Can you imagine sitting amongst your closest friends, your closest relatives, and one of them is saying, I know that one of you is going to betray me. or one of you really, in this case, already has betrayed me. Can you imagine what that would look like just from our perspective, let alone from the perspective of the Son of God being betrayed in the way that He was betrayed, ultimately leading to His death? Notice their response here in verse 22. It says, they were exceedingly sorrowful. And each of them began to say to him, Lord, is it I? Now, some of your translations, depending on what Bible translation you're holding in your hand, some of your translations are going to say what the New King James says. They're going to say, Lord, is it I? That's what the King James says. That's what the New King James says. I believe the NASB and maybe the ESV, they say it this way, and I think it's probably a better translation for us to understand it rightly in English, where they would say something to this effect, surely not I. In the New King James, when you say, Lord, is it I? There seems to be, like, they're really not sure, okay? Really not sure. God, I guess it could be me. But if you kind of dive into the language there, it seems that the way that they're speaking is more like, well, it's not me. Is it? Right? So they're pretty sure it's not them. But maybe there's a little open-endedness like, maybe? I don't think so, though. No, not me. Not me. Can you picture them in their mind? No. I mean, Lord, it wouldn't be me, would it? That's kind of the flavor of the statement here. It's not that they're coming to Jesus and just saying, Oh Lord, is it me? Is it me? I don't want it to be me. Is it me? That's not the flavor here. They seem to have some certainty that it's not them, but they do leave a little opening. That's kind of how the language gives us the flavor of here. This wasn't them recognizing their own capacity for sin. They were almost denying the possibility. With a little skepticism, they had a little skepticism in their heart that maybe I'm capable, but for the most part, they were pretty sure that they couldn't do such a thing. What about us? What about you? What about me? How does something like this land? You say, well, I mean, to start with, I wouldn't betray the Savior to His death, right? That's the first place your mind goes, isn't it? It's the first place my mind goes. I mean, obviously, I wouldn't do that. Why would I do that? Well, hang on. Apart from the power of the Spirit of God in you, apart from the power of the work of Christ in you, apart from the power of all that God has done in your life, you are capable of this sin and every other sin that you've ever thought about. It's just the truth. You ever watch TV and say, I don't know how people can do things like that. I'm here to tell you, apart from the grace of God in your life, you're capable. I'm capable. Friends, these men did not, could not, would not reckon with the fact that their heart that within their heart was the capacity for the betrayal of the Messiah. And here's what I want to tell you this morning to bring this home to you every time, friend, every time. that I sin, every time that I step outside of the known will of God given to me by his word, and every time that you sin and step outside of the known will of God, the revealed will of God, every time that that takes place, you have betrayed the son of God, and so have I. That's why repentance is such a beautiful thing. That's why forgiveness is such a beautiful thing. It's why it's such a glorious thing. Because sin is cosmic treason. That's what it is. We are sinning against an absolutely holy and absolutely righteous God. Even those of us who are in Christ must recognize that when we step outside of the will of God and we continually pursue those things which aren't of God, we can find ourselves in some places that we did not think were possible. Whenever our conscience grows cold, our heart grows hard, do we really have a grasp on our own capability? for sin, our own depravity. Have you ever actually thought about the depth of your own wickedness? It's not a nice place to go mentally, I understand that. It's not a nice place for us to just kind of sit around, and I'm not saying that you should live there, but I'm saying you better realize the kind of critter that you are apart from the grace of God, and so should I. Because we're capable of a lot. The disciples here Give them a benefit of the doubt. They left a little room open for, well, maybe I'm gonna slip up. And here's the reality. As we get to this in the next several weeks, maybe taking another little break for Christmas time, but as we get to this in the next several weeks, what we're gonna find out is, ultimately, they all really do betray him anyways, don't they? They all run away. They all flee. Peter, in particular, has some betraying left to do. Now, they didn't sell him out for 30 pieces of silver. They weren't the ones that set all of this in motion. But their first reaction is, not me, Lord, surely not I. Surely not I. When our first reaction ought to be, Lord, please not me. Whatever, forgive me, Lord. Do whatever you gotta do. Show me whatever you gotta show me. Take me wherever you gotta take me, but don't let me be found on the wrong side of you. Jesus has told them betrayal is a reality. And they're all sitting there and they're saying, okay, is it me, Lord? Not I, Lord. Surely not me, Lord. However you want to render it there. And notice how Jesus answers them. Says, he answered and said, he who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me. Now hang on a second. Is Jesus identifying Judas here or is he Or is he simply making a blanket statement, it could be any of you? That's one thing, we don't have enough information here. He who dips his hand in the dish with me, did Judas have his hand right here like dipping his bread in the oil and like right here, and then his eyes got real big and he got to looking at Jesus? Is that how it happened? Or was Jesus acknowledging the fact that everybody's gonna have their hand dipped in the bowl at some point, and so it could be any of you? We don't really know. I would say that Jesus is probably not identifying Judas in particular here yet, because they would all dip into the bowl during the meal. I think, again, he's bringing home to them the fact that they all have the capability for betrayal. When we get towards Gethsemane, Peter's gonna say, it's actually before Gethsemane, but towards the end of the Last Supper, towards the end of this meal, Peter's gonna say, I'd never deny you, I'd never betray you, and Jesus says, just hide and watch, you're going to. It's gonna happen. I do note in verse 22 that the Bible says they were exceedingly sorrowful. That is echoed by the language. There is some brokenheartedness. We don't know if it's because of their own... I don't think it's because they think it's them as individuals. I think it's because the fact that Jesus is going to be betrayed has been stated so plainly. These men are heartbroken. And Jesus tells them, it's the one who's dipping his hand into the tray with me. Betrayal's coming and it's one of you. He's doubled down on that. That's the way this is going. And if you hear that from the disciples' perspective, wouldn't you think, we've got to figure out who this is and we've got to stop them? We can't let this happen. That's kind of been the attitude of Peter along the way. Lord, surely not. You're not going to go die. I'm not going to allow that to happen. What did Jesus tell him then? Get behind me, Satan. Don't think you're going to somehow thwart the plan of God. That's really what Jesus is going to say here again. The Son of Man, this is verse 24, indeed goes just as it is written of Him. Just as it is written, just as it's been promised, just as God has planned, the Son of Man, that is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, goes just as it is written. And so we have this ever-present tension in the scriptures, don't we? And it's something that some of us aren't comfortable with, but we've got to get really comfortable with this tension between the reality of the sovereign plan of God and the reality of our responsibility for our own choices and actions. Is God in control? Yes, He is. Am I responsible for my actions and choices? Yes, I am. The Son of Man goes just as it is written of Him. Jesus was headed for the cross. Somebody was going to betray Him. Judas was the one. He was given the opportunity and he took advantage of it. We know some of the reasons it seems that he went that way. It was because of greed. We saw whenever Mary was pouring out the oil on Jesus, Judas was the one prodding the disciples saying, why has this money been wasted? We could have taken that perfume and sold it and we could have given a bunch of money to the poor. When John tells us the truth, he was the one that kept the money bag and he liked to have a little extra money at his disposal. Whether it's out of greed or hatred, whatever the case may be, There was a betrayer at hand. But make no mistake that God was still in control. The sacrifice of Christ, the betrayal of Christ, the cross of Christ was not a bad situation that God somehow made the best of. It was the plan of God. The Son of God goes as it is written of Him. He was headed to the cross. It's what was intended. It had to happen. In order for us to be redeemed, Christ had to stand in our place. Christ had to take on the wrath of God for sin. Christ had to be the sacrificial lamb. The reality that God's plan is this, that Christ would head towards the cross, that that is good news for us. And we should never lose sight of that. But I want you to make sure that you put on this lens for a moment, because it's something that I haven't done well, and probably haven't communicated well, and maybe you're better at it than me, and I think that's quite possible, honestly. If we keep in mind that this is the plan of God, if we keep in mind that the cross was not somehow plan B, it was plan A for the redemption of man, and the fact that Christ is in control, The fact that, as he tells Peter later, do you not think I could call down legions of angels and my Father would send them to me? That Christ has that kind of power? And yet, with the knowledge of His betrayer, He knows what's going on, and all of the power in His hand, Jesus still willingly chooses to walk down this path. Does that not elevate the absolute glory of His sacrifice? when He could have made it different. He knew what was going on. He could have circumvented Judas. He could have got out of this thing. But it was the will of God. We'll see Him in a few weeks in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying and saying, Lord, let this cup pass, if it can, but not my will, but Yours be done. Was He submission to the ultimate plan of the Father? But He is a sovereign Lord. He's in control of all of these things, going as it is written. This had been prophesied. And He's going to lay down His life. You see, make no mistake, Judas and the Jewish leaders of the day, and the rabble, and the Romans, they did not take the life of Christ. He laid it down willingly. Is there punishment that they endure for that? Yes, there is. Because it was the most wicked of wicked things that the land of God would be killed and murdered by wicked men. That's to be sure. But nobody took Jesus' life from Him. He gave it up freely. This was the plan of God. And this is what He's putting on display here. Yes, I'm in control. Yes, I'm headed down the road that we've laid out. Yes, this has been prophesied of, just as it is written. But make no mistake, the betrayer, he's got problems in the head. You see that? Woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if he had not been born. Yes, the son of man goes down the road as it is written, goes down the path as it has been laid out. But he says, for the man who betrays, it would have been better that he had never been born. That kind of blows a hole in this kind of modern notion that, you know, that there is no hell, that if somebody dies, and this is really becoming popular in certain Christian circles, there is no hell, because when somebody dies, they just kind of cease to exist like before they were born. Maybe there's a heaven, but surely there's not anything of eternal conscious torment in a place called hell. Surely not. Well, I think Jesus kind of knocks a hole in that because he said it'd been better for this guy if he hadn't been born. What's Judas go through after this? Ultimately, he commits suicide. He dies. That's sure. It's not a good thing. But why would Jesus say it would be better for him not to be born? Because he is headed for a judgment of unimaginable proportions. Friends, we must recognize something I think we can see here beyond the grand theological implications and the sacrificial and headed towards the cross and all of that big picture gospel, those gospel characteristics that are on display here. Don't lose sight of this simple truth that God is in control, but we're responsible for our sin. Yes, God is in control, but we are responsible for our sin. And that truth should lead us toward God and not away from Him. Because as I said before, without Him, we are capable of all manner of sin, all depths of depravity, all flavors of wickedness. It's all within our scope. And so with that knowledge in our mind and in our heart, we should flee independence towards God. Not independence, but independence. Depending on Him, run to His side, run to His Word, pouring ourselves out before Him, laying before Him in submission and asking Him, where should I go? How should I live? What should I do? The more we do that, the more we will find peace. Not just with God, but peace that flows outward through us in the world around us that comes from God. Having peace with God is of the utmost importance, but also the peace of God. That peace reigns within, and that peace flows out. And it's possible. Recognize that without Him, we have no capability for good. The truth of our wickedness should have us seeking Him more and more. You say, I'm not that wicked, I'm not that bad. I understand. That's because you watch the news and you see these people doing horrible things and murdering people and kidnapping children and doing all this just wickedness and blowing up stuff and you say, I'm not really that bad. Okay. But if you Don't examine yourself against the worst kind of people or even a little bit better people. Maybe the people you work with, I'm kind of better than them. I don't do the kind of stuff they do. They say, well, I'm a little better. But let's lay ourselves against the only standard that matters. Set yourself side by side against the perfect Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and then tell me how good and great and wonderful of a person that you are. I'm a wicked person. But that's not the end of the story. Sometimes we gotta get ourselves, somebody's gotta get themselves lost in order to get saved. They have to recognize, yes, I'm wicked, yes, I'm a sinner, but that's not the end of the story. That's the bad news. The bad news is that we're wicked and we're headed for destruction. But the good news is, is that Christ did something right here. We're in the middle of Him, in the journey of Him, going to the cross to die for sin. He's being betrayed as we look at this text, and yet he stands in his perfection, in his wisdom, laying down his life. Even here, one more step towards sacrifice. Oh friend, I beg of you today, recognize your capacity for sin. Look to Jesus. who has made peace with God possible. Judas had nowhere to hide, friend. Look at verse 25. Judas, who was betraying him, he says, well, I'm just gonna ask the same question everybody else asks. Rabbi, is it I? Anybody notice the difference between his question and everybody else's question? They all said, Lord, is it I? Surely not me, Lord. Judas says, Rabbi. You say, well, that's a term of respect. It is, but he's not calling him Lord. He's not calling him master. And Jesus didn't pat him on the back and tell him everything was gonna be okay. I think that's a mistake we make sometimes. We wanna pat somebody on the back in the midst of their wickedness and say, hey, everything's gonna be okay. Instead of telling them the truth, maybe the truth that'll shake them up and wake them up and point them to Jesus. Here, Judas was headed towards destruction. Jesus didn't tell him, it's all right. Hey, Judas, I understand. I know, I know, no. He says, Rabbi, is it I? What's Jesus say? You have said it. You've said it. It's almost like saying, yeah, buddy. Or, you know. Jesus has elsewhere said, by our words we'll be justified and by our words we'll be condemned. Here, Judas' words, his own words, condemn him. Perhaps, friends, today the most important thing we can remember here is Jesus again, he put his betrayer on notice. We don't comfort people on their way to destruction. If we love people enough, we'll tell them the truth. And they may hate us for it. But we tell them the truth. I want to tell you the truth. That if you're a betrayer of God, you're lost in your sin, you've never turned to Christ, that you're headed for destruction. That's the truth. It doesn't make me happy to tell you that, but it's the truth. And it would bless my heart immensely if you would hear that truth and turn to Jesus and repent of your sins and believe in the Gospel. Jesus put his betrayer on notice. And again, friend, look at who your Savior is. Jesus was making a choice to lay down his life. He didn't circumvent. He didn't say, Judas, I'm fixing to get around you. I'm fixing to work this thing over. I've got you figured out, Judas. He just said, Judas, yeah, you've said it. You know who you are. You know what you've done. I beg of you today to look into the mirror of God's Word and allow it to show you who you are. Do you know who you are? Do you know what you've done? Have you turned to Jesus? Or are you one who is standing guilty of betrayal and sin of the Son of God? Are you the one that stands and says, surely not I, Lord, surely not me? Or are you the one that's been saved from your sin and you say, yeah, I was, but now I ain't? This is who I was, but God has taken me from here to there. Friend, that's a wonderful testimony when you can recognize I was capable, I was wicked, but not now. And it's not because of me. It's because of what Christ has done in me. Y'all remember that old song, and I don't even know how it goes, and God forbid I would try to sing for you, but you know, it says, but because of Jesus, I don't live there anymore. Because of Jesus, I don't go there anymore. Because of Jesus, I don't do that anymore. Remember that song? I'll have to look it up. That's who we are in Christ. We're transformed, we're changed by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ from a savior who could have done something different. He could have walked a different way, but he laid down his life that we might have life in him. Oh friend, I beg of you today, don't be the one who doubts that you're capable. You're capable just as I'm capable. You and me both are betrayers. But the presence of Christ, the power of Christ, the sacrifice of Christ is greater if we'll trust in Him. Don't make the mistake that just being around the Jesus stuff somehow means that you are a child of God. Judas walked with Jesus for years and ended up his greatest betrayer. It's not just about proximity to the church or to the people of God or the Bible. It's about, is your heart transformed individually through repentance and faith as you've trusted in Christ for yourself? Only a transformed heart. So I beg of you, don't doubt your own capability for sin. If you're a sinner, Look up and look for mercy. Don't argue about just how good you think you are. Lay yourself before a holy God and say, God, forgive me. I want to be a part of the family of God. I trust in Jesus' life and death and His resurrection. I beg of you today. Yes, God's plan is God's plan, and it will not be thwarted. Yes, God's plan took Jesus to the cross. Yes, God's plan will bring Jesus back at an appointed time. All of those things are true. But right now, today, within the sound of the hearing of my voice, I beg of you to repent and believe in the gospel. Because you are accountable for your choices and the sins that you've committed, and you are accountable for your rejection of the Son of God, just as Judas was. Look to Jesus today, I beg of you. Repent and believe in Christ. Let's pray. Father, I thank you. I thank you for your Word. I thank you for its truth. I pray it's had its impact. Lord, whether that impact is taking root now, or whether it takes root in days, weeks, months, and years to come, we trust you with the fruit. Lord, I pray that you would give us all eyes to see, ears to hear. Lord, I pray you'd give us all hearts to recognize the depths of our own depravity, and in the light of that darkness, to see the light of your gospel shining brighter from how we've been delivered from sin. Lord, I pray for one that doesn't know you, that they would trust you, repent of their sins, and believe on you today. Lord, help us, in Christ's name, amen, and amen.