Now to Matthew chapter 26. This morning we'll be looking at verses 57 through 68. Matthew chapter 26 verses 57 through 68. If you're using our Pew Bible you should be able to find this on page 1058. Hear now the Word of God. Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. And Peter was following him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest. And going inside, he sat with the guards to see the end. Now, the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death. But they found none. though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said, this man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days. The high priest stood up and said, have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you? But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, I adjure you, by the living God. Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus said to him, You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. And the high priest tore his robes and said, He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment? They answered, He deserves death. Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, Prophesy you Christ? Who is it that struck you? Let us once again bow in prayer and seek the Lord's blessing. Our gracious and almighty Heavenly Father, We pray that as we look at these words this morning, this account of our Lord being on trial for sins he did not commit, we pray that you, Lord, would guide and direct our hearts and minds. May you be building us up in faith, inscribing your truth upon our innermost being. And our Father, we do pray that you would bless my mind and my mouth, that I may think and speak your truth clearly. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. This world proclaims Jesus as being a victim. It's easy to see that. He is an innocent man. He has done no wrong. He lived a perfect and righteous life. He committed no sins. Yet he was murdered as we look at it. He was falsely accused. He was hung upon a cross with common criminals. As the world would look at this, this does indeed look like a victim. Someone who endured great hostility that was out of his control. As we look at these words this morning, in the pages of Matthew. What I want us to ultimately come away with is seeing that our Lord and Savior was never a victim. He was never a victim of His culture, of His circumstance. He was never, for one second, out of control of the situation unfolding around Him. And in these words, what we see is our King going to the cross willingly. And what the call for us to do, as He is the ultimate example, our Great Shepherd, our King, our Lord, it's a call to follow Him as well. To willingly lay down our lives. And that is the theme we'll be looking at this morning. It's a call for you and I to follow our King's example, and to willingly lay down our life. Now, as we look at this text, we'll first see in verses 57 through 63 that Jesus shows his sovereignty in his silence. Secondly, Jesus shows his sovereignty in his speech in verses 63 to 68. And lastly, looking at the whole scene together, Following his example, we also are called to lay down our lives. Now, in our first section, verses 57 through 63, we see that Jesus shows his sovereignty in his silence. Now, it starts out immediately following when Jesus was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the crowd came out to arrest him. All of his disciples fled. And he was taken, as we're told in verse 57, to the house of Caiaphas. This was the scene where a few verses earlier, the elders and the scribes had gathered together to conspire how they might bring Jesus down, how they might kill him. It was in the courtyard of the house of Caiaphas. And we read that although the disciples dispersed and fled, that there was one disciple who was following at a distance. And he made it as far as that courtyard. Now, as far as this text and Peter and his actions, these initial verses of this passage are just for the purpose of setting the stage for what's to come after these verses. And setting the scene of, so it's not introduced so quickly, of, well, how did Peter get to this courtyard? Matthew tells us ahead of time that he had followed from a distance. Now, as we then move to verses 59 to 63, we get then the scene of Jesus before this council. And we see their intentions. They're seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death. Now, what's interesting is that this group of men, these scribes, these Pharisees, They were in charge and told to uphold the law. In fact, if you look at their history, that's exactly where they came from. They came from a group of men that had an overwhelming desire to maintain the law of God. They didn't want Israel to fall back into its history of continually leaving and abandoning the law of God and ending up in exile. And so this group, these scribes, these Pharisees, They had at their beginnings a strong desire to maintain and to uphold the Word of God. But between that period of time and then when Christ arose or came on the scene, this group had built up its own tradition and regulations around the law so that they actually held their own traditions higher than the law. This is given a glimpse of in their very actions here. And what did God clearly command us in the law? Do not bear false witness. And what are these keepers of the law doing? They are trying to find a false witness against Jesus. They've fallen in the trap, but they were no longer upholding the very law that they once loved, but they were actively seeking to abandon it and to break it. for the sake of their purpose. Now, we're told by Matthew that despite their attempts to bring in false testimony to convict Jesus, that they were unsuccessful. We're not told how many witnesses were brought forward, but we're told that many witnesses were sought. Much testimony was sought against Jesus, but they found none. Despite all the false witnesses that arose, none could convict Jesus. But Matthew does tell us that at least two people told the truth. They gave account of when Jesus said, I will destroy this temple and rebuild it in three days. Jesus did say that. It's actually truthful testimony. But they misunderstood what Jesus was talking about. As we know, he was speaking of his own body would be destroyed and be raised again on the third day. Now, after this testimony, the high priest gets up and he questions Jesus and asks him, what do you have to say to these charges? Now, Jesus of all people, he had the right to stand up and he could have refuted every single charge. He could have shown himself to be innocent. He could have done it definitively and very clearly. We also read in the verses last week that he could have called down 12 legions of angels to come to his rescue, but he didn't. Jesus was silent. We're told that he is as silent as a lamb going to its shearers. But in the silence of Jesus, we must not place in that any semblance of weakness. or any semblance of being a victim. His silence was not because he had nothing to say to overthrow the false testimony. His silence was purposeful. He was taking control of that situation. They were seeking to bring him down and convict him, but he wasn't playing along. He remained silent. And His sovereignty is shown in that silence. He was not a victim. He would not speak unless He decided to speak. So through this silence, He declares His sovereignty in this situation. Secondly, Jesus then does speak. And He also, in His speaking, shows his sovereignty. Now, as the high priest, in the face of Jesus' silence, you can tell his nerves are being strained. There is anger and frustration in these words. He calls upon the living God to call Jesus to say clearly who he is. And he affirms what the high priest has asked. Are you the Christ, the Son of God? Now, as Jesus confirms or affirms what he has said, he then goes on to say, But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. We talked about this a little bit when we looked at Matthew chapter 24 and Jesus unpacking their events that were to unfold. But what Jesus is referencing here is the prophecy in Daniel chapter 7. When, as I've mentioned before, Daniel sees one like the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, being presented to the Ancient of Days, God the Father, and he is enthroned, given a kingdom where he rules. That is what Jesus is referencing here. by this small phrase. And I'll remind you that unlike we have chapters and verses where we can tell someone, well, go to Matthew 6, verse 58. Well, no, they didn't have that back then. And so Jesus, by referencing this one quote, he's bringing in the context of that prophecy that especially this group would have understood very clearly. This was their expertise. This is what they knew and what they loved, what they held dear. So they knew exactly what Jesus was saying. He said to them, I am the Son of God. I am that prophesied Son of Man. I am the Christ. I am the Messiah. Very clearly. And we see that they understand exactly what's going on in their reaction. The high priest tears his robes. This was a symbol of lament. Something had just been done that was worthy of rending your clothes. It symbolized the shame and the humiliation and the lamenting over what just occurred. And this violent reaction that we see not only in the high priest's actions of rending his rose, but then also as he looks at the crowd and says, you have heard it yourself. We don't need any other witnesses. to then the violent treatment of Jesus as they spit upon him and they slap him and they ridicule him, calling him to prophesy who hit him. They understood exactly what Jesus was saying. And what's important for us to see here, again, evidence that Jesus was not a victim in any way, shape or form, but went to the cross willingly for his people. is that it's not the testimony of the false witnesses, it's not the testimony of the two that came forward and gave an accurate witness. It is the testimony and the witness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that condemns Him to the cross. You see, humanity, even in its anger and its wrath that is being let loose here upon the Anointed One of God, the Messiah, was not sufficient to carry out the will of God. They were still incapable of accomplishing the purpose and the will that God had in redeeming His people. And so the Lamb, the Son of God, the Messiah, He gives the testimony Himself that ensures His condemnation and the charge of blasphemy. So again, we see that Jesus in these pages, even in the midst of the world might look at it and see, well, here's a man that is suffering greatly and he's being persecuted and he doesn't deserve this treatment. He is a victim in the hands of an angry mob. Far from it. Our Lord is the sovereign King who is unfolding His design, His plan. He is silent when He needs to be silent, but He speaks when He needs to speak, ensuring that He goes to the cross. He is not a victim. Well, why raise these two points? It's all about a mindset that we might have, brothers and sisters. I want you to think about what is the difference between being drilled into our heads the fact that our Lord is a victim. He was out of control of the situation. He had horrendous things done to him that he could not have overcome. Verses, my Lord, my King, and my sovereign God endured those things for me and went to the cross willfully with a purpose. As he himself said, no one took his life. He laid it down willingly. As I think upon this passage, one of the the scenes in a movie that comes to mind is in Lord of the Rings, when towards, in the Fellowship of the Ring, in the final battle that the Fellowship of the Ring are having with the orcs. In that Fellowship of the Ring, there is Aragorn, who was the king of men, although in hiding at that point. And then there is Boromir, who was the son of the one who was overseeing and acting as king over the world of men. And when they're first introduced, Boromir looks at him with disdain. He doesn't want anything to do with him. He says that Gondor needs no king. But at the very end, what I think is one of the greatest death scenes of any movie, when Boromir dies, having stood his ground, fighting alongside his king, He pledges his allegiance to him. And we see one of the reasons for this change in Boromir is the fact that he has now seen this king of his, how he has fought for him. He has seen him in his humility, not rising up and trying to take something, but suffering, enduring hardship, enduring trials. And at the end, it kind of spurs him on to fight to the death for His King. Now, in that, I see why it's important for us to understand that Jesus was sovereign in acting as King when He is sent to the cross. Because in that, brothers and sisters, we see our King humbly going and enduring incredible hardship beyond anything we could imagine or experience. He endured the temptations of the evil one beyond anything we have ever endured. He endured such physical pain that I mentioned last week, a brand new word had to be coined to describe it, excruciating, out of the cross. But beyond all that, he had the spiritual suffering as he was about to endure the full weight of his father's wrath for our sins. Now as we look at that, understanding that that is not a victim, but our King willingly marching on in battle, that is a motivation for us as His people, is it not, brothers and sisters? To take up our cross, to take up our swords, to fight with Him, to fight alongside one another in the battles that we face, in the burdens that we carry. as we look upon our Lord who went to the cross willingly. We are called to follow His example. In John 15, Jesus told us very clearly that the world will hate us as it has hated Him. This crucifixion is the clear representation of all the hatred of the world towards Jesus. But it didn't end with the cross. as we are His, and we're seeing it in our world now, the world continues to hate the Anointed One of God. And as we are His body, it will beat us, it will whip us, it will streak to destroy us, not because of who we are, but because of Christ. James tells us that friendship with the world is actually enmity with God. If we are a friend of the world in pursuing it and rather having it than God Himself, exalting the world above our Lord and Savior, we're at enmity with God, we're told. Now, taking up our cross can have that meaning of laying down our physical lives for Christ. We're seeing that all over the place as Christians suffer for their faith. Now, it includes death, but it also is a way of life. Laying down our lives is a way of life. What if your job asks you to do something that is contrary to the Word of God? Do you maintain your position, or do you risk being fired? What if you have an assignment in school that calls you to defame the name of God in some way? You have to wrestle with, do I do the assignment? Or do I risk a failing grade? Maybe there's a promotion offer to work, but it causes us to, again, do something that is contrary to the will of God. Do we go with the promotion? or do we remain in our position of content? But even other than these things, from the beginning of it, there's the laying down of our lives as a lifestyle, as a laying down of what we desire, of what we love, if it's against the desires of Christ, of God. Maybe the TV show or movie that we don't watch. Maybe it's an actual friendship that we have to say goodbye to. You see, laying down our life for Christ is not only being killed because of our faith in Him. It has many, many facets. And the one that we all face day in and day out is the temptation to sin. As I've said before, when we sin, we are placing ourselves in the position of God and following our own laws and our own rules. So how, brothers and sisters, how are we laying down our life? How are we laying down our lives for Christ and following the example of our Lord, who last week we looked at said, not my will, but your will be done? How are we day to day laying down our earthly, our natural desires for the desires of our God, desires of our Lord, our King, and advancing in this battle that's called sanctification, where God prunes us and molds us more into the glorious image of Jesus Christ, our King. And so, in closing, brothers and sisters, be confident and know that our Lord and Savior was not a victim. He was a sovereign king doing battle for His people. And His cry and His call to us is to take up your cross and follow Me, to join Him in the fight, to join Him in the battle, in the daily laying down of our lives to our own desires for the desires of our King. Amen. Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, we do pray that you would give us the strength to lay down our earthly desires, the desires that we have which are in conflict with you. We pray, Lord, that you, by your grace, would work within us so that our desires would be molded to your desires and our will will be brought in line with your will, that we would increasingly say, day in and day out, no to our own wants and desires and yes to following yours. We cannot do this on our own strength, Lord. It is only by the grace of God, and we rest in the hope and in the wonderful promises that you, who began a good work in us, will finish it to completion. In the name of our glorious Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.