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Series Code: ILL
Program Code: ILL230002S
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00:14 Praise the Lord, everyone. Welcome to Imperative Life
00:18 Lessons, I'm Pastor Ryan Johnson, our destination today 00:23 is a quiet servant's orders looking over the shoulders 00:27 of a bloody man as he stares to the mirrored surface 00:32 of the looking pane. 00:34 He's contemplating what Jesus has done for him 00:37 on the backdrop of what he himself has been through 00:41 with Jesus. But getting there however, means a stroll through 00:46 the Upper Room, the ancient streets, and eventually 00:50 the Garden of Gethsemane. 00:51 But before we paint a portrait of the characters in this story 00:56 of this man or of Christ's cowardly disciples or even 01:00 of the disciple who betrayed Jesus, why don't we dig 01:05 into the history to gain a little bit of context to 01:08 walk a mile as it were, even if by armchair study 01:12 in their shoes. 01:14 And of course, before embarking on any journey, we ought to pray. 01:19 Father in heaven, be with us as we look at the 01:23 power of having you as our master. 01:26 In the name, we pray, Amen and Amen! 01:29 Ancient Palestine was a violent contentious place as are 01:34 many places where people are struggling for independence 01:37 against an oppressive government. 01:39 Here's a little history, the kingdom of Israel had split 01:43 into the kingdoms of Israel in the north and 01:46 Judah in the south, eventually Israel in the north 01:51 fell to the Assyrians and over a century later, 01:55 Judah in the south fell to the Babylonians, 01:58 you can read of the fall of of the northern kingdom 02:01 in II Kings and of the approaching fall of Judah 02:06 in the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. 02:10 It was an awful series of days when in the temple in Jerusalem 02:14 was plundered and then later, destroyed, burned, 02:18 many of God's people were taken into Babylonian 02:21 captivity. Daniel opens with his experience being kidnapped 02:26 in chapter one of his book but eventually the temple 02:30 was rebuilt, Praise the Lord, and later under the 02:34 Medo- Persian empire Israel experienced a restoration 02:39 of sorts but it was never quite like it was. 02:42 In the time between of the Old Testament and 02:46 the New Testament, the Greek empire arose and they did 02:50 some awful things to the Jews and to the temple. 02:53 If you are interested in highlights from this 02:56 intertestamental period Google the Maccabean War 03:01 and read why the name Judas became so 03:04 popular among the Jews. 03:05 But moving on through history, each section of the Greek Empire 03:11 was eventually conquered by the Roman Empire and all of this 03:15 war and stirrings up of the waters of humanity 03:19 were accomplished at the edge of the sword. 03:22 Boundaries were established in blood, freedoms lost, 03:26 gained, lost again in flesh, so by the time of Imperial Rome 03:32 which set into local power the Kings Herod along with governors 03:38 like Pontius Pilate. The Jewish community was no stranger 03:43 to violence, vigilantism, lynching's, public executions 03:48 in the thousands, violence was the language spoken 03:53 at even the highest levels. 03:55 Look at King Herod, the builder who murdered his sons, 03:59 his wife, and even babies, and pregnant women in Bethlehem. 04:04 Violence was the language spoken even at the lowest levels 04:07 as is illustrated in Jesus' parable the Good Samaritan 04:12 who helps a stranger that has been half killed by thieves 04:17 and in this environment a man, a carpenter, a woodworker, 04:24 hung out with fisherman and tax collectors and was preaching 04:29 Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called 04:32 the children of God, they shall be conquerors 04:35 but not by shedding innocent blood but rather by the 04:39 bloodshed by the carpenter man who also happens to be 04:44 the Son of God. Blessed He said are the meek, for they shall 04:49 inherit the earth, the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 04:53 When an odd message among the massacres, a holy vision amid 05:00 the violence, Jesus was clearly a blossoming Rose among 05:04 the weeds, a jewel in the sand. 05:07 He was not one to react violently even if when 05:12 they assaulted Him but His disciples, men of the docks, 05:18 men of the sea cursing and rowdy, ah they were different. 05:23 How many fights and street justice deals have they 05:27 witnessed? What number of crucifixions have they seen 05:31 as children? Two of them were called the sons of thunder. 05:34 One was called Petrus, Peter, Rocky, and the tax collector 05:39 collections were free-lance jobs were as long as the Romans 05:44 got their quota, one could charge whatever premiums 05:48 they wanted. And this is why tax collectors often used 05:52 violence and intimidation to squeeze the populous 05:56 they were gangsters and these were the men whom Jesus chose. 06:02 Just as you and I, flawed people are the men and women 06:07 Jesus chooses. Hmm! 06:10 But those were the men who said unto Jesus in 06:14 Luke chapter 22, verse 38... 06:22 This was in response to Jesus speaking in parable about 06:26 the nearness of prophecy coming to pass. 06:29 This particular exchange occurred in the Upper Room 06:34 as Jesus was nearing the end of His earthly ministry 06:37 He's trying to teach them and they're like we have swords. 06:41 Now because we are nearing our narrative destination, 06:45 let's slow our racing review through history and 06:51 further appreciate the circumstances that led these 06:55 violence taught disciples to proclaim that they were armed 07:00 with swords. 07:01 Such aggression had practically been baked into their past, 07:07 it was their reality their boast their burden. 07:12 In John 14 after promising that He would come again 07:17 and receive us to Himself, Philip had proclaimed 07:20 show us the Father and that will suffice. 07:23 To which Jesus responded, all this time I have been with you 07:28 and you still ask to see the Father. 07:30 I imagine that later the echo of those words came to them 07:35 when they remembered how they had boasted that they had 07:38 two swords among them all this time I've been with you 07:42 an you still brandish swords. 07:45 But the point is these men were the product of their environment 07:50 programmed by centuries of Darwinian politics at it were 07:56 survival of the fittest, retaliatory in nature. 08:00 Their survival instincts had yet to surrender to faith in God. 08:05 At its root, a sword is a simple device. It's basically a handle 08:16 with a blade, the handle is for holding and manipulation 08:21 the blade, well that's for business. 08:22 Now a well-made sword is a product of millennia of culture 08:27 and purpose and engineering a well-made sword is balanced 08:31 forged, functional, and beautiful sometimes it is named 08:36 passed down from generation to generation marinated 08:40 in the wars and confrontations the victories and defeat 08:44 that gives it personality. 08:46 But a simple sword, the sword for instance that a fisherman 08:52 might carry, that's most likely a crude weapon you know 08:55 purchased for the price of a few extra fish probably 09:00 shoved into the belt and slightly hidden under the 09:03 outer cloak. I wonder who it was among the disciples of Jesus 09:07 that owned each of the two swords mentioned in Luke? 09:11 Well, we know one was Peter as we will see, 09:15 but the other be swordsmen. I don't know his identity 09:19 but when you picture these men bearing arms 09:24 even as Jesus washes their feet it is anathema to the spirit 09:30 of love that Jesus invokes in John chapter 14 verse 17. 09:35 It flies in the Upper Room experience in Luke chapter 22 09:42 verses 14 to 16, it says... 10:08 Then it says in John chapter 13 verse 4... 10:34 And then Matthew picks up the narrative in 10:37 chapter 26, verse 26... 10:54 You know what this is. Yes. The washing of feet 10:58 the breaking of bread, the drinking of grape juice 11:01 this was his first Communion a ceremony with us, 11:05 the last supper before the cross, a solemn moment, 11:10 a deep experience, Jesus condescending to wash our 11:15 dirty feet and to teach us humility and love. 11:20 Jesus showing symbolically the nature of His mission, 11:25 it was heartbreaking, it was moving, and to think 11:31 throughout the entire communion with Jesus, Peter had a sword. 11:38 You got to wonder how many times we come to church 11:44 armed, not with the word of God, I don't know, 11:51 but with the swords of our tongues, oh have mercy. 11:54 With spew-cutting words that cut our hearts of our brethren 11:58 and sister and then in Matthew 26, verse 30 12:04 the Bible states... 12:13 To the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus wept as they slept, 12:18 where Jesus prayed as they were passed out. 12:22 We're told in Luke 22 and verse 44 that great drops of blood 12:27 mingled with sweat flowed from Jesus' brow, 12:31 a sure sign of great stress. Yes, Christ's stress response 12:38 was so great that blood leaked from His capillaries 12:42 and invaded the sweat glands and all that time, 12:46 through all that agony, the fate of the world hanging in the 12:51 balance, the disciples slipped with their swords. 12:57 And that friends, that is how one side of our coming 13:04 confrontation has the history, the mentality, and the humanity 13:09 to bring blades to a prayer meeting brawl. 13:14 But hold that thought, and lets change perspectives here 13:20 for even now in the narrative the opponents of Christ 13:24 His betrayer. The religious leaders and some Roman soldiers 13:30 are making their way to the mount with orders to arrest 13:34 Jesus. Let's learn a bit about them shall we? 13:37 The gospel of John Chapter 18 verse 3 states...It says... 13:57 That word band of men is Spiera in the original Greek 14:02 and it means a cohort or a tenth part of a Roman Legion. 14:07 So soldiers came to grab Jesus by his betrayal Judas was 14:13 probably trying to force Jesus to manifest His power 14:17 and become king on earth. 14:19 Judas had followed Jesus but as is evidenced in certain 14:23 Bible verses including the one where Mary anoints Jesus' 14:28 feet. Judas never felt that Christ used his resources 14:33 to greatest affect, so now in the garden he hopes to cast 14:38 Christ in a more confrontational role and notice the Bible 14:43 said that He had received this mob. 14:46 That sounds tense, doesn't it? 14:48 I wonder what His receiving of the mob was like? 14:53 Did the mob really respect Judas? 14:55 Seeing that he was a traitor, a snitch, or was traveling with 15:01 these soldiers to Gethsemane an example of what is meant by 15:05 holding the tiger by the tail. 15:07 Judas was probably scared to death. Okay. 15:12 We are only two steps from our destination 15:16 there was an officer of the Jewish leadership 15:20 who was not among the mob and his name was Caiaphas. 15:27 his office, the High Priest, the Kohen Gadol formerly 15:36 the Kahana Rabbah. Now remember that Aaron himself, 15:41 brother of Moses was the first appointed High Priest 15:45 the role changed over the centuries but eventually 15:49 the High Priest became the religious and even political 15:54 figure among the Jews until and unless there was a 15:59 sitting king. High Priest's used to be chosen from 16:04 the paternal line of High Priest and they got 16:08 complicated through history surprise, surprise, 16:10 but when the Greeks ruled, the Greeks began to dictate 16:15 who would be High Priest. 16:16 And when Rome took over it also dictated who would 16:21 be High Priest, he told him so men were appointed, 16:26 they were deposed, they were appointed, such that by the time 16:31 the average tenure of a High Priest was only four years. 16:37 Annas was High Priest for ten years and then a new 16:41 Roman guy came and removed him and Ananus son Eleazar 16:46 was appointed High Priest, Anna's other son got 16:50 assassinated and Eleazar got removed, are you getting 16:53 the picture here? And Anna's son-in-law became High Priest. 16:57 And who was that son-in-law? Caiaphas. 17:01 Caiaphas was the official High Priest of the Jews 17:07 during this cut-throat time in history, struggling for 17:11 political dominance and longevity when a man named 17:15 Jesus came along working miracles and being called 17:19 the coming King of Israel. 17:21 So of course Caiaphas cahooted with Judas to capture Christ. 17:26 Annas was still alive and influential and they both had a 17:32 vested interest in killing Jesus. 17:34 So, back to the garden, among the soldiers, among the ruffians 17:40 and the rabble, Caiaphas the paranoid High Priest of the Jews 17:45 sent his own servant to observe and the servant's name 17:51 was Malchus. Malchus came to the garden to supervise and 17:58 and observe the arrest of Jesus Christ and there 18:03 the stage is set, we are but one step away from our destination. 18:11 Jesus says to His disciples in Matthew 26:46 18:24 And there they are an armed mob coming with torches 18:29 and swords and handcuffs Jesus and His disciples with their 18:33 two swords... 18:37 Jesus asks in John 18:4 18:47 Ahh, don't you like it? 18:49 Moses, way back in Exodus asked God who He is amidst the 18:55 burning bush and God says, I am, so here in the garden 19:00 Jesus says I am He and the mob falls to the ground 19:05 as Jesus says His name. 19:07 You know one recalls David as he faced Goliath 19:11 he said you come with swords and spear, but I come in the name 19:16 of the Lord. There's power in the name of the Lord, haha. 19:20 But the mob, after falling they recover, 19:25 and after identifying himself again they take Jesus 19:29 and this is when Peter steps forward with his sword... 19:38 You know what? let's have the Bible tells this part. 20:01 Peter swung, attacked, pulled the trigger. 20:06 Now Peter was a fisherman, he was not trained in swordsmanship 20:13 he had no technique, no form, you know a trained man 20:16 might have lunged to pierce Malchus's heart but Peter 20:20 who flung nets for a living, he swung in rage and desperation 20:26 and he cut off Malchus' s ear. 20:30 Now, if he had chopped at Malchus and he would have also 20:35 gotten his shoulder possibly, but Peter went for the head 20:40 and Malchus most likely ducked away causing Peter to graze 20:47 his skull and cleaved the right ear which meant 20:51 that unless Peter did a backhanded swing, 20:55 Peter was most likely a lefty. 20:58 And being a lefty might also explain why he was able to get 21:02 the drop on Malchus because opponents are always expecting 21:06 a right-handed attack, but Peter grazed Malchus' s skull, possibly 21:12 tearing the cheek, breaking the bones like the zygomaticus, 21:17 the sphenoid, hmm, hematomas anyone? 21:21 He might have fractured the occipital bone, 21:24 this was a serious injury and Peter would certainly have been 21:28 killed for it. But then, Jesus! Isn't that the start of every 21:35 testimony, I would have been lost but Jesus. 21:39 I would have been destroyed but Jesus, Jesus does 21:44 what He did in Genesis chapter 2, He does what He does 21:50 in John chapter 8, He stoops in the dust, Yes, 21:56 stoops in the dirt and picks up Malchus' s ear and 22:02 makes him whole, restoration, put him back together. 22:06 Luke chapter 22, verse 51, it says... 22:19 And they led Jesus into the city hauled Him before Annas 22:23 and Caiaphas, the servant's master and they had Jesus killed 22:28 shamed, beaten, shamed, stripped, shamed, crucified, 22:34 and now we arrive at our destination. 22:36 A quiet servant's quarters looking over the shoulder 22:42 of a man as he stares into the mirrored surface of the 22:45 looking pane, he got a brand new right ear. 22:49 And oh how fine his healed oracle must look, no scars, 22:54 no ringing in his head, his skull has been reconstituted 22:59 he is healed, he's whole, but his blood is 23:05 still on his shirt isn't it? 23:07 A strange and powerful juxtaposition of circumstances 23:11 sort of spins its own narrative doesn't it. 23:15 The testimony of what Jesus has done for him, 23:18 the evidence of what he has been through, the hurt and 23:21 the halleluiah all visible at the same time, 23:25 what's the lesson here Malchus, servants of Caiaphas? 23:29 who even now pushes to kill the Messiah. 23:32 As you look at yourself in the mirror, what's the message? 23:36 That though you've been saved you should never forget 23:41 how Christ delivered you, maybe, possibly the lessons deeper 23:46 That though Christ redeems us His own blood was spilled to 23:49 make it so. 23:51 Did Malchus realize that to save him from his injury 23:54 yeah, even His own issue of blood, Jesus' own blood 23:59 would be spilled. Caiaphas sent Malchus to arrest Jesus 24:04 but rather it being Malchus' prisoner. 24:07 Jesus was his emancipator, haven't we all stood before 24:12 the mirror and contemplated ourselves in light of what 24:15 Christ has done? What Christ can do, are you right there 24:19 right now, forgiven but the blood is still on your shirt. 24:25 Undeserving but desperate, well then Malchus, servant of 24:33 Caiaphas, well then brother, sister, servant of addiction, 24:41 iniquity, sin, Jesus has given you another chance. 24:46 Maybe it's time for a new master. 24:52 Maybe it's time to give Jesus a try. 24:58 You know, I actually knew a woman a recovering drug addict 25:03 who didn't like to look in the mirror, 25:05 she used to say she could see all the city miles 25:10 she didn't like what she saw when she glanced into the 25:16 looking pane. But you know what there's more than one way 25:20 to view one's self? 25:22 When you read the word of God and we see what Jesus 25:28 has done for us, it not only sheds a light on who He is 25:33 it sheds light on who we are. 25:36 And by God's grace, we would study with this sister 25:41 and as we would break open the word and we would 25:45 read about Jesus the Christ the Savior, 25:49 despite her best efforts was looking in the mirror 25:54 and she saw herself. 25:57 Oh like one day in the past, I'd seen myself, just like you 26:04 maybe seeing yourself in that strange juxtaposition. 26:10 between the hurt and the hallelujah appreciative 26:18 of what God has done for you but still aware of everything 26:23 that He's brought you through. 26:25 Is that you? 26:28 It was her, I remember when it was me and the question was 26:36 posed to this young woman, same question that was posed to me 26:41 years ago and now the question that I pose to you. 26:45 Hey, isn't it about time for a new master? 26:53 I got good news Jesus is still accepting. 27:02 Father in Heaven, It is time for a new master 27:08 and that master is You. 27:10 The only mastership that doesn't bring bondage but brings freedom 27:16 the only servanthood that comes with emancipation. 27:22 We are tired, we are beleaguered but we see what you have done 27:27 for us and now Lord juxtaposed between the hurt and halleluiah 27:32 we choose You. Save us. 27:36 In thy name, we pray. Amen. 27:39 You know God has plans for you, you just walk with your hand 27:42 into His hand and He will lead you to His destination. 27:46 May He bless you, friends and as always be encouraged? |
Revised 2025-05-01