Every week I publish my sermon notes so that you may read them for yourselves. For my parishioners, this could be a good review from the weekend before. And it gives you a chance to see what I intended to say! For other pastors and ministers, feel free to borrow and use any of this material. I'd love for God to be glorified by you incorporating these notes into your own worship.
"Betrayed By A Kiss” 04.06.12
Scripture: Luke 22:47-48 / YouVersion LIVE Event
Tonight on this Good Friday night we are going to talk about betrayal. You can't live very long on Planet Earth without experiencing betrayal first hand. The daddy you thought you could count on doesn't show up. That friend who said she wouldn't tell your secret, blabs to the very person who could hurt you the most. That employer for whom you sacrificed all the late hours suddenly decides he doesn't want to sacrifice for you at the first little financial bump in the road and hands you the pink slip. That spouse who promised "'til death do us part" exits early for "Better," "Richer," not to mention "Younger."
So maybe you can understand that of all the pains Jesus would suffer over the next 24 hours, the stab of betrayal that started Good Friday Eve was the most painful. Doctor Luke gives us the details.
"While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" (Luke 22:47-48 NIV)
The centuries since that moment have held speculation about why Judas did what he did. Maybe he really was nothing but a thief and was motivated by the 30 pieces of silver. Perhaps he was a zealot and wanted to hasten Jesus' kingship. Maybe he thought he was doing a good thing. Or maybe, after three years, this whole Jesus gig was turning toward a completely different direction than he thought, and he wanted Jesus on his own terms.
As we contemplate the meaning of Jesus death on the cross on this Good Friday, there are two phrases in these two verses I want us to focus. First Judas was one of the twelve. He had spent the last 3 years with Jesus. More to the point, Jesus had spent the last 3 years with him. And despite having a closer walk with Jesus than almost anyone else, Judas hands him over to the enemy.
This should strike terror into the heart of every Christ follower. It's easy to vilify Judas. The more evil we can make him, the safer our belief that we would never do the same. But the story of Judas - indeed of all of Jesus' followers in Luke's story - was that everyone betrayed Jesus that night.
It wasn't only Judas who got it wrong. They all did. Even when they tried to be brave and defend Jesus with a sword - they got it wrong! Peter - the one who thought he was so strong that he could fight with the sword couldn't even stand up to the girl at the fire pit hours later. They all scattered and ran. After 3 years of intensive one-on-one training, they each got it wrong. They all betrayed him in one way or another.
We all have betrayed Jesus in one way or another. Judas' story is our story too. If you are here at the Good Friday service, the chance is pretty good that you consider yourself a Christ follower. You're not the C and E kind of Christian, showing up on Christmas and Easter, you're here on Good Friday. Not a victory day. But the day Jesus died on the cross.
At some point or another in our walk with Jesus we all come to this betrayal kiss moment. We all come to this moment when we realize that our faith is different than we expected it to be. We come to the moment of decision when we accept Jesus as He really is and not the way we want Him to be.
That's the other phrase that stands out in these 2 verses: the Son of Man, reminds us of Jesus' Lordship. He is the Son of God Who left Heaven to become the Son of Man. We worship the authentic Jesus, not the Jesus of our imaginations. We obey the Lord Jesus, not the Easy Jesus. We serve the King Jesus and do what He wants, what He expects, NOT what we want and what we expect. Christianity is all about HIS plans and not about ours. The Lord's prayer is all about doing HIS will and not about making him do ours!
Everyone here tonight - if you'll be honest with yourselves - will discover who you really are in this Good Friday story. All of us, at one point or another, are like Judas - A PRETENDER CHRISTIAN. We hang out with Christians. We go to church. We know the stories. We think we know what it's all about. But there comes a point when We come face to face with the real Jesus and he asks us if we will really follow or betray Him.
Some of us here tonight are like Peter in the garden - A DEFENDER CHRISTIAN. We are ready to defend our version of our faith to all who believe differently than we do. We know the verses. We know the prayers. We know the history. We know the theology. We know everything there is to know about Christianity except for the Christ Who tells us to put away our swords and follow Him.
What was the difference between the motley crew who couldn't get anything right before the crucifixion and the apostles who changed the world after the resurrection? They stopped being PRETENDER Christians. They stopped being DEFENDER Christians. THEY BECAME SURRENDERED CHRISTIANS! They stopped trying to live out their own definition of a Christ follower and they started living the God-empowered life of surrender to His will His plan for their lives.
I love everything about Christianity except Good Friday. I hate that Jesus had to suffer and die so that I might be able to have this authentic relationship with God. I want there to be another way. But there is no other way. My faith is not about me, it's all about Him. My Christianity is not about what I can do for Him, it's all about what He has done for me. My relationship with Jesus is not about what I want to make him to be, it's all about what He's making me to be. The same is true for you.
Good Friday is a decision point for all of us, just like it was 2,000 years ago. Have you ever considered what the real difference was between Judas and all the others? It wasn't the betrayal. It was what he did with his betrayal. When faced with the truth, he couldn't live with the reality of his wrongness. He couldn't SURRENDER his offense.
What about you? Everyone here is guilty of betraying Jesus. Each of us nailed Him to that tree. He died because each one of us has sinned. Not one of us here tonight is better than Judas. Some of us are living PRETENDER lives, but when we are brave enough to look inside, we see the truth. Some of us are living DEFENDER lives on the outside, but on the inside it's still all about our own selfishness. The reality of Good Friday is our need for the SURRENDERED life.
Let's pray.
