The season for the reason
Exploring the importance of Easter
Part 1 – last supper & betrayal
I. Introduction
Easter has long been my favorite holiday. Probably not so much as a kid, because I’m sure that I enjoyed getting presents at Christmas. Easter was always a nice holiday and I enjoyed the candy and hunting for Easter Eggs. I also remember that I really like Easter Sunday morning at church. The flowers made the sanctuary look nice, everyone dressed in their fines clothes. My Easter memories as a child were fond ones.
It wasn’t until recently (November, 2002) that I really appreciated Easter for what it was. It’s not that my parents failed to explain the importance of Easter but that my mind wasn’t in the place to fully understand it.
Now, Easter Sunday is the most anticipated day of the year for me! I absolutely love it! I’m especially excited about this Easter as it will be my first chance to preach on an Easter Sunday! Watch out, I may just be skipping up and down the aisle!
So when I came to FCC and found out that the church had done Easter advent in the past I was eager to reinstitute it! As we go through these next few weeks you will find that this candle in the middle represents the most glorious event in history and is the cornerstone of our faith. Without the resurrection we are to be most pitied of all men!
1 Corinthians 15:16-19 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. (17) And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. (18) Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. (19) If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
You will notice that I have titled this series “The Season for the Reason.” You can probably guess that is a play on words from the Christmas saying that Jesus is the Reason for the Season (which, coincidentally was the title of my Christmas messages!). The reason for this title is based out of 1 Peter 3:15.
1 Peter 3:15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
Easter is the season that gives us the reason for the hope that is in us! The resurrection is our defense! Christ was raised as a first fruit of those who have fallen asleep. We are guaranteed a resurrection because of Christ’s resurrection!
II. The Last Supper & Betrayal
There are many events surrounding the Last Supper that many people are unaware of. First of all, let me just say that I prefer to call it the Lasting Supper, because Jesus commanded us to observe it often. As you know, we observe the Lasting Supper every week, and I really enjoy that part of our worship.
One of the big events that surrounds the Last Supper, actually it occurs during the Last Supper, is the washing of the disciples feet. This portion of Scripture should shock us. It should astound us. Jesus, the Almighty One, the Lord of Heaven and Earth, the One by Whom all things are held together is washing feet. But most of us are not astonished by this, are we?
The problem is that too often we do not approach Scripture with reverence, especially the portions that we have heard so often. When we come into church and we see that the pastor is going to be preaching on familiar passages like Jonah and the Fish, the five loaves and two fishes, Jesus walking on water, and Jesus washing feet, we tend to have the reaction of , “Oh, not again. I’ve heard this all my life, I can’t possibly get anything from this” and we turn off our brains and just sit. I’m sure we’re all familiar with the old adage “familiarity breeds contempt.” When we become so familiar with something we tend to have less and less reverence for it.
We can’t do this with the Bible! We must fight it! We have to be amazed! One of the problems that we face is that we’re always looking for practical application. Here is something that I wrote 5 or 6 years ago:
As I was teaching Bible study the other night, the question came up as to why the church today seems to be lacking an awe of God. I said at the time that I think it's the modern church's need for an application that has caused a lack of awe for God. It has made the Bible, the very thing that reveals God to us, a story about us. When in fact, the Bible is ALWAYS about God. That statement was only part true, however.
I realize that the Bible is God's Word to us, and that He wants us to apply it. So, I think that the application in a lot of cases is to make us say WOW!
Here are a few examples of what I'm talking about. God led the Israelites through the desert and to the
Consider the battle of Jericoh. The walls of the city fall down and all the army did was march around them and blow their trumpets. We correctly look at that passage and say that if we obey God, He will lead us through. But why can't we just say WOW?
Consider the story of Shardrach, Meshach and Abednego. We correctly look at that passage and realize that God is with us at all times, but why can't we just say WOW?
It's ok to draw application from scripture, God wants us to. But, let's not forget to stand back once in a while and just say WOW!
So, just take a second and think about the amazing act that is taking place here. Almighty God, is washing feet. This should give us a little insight as to Jesus’ view of leadership!
John 13:2-20 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, (3) Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, (4) rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. (5) Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (6) He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?" (7) Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand." (8) Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." (9) Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" (10) Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you." (11) For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, "Not all of you are clean." (12) When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you? (13) You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. (14) If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. (15) For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. (16) Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. (17) If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (18) I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, 'He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.' (19) I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. (20) Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me."
A lot of us probably know that washing feet was reserved for the servants. It’s certainly wasn’t for the Rabi to be doing to his disciples! If anything, the disciples should have been washing Jesus’ feet. But Jesus said that He did it as an example (vs. 15). It’s not the practice of foot washing that Jesus is commanding but the principle of service. No one is above serving another. In fact, Jesus said that if you want to be first you must be last and the one who wants to be greatest must be least. Even the Lord doesn’t lord it over people!
Another aspect I want to look at is Jesus’ attitude towards those that he knew would turn their backs on Him.
Probably most notably is Peter. Peter’s denials of Christ are one of the most talked about portions of Scripture. Shortly after having dinner with His disciples and establishing the institution of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus predicts the fact that Peter will deny Him.
John 13:36-38 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward." (37) Peter said to him, "Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." (38) Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.
Jesus was well aware of the fact that Peter would deny him even before He washed Peter’s feet!
Often times we are hesitant to serve others or be nice to others because we are sure that they are going to stab us in the back. We are positive that they wouldn’t do the same for us. We have know way of knowing that for sure, it’s simply conjecture, yet we are certain that it’s going to happen. We don’t posses omniscience like Jesus did. Jesus knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Peter would later deny Him and yet, he humbled himself and served Peter by washing his feet.
And Peter did deny Him, three times just as predicted:
John 18:15-18 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the court of the high priest, (16) but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. (17) The servant girl at the door said to Peter, "You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?" He said, "I am not." (18) Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.
and twice more a few verses later:
John 18:25-27 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, "You also are not one of his disciples, are you?" He denied it and said, "I am not." (26) One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, "Did I not see you in the garden with him?" (27) Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.
Another very notable betrayal is that of Judas. Jesus’ action towards Judas is probably even more astonishing. It’s Judas who is going to hand Jesus over to the authorities, for thirty measly pieces of silver, so they can take Him and kill Him. And it is during the act of washing feet that Jesus first predicts Judas’ betrayal. Look at John 13:10-11:
John 13:10-11 Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you." (11) For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, "Not all of you are clean."
So Jesus knew who was going to betray Him and yet He humbly washed His feet!
I cannot tell you how much I wish that we would treat each other this way! We, me included, are so worried about what others will do or say and we base our service to others on their actions towards us! LET’S GET OVER OURSELVES! Let’s Be like Christ! Let’s Wash feet!
Judas is picked as a disciple for the purpose of betraying Jesus! Have you ever thought of that? From the beginning Judas was a traitor. Judas didn’t even know it! But God did, and Jesus did too. That’s why He picked Judas. It’s all part of the Master’s plan.
God put a person into the life of His Son who would betray Him and cause His life to be taken. It could very well be that God puts someone similar in your life! Why not? Are you better than Jesus?
III. Jesus’ reaction after Peter’s denial
Unfortunately, Matthew’s Gospel tells us that Judas was so distraught by his denial of Jesus that he gave the thirty pieces of silver back he went and hung himself.
Matthew 27:3-5 Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, (4) saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." They said, "What is that to us? See to it yourself." (5) And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself.
We are all very quick to judge Judas. We have a hard time believing that he was saved. It’s not for me to judge. I’m not sure of Judas’s eternal state, I just see a very distraught person who we are told was controlled by Satan during the time that he betrayed Jesus (John 13:27). I will not comment on the state of Judas’s soul one way or the other and I don’t think anyone should. We simply don’t know.
We are given the opportunity, however, to see how Jesus responds to Peter. We are told another chilling fact about Peter’s denial. Luke gives us this insight:
Luke 22:60-61 But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are talking about." And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. (61) And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, "Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times."
This is Peter’s last interaction with Jesus before He was crucified. Can you imagine? Here is Peter, the man who said that he would not allow Jesus to die, the man who made the bold declaration that Jesus was the “Christ, the Son of the Living God,” the man who cut off a guards ear as they tried to arrest Jesus and now he has just denied that he knows the Lord and Jesus catches his eye as if to say, “I told you so!”
Peter was not present at the crucifixion of Jesus, at least the Bible doesn’t record his presence there. So it is not until after the resurrection that Peter has his next encounter with Jesus. Peter must have been miserable during that time!
So let’s take a look at how Jesus interacts the man who denied he knew Him.
John 21:15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs."
This is not the first time that Peter has seen Jesus since the resurrection. Jesus appeared to the disciples at least one other time before this. But, this is the first time that Peter was addressed personally by Jesus.
Now I want you to notice that Peter didn’t go to Jesus and ask His forgiveness. Jesus didn’t wait for Peter to come to Him and say, “Lord, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have denied you. It was wrong.” He pursued Peter; He called Peter out and initiated the conversation!
This is what we need to do. We need to forgive without being asked to forgive and we need to be about seeking reconciliation without waiting to see remorse from someone!
There is an interesting thing going on here. Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him. There are some different words in the Greek for love. One of them is agape and the other is phileo. So, in this passage Jesus says to Peter, “do you agape me?” And Peter responds, “I phileo you.”
Our first reaction when we hear this is to cringe. Oh, Peter. Man, when the Lord asks you if you love him you better say YES! But I believe that Peter’s answer pleased Jesus.
You see, I think the old Peter, the Peter before the denial, would have snapped to with this question! Especially the challenging statement that Jesus made when He said, “Do you love me more than these?” The old Peter would have said, “More than these? C’mon Lord, set the standard a little higher, would ya? More than these? Do fish swim? Of course I love you more than these!”
Peter has learned his lesson! Jesus says, “Peter do you unconditionally love me not matter what?” And Peter answers, “Jesus, I love you like a brother.”
So Jesus asks Peter again. Same question from Jesus, same response from Peter.
Then, the third question is a bit different. Jesus says, “Peter, do you love me like a brother?” Now this is why Peter is grieved and he answered “Lord, you know I do.”
Peter understands that he cannot be fake with God. He has come to understand that God knows his heart and he trusts God’s assessment of his heart more than he trusts his own.
Jesus agrees with Peter, that he does love Jesus like a brother, and then lets him in on a little secret.
John 21:18-19 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go." (19) (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, "Follow me."
Jesus tells Peter that while Peter loves Jesus like a brother now that love will transfer into an unconditional love—a love that will allow Peter to even give his life for the sake of the Gospel.
You see, this brotherly love isn’t a love like you love your brother. You love your family with an unconditional agape love. You would give up your life for you brother. He’s talking about loving like a friend. It’s sort of reminiscent of High School when boy likes girl and girl really isn’t all that into boy. Boy says, “I love you, will you go out with me?” Girl says, “I like you as a friend and I don’t want to ruin our friendship.” Talk about a kick in the stomach!
But in this scenario, Jesus and Peter both know that Peter cannot claim to love Jesus unconditionally because he feared for his own safety more than he loved Jesus. And Jesus is satisfied with Peter’s honesty.
Let me be clear on something, though. I don’t for a minute believe that Jesus would be satisfied with Peter remaining at a phileo level of love for God! And Jesus knows that Peter won’t stay there, because Peter is going to give his life for the gospel.
Church tradition tells us that Peter was crucified just like Jesus. Well, not just like Jesus because Peter requested to be crucified upside down, which tradition tells us is because he did not consider himself worthy to even die in the same manner that Jesus did.
IV. Conclusion
Let’s not forget the purpose of this message is to steer our focus to the purpose of Easter. We have looked at the Last Supper and the betrayal of Jesus. These are very important parts of the Easter story because the Last Supper is where Jesus told us that we should take the bread and drink the cup in remembrance of Him.
We have looked much at how Jesus responded to the people that He knew would turn their backs on Him. Jesus washed both Peter’s and Judas’s feet as a servant would. This was a tremendously humble and loving act.
We saw Jesus’ pursuit of Peter—how Jesus sought out Peter and initiated reconciliation.
Jesus is our supreme example in all things and the One whom we should strive to be like! Do you have someone who you need to pursue and initiate reconciliation? Are you too consumed with yourself and what a certain person might do to you? Be the person who gives their thirsty enemy something to drink and their hungry enemy something to eat! Be the person who shows the love of God in them by loving others.
You may be sitting there and claiming that you love God. If Jesus were to come to you and ask you if you agape Him, you would say I DO! Without accusing you of not loving Him unconditionally, let me give you some measuring sticks that will help you test your love for God.
1. If you love God you will love to spend time with Him. This means prayer and Bible reading. Do you spend consistent amounts of time praying and reading His Word?
2. If you love God you will love God’s people. I just spent 11 weeks laying out for you how to love God’s people. Last week Kris showed us the importance of loving God’s people. Loving God’s people is a direct reflection of loving God.
John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. (35) By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
3. If you love God you will love lost people. God has a heart for the lost and desires that all men be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. Do you have that heart?
4. If you love God you will hate what God hates. There is a place for hate in the Christian life. We should hate sin. God hates it. If you love God you will hate sin—starting with your own. It’s easy to hate when others sin. We are quick to point it out, quick to tell them how to stop and sometimes quick to tell others about it! What about your own sin? John Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” Purify yourselves! Hate sin!
5. If you love God you will long for the return of Christ. Are you looking and longing?
6. If you love God you will keep His commandments. Jesus said that in John 15:10. Love is displayed through obedience. It’s not simply enough to try not to do what is wrong, you also have to try to do what is right.
LORD HELP US LOVE YOU!
