All right, let's open up with prayer. Father in heaven, our great God and King, our mighty Lord, we praise you and thank you for this Lord's Day. Thank you for the opportunity to worship you and to rest, to enjoy fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Lord, we ask that you would bless this time with Sunday school, that you would use this catechism and your word this morning to draw us closer to yourself. Please prepare our hearts as well to come before you in worship. Father, it's in Jesus' name we pray and give thanks, amen. Does everyone have a copy of the outline? Okay, right there. You got legs. Okay, while the last few people are getting settled, let's go ahead and start. I'll read the question, question 49, and then we'll read the answer together. So how did Christ humble himself in his death? Christ humbled himself in his death, in that having been betrayed by Judas, forsaken by his disciples, scorned and rejected by the world, condemned by Pilate, and tormented by his persecutors, Having also conflicted with the terrors of death and the powers of darkness, felt and borne the weight of God's wrath, He laid down His life in offering for sin, enduring the painful, shameful, and cursed death on the cross. Very good. So over the past few weeks, we've been diving deeper into the humiliation of Christ. We've been talking about his humiliation in his conception, in his birth, various aspects of his life. Now, obviously we're gonna talk about his humiliation in his death. So the first part of the answer, Christ humbled himself in his death in that having been betrayed by Judas. So Christ was betrayed by Judas. Children, who was Judas? Can anyone tell me anything about Judas? Nothing. Will, come on. All right, first of all, we know that Judas was one of Jesus' 12 apostles. These were the men that during our Lord's earthly ministry were closest to him, spent time with him every day, traveled with him. Can someone read, turn to Matthew 10 verses two through four? You got it? Thank you, sir. Two through four. Thank you very much. So Judas was called personally by Christ to serve him, to serve with him. And again, to be called by Christ meant that Judas traveled and ministered with our Lord during his earthly ministry. What we're about to read, he was even given power and authority over unclean spirits. Matthew 6, verses 7 and 13. And he called the 12 and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. and they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. So Judas, as one of the 12, was given the ability to cast out demons and heal the sick as a representative of Jesus Christ. We also know that Judas was the treasurer for Christ and his disciples. Does someone have John 12, four through six? Thank you. Thank you, Hunter. So Judas was grumbling that the ointment was poured over Christ and not sold to be given to the poor. This took place about a week before the Lord's crucifixion. He and the 12 were in Bethany with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus as dinner guests. Mary brought the expensive ointment of pure nard, it says in other passages, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. This great act of humility and devotion to our Lord was criticized by Judas in a feigned concern for the poor. But as we just read, his concern was that of his own pockets. He was a thief. It's good to think about Judas was one of the Lord's closest friends and ministry partners during his earthly ministry. As far as scripture allows us to know, Judas was with our Lord for majority of the time. From him being called to his betrayal of Jesus, Judas was there. He was there as the Lord proclaimed the gospel message of salvation. We can assume that he was present during countless miracles, the feeding of the 5,000, walking on water, calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee, healing a great multitude of people. Judas was there. But if he wasn't there, he at least had firsthand recountings of it from the other apostles. And yet he still betrayed our Lord. Can someone turn to Matthew 26 for me, verses 20 through 25? You got it, Cameron? Nice and loud? Thank you, sir. Thank you. So Luke 22 verse 3 and John 13 to tell us that at this point the Passover meal Satan had already entered Judas. So maybe it wasn't Judas's fault then. Maybe Satan's control over him was so powerful that we maybe can't put the blame on Judas. Right? No. No, Satan didn't enter Judas in the same way that demons would possess individuals at this time with convulsions and foaming at the mouth and throwing their victims into the fire or even speaking through the individual. We can see that Judas was fully conscious and aware of his actions as he entered into a covenant with the chief priests and eventually led them into the garden where Christ was praying so as to betray him. Judas willingly and knowingly chose to betray our Lord and holds the guilt that comes with that. Looking earlier in Matthew 26, we are told that Judas went to the chief priests and asked what he would be given if he delivered Jesus to them. Verse 16 says that from that moment on, he sought an opportunity to betray him. After the Passover meal, Judas leaves to gather a posse in order to arrest Jesus. Judas leads them to the Garden of Gethsemane, sees Jesus, and betrays him with a kiss. But the realization of what he had done, this wicked betrayal, sat with Judas all night, and in the morning, he went back to the chief priests. Can someone turn to Matthew 27 for me, verses three through four? Thanks, Travis. Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. They said, what is that to us? See to it yourself. Thank you. All right, children, young people, did Judas repent of his sin? No. No? Good answer, Cameron. No, I don't believe he did. I don't believe that Judas repented of his sin. He may have been remorseful and felt sorrow for what he had done, but that sorrow did not lead to repentance. Unlike Peter's sorrow, which led to repentance unto life, Judas's sorrow led to destruction. The king of kings was betrayed by one of his own servants. The creator was betrayed by his creation. So moving on to the next part of the answer, he was forsaken by his disciples. After the institution of the Lord's Supper, Jesus tells his disciples that they will all fall away because of him this night. For it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. Peter responds, Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away." This was Peter. Children, how many times did Jesus say that Peter would deny Him? Three, right. And those three denials would all happen before what? Say it if you know it, Brianna. Yes, yeah, before the rooster crows, right? Jesus prophesied that Peter would deny him three times before the rooster crows. Peter at this point doubles down and says, even if I must die with you, I will not deny you. And all the disciples said the same. So at the same time, Judas takes off to go meet with the chief priests. Meanwhile, Jesus and the rest of his disciples, the 11, went to the Garden of Gethsemane. He tells the disciples to wait while he goes off to pray, and taking with him Peter, James, and John, Jesus goes further into the garden to pray to the Father. Scripture tells us that he began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. He knows what's about to happen. The reason Christ came and the culmination of his earthly ministry was upon him. He petitions the Father three times to let this cup pass from him, each time returning to find the three of them sleeping. Watch and pray, Jesus tells them, lest you enter into temptation. He wakes them for the third time and tells them to rise as his betrayer is at hand. Could somebody turn to Matthew 26 for me? Thank you, 47 through 56, please. And while he was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude, with swords and clubs, came to the chief priests and elders of the people. Now his betrayer had given him a sign, saying, Whenever I kiss, he is the one that sees him. Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, Greetings, Rabbi, and kissed him. But Jesus said to him, Friend, why have you come? Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took him. and cut off his ear. But Jesus said to him, put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to my Father, who has provided for you more than 12 legions of angels? How then could the scriptures be fulfilled that it must happen thus? In that hour, Jesus said to the multitudes, have you come out as against a robber with swords Thank you. I was waiting for it. Again, the disciples talked a big game, yet when it came time to act, they ran away. Not one of our Lord's closest friends stuck by him during his arrest. They abandoned their master, Though just a while earlier, the 11 remaining disciples exclaimed that even if they must die with Christ, they will not deny him. I'm gonna read from Luke 22. We're gonna find out if any of them did, in fact, deny him. Luke 22, starting at verse 54. Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house. And Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, this man also was with him. But he denied it, saying, woman, I do not know him. And a little later, someone else saw him and said, you also are one of them. But Peter said, man, I am not. And after an interval of about an hour still, another insisted, saying, certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean. But Peter said, man, I do not know what you are talking about. And immediately, while he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 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. and he went out and wept bitterly. Peter and Judas both had committed grievous sins against the Son of Man, but Judas' sin was a final act of apostasy that led to death, while Peter's sin of denial was followed eventually by repentance and restoration. When Jesus prophesied that Judas would betray him and that Peter would deny him, he knew full well both would happen very soon. The difference between the two men and their sins against the Lord is that Peter repented and was restored, but Judas did not repent. If we look at Matthew 10, verse 32, Jesus says, Whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven. Peter denied the Lord before men, and yet our Savior did not deny Peter before his Father. This is an undeserved gift of mercy from the Lord. Our Lord Jesus would have been perfectly just to deny Peter before his Father, and yet, for his own good pleasure, He chose to bless Peter with forgiveness of sin and full restoration to himself. Peter believed the Lord and it was counted to him as righteousness. Unlike Jesus, Judas and Peter were both born with a sin nature, being at enmity with God. But Peter was credited with Christ's righteousness. Something for us to consider in thinking about Judas and Peter. Just the contrast between the two. We may, modern day Christians, modern day humans, we may attend both morning and evening worship faithfully. We may tithe 10% or even more. We may give our kids a Christian education or even serve as an officer in the church. But none of these things will make us right with God and cancel our sin debt. It is faith alone in Christ alone. So after this, Peter, the answer tells us that Christ was scorned and rejected by the world, condemned by Pilate, and tormented by his persecutors. Isaiah 53 verses two through three tell us, for he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hid their faces. He was despised, and we esteemed him not. So after Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, he was brought to the chief priests. Mark tells us in chapter 14 that the elders, the scribes, and the whole council gathered together and were seeking testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they found none. Mark 14.56, many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. And then a little bit later on in Mark 14, verse 61 to 65, but he remained silent and made no answer. Again, the high priest asked him, are you the Christ, the son of the blessed? And Jesus said, I am. And you will see the son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. And the high priest tore his garments and said, what further witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision? And they all condemned him as deserving of death. And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, prophesy. And the guards received him with blows. The second person of the Trinity has just been condemned as deserving death by his own creation for proclaiming his own deity. These are the chief priests and the scribes and the Pharisees here. These men should have known the scriptures better than any Jew of that time. And they did not see the truth. They failed to see that the promised Messiah was standing in their presence and they were treating him as a criminal. So the Sanhedrin had made their decision in this trial and brought Jesus to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor at the time. Can someone turn and read for me John 18, 28 through 31, please? I got it. Thank you, sir. When they led Jesus from Caicas to the Praetorium, and it was an early morning, but they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be filed. But that day might be a Passover, Pilate then went out to them and said, what accusation do you bring against this man? And they answered and said to him, if you were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered him up to you. And Pilate said to them, you take him and judge him according to your law. Therefore the Jews said to him, it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death. Thank you. So the judge of all the earth was wickedly judged and falsely accused by mere men. and yet he remained silent. Isaiah 53 verse seven, he was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. Our Lord Jesus is the only sinless and guiltless human being. If anyone could have protested and made a case for one's innocence, it would have been our Lord. Yet he remained silent, according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. God is sovereign, and though the men that condemned and killed our Lord remain guilty, we can be assured that all this was part of God's foreordination to save his people. So now Jesus is in the custody of Pilate, and Pilate questions the Lord to establish whether or not Jesus has done anything deserving of death. John 18, verses 33 through 38, I'll go ahead and read that. So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, do you say this of your own accord? Or did others say it to you about me? Pilate answered, am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done? Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. but my kingdom is not from the world. Then Pilate said to him, so you are a king. Jesus answered, you say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. Pilate said to him, what is truth? After this, Pilate returns to the Jews that delivered Jesus to him and says that he finds no guilt in our Lord. So Pilate finds no guilt in Jesus, tries to release him back to the Jews by appealing to the Jewish custom of releasing one prisoner during the Passover. The chief priests stirred up the crowd in order to get Pilate to release Barabbas instead of Jesus. In Luke, we learn that Barabbas is described as an insurrectionist and a murderer. John tells us that he was a robber. And regardless if he was one or the other or all three, Barabbas is the one deserving of a death sentence, not Jesus. The chief priest's hatred for Jesus was so intense that they would rather have a murderer and a terrorist back in their community, rather than the promised Messiah. Pilate accepts this decision by the Jews despite his declaration of innocence that he pronounced only a little while earlier. The Apostles' Creed says that Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate. And the Nicene Creed says as well that Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate. Now, some may ask, well, why is Pilate being singled out here when many people are responsible, from Judas to the chief priests, even the Roman soldiers? Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor at the time, and although he sought to remain innocent, he ultimately approved of and ordered the crucifixion to take place. Being fearful of a riot, as Matthew 27, 24 tells us, he sent Christ to be scourged and crucified. Though Pilate tried to wash his hands of guilt in the persecution and death of our Lord, he still bears guilt and responsibility for the crucifixion. Ligonier Ministries, every couple years, puts out a state of theology report. They survey Christians and non-Christians alike in an attempt to paint a picture of the theological landscape of the United States. One of the statements in their 2022 survey was, Jesus is a great teacher, but he was not God. 43% of US evangelicals agreed with this. If Jesus wasn't God, then Pilate crucified another sinful human being, and we would all still be dead in our sins and trespasses. Jesus is God, and he willingly humbled himself and died for our sake. After Pilate released Barabbas, he had the Roman soldiers take Jesus to the headquarters, where they proceeded to scourge and beat and mock him. Could someone read for me Matthew 27, 28 through 31? You got it again, Cameron? Nice and loud? This mockery of our Lord should be striking to us. How foolish and wicked these guards are as they mock Jesus. Yet in their mockery, they proclaim the truth that Jesus is the King of the Jews. And even before his betrayal and his arrest, Christ knew what was about to take place. He knew he would be betrayed, denied, mocked, and crucified. But he came to do the will of the Father. But in his humanity, he was still conflicted with the terrors of death, as the answer tells us. Luke 22, 44. And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. In Matthew 26, 38, then he said to them, my soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me. As mentioned earlier, Jesus appeals to his father that it be possible to let this cup pass from him. He wasn't just agonized by the thought of the physical pain of what he was about to experience, but also the humiliation of being identified with and bearing the weight of the sin and guilt of God's elect. The father and the son shared perfect communion for all eternity until that time in which Christ became sin. God in that moment shares only his perfect wrath with his son. Second Corinthians 521, for our sake he made him sin to be sin who knew no sin. I'm sorry, let me try that again. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. God imputed our sin to Christ. God as judge assigned the responsibility of our sin to Christ. making it possible for him to justly receive the punishment that we deserve for that sin. Christ was our substitute, accepting the penalty of sin in our place. So Christ now is nailed to the cross. It is then that our Lord cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Christ here is referencing Psalm 22. But David in that psalm did not experience the fullness of being forsaken by God as Jesus did. Jesus took all this for your sake, believer. We are the ones who deserve to be forsaken by God, to be punished for our sin, and to bear God's holy wrath. Let us praise God for the perfect faithfulness of his son for our sake. Jesus laid down his life as an offering for sin, And though he was betrayed by Judas, and arrested by the chief priests, condemned by Pilate, and crucified by the Roman soldiers, Christ is the one who chose to lay his life down. John 10, 17 through 18. For this reason, the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father. Christ was not a victim, but freely offered himself for God's elect. The cross shows us of the loving obedience from the Son to the Father. He was obedient to the Father to the point of death, even death on the cross. Jesus obediently bore his own cross to Golgotha. He willingly allowed the soldiers to hang him on that cross. He allowed himself to be crucified in between two criminals and in front of a multitude of bystanders, to include his mother in close relations. The painful, shameful, and cursed death of the cross is one that we deserve, and yet for our sake, Christ willingly took it upon himself. Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree. Galatians 3.13. And even in the humiliation of his death and the lowest state that he was in, the truth of Christ was inscribed over him, saying, King of the Jews. Luke 24.46. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. And having said this, he breathed his last. Does anyone have any questions? Yes, sir. Yeah, you did. I appreciate that. Having also conflicted with the terror of death, the powers of darkness felt and born in the wake of God's wrath. If Christ is divine, how could he have confliction with the terror of death? Since Christ is divine, not if Christ is divine, right? Since Christ is divine. He was speaking at that point in his humanity. Because of the hypostatic union, Jesus being fully God and fully man, he was speaking there in his humanity. His deity was fully in union with God and his will. Any more questions? Yes, sir. 9 o'clock, 9 o'clock next Lord's Day. Will's going to be taking that aspect of... Thank you, sir. Any more questions? Okay, no one has any more questions. Okay, all right. Go ahead, sir. Give me your best shot. Go ahead, you have the floor. Can you repeat that question one more time? Allow me to simplify. I appreciate that. Thank you. the conflict between Christ's suffering in his humanity and his divinity? Yeah, I mean, there's, so the hypostatic union is that Jesus is fully God and fully man. Those two natures are not blended, right? But they're also not inseparable. So Jesus is, from his conception, He's been fully God, fully man. He will continue to be so forever and ever, but it's not as though you blend that together and it makes, there's still two natures. There's still his divine nature and his human nature. So in his divine nature, he did suffer and he was in agony. I mean, in his human nature, I apologize. In his human nature, he did suffer and there was agony. What do you take the term rationalize I'm not sure, I was hoping to just kind of speak for a few minutes and... I have a proposal that we desist from rationalizing, but entirely receive by faith. Sure. Yeah, because we can't fully understand that, right? That is not something that we can... You start rationalizing, and I don't know, you might end up with a framework you agree. We wouldn't want that. All right, let's close in prayer. Father in heaven, our God and our King, we thank you for your son. We thank you for The willing sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf that he laid down his life for our sake. Lord, we pray that we would remember that, that you would use these truths to draw us closer to yourself. Help us to praise your name more for you are glorious, Lord. You are holy and you are deserving of our praise, our worship, and our adoration. Again, Lord, prepare our hearts and minds for worshiping you this morning. Be with Pastor Miller as he brings the word. and bless this Lord's Day. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.