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this morning, Matthew chapter
26, and we're going to conclude our study of this portion that
deals with the trial of our Lord Jesus Christ. We'll be thinking
particularly this afternoon to prepare our hearts to come to
the table from verses 65 to 68, but I would like to read again
the whole section just to refresh our memories. We'll read verse
57 to 68. So Matthew chapter 26, beginning
to read at verse 57. Once again, this is the Word
of God. And those who had laid hold of
Jesus led him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes
and the elders were assembled. But Peter followed him at a distance
to the high priest's courtyard, and he went in and sat with the
servants to see the end. Now, the chief priests, the elders,
and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put
him to death, but found none. Even though many false witnesses
came forward, they found none. But at last, two false witnesses
came forward and said, this fellow said, I am able to destroy the
temple of God and to build it in three days. The high priest
arose and said to him, Do you answer nothing? What is it these
men testify against you? But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered
and said to him, I put you under oath by the living God. Tell
us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to him,
it is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter
you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power
and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his
clothes, saying, he has spoken blasphemy. What further need
do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard his
blasphemy. What do you think? They answered
and said, He is deserving of death. Then they spat in his
face and beat him. And others struck him with the
palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy to us, Christ, who is
the one who struck you? Amen. This is the reading of
God's Word. May He be pleased to write its
truth on our hearts today. Well, this morning we began looking
at this shameful episode of Jesus on trial. You'll remember we
considered together the prosecution. We saw it was made up of Caiaphas
and the rest of the Sanhedrin, a who's who of Israel's top clergymen. And then secondly, we considered
the witnesses at the trial, scoundrels hired for the purpose, but who
cannot find any dirt on Jesus, except that he had declared an
ability to raise up the destroyed temple in three days, which we
saw was a reference to his death and then his resurrection. And
then we also, of course, considered the accused himself. Jesus is
sublimely silent, throughout all of this ordeal. He is the
Lamb of God. He is going silently as a lamb
to the slaughter, to the altar, on behalf of His people. But
we left off our study this morning just as we're getting to the
critical moment of the trial. Caiaphas has put our Lord under
an oath to confess whether or not he is the Christ, the son
of the living God. And Jesus' answer is stunning. He says, it is as you said. Nevertheless,
I say to you, Hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at
the right hand of the power and coming on the clods of heaven."
Here we have Jesus proclaiming to the horror of this court. His identity as the true High
Priest, and soon to be Mediatorial King of Kings, who will be their
judge one day from the right hand of power, the right hand
of God. Now, no doubt, this statement
will be like a red rag to a bull, and sure enough, that's what
we find. So, this afternoon, we come to
consider how they respond to Jesus' declaration that He is
the Messiah, and how the trial concludes with the condemnation
of Jesus. Now, the fact that Jesus Christ
should be made the object of condemnation, and not the one
issuing it, surely demands an explanation. The words of human
mortals in verse 66, that are addressed to the Holy Son of
God, should take our breath away. They say, He is deserving of
death. And these words, too, demand
an explanation. In what sense can we say that
the sinless Savior is deserving of death? Well, the Bible does
give us an answer to these paradoxes. In fact, its explanation for
Jesus' condemnation that night in the judgment hall of Caiaphas
is really the central message of the entire book. And so we
do well to consider it together. Three things, again, I'd like
us to think about. Three things we see this court
of law doing. First thing we see them doing
is charging the Savior. That's verse 65 and the first
part of 66. Second thing we see them doing
is sentencing the Savior, also verse 66. And then thirdly, we
find them abusing the Savior in verse 67 and 68. So let's
think about these three things. Charging the Savior, sentencing
the Savior, abusing the Savior. Let's look again at verse 65
as we think first of charging the Savior. We read that the
high priest tore his clothes, saying, he has spoken blasphemy. What further need do we have
of witnesses? Look, now you have heard his
blasphemy. Now, I'll remind you what we
said this morning. At the time of Jesus' arrest, there had been
no charges. They didn't tell him why they
were arresting him. But now, of course, they've come
up with one. And the charge they have leveled
against Jesus is that he has spoken blasphemy. And this is the moment where
the final verdict, the formal verdict, I should say, is rendered
from the Jews' perspective. And Caiaphas, you'll see, does
three things. Number one, he charges Jesus with blasphemy
for making himself equal with God. Now according to the law
of God, if you go back to Leviticus 24 verse 14, we'll see that this
is a capital crime. So Leviticus 24 14 reads, take
the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to
lay their hands on his head and the entire assembly is to stone
him. Say to the Israelites, if anyone
curses his God, he will be held responsible. Anyone who blasphemes
the name of the Lord must be put to death. The entire assembly
must stone him, whether an alien or native-born. When he blasphemes
the name, he must be put to death. Now nothing could be clearer
and obviously God's law requires that the perpetrator must be
taken outside the camp and executed. Now according to John 18.31 we
know the Jews were actually prohibited from carrying out executions.
And so they were going to have to take it to the Roman authorities
to execute their sentence. And that's why, of course, it
would be in the Roman manner of crucifixion rather than stoning. Although it would still take
place outside the camp. But the charge leveled against
Jesus here was nevertheless not according to Roman law, but God's
law. The Jews would later say to Pilate,
John 19, 7, we have a law, and according to our law, he must
die because he made himself the son of God. Now, I don't want
you to miss this vital point. The Son of God is being charged
by the standards of His own law. Right? The standards of His own
law. Galatians 4.4, God sent forth
His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those
who were under the law. And of course he did so by bearing
the penalty of his own law. I wonder sometimes if maybe you
think to yourself that the death penalty is a little bit OTT for
every breach of God's law. Well, remember that God doesn't
think it's over the top because he submitted to the death penalty
himself. Caiaphas charges Jesus with blasphemy. The second thing he does is he
expresses sham grief. Caiaphas expresses sham grief. We read the high priest tore
his clothes, or he tore his robes. Now this traditional display
of grief was actually forbidden to the high priest according
to God's law. Once again, back in Leviticus,
which of course gave Caiaphas his rules, his marching orders,
Leviticus 21.10 reads, The high priest, the one among his brothers
who has the anointing oil poured on his head, and who has been
ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not tear his clothes. And it's particularly in the
context of funerals, but expressions of grief. It's forbidden because
he has been dedicated by the anointing oil of his God. I am the Lord. Now why was that
in place, that law? Such was the dignity of this
person, the high priest, this one man in Israel. He had an
office of momentous symbolic significance. He was, of course,
the preeminent type of the coming Messiah, who is called in Hebrews
3, 1, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus Christ.
He was also the Lord's anointed one, anointed with the holy oil,
as we just read. And the high priest alone was
ordained to be the wearer of the priestly robes, and so enter
into the holy of holies to atone for the sins of the people. So
because of this tremendous dignity this man had in his official
capacity, He was held to a higher standard. He, of all people,
was commanded by the law to refrain from expressions of mourning,
such as the tearing of his robes. To do so, says one commentator,
would serve to nullify his consecration. Well, that little background,
I hope, helps shed some light on what we find Caiaphas doing
here. By his deplorable actions he
is nullifying his consecration. Here is the man with really the
most dignified office in the world. He is God's anointed one. He is the high priest of Israel. And standing before him that
night is the one he foreshadows. If I could put it theologically,
the type has now met the anti-type. And instead of falling down before
him as God's definitive final anointed one, Caiaphas instead
conducts himself in the most undignified manner imaginable. He has him secretly arrested,
tied up in the middle of the night. He bribes numerous scoundrels
to bear false witness against him, and he charges him with
blasphemy. And then in this pious act of,
I suppose, play-acting, the high priest defies God's law and tears
his robes. And I would submit to you that
this tearing of his robe, like the tearing of the temple curtain,
symbolically marked the end of this earthly priesthood. As we
saw this morning, Caiaphas is the last of the Levitical priesthood. God was about to establish the
Melchizedek order in its place with Jesus as the eternal High
Priest. So Caiaphas, of course, is not
the last to denounce Jesus in a pious way. Lots of people do
this today. Lots of people act like Caiaphas,
very religious on the outside, but in their hearts they reject
the Savior and cut themselves off from salvation. How can you
tell if you're one of them? Well, the answer is found in
the third thing Caiaphas does here. We've seen he charges Jesus
with blasphemy. He expresses this sham grief
by tearing his robes. The third thing he does is he
asks for a verdict. He says to the court, what do
you think? In verse 66, what do you think? Here is an invitation to the
assembly to make a judgment about Jesus. If Jesus is not who he
claims to be, then he is guilty of blasphemy, and he's not to
be simply ignored, he is to be reproved, and he is to be punished. But if Jesus is, in fact, who
he claims to be, they are the ones who are guilty of blasphemy,
and they are the ones that are deserving of death. Caiaphas says, what do you think? And my friends, that is also
an invitation this morning to you to make a judgment about
Jesus. God's Word says to you this morning,
what do you think? What do you think about Jesus
Christ? It's the great question again, isn't it? It's the question
we thought about this morning. Who do you say that he is? That question Jesus has answered
for us. He has declared that He is the
Christ, the Son of the Living God, and I say to you hereafter,
you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power
and coming on the clouds of heaven. And again this afternoon, I want
to put to you, as you come to this table, or perhaps you're
not coming to the table, perhaps you know you're not a Christian
this afternoon. What do you think? What do you
think? What's your verdict? Is Jesus
of Nazareth the Christ, the Son of the Living God? Is He, this
afternoon, sitting at the right hand of power? And will you someday
see Him coming on the clouds of heaven to judge you? And again,
if Jesus is not who He claimed to be, then He is guilty of blasphemy,
and He's a fraud, and you should avoid Him. But if Jesus is who
he claims to be, my friends, then you must weigh carefully
what Jesus says of himself in this passage. Because if he's
right, then you this day are under his authority and jurisdiction,
and his law is binding upon you, and you are under great obligation
to him, and you have an appointment with him someday as your judge,
and the clock is ticking. He's coming on the clouds of
heaven. The Gospels give us his biography. They are wide open for your scrutiny.
Consider who He is, His claims, His miracles, His teaching, His
justice, His compassion, His truth. Surely you must concede
with the temple officers in John 7, verse 46, no man ever spoke
like that man. Surely we must agree with the
voice of God from heaven. In Matthew 17, 5, this is my
beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. We must conclude with
Peter in Matthew 16, 16, you are the Christ, the Son of the
living God. However, that verdict has by
no means been unanimous in history. And it certainly was not that
night And so we find this court charging the Savior, and we find
them in the second place this afternoon, sentencing the Savior. Sentencing the Savior. Verse
66 again, they answered and said, he is deserving of death. Now we saw in verse 59 that this
court already had its mind made up on the matter. They're just
waiting for Caiaphas to ask his question. So what are we to make,
then, of the Savior's sentence? He is deserving of death. Well, for one thing, we must
say, and particularly I think as we come to the table and examine
ourselves, that this is a just sentence for us. This is a just
sentence for us. He is deserving of death. She is deserving of death. We are, by nature, children of
wrath. We sang already from Psalm 51,
against you, you only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight,
that you may be found just when you speak and blameless when
you judge. Behold, I was brought forth in
iniquity and in sin. My mother conceived me. Jesus
in His trial is found guilty of the sin of blasphemy, but
friends, we are the ones who have blasphemed. Blasphemy is
one of those basic sins that fester within our fallen hearts. Jesus tells us in Mark 7, 20,
"...from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness,
deceit, lewdness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness."
Blasphemy is native to our hearts. It's one of the basic ingredients
of our human rebellion. In our native disobedience, we
make ourselves like God, and we do not reverence Him as the
Holy One that He is. And so the heavenly judge looks
down from heaven upon earth, and what does he see? Psalm 14.2,
the Lord looks down from heaven on the children of men to see
if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned
aside. They have together become corrupt.
There is none who does good. No, not one. Friends, if God
looks down and He can't find anybody, trust me, there's not
one righteous person to be found. All have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God and the wages of sin is death. God looks upon you and I and
he says he or she is deserving of death. Is there anyone in
here that can dispute that with God? I don't deserve to die.
I am not a sinner. None of us. None of us. Caiaphas' sentence is a just
one for us. We stand self-condemned. But of course the question we
need to ask is, is this a just sentence for Jesus? Isn't that
the real question we want to ask? Where's the justice in this
abominable mock trial? How can a just and righteous
God possibly allow such a sentence to be passed on His own beloved
Son? How can God be found just when
He speaks and blameless when He judges on this occasion? Is
this a just sentence for Jesus? Well, of course, we must immediately
say, well, no, of course it isn't. Jesus is innocent of all crimes.
He's not just a silent lamb. He is a spotless lamb. 1 Peter
2.22, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth.
And when he suffered, he didn't threaten. He committed himself
to him who judges justly. Friends, Jesus was not brought
forth in iniquity, nor in sin did His mother conceive Him. And yet, remember that behind this wicked
courtroom scene, there is another invisible legal transaction taking
place between God and sinners. Remember that since Gethsemane,
Jesus is reckoned the sin-bearer, the cup. The cup of God's wrath
against your sins and mine has been placed in His hands by the
Father, and the Father now legally views His Son as a criminal,
because this sentence had been pronounced upon us by divine
justice. Friends, if it is certain that
Jesus paid the penalty of sin, which is death, and if it is
equally certain that he had committed no sins of his own, there can
only be one conclusion. That he bore that penalty for
the sins of others. Your justification is not a legal
fiction. It is based upon a true legal
process that takes place in the councils of eternity and which
is visibly represented in history by Jesus' earthly trial. Your sins are real. The imputation
of those sins to Jesus, the sin-bearer, is also real. His condemnation
and execution are real facts of history, and your justification
depends upon them. And so the Savior's sentence,
He is deserving of death, that was pronounced by the wicked
Caiaphas, echoes the sentence passed by a holy God upon His
beloved Son for your sins and mine. Indeed, it is only by virtue
of the Savior's sentence that God can be just and the justifier
of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 3.26, the only
thing that can in any way vindicate God's permission of this otherwise
unjust condemnation of His sinless Son is this, that the Lord has
laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. 1 Peter 3.18, Christ also suffered
once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us
to God. So friends, this Sanhedrin spoke
better than they knew when they declared he is deserving of death. There are several points of application
suggested by this profound theological truth. The first application
has to do with salvation. Salvation. In his glorious self-revelation
in verse 64, Jesus spoke of a day when these words, he is deserving
of death, will be heard again. They'll be heard on the day of
judgment, won't they? But then they will be uttered
by the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power. the
very one upon whom they were declared by Caiaphas' courtroom,
will himself utter them on millions whom he will place on his left
hand. He or she is deserving of death. And so the question that is incumbent
on all of us here, young and old, to ask is how can I avoid
hearing him pronounce this sentence on me on that day? That's the
question we have to resolve, people. You must plead the Savior's
sentence that was passed on Him by Caiaphas to be the sentence
that is also passed on your sins. You must say, I am worthy of
death. I am worthy of condemnation. But Jesus has been sentenced
in my place. And you see, that's why the Apostle
Paul can say in Romans 8.1, there is therefore now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus. Or as one commentator puts it,
you must turn Jesus' condemnation to account personally, by faith,
by grasping, wielding, pleading it for your own deliverance from
all condemnation. If you're in Christ this afternoon
by faith, then it is you that stands in Christ there before
Caiaphas' court and are condemned by the law of God. Have you accepted
Jesus' sentence as your own sentencing? Have you cast yourself into the
divine plan and purpose of this condemnation of the Messiah?
Do you have a share in His condemnation? And not just a share. Have you,
by a personal act of faith, cast all the sins of your lifetime
upon that condemned man? And have you said of Christ,
the sin-bearer, the bearer of your sins, He is deserving of
death, not in Himself, but by virtue of my own death-deserving
sins being credited to His account by God? Or do you perhaps instead
think that you can somehow stand before God on some other basis
than Jesus' condemnation? No other way was found in the
garden, though Jesus sought one. If it's possible, let this cup
pass from me. But no, only by receiving the
cup of condemnation could you stand as righteous before God
and take up this cup of the new covenant, as you will in a few
moments. Are you presumed to stand before God by some other
means that even Jesus couldn't find in the Garden of Gethsemane?
Hugh Martin writes, to bring all your guilt within
the bond and compass of this condemnation which fell upon
Jesus. Appeal to your God to reckon
you condemned and sentenced, yea, crucified with Christ. Take
your stand beside Christ at the bar. Take up your position in
Christ. He is your cover, your refuge,
your hiding place. Flee unto Him. It is the righteous
sentence of God's law condemning you to death, which then goes
out and issues in those words that fell on Jesus' ears, He
is deserving of death. This is the first application.
You must apply this text to yourself for salvation. But there's another
application that has to do with sanctification. sanctification. Maybe you're sitting here today
and you know in your heart you have embraced Christ and his
condemnation in your place, but perhaps as a Christian you still
find yourself condemning yourself. You hate your sins, you earnestly
wrestle against them throughout your life, You find them to be
so powerful, so great, so condemning, polluting, and you say, perhaps
in your darker moments, I'm sure to be condemned. Maybe you're
terrified about the day of judgment. Well, if that's true of you,
this passage today offers you hope. It offers you hope. Apart from the cross, there was
perhaps no darker moment than this in history. Condemnation
of Christ. But if he is here condemned because
your sins are condemning him, then there is therefore now no
condemnation, because your sins were condemned in him. and you
are thereby free to walk according to the Spirit and no longer according
to the flesh." Either Jesus bore your condemnation or He didn't.
He didn't sort of bear 90% of your condemnation, but you still
have that 10% to try to make up to Him somehow. Absolutely
not. You need to go back to the gallery
of Caiaphas' palace and you need to see Christ the prisoner. You need to hear the sentence
of God uttered through the unlikely lips of Caiaphas. He is deserving
of death. His sentence of death is your
acquittal. Stop laboring under the illusion
that his sentence wasn't enough for you, enough for your sins,
enough for your sanctification that follows, or that you must
make up for the rest by acts of penance or spiritual disciplines
that will somehow curry favor with God. You can come to the
table this afternoon armed with this confidence, I am deserving
of death. So Jesus received this sentence
in my place, and so I come in faith to be nourished by him
in my Christian walk. And then one more point of application,
and that is for security. Security. I wonder as a Christian,
do you ever fear future judgment? Are you ever afraid of the day
of judgment? Maybe you read about it and you
tremble. Well, if so, remember that it
already happened 2,000 years ago in the courtroom of Caiaphas,
the high priest. In other words, in a sense, you
missed it. If you're afraid of your future judgment, you can
read about your day of judgment by reading this passage. You
can hear your sentence being read in history upon your substitute
Jesus Christ. Isn't that good news? Isn't that
awesome? Your sentence has already been
heard audibly in history. She is deserving of death. He
is deserving of death. The sentence has been pronounced.
And that's why Paul says in Romans 8.33, who shall bring a charge
against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who
is He that condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore
is risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes
intercession for us. Charges were brought against
this Jesus that night, and you were justified. Jesus was condemned
and died in your place, and so you earned an advocate at the
right hand of the Father, who will relentlessly argue the case
of your defense against all enemies, all naysayers, against Satan,
against God's law, against your own doubts, the sins you struggle
with. Isn't that good news this afternoon? And Jesus' winning argument against
them all is that He was arrested, He stood trial, He was condemned
and sentenced, and He was crucified in your place. Are you living
today with a fear or foreboding of the future judgment? The gospel
bids us rather reflect on a past judgment, the judgment of Christ
in our place. Hugh Martin again says, the deep
shadow that loomed so drearily upon your future, he will throw
back behind you into the past. merging it in the shadow of Calvary,
and the darkness of His own woe, and the future He will unroll
and disclose to you, bright with the riches of His grace, unsearchable
and resplendent in the beauties of holiness." Don't be afraid
of the Day of Judgment. You can read about your Day of
Judgment, and that's what we've done together today. Well, we've
considered the court charging the Savior, and sentencing the
Savior. And briefly, as we close, we
also have this court abusing the Savior. Verse 67 and 68,
then, they spat in his face and beat him. And others struck him
with the palms of their hands, saying, prophesy to us, Christ,
who is the one who struck you? These words don't really need
any embellishment from the preacher. We all know what it is for someone
to be beaten up. And with Jesus condemned, all
semblance of dignity and decorum in the courtroom is lost. A high priest does nothing to
prevent this abuse that is now hurled upon the prisoner who
has now become their victim. Suffice it to say that Jesus
endures physical abuse. There's a difference between
the two Greek words used here, beat and strike. The second one
refers to slapping with the palm of the hands. The first means
punching with a clenched fist. And this is shockingly undignified
behavior on the part of sober judges of Israel. One moment
they're acting the part of judges with solemnity, tearing their
robes at pious shock at such blasphemy, and the next they're
degenerating into a mob of thugs. And Jesus also endures mental
abuse. He endures their mockery. Mark tells us He was blindfolded
first, and then we hear the cries, prophesy to us Christ. If He
was a prophet, surely He knows who had punched Him. And the
irony is, that they mock His alleged prophetic abilities when
all the while they are doing what He had prophesied was going
to happen all along. Did they but know it. Jesus endures
abuse as the silent Lamb of God. The suffering servant says in
Isaiah 50 verse 6, I gave my back to those who struck me and
my cheeks to those who plucked out the beard. I did not hide
my face from shame and spitting. Friends, God will not allow any
more indignity to fall upon Christ than he has already predicted
and thus permitted, and yet they literally don't pull their punches,
they lay into him. And Jesus endures. You know,
when you think of what happened to Uzzah, remember Uzzah in the
Old Testament, he reached out just to touch the ark? Remember
what happened to him? Or the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh,
and they opened up the Ark of the Covenant, take a little peek
inside, struck dead on the spot. I mean, it's astonishing with
what patience the Holy Son of God bears the punches and the
slaps and the spittle of these wicked men on his sacred body. When He was reviled, He did not
revile in return. And when He suffered, He did
not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. 1 Peter 2, 23. Jesus endured,
and He endured for us. He endured for us. It's we who
deserve to suffer what our sins have brought upon us. But let
us marvel today that Jesus Christ should stand in our way and take
in His person the blows and contempt that our sins deserve. Let it
suffice us to conjure the privilege when we are sometimes thought
fools for his sake. And when the world abuses us
as Christians, let it be to us a badge of honor as those who
have been saved by an abused Savior. Amen. Let us pray. Oh Lord, we come and we worship
you. We stand today on holy ground. This This portion of your Word
should fill us with such awe. Surely the glorified saints who
have gone before us are filled with wonder as they behold the
face of the one who offered his cheeks to those who pulled out
the beard, the one who heard the sentence of the high priest
he is deserving of death, and in that heard the sentence of
his father upon his sheep. Lord, we acknowledge that we
deserve to hear that sentence. How we thank you that when we
do come to stand before you on that great day of judgment, these
are not words we will hear. That if we are in Jesus Christ,
he has been condemned in our place. Our sins have been credited
to him and his righteousness to us. And there is therefore
now no condemnation. Lord, may we come to this table
today with joy in our hearts. Would you turn away, O Lord,
all things that would hinder us coming to your table. Would you forgive our sins and
would you help us, O Lord, to bask in the glory of what Christ
has done as our good shepherd who has laid down his life for
the sheep. And we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.
He is Deserving of Death!
| Sermon ID | 3324191292819 |
| Duration | 42:08 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Matthew 26:65-68 |
| Language | English |
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