Let's begin by turning in our Bibles to Matthew chapter 26. We want to look this morning at verses 1 through 16, and we're going to begin a series now from Matthew 26 all the way to Matthew chapter 28 as we study the passion of Jesus Christ. This is the culmination and fulfillment of God's plan for redemptive history and that this is the case is clear, really, from the beginning of the Bible. In Genesis chapter three and verse 15, after the fall of man, God proclaims that it will be the very seed of the woman who crushes the head of the serpent and reclaims what is lost. That is a promise that is fulfilled in the virgin conception. We usually refer to it as the virgin birth, and that is attested to in Matthew chapter 1. In Genesis chapter 12, God appears to Abraham and calls him to the promised land and promises that it is through him and through his seed that he will not only bless his descendants, but bless the entirety of the world. In 2 Samuel 7, God tells David that it will be his descendant who will sit upon David's throne and a throne over the whole of the earth eternally. And in Isaiah 53, the entirety of the means by which God will accomplish these purposes in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is recorded for us. in a sense, as prehistory. I find it nigh unto impossible to read Isaiah 53 and not have the passion of Jesus Christ, as is recorded in Matthew and Mark and Luke and John, forefront in my mind, led like a lamb to the slaughter. We considered him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But it was for our sins that he died. Psalm 2 speaks of the ruling with a rod of iron over all the nations and Psalm 110 speaks of. The son of David, the Lord of David, sitting at the right hand of God, waiting for him to subjugate all of his enemies beneath him as a footstool. The cross of Jesus Christ is the culmination of redemptive history. It is the high point. It is the greatest manifestation of both the love of God and the justice of God in one single event. It is a demonstration of the forces of darkness against the forces of light. And God wins. Even though it looks like man wins, it looks like The forces of darkness win. It is indeed through these very means and through this very rejection that God accomplishes our salvation, which he promised and revealed progressively from the fall of mankind, from the dawn of creation. And what we will see here in Matthew's gospel will demonstrate that point very directly. Remember that Matthew is writing to a biblically literate audience. He is writing predominantly to a Jewish audience and to God-fearers who are very familiar with the Old Testament and understand the Old Testament and are looking forward to the coming of the Messiah. And the reason that Matthew is arranged the way it is, is not to give a biography of Jesus. It is not to give a chronological narrative of Jesus. It is instead to demonstrate biblically and definitively that Jesus is the fulfillment of all of those Old Testament promises. It is filled with history. It is historically accurate and true. But the contents of Matthew's gospel are chosen specifically to present the case that Jesus is the Messiah and fulfillment of all of God's promises. That's why it starts with a genealogy going all the way back to Abraham. That's why it includes the prophetic fulfillments, including not only the virgin conception and the birth of Emmanuel, but also his flight from Bethlehem to Egypt, etc. That's why it begins in chapter 3 with the ministry of John the Baptist, and in chapter 4 with the calling of the first disciples, and chapters 5 to 7 with the Sermon on the Mount, and chapters 8 and 9 of of all the miracles that He did, a demonstration of the types of miracles, demonstrating full control and authority over every sickness, over every disease, over demon possession, and control even of the forces of nature to prove that He is God incarnate. And on it goes. And what is recorded here in Matthew 26 through 28, is the culmination of that testimony demonstrating definitively that Jesus is the Messiah. And what you're going to see as we go through Matthew 26, 27 and 28 is that the testimony of Scripture is that Jesus was no unwitting martyr or victim of circumstances beyond his control. It is fascinating to notice that this is this is kind of a popular trend. To invent things about Jesus and humanize and reduce him in significance of his person. Whether to suggest that somehow he had relations with one of his female followers and there's some mystery to all of that stuff to unravel. Or whether somehow Judas was actually trying to do the right thing or is actually the hero in the whole thing because he gave Jesus what he wanted, martyrdom. None of that is true. Jesus was neither an unwitting martyr, tricked or forced into the situation that he found himself in, nor victim of circumstances beyond his control. He did not overplay his hand or mismanage circumstances. Jesus is the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. That is the testimony of scripture. And in verses one to 16 of Matthew 26 here, what I what I want to help you see is that there is a very clear contrast between the plans of God and the plans of men. And what you'll see is God is able to superintend the plans of men, even evil, though they be and still accomplish his promised intentions. I want you to see that all the events that transpired leading up to and including the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ were always part of God's plan for our salvation. And God did not manipulate the circumstances, but he was still ultimately perfectly in control of the circumstances and the very effort to thwart God's plans of providing the Messiah were the very means by which God accomplished his perfect plans. Despite the involvement of men opposed to Jesus, of men opposed to repentance, of men opposed to a Messiah who would come and be Lord and require true repentance. And in spite of the fact that the forces of darkness themselves were arraigned against Jesus, Even with all of this, God not only overcame these obstacles, God used these very objections and these very attempts to thwart and undermine his efforts to bring about our salvation to be the very means by which he accomplished them. And that is the most amazing thing to me as you study the gospel message. God isn't just powerful enough to come along and make what He wants happen, happen. God is able to use even His enemies' efforts to thwart Him to be the very means by which He accomplishes His intentions. God is so much bigger than any of us realize. And I hope that's the point you walk away with here this morning. For those of you who have never come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, I hope you begin to see just how big God is that you reject and you continue to refuse to bow the knee to and believe in. And for those of you who do belong to Jesus Christ, I hope you see. that if God can work out your salvation so perfectly, even though everything, including the forces of darkness, were directly working against him, and he can even use the evil actions of men and of fallen angels to be the means by which he accomplishes his purposes, then promises like Romans eight really ought to just thrill us. God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him. You've got enemies in your life. You've got people that are really trying to do harm to you. You've got circumstances beyond your control that are really just bigger than you. Listen, if God can speak the universe into existence out of nothing, if God can part the Red Sea so that His people can walk through on dry ground and at the same time hold back the most powerful army in the world until all of His people are across, then let them through so we can wipe them out, If God can accomplish your salvation even though the world is against Him and He can actually use those efforts of the world to be the means by which He accomplishes our salvation, then tell me, is your life so big and so complex that He can't work it to your good and to His glory? I hope this is part of the impact that comes upon you as a result of our study of this text this morning. Now let's turn our attention to Matthew chapter 26. And take a look at, first, the plans of God. This is in the first two verses, the plans of God. The plans of God for Christ leading up to the passion. I want you to notice in verses one and two to begin with, that Jesus knew God's plan from the very beginning. If you're taking notes, this is the contrast between the plans of God and the plans of men. First, the plans of God, verses one and two. Matthew writes, When Jesus had finished all these words, he said to his disciples, You know that after two days the Passover is coming and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion. In two days, the Passover is going to happen. And you know, at that point, what's going to happen is the Son of Man is going to be handed over to be crucified. This is what Jesus has been saying all the way back to Matthew 16, is it not? Just to fill out a few of the details here, when Matthew writes, when Jesus had finished all these words, that's kind of a catchphrase that he uses throughout the Gospel. If you keep your finger here in Matthew 26 and turn to Matthew 7, look at the end of Matthew 7. Notice in verse 28, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew says, when Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching because He was teaching them as one having authority, not as their scribes. That's how he ends his narrative of the Sermon on the Mount. When he finished saying this, he kind of gives you a little summary to set up what's coming next, right? You follow me? If you flip over to Matthew 11, verse 1, you get through the instructions that he had given to the twelve disciples when he was sending them out two by two to preach the kingdom. Matthew says in Matthew 11, verse one, when Jesus had finished giving instructions to his twelve disciples, then this is what he did. He departed to there to teach and preach in the cities. The same thing is in Matthew 13 and verse 53. After he finishes the parables, when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed from the city as a transitional statement. You can see it again in nineteen one and here in twenty six one. The sayings that have been completed are at a minimum the Olivet Discourse. And in my opinion, it includes essentially from the triumphal entry when Jesus went in afterwards and cleansed the temple and began to teach and interact with the religious leaders and ultimately culminated in him pronouncing woes upon them, departing once and for all from the temple grounds, heading over to the Mount of Olives and instructing his disciples about how the culmination is going to come about, right? And when Jesus finishes that, He's finished His public ministry. He's done. It's over. The only thing left is some final instructions to give to His disciples and then offering Himself up in our place. That's the context of Matthew 26-28. We're done with Jesus' public ministry and we're into the consummation. And Matthew sets it up with this expression which he's used Repeatedly through the gospel when Jesus had finished all these words, he said to his disciples. So this is instruction specifically for them. You know, it's interesting. The word no there is to know with certainty, you know, with certainty, with assurance, with an absolute sense. You know, this is what's going to happen. Now, what's really interesting is that there's a sense in which they don't know it. At least they don't believe it. Right. They don't understand it. They don't connect the dots. But it isn't because Jesus hasn't told them repeatedly, directly going all the way back to Matthew 16, right? So even though they don't understand, even though they don't connect the dots, he's made it clear this is what's going to happen. And he started making it clear all the way back in Matthew 16. You remember Matthew 16, don't you? Jesus says, who do men say that I am? And they gave all the suggestions that people had. And he says, well, who do you say that I am? You are the Christ, the son of the living God. Well done, Peter. But you know what? You didn't come to that conclusion on your own. My father revealed it to you. And in Matthew chapter 16 and verse 21, We're told that from that time, from that point in time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, be killed and be raised up on the third day. It's after he gave that full instruction that this is the way it's going to play out when we get to Jerusalem, guys. That's when Peter pulls him aside and says, no, no, no, it's not going to be that way. Well, we're two days out now. Two days removed from the Passover and we'll cover some of the harmonization aspects of how can Jesus eat the Passover and be offered as the Passover lamb? And so we'll cover that when we get to it. We've done it in the past, both when we went through John many, many years ago and when we went through Luke a number of years ago. We'll go through all those harmonization issues as we go through Matthew this time as well. But Jesus does eat the Passover on Thursday and then is offered up as the Passover lamb on Friday. And it's because of the two calendars and out of town and the whole bit. But we're two days removed from Jesus, from the Passover celebrated in Jerusalem and Jesus being offered up as that Passover lamb, the once for all sacrifice for sins. And that's what he's telling them. Why does he tell him this? Because this is God's plan and this has always been God's plan. And this is going to be God's plan and nothing is going to change or stand in the way of God's plan. This is God's plan. And you know it with certainty, because that's what I've been telling you from the beginning. And it's interesting when you go to the book of Acts and then when you read the epistles, you will see that is the very clear, a firm testimony from the day of Pentecost on. They all go. This has always been God's plan. This has always been God's plan, and it's amazing to see how he accomplished it. On the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter, the day the church begins and the day the Spirit is poured out from heaven, Peter stands up on the steps leading into the temple and to thousands entering in there on the day of Pentecost. He says, men of Israel, listen to these words. Jesus, the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through him in your midst. Just as you yourselves know, this man was delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. You nailed him to a cross by the hands of godless men and you put him to death. But God raised him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for him to be held in his power. And from that point on, he goes and quotes a bunch of Old Testament texts in order to demonstrate this was always God's plan. See, the disciples knew it and they had heard it. They didn't understand how it was all going to work out, and they refused to accept it until after it happened. But this is God's plan. And Jesus says this two days before he's crucified. He says it long before he gets to Jerusalem, and he says it when he's in Jerusalem, two days removed from the cross. This is God's plan. This has always been God's plan. This was God's plan from the very beginning. John chapter 1 and verse 29, when John the Baptist points John and Andrew to Jesus, he says to them, behold, what? The Messiah? No. He says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He was always, always to be the spotless and the blameless Lamb. 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 7, Paul says, Christ is our Passover Lamb that was sacrificed. 1 Peter 1, verse 19, Peter says that that if we believe in Christ, and we are God's children, and we address God as our Father, then we better never forget who our Father is, and that we became His children at a great price. And that price wasn't gold or silver or precious stones. We were bought with a price that is with the precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. The blood of the Lamb. And if you go through and study in the Gospels, the various confrontations that Jesus has with people and with the religious leaders, I won't go through all of them. John is filled with them, but the other Gospels have it as well. There are times when the religious leaders sought to stop Jesus, to arrest Jesus, to oppose Jesus. My favorite is when he goes to Nazareth, his hometown, in Luke 4. And he reads in the synagogue, he reads a verse from Isaiah and says, this has been fulfilled. And they're all like, isn't this the carpenter's son? And he won't do a miracle for them because they're unbelieving and it wouldn't do anything but entertain them. And then they're upset. They take him out to a hillside and they go to throw him off so they can stone him and kill him. And he turns. I love the text. He turns and walks right through him. You know, you know, if we if humans were writing that, you know what that would be? That would be that would be Iron Man. That would be Captain. That would be the Hulk. Right. Jesus would just he would rip out and radiate glory and and fire would shoot from his eyes and all the people they're trying to be put down low and they'd all be destroyed or run away. You know what the Bible says? Yeah, he has all that power. He could have called legions of angels at that point if he wanted. And you know what he does instead? He turns and walks right through their midst and leaves and doesn't come back. See, nobody was going to do anything to Jesus until it came time for him to give himself up for us. John, Chapter 5, John, Chapter 6, John, Chapter 7, John, Chapter 7, one of one of my favorites. This is John chapter seven is so cool. Jesus's family are like, well, if you want to be a big shot, why don't you go to Jerusalem and show off? He says, hey, you can go and come and go whenever you want. I'm on God's I'm on my father's timetable. Yeah, whatever. So they leave. Well, he shows up. He says, he says, I'm the water of life, et cetera. Right. Well, the religious leaders send soldiers to arrest him. Remember that? and they get there and they listen to him and they don't do anything. It's kind of like when he cleanses the temple and nobody lifts a finger. I mean, can you imagine going into a bank and flipping everything over and coins clanging everywhere, dinging? What would coins do? Tinkling? Whatever they do. Okay? You can hear the ring of coins and the sheep and the chaos and nobody does anything. Jesus is standing there in the temple preaching. identifying himself as the light of the world. And nobody does anything. The soldiers go back. The temple guard goes back and say, why didn't you arrest him? No one ever spoke as this man did. You know something? Jesus separated himself repeatedly in order to keep things coming from coming to a head. But it wasn't just a pragmatic thing to keep it from coming to a head as if he couldn't do it unless he left. I mean, there are other times when he's there and nobody lifts a finger because this is God in control of everything. And that's the point. You want to know what God's plan is for this conclusion to Passion Week? Jesus dies on the cross in our place and is raised the third day. our forgiveness having been eternally assured. That's God's plan. That's God's plan. It has always been God's plan. And nothing is going to change God's plan. You can read the high priestly prayer of Jesus in John chapter 17. You don't need to turn there. Just listen as I read those verses. They're so profound. This is at the end of the discussion after the Lord's Supper And right as they're getting ready to leave the upper room, Jesus gave all the instructions to the disciples in the upper room. And then he spoke these things, lifting up his eyes to heaven, saying, Father, the hour has come. Now it's the time. This is the time. And from here he goes to the garden, prays, is betrayed and arrested and straight to the cross. Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son so that your son may glorify you, even as you gave him authority over all flesh, so that to all whom you have given him, he may give eternal life. This whole reason I came to secure eternal life for your elect. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have glorified you on the earth, having accomplished the work which you have given me to do. Now, Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was. Resurrect me and bring me back to the throne I belong on. This is this is why Jesus came. This is what Jesus did, why he did it and how he did it. And it was not happenstance. It didn't just work out this way. And God wasn't bigger and tougher than the forces of darkness so that he could he could beat them. He even takes all of man's hatred and efforts to destroy Christ and the personal activity of the wicked one, taking possession of Judas and betraying the Lord to be the very means by which he accomplishes his plan. That is the power of God. And that is the plan of God. And that has always been the plan of God. Jesus did not get caught up in everything that happened and get swept away. Jesus came to die for us. He confirmed this by his own testimony repeatedly through the pages of Scripture, both by what he said directly and by the prophecies we see fulfilled in him specifically. Jesus said, No one takes my life from me. I lay it down of my own what authority he gave his life for us. No one took it from him. Now, let's take a look in verses three to 16 at the plans of men. And I want you to see these in contrast with the clearly articulated and definitive statement about the plans of God. God's intention is in two days, Jesus dies as our Passover lamb. Now, look at how the plans of men are. Look at how fluid there's an intention, but but it's it's kind of just trying to see how they can work it out. That's the difference between God and men. We try to bring about what we want. God does what he intends. And God is even able marvelously to use our intentions, whatever they may be, to ultimately be the means by which he accomplishes his intentions, even if they're contrary to what we were trying to do the whole time. And as we work through this, I think what you'll see is all of these people are ultimately fulfilling God's very plans without either realizing it and certainly without intending it. We start with the religious leaders in verses 3 to 5. They were planning to destroy Jesus, but not during the Passover. Look at verse 3. Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest named Caiaphas, and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they were saying what? Not during the festival. They're referring to the Passover. Not during the festival, the Passover week. Otherwise, a riot might occur among the people. Now, there's a lot of historical stuff here that we could get into. I'm going to save it for when we actually get to the trial and we'll cover some of the extra nuances of Caiaphas and Annas and all that political intrigue and history for today. I think all you really need to know is Caiaphas is high priest, but he is, in a sense, not the only high priest. His father-in-law's name is Annas. Annas is the first high priest appointed by the Romans. And off the top of my head, I forget the year he was appointed, but it was by Quirinius. I remember that. And in A.D. 15, he was deposed as high priest and replaced due to secular authorities objecting to him or something he decided or did, etc. And so from then until the end of his life, he managed to finagle it so that five of his sons were appointed high priest and one son-in-law, and the son-in-law is Caiaphas. Caiaphas is most noteworthy for two reasons. One, because he was appointed in 18 AD and continued to be high priest politically until 36 or 30 I think it was 36 AD when he died. So guess what that means? He was high priest in the official sense when Jesus was crucified and through the whole of Jesus's ministry. Secondly, it's important because that shows you why there are two trials before a high priest, especially detailed in John's gospel. Now, It's also significant here because these are the biggest, highest ranking muckety mucks religiously in Jerusalem as part of the Sanhedrin, not only governing the temple and the treasury and all of that, but also with the lead voices and votes in the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of elders, the 70 elders in Jerusalem. The chief priests, that includes Annas and Caiaphas and the other high ranking priests and the elders of the people. Now, this would be some were just high ranking authorities within the city. And there are men of standing within the city as well as the scribes and the Pharisees. So this is this is essentially a subset of the Sanhedrin. of people from the Sanhedrin, the 70 guys. And remember that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were part of the Sanhedrin. They were probably not present during this meeting because this meeting doesn't take place on the temple grounds where the Sanhedrin met. This takes place in the court of the high priest. Now, the court of the high priest could maybe, for our sake, be better translated courtyard. And Kath, if you remember when we were in Herod's palace there in Jerusalem, remember how big the place was? You're talking about multiple big buildings and the wall around and the big, you know, you got two stories. I can't remember if there was a building that went three stories or not. But then you've got the inner walkway that looking down into a courtyard area. Now, that's Augustine says it happened there at the Hasmonean palace. When we were there in Jerusalem, There was a presentation given that suggested, no, it was over in Snob Hill. That's not the technical term. That was Grisanti's term. I like the term, so I'm keeping the term. But there's a couple of places where the rich people lived, and they built big estates. And they walled those estates in. And we're talking about, in some cases, like a story and a half to two story walls and buildings that the outer walls of the buildings make up part of the wall. So it's kind of a compound. And Caiaphas and Annas are both living with their families together in the same compound. So that's the high priest's estate. That, by the way, also, for those of you trying to read ahead or reading the other passion narratives in the gospel, when you see that Jesus is taken, from Annas to Caiaphas, they kind of do the ping pong with him, and that there's a courtyard there where Peter denies the Lord three times and Luke says that at one point Jesus is coming in and he looks right at Peter, right after he denies him the last time. Okay, this is the same courtyard, whether it was the Hasmonean Palace or over on Snob Hill, It's a rich estate. It's where the high priest lived. It's where Annas and Caiaphas both lived. And this is where they get a bunch of the high-ranking muckety-mucks together to talk about what they want to do with Jesus. And I think that's what we need to know for here. And they plotted together. And the word plotted literally means just to take counsel. In this case, plotted is exactly the right translation, because when you look at the rest of the description, it was a plot to basically arrest and murder Jesus or execute Jesus out of the public light. They plotted or they took counsel together as to how to seize Jesus by stealth. That little expression stealth means literally that they not only were trying to be sneaky, but they were purposely seeking to use underhanded, deceitful and even treacherous means to secure what they were trying to accomplish. That's the sense of that word. It doesn't just mean, you know, you put on the ninja black and you sneak in and get it. Listen, that treachery is part of the sense of that word. This isn't a game of tag. This is this is politically corrupt behavior. This is this is deliberately saying, you know what, we just need to we just need to seize Jesus and execute him, have him executed. But notice what they say. They say not during the festival, because if it happens during the festival, what's going to happen? A riot. Now, notice. It's not that they want to arrest him to put him on trial. It's not that they want to to to get to the bottom line that they've already decided what the outcome needs to be. That's what that's what leads me also, by the way, not only are they not meeting in the official Sanhedrin chambers on the temple grounds, this is this is not only privately in the high priest courtyard, but they've already decided what they're going to do. And they're looking for the way they're going to pull it off. Okay, this is what tells me that guys like Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus aren't there. They didn't invite the people that they weren't sure were already on board with them. This is a way to get everybody on board before you go and you take your political action. They're out to kill Jesus. And the only thing they're concerned about is a riot. And why would they be concerned about a riot? Two reasons. One, I did my homework this week, and I've seen this before, but just to confirm, the population in Jerusalem, depending on which historian you read, the population in Jerusalem in Jesus' day was somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 people. And during the festivals, particularly Passover, which was the biggest one, the population swelled to as many as five times as many people. So if you take the low number, there's 20,000 people that were living in Jerusalem until the festival, and now you got what? 100,000 people. Or if it's 30,000, normally it's 150,000 during the festival. That's probably closer. But if we split the difference, normally there are 25,000 people that live in Jerusalem. But during the festival, it's what? It's 125,000 people. Now, I've been on those streets. They're about the same width today, most of them, as they were in Jesus's day. And we did some filming. I did some filming. I was in charge of the camera one day. And so I just filmed as we were walking through the streets. And I can't remember whether prayer time let out or what it was. But you remember that? And we were shoulder to shoulder. We were trying to stay with each other. You couldn't even lock arms or anything because there were so many people just pressed going in all the dirt. I mean, that's it was compressed. And I mean, I can't imagine what it would be like if there was a hundred thousand people all making the press over to the the temple or back or whatever. I mean, it's just it's just a madhouse. It's just a massive amount of people. It's like You know, it's like halftime at a ballgame when everybody rushes to the hot dog stands into the restrooms, right? That's this but it's through city streets if something Happens that the people are really upset about and you got that many people in town. It's going to turn into a riot it's going to turn into casualties calamity and you know what you got a a You've got a huge area of 20 to the size of 26 football fields, which is the temple grounds with the temple there and the whole compound. And you've got a Roman fortress built right next to it, connected to that temple ground, looking over it and looking over the whole city. If a riot happens, guess who comes out to squash that riot? The Romans. And when they do that and they find out the riot happened because the religious leaders sought to arrest Jesus and the people got unhappy about it and they start investigating it. What do you think the Romans are going to do to the Sanhedrin and to the chief priests? Well, they're either going to depose them, throw them out or more likely end them and make an example of them or say there is no more Sanhedrin. So they say, we need to do this and we're committed to doing this, but we're not. We're committed to not doing it during the festival. So a riot doesn't occur. And this is this animosity has been building for some time, and I think we've illustrated it multiple times from the beginning of Jesus's ministry in John two, when he when he comes to Jerusalem and cleanses the temple. And the priests are upset with them. But Nicodemus comes at night in John 3 and says, hey, we know you're a man sent from God because nobody could do what you did unless God was with him. And the implication is and we agree with your cleansing of the temple because we see the priesthood is corrupt. And he says to Nicodemus, just like he says to all Pharisees, unless you are born again, you won't enter the kingdom of heaven either. Right. And for the next three years in his earthly ministry, he eats in Pharisees' homes. He goes to synagogues that are governed by Pharisees. And in every place, he calls them to repentance and confronts them in their religious hypocrisy. And he says in the Sermon on the Mount, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. And having just closed off his public ministry on the temple grounds, He pronounces his woes against the scribes and the Pharisees. And he began this week with another cleansing of the temple. Listen, all the religious leaders. They're opposed to him because he is opposed to them and their religious hypocrisy and their corruption and immorality. So they are committed to destroying him, but key, they're committed to not destroying him during the festival, so they don't put themselves at risk. Verse six, notice the disciples and their failure to really grasp what's really going on. Well, for most of them. Verse six. Now, when Jesus was in Bethany and I stopped there, notice it isn't then Jesus was in Bethany. It's now when Jesus was in Bethany. Why is that? Because this is a little flashback. Matthew doesn't make it clear, but if you read John 12, and we'll go there in a minute, if you read John 12, you'll see this actually happens at the beginning of the week. This is six days before the Passover. Then this actually happened. The reason Matthew tells us here is because it sets the stage for us at this point to give us some of the motivation for what Judas is going to do. I'll show you all that in a second. When Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at the table." Now if you keep your finger in Matthew 26 and then turn over to John 12 with me, this is also in Mark 15, but let me just take you to John 12 because it has more of the details that aren't here, so we can kind of flesh out the whole of what happened. In John 12, starting at verse 1, Notice it says Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover. So that's how we know in Matthew, he does a little flashback. Six days before the Passover, he came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So now, you know, Lazarus, right? And you remember when Jesus and John 11 shows up and and says, Lazarus, come forth. And Mary and Martha are like, wait, wait, wait. I mean, we love our brother and all, but I don't want to open the tomb. He stinks. And he's been dead three days. He says, I am the resurrection and the life. Lazarus, come forth. And Lazarus comes forth. He says, get the burial clothes off of him and let him go. He's alive and he's fine. Well, that happens a couple of months before Passion Week. And now it's the beginning of Passion Week. It's six days before the crucifixion and Jesus is in Bethany. And now Bethany is just so you know where we're at. Bethany is on the backside or the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives. So you remember you got the temple. You got Jerusalem with the Temple Mount. You come you come off the Temple Mount. You go down through the valley and up onto the western slope of the Mount of Olives. So you're talking about what? Forty five minute walk. And you're up on the western slope of the Mount of Olives, where the Garden of Gethsemane is, where the Olivet discourse takes place. You just walk around the side of that hill or up over the top of it and back down the other side. Bethany's right there. And this is where Jesus spent the night frequently during Passion Week. Very likely either here at Simon the leper's home. or at the home of Lazarus and Mary and Martha. Now, some people have said that this happens in the home of Lazarus and Mary and Martha, and they say that because in John 12 and verse 2, we see, they made him a supper there and Martha was serving. So it must have happened in Martha's house. You probably don't know very many of the servant-oriented, work-oriented women, because I know a number of you, every time there's a fellowship, no matter who's hosting it, some of you are always actively serving. We just had a barbecue at the Staley household, and while Gina was actively serving and ministering the whole time, Chuck spent most of his time out with us guys chatting, right? But I saw a number of you. I didn't mean to throw you under the bus. Why? Yeah, I did, Chuck. But but I didn't mean for it to go be going 80 when I did it. But in any case, but a number of you ladies were quick to go in and ask if you could help. Right. So just because the woman is busy serving, what do you see Martha doing every time in the Bible? She's serving. Now when you look at this text in John 12 and you go back to Matthew 26, what do you see? We're told it's Simon the leper's house. Now some commentators have said, well, Simon must have been the dad. Well, that's great, but there's nowhere in the Bible that tells me that. Simon the leper is called Simon the leper, not because he's still a leper, but probably because he was a leper and Jesus healed him. So why is he hosting a party and having a fellowship meal honoring Jesus? And why are Lazarus and Mary and Martha there? Because they also live in Bethany. And you know what? If you're a friend of Jesus and you're going to honor Jesus, you're going to invite all of his friends and all of his disciples and everybody that loves him. And what's going to be the nature of that kind of a celebration? Everybody's going to be active. Everybody's going to be involved. And guess what? Look, Lazarus, you know, Chuck is very much like Lazarus. He's there at the table reclining, right? Right, just like all of us. By the way, if I'd have been there, I'd have been out back playing ball with the kids. But in any case, Jesus, six days before the Passover, comes to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. And they made him, that is Jesus, a supper there. Martha's serving. Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him. And notice, we're told that the woman who came to Jesus with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, here in John 12, John tells us who she was. Her name was Mary. Mary then took a pound, which is just a it's a technical Roman term that refers to 12 ounces, 12 fluid ounces. She took a pound or 12 fluid ounces of very costly perfume of pure Nard. For the record, Nard is a is a spice from India, very costly, very expensive. And what she did was she anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. Matthew tells us that she poured it on his head as he reclined there at the table. So she anointed him with this whole bottle of the most expensive perfume. And if you want to want a basic understanding of how much it's worth, look at look at John 12 and verse four. Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples who was intending to betray him. Notice at the beginning of the week, Judas is already intending to betray Jesus. He's already had enough. He says, why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? How much is 300 denarii? That's a year's pay. That's a year's pay. That's a pretty costly bottle of perfume, wouldn't you say? Now, a lot of us get hung up on this. A lot of us get to that place where we're like, Man, who would spend a whole year's pay on a bottle of perfume? OK, so I did a little research on the internet this week just to get a comparison. And I did a search of the 10 most expensive perfumes in the world today, and this is what I found. Now, for most of you, I'll give you the lower part of the scale, OK? So for anniversaries and birthdays, guys, this is what you do. OK? Of the lower part of the top 10 range, there were prices anywhere from $441.18 an ounce to $4,200 an ounce. So depending on how much you love your wife, you can buy her however many ounces you want. And so if you just take any of these, let's just take this basic range, OK? At $400 an ounce, you're talking about $6,000 for 12 ounces. At $4,200 an ounce, you're looking at about $50,000. OK, years pay or more, right? You follow me? Pretty nice bottle of perfume, wouldn't you agree? But see, I know what you're saying. See, Chuck, I know what you're saying. I get my wife a lawnmower, not perfume. Is that accurate, right? But see, Michael, I know what you're saying. You say, that's not good enough. My wife needs something better than I don't want to average. And Scott's going, yeah, I don't want to average for Genesee. I'm going all out here. What else you got, Brian? Well, the number three most expensive perfume in the world today, when you translate the name of it into English, is translated the Sacred Tears of Thebes. Even the name sounds good, doesn't it? See, Donna Lee wants some. I just heard her go, ooh. It is available at a mere $6,800 an ounce. It is an exclusive, limited edition perfume that includes a combination of the fragrances including, are you ready? Myrrh, frankincense, musk, sandalwood, myrtle, basil, jasmine, amber, and a couple of others I can't pronounce. One of the things that makes it so costly is that it comes in a magnificent handmade bottle in the shape of a pyramid with a bubble of yellow crystal that has been blown inside that pyramid bottle. And it's that crystal that yellow crystal blown bubble that holds the scent capped by an amethyst crystal. And I sound cool. I just sold Scott on it. Now, Mike, on the other hand, Mike's like, that's not good enough. I want something really special for Brittany. It's got to be way over the top. Oh, don't you worry. I have you covered. The number two most expensive perfume that I came across, if this seems too ordinary for you, is Clive Christian No. 1, the Imperial Majesty Perfume. It even has Christian in the name. Isn't that cool? I got his attention now. At only $12,721.89 an ounce, why would you have cents? Why would you have pennies? Why not just round it off to $13,000 an ounce? But anyways, this, you ready? Enchanting and sophisticated fragrance for women is sure to make her feel like, and I quote, the Greek goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite herself when she wears it. The highlight is the unique, by the way, Aphrodite isn't real, so never mind. All right. The highlight is the unique bottle, which is made of very hard to work material. And the bottle's neck is made of 18 karat gold inset with a five karat brilliant cut diamond. And even better, the picture shows that each bottle comes in a special handcrafted embroidered case. And it is seated and delivered upon a velvet pillow with gold trim. I have a picture of it. I'll leave it on the front pew if you want to see it. They're flying like hotcakes, though, so you better rush to meet Mike, beat Mike. Now, see, I'm pretty sure Denver just bought into that one and probably Steve, but but Mike's still not convinced. And I know what you're saying, Mike. You say that's all well and good, but I was looking for something truly special. for that truly special someone in my life. Well, then step up my discerning and cost unconscious friend, for I have just what you're looking for in this last offering. It is called the DKNY Golden Delicious Million Dollar Fragrance Bottle on sale now for only a million dollars a bottle. The main reason for the you know, it's really funny. I read the whole description. There's not a single word about the scent. There's not a word about the perfume that's in the bottle. It's all about the bottle. The main reason for the exorbitant price is a one of a kind bottle that contains a 2.43 carat yellow canary diamond in the cap, a 4.03 carat rose cut diamond A 3.07 carat oval-cut ruby, a 1.06 carat pariba tourmaline. I even rehearsed saying that. It's some kind of special gem from Brazil. Four rose-cut diamonds, 15 stunning pink diamonds from Australia, a 7.18 carat oval sapphire from Sri Lanka, 2,700 white diamonds, 183 yellow sapphires, and each stone was carefully hand-priced. The entire manufacturing process took 1,500 hours, but the hard work and diligence was worth it, as in the end, it presents a stunning image of New York City's skyline around the outside of the bottle. And yes, I have a picture you can see after the service. And best of all, This million dollar perfume was created for a noble cause as the sale proceeds were donated to the Action Against Hunger charity organization. So there you go. You can have your costly perfume and feed the poor too. And we've solved our whole dilemma of John 12 and Matthew 26. You say, well, what does all that have to do with John 12 and Matthew 26? The point is this. When you're talking about really costly perfume today and really costly perfume in those days, you're not just talking about the smell anymore. You're not talking about something you're going to dab on yourself and smell like Aphrodite or the Queen. Okay? It's in the bottle. It's in the novelty. It's in how hard it was and expensive it was to get to you. It winds up being a prized possession. And in ancient times, it is also a means by which you can store great wealth. in a small package. And that's exactly what this was to her. So when she gets it out and she, I forget which gospel, I think it's Mark tells us she broke the bottle and she poured it on his head according to Matthew and she even anointed his feet and rubbed it with her hair and the whole house smelled of this incredible fragrance. Do you know what this was? This is the single greatest show of devotion to Jesus by anyone in his earthly ministry. She gave a year's pay, probably her savings. That's probably all of her personal wealth stored up in this or the bulk of it. She liquidated her 401K to show her devotion and appreciation and thanksgiving to Jesus. Remember, it's just been a couple of months since Jesus resurrected her brother. And here he comes into her home. You know what she's doing? She's showing him she loves him and she worships him in the most sacrificial and beautiful way imaginable. Now if you go back to Matthew 26, notice that we're told in verse 8, the disciples were indignant when they saw this. Now John tells us it was Judas who spoke up first and said, why wasn't it sold and given to the poor? Mark tells us some of the disciples joined in. John tells us the reason Judas did it was because he was the keeper of the money bag and he used to pilfer out of it. So if that's sold for 300 days pay and there's 300 denarii are given to the one who keeps the bag, wonder how many of those 300 actually make their way to the poor. You want to know what Judas' motivation was? Not taking care of the poor. You want to know why probably some of the rest of the disciples joined in and went, yeah, that makes sense. It's because they too were going, oh, without corrupted hearts and motives, they were going, yeah, why wasn't that given to the poor? Especially given what Jesus has taught repeated. What does he say in Matthew 19 to the rich young ruler? Go sell everything you have and give it to the poor. Come follow me. Isn't that what we should be doing? Isn't that loving your neighbor? This seems like an exorbitant waste. Well, it would be. Except that it's an act of worship to God and worshiping God trumps. Meeting the needs of the poor. Giving your all to God trumps doing good deeds for anybody else. This isn't about earning favor. It's expressing devotion sacrificially, worshipfully and beautifully. And that's precisely the issue that Jesus responds with. The disciples were indignant, verse 8, when they saw this and said, Why this waste? Notice, it's a waste. For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor. But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, Why do you bother the woman? Can you imagine? I mean, just doesn't this put people into the proper perspective? Think about what she's just done. She liquidates her savings and gives it to Jesus as just an expression of absolute love and devotion, and it is a monstrously costly demonstration of devotion. Ain't no way she's getting it back. Am I right? And as soon as she finishes doing it, What is she hearing or what are people saying to her and about her? What a waste. Wow. All you're trying to do is show your devotion to your Lord and you get smacked for it. And it isn't just Judas mocking her. I mean, you can understand that one, right? Some of the other disciples are joining in too. I suspect since Matthew says, The disciples joined in. I suspect Matthew was one of them. Christians can make Christians feel pretty bad, can't they? Jesus says, Why do you bother her? For she has done a good deed for me. And I really think this is one of those places where good ought to be translated beautiful. She has done a beautiful thing for me. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial." You know, Jesus still knows He's dying this week. Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her. Look at John 11 with me for just a moment as a demonstration of this. John 11 and verse 1. This is before Lazarus dies, much less before Mary anoints Jesus with this costly perfume. In John chapter 11 and verses one and two, we're told a certain man was sick. His name was Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. And it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Mary is is so talked about and so well known about the expression of devotion She showed to Jesus while everybody else was not believing While everybody else was opposed to him. She was demonstrating her affection and devotion and commitment to him in the extreme It's acknowledged even before the event is documented in John's gospel You know something God does recognize worship sacrificial devotion and worship, and it's expressed to him. He acknowledges it, he sees it, and he appreciates it, and he rewards it, even if others want to tear you down for it. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, guess what that implies? Jesus knew the gospel was not going to die with him, and it wasn't just going to be local. It was going to go where? To the whole world. Jesus knew about Matthew 28 in Matthew 26. Jesus knew about Revelation 20, 21 and 22 in Matthew 26. Jesus knows what God's plan is and he has come absolutely to fulfill it. And even when all the world doesn't see it, doesn't know it, doesn't understand it, Jesus is committed to it. Notice in verses 14 to 16, you see the betrayal of Judas. or at least the commitment to. Then one of the 12 named Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests. And he says, what are you willing to give me to betray him to you? At this point, we jump forward again. To two days removed from the crucifixion. And Jesus, Judas has been in Trent, tending to betray Jesus because he's had enough and now he's done. But rather than just walk away, Rather than just depart, he is looking to see what he can get out of it. What are you willing to give me to betray him? And they weighed out 30 pieces of silver to him, and we'll talk about the fulfillment of Zachariah that happens here when we get to chapter 27. They weighed out, or literally the idea there is they agreed to a price of 30 pieces of silver. Some people have discussed what the value of 30 pieces of silver is. Most of the coins were minted in silver, so they could have been denarii. They could have been drachmas. They could have been shekels. If it's shekels, we're looking at about, I think it's roughly 120 days' pay, four months' pay. If it's denarii or drachma, then it's a month's pay. If it's some other coin, it can be some other. It's enough to buy the potter's field, whatever it is. And what's really interesting is when you compare this with Exodus 21, this 30 pieces of silver is the price of a slave. In Exodus 21 and verse 32, if One of your neighbor's slaves is gored by one of your animals. You are required to compensate your neighbor 30 pieces of silver for that slave. Judas sold Jesus out for the price of a slave. The plan of Judas was just to get the most he could out of his relationship with Jesus as he betrayed him. But what he was ultimately fulfilling, even in the negotiated price, was God's plan and God's prophetic promises. This is actually what makes it so that the religious leaders consent to pursue arresting Jesus even during the Passover. This is the very means by which God accomplishes the fulfillment of his promises in Jesus being offered up as the Passover lamb. Let me ask you a question. Who was in control of the events leading up to and through the cross? Men or God? And as we work through the rest of the events through the cross of Jesus Christ in the coming weeks, I hope that you will recognize that men did indeed reject Jesus, just as unrepentant sinners always will. but God is as always in control of every circumstance and situation and will always accomplish his purposes. Not only in bringing about our salvation in the ultimate sense in Acts chapter 2 as Peter preached, but also in the everyday circumstances of your Christian life. I remind you again of a text we started with. We know that God causes all things to work together for the Good are those who love Him, who have been called according to His purposes. You know something? If God can work out the circumstances to facilitate even His enemies taking action in the time that He wants them to, so that He can bring about our salvation for our good, then tell me something. Can He handle the details of your life and mine? Is he in control of the details of your life and mine? And can you believe him and count on him that you wouldn't be there and it wouldn't be working this way unless it really was for your good? Father, thank you so much for your kindness and for your perfect power and sovereignty. Thank you for your justice and your goodness shown to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And thank you for your power and your wisdom and your authority and your great ability even to control the entirety of your creation that is on display for us in your word. May we indeed trust you more and worship you more, and indeed, like Mary, worship you more with total devotion and even perhaps a measure of reckless abandon, because you truly are the Lord of glory to be praised. In Jesus' name I pray, and all God's people said, Amen.