00:00 Introduction to Matthew Chapter 26

01:33 The Significance of Passover

03:39 Judas' Betrayal

04:04 Jesus' Control Over Events

06:00 Building Confidence in Jesus

10:35 Jesus' Arrest and Demonstration of Power

16:22 Prophecies and Fulfillment

19:38 The Significance of the Lord's Supper

22:56 The Foundation of a Relationship with God

28:50 The Righteousness of Jesus vs. The Failure of Disciples

31:55 Relying on Jesus' Righteousness, Not Your Own

37:15 Assurance of Salvation Through Jesus

41:59 Conclusion and Prayer

Alright, we are almost done with the gospel of Matthew.

2

Matthew, chapter 26 is where we're at.

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So turn the arrhythmia in your

Bibles to Matthew chapter 26 Now.

4

As I was studying this passage, I was

reminded of Avengers end game, and I

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did some research because Avengers End

game, I think of Avengers End game.

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My, my only thing I didn't like

about it was that all the characters.

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Don't get much screen time right,

because there's so much going on.

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Right.

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They gotta tie in all these plots, they

gotta tie in all the infinity stones,

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they gotta tie in all these things.

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There's so much going on.

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It's like, okay, I, I wanted

more of that and I wanted more of

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that, and I wanted more of that.

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But the point is that it's

like this grand finale, right?

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It's, it's the like 10.

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10 years of, of movies that

have built up to, to one movie.

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Right.

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And that's kind of what's happening

here in the gospel of Matthew.

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Matthew is, is taking all of these

things that have happened in the

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past 25 chapters and he's bringing

them all into to one moment.

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And so I'm not gonna be able to

read all of these verses, but I,

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I want to just give you guys an

overview of what we've got going on.

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So these are all the verses we're

gonna cover, and this is kind of

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my brief summary of each section.

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Okay.

26

So the first part, Matthew 26,

if you wanna follow along in

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your Bibles, you can do that too.

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The first part starts with when Jesus had

finished all these sayings, everything.

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So it's almost like this is it.

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Jesus is done teaching.

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Now he's, he's here to do what?

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He's, what The main task he has, which is

to go to the cross and and die for sin.

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That's the main thing.

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So Jesus, he's finished all these

things and he tells his disciples

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in two days it's gonna be Passover.

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Now, Passover, Jewish

Festival, think Exodus, right?

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Exodus, they had to, um.

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To lay the lamb and put the

blood over the door, right?

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So the angel of death would pass over them

and so that the firstborn wouldn't die.

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So the lamb died instead

of the firstborn, right?

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That's Passover, if you remember that

from, from your time in kids' ministry.

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So in two days that feast is coming

up and the son of man, that's

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Jesus talking about himself, will

be delivered up to be crucified.

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So Jesus says, look, I'm gonna die.

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And then the next few verses we,

we see the chief priest, the Jewish

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leaders, they're like, you know what?

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We want to kill Jesus, but.

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We don't wanna kill him yet because

there's all these people in town

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for this festival, for the Passover

festival, and that'll be crazy, right?

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If we kill Jesus during the festival.

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There's gonna be all these people here.

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They think he's a prophet,

they think he's a teacher.

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Maybe they like Jesus,

they're gonna get upset.

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It's gonna be crazy.

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And the reason they don't want

it to be crazy is because the

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Romans are in charge, right?

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And the Romans, if they saw a

bunch of Jews going crazy, they'd

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be like, all right, we gotta

take away more of their stuff.

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We gotta send the police in and,

and beat them up to make sure

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they're not being crazy anymore.

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So that's why the Jewish leaders

don't want to make a commotion

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or an uproar as your Bible.

63

Might say, but they've

decided to kill Jesus.

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So that's that first section.

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Then we, we zoom into this place

called Bethany, and Jesus is staying

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at this guy named Simon's house.

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And this woman comes up to

him and she dumps this really

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expensive oil on his head.

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And that is like the

idea of anointing, right?

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She's anointing him with oil, but

in her mind, she's just showing

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Jesus how much she loves him.

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But Jesus says, actually what she's doing

is she's preparing me for burial now.

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You're like, what?

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What does that do with anything?

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Well, Jesus, he's like,

look, I'm gonna die.

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Right?

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Jesus knows he's gonna die.

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He knows he's going to the cross.

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And so what happens is when

someone was gonna die, right?

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Dead people smell bad, right?

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And so what Jesus is saying is She's

putting all this nice smelling perfume on

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me so that I don't smell bad when I die.

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So she's preparing me before I die.

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That's what's going on in those verses.

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And then we, we.

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Fast forward to Judas.

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Now Judas, he's decided to betray Jesus.

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So he goes to the chief priest and

say, Hey, I wanna, I want Jesus dead.

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How much will you pay me if

I give him over to you guys?

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And they, they tell him

and they give him a price.

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And he says, all right, sounds good.

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Let's do that.

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So that happens.

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And then all these other

things happen, right?

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All of these things are, are going

on in the lead up to the cross now.

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What we're gonna see, because I

don't have, I don't have time to

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go through all of these sections,

but there's three things I think

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Matthew wants us to know about Jesus'

death and, and the lead up to it.

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Okay?

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And these three things all show

us that Jesus is the right guy.

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Jesus is the Savior.

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He's the one that we need to trust.

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He's the one who's come to die for sin.

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Jesus is the right one.

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Jesus is worthy of your trust, and I think

he has that same message for you tonight.

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He's, he's put all of these

scenes together, all of these

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things that Jesus is doing.

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All these things that people are doing

to Jesus, he's doing all of that.

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He's, he's pulling it all

together at the end of his book.

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So, you know the most important

thing about Jesus, and that's that

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Jesus is worthy to be trusted.

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So our main point tonight is to

trust Jesus as the Savior you need.

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That's the main point.

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That's the main takeaway from this sermon.

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Trust Jesus as the Savior.

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You need.

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Jesus is he's, he's the guy.

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He's the right one to save you.

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No one else is worthy of

your trust in that way.

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That's our main point tonight.

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Maybe you're thinking,

I don't need a savior.

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Or maybe you're thinking, I don't

know if Jesus is really someone

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that I want to give my life to.

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I don't wanna make all my

decisions in relationship to Jesus.

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I wanna do my own thing.

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Matthew is gonna tackle all of those

objections tonight in our passage.

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So keep looking with me at, at

Matthew 26, Matthew wants us to know

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that Jesus is worthy of our trust.

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And the first thing he's gonna

do is he's gonna show us.

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That Jesus is someone you can put your

confidence in that Jesus is someone

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who, who you can say, you know what?

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Jesus is in control.

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Jesus can do everything.

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Jesus knows everything.

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Jesus is someone that I can trust

with my life because he's got all

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these other things under his control

so surely he can take care of me.

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And so our first point tonight, build

your confidence in Jesus to save you.

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Build your confidence.

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Jesus to save you.

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Now, it sounds really similar to

our main point and that that's

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the idea is Matthew is trying to

tell us that Jesus is in control.

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And so he's gonna give us all of

these details that show us that

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Jesus is the one in control.

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Now it's kind of like, I don't

know if you, you remember this?

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Um, but there is, I was thinking

about, man, what's someone that like.

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You wanna count on, right?

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And I was like, man, the kicker

on a football team is the guy

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you want to count on, right?

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Or the closer on a baseball team, you send

that guy in, you know it's done right?

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The cowboys, I remember this

one game very specifically.

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Their kicker missed four

extra points in one game.

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So, you know, score a

touchdown at the end.

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Touchdown six points.

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Most people think it's seven.

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The reason is 'cause you're supposed to

be able to make the extra point, right?

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You're supposed to be able to make the

extra point at the end of the game.

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Now this cowboys kicker, he

missed it four times in a row.

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Every time he missed it.

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Now, imagine if that guy was your

kicker and you're losing 27 to 24

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game on the line, and you're like, all

right, we got in the field goal range.

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We're gonna send our kicker

in to try to tie the game.

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How are you feeling about that guy?

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You're like, do we have, can

we just, can we just throw it?

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Like, do we have to kick it?

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Right?

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That's how you're feeling in that moment.

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You wanna put your confidence

in someone that is in control

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of the situation, right?

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You wanna put your confidence in

someone that knows what they're doing.

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You wanna put your confidence

in someone you can count on.

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That's what Matthew is

showing us about Jesus.

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Now, I showed you that big slide

with all the things that happen.

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This section of Matthew 26, the the

first, honestly, almost the whole

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chapter is filled with things that

Matthew wants you to know about Jesus

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and showing that he's in control.

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Look at, look at all this.

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So remember that first part about

Jesus knowing what's gonna happen.

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He's like, oh, in two days I'm

gonna go and I'm gonna die.

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Jesus is doing this on purpose.

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Jesus isn't like surprised.

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He's not like, oh, oh

shoot, I have to die.

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I didn't know that.

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He's not like surprised by that.

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He's not like, oh man, I'm really scared.

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Uh, I don't know what's

gonna happen to me.

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No.

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He knows exactly what's gonna happen.

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Right?

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And now if you look closely, look with

me at verses three through five, okay?

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Right here with the chief

priests and, and the elders.

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Verse verse three of chapter 26.

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The chief priest and the elders, they

gathered in the place the, the palace of

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the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,

and they plotted together in order to

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arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.

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But they said not during the feast,

lest there be an up or among the people.

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Now, when do they actually arrest Jesus?

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During the feast or after the

feast, they actually end up

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arresting him during the feast.

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They make this whole plan,

let's wait till after.

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And their plan is literally

gone like in 10 verses.

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Their plan's gone, but

Jesus, he's in control.

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His plan is exactly what

it's supposed to be.

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His plan in verse two, right?

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You know that after two days, the

Passover is coming and the son of man

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will be delivered up and crucified.

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That's Jesus' plan.

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His plan is under control.

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Their plan changes.

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This next part with the woman

who anoints him with oil and

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prepares him for burial, right?

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Jesus says she's doing this

to prepare me for burial.

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No one else knew that.

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Everyone was like, what

are you talking about?

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Jesus?

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Jesus knows what's happening.

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He's in control.

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Moving on, even to the next

part, Jesus and his disciples,

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they go to this, this room.

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He's like, all right, when you get

there, let's look with verse 17.

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Now, first day on lemon red disciples

came to Jesus saying, where will you have

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us prepare for you to eat the Passover?

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Right?

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Disciples are like, where do we go?

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What's happening?

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Jesus said, go into the

city to a certain man.

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Say to him, the teacher

says, my time is at hand.

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I will keep the Passover at

your house with my disciples.

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Does that sound like Jesus

knows what's going on?

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Does that sound like Jesus is in control?

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Does that sound like Jesus

is worthy to be trusted?

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He's got a plan.

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He's executing the plan.

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He's doing everything that he

says is gonna happen right then.

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He also knows that Judas will betray him.

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We see that later on in the

the next few verses here.

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Verse 2025, they're talking during dinner.

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The disciples and Jesus are talking

and he says, truly, I say to

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you, one of you will betray me.

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And then eventually

Judas is like, is it me?

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And Jesus is like, you said it.

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So Jesus even knows

who's gonna betray him.

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So Jesus is in total

control of this situation.

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And then we go on and we see

more of what Jesus knows.

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And then this next part is something that

I really wanna show you about how Jesus.

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Is worthy of your trust.

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Okay?

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So verses 49 to 54, when Jesus

gets arrested, okay, so Jesus, he's

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praying in the garden and then he's

like, all right guys, it's time.

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And then Judas, he came up to Jesus

at once and said, greetings, rabbi.

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And he kissed him.

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Now that is just like a cultural

thing that they did, right?

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Jesus.

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Jesus and Jesus aren't like making out.

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This is like a friendly thing, right?

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This is what they did.

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This is like, you know, bro hug.

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This is what they did back in the day.

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Okay?

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Verse 50.

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Jesus said to him, friend,

do what you came to do.

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Right?

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You know why you're here.

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Jesus isn't messing around.

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He's like, Judas, you

know why you're here.

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I know why you're here.

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Right?

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This is like, you know when you're,

when you're like trying to sneak

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something around your parents

and they're like, look, we both

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know what's going on here, right?

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That's what Jesus is doing to Judas.

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Then the soldiers, they come up to Jesus.

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They laid hands on Jesus.

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They arrest him and then.

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One of those.

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Imagine, okay, imagine you're

like one of the soldiers, okay?

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You're like, all right, we gotta

arrest this guy for whatever reason,

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you know, they said he's causing

trouble, so we're gonna arrest him.

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Okay?

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So you go to arrest him and his followers

are there, and one of the followers takes

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his sword out and like attacks one of

your fellow soldiers and cuts his ear off.

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Right?

282

At that moment, you're probably

like, we're just gonna kill

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all these people, right?

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Because they attacked us, right?

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This is, this is how it works.

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If you're, if you're a soldier

and someone attacks you, you're

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like, all right, we're coming in.

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We're gonna kill them.

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Then Jesus is like, hang on, stop.

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And then in John, what we see that

Jesus does is Jesus heals this guy.

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So imagine you're a soldier.

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Some dude cuts your friend's ear off, and

then the leader is like, hang on, bro.

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Don't cut his ear off.

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Puts the ear back and heals him.

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Now you'd be like, I don't want that, that

Jesus guy to do anything to me, right?

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Because if he can reattach this

guy's ear, he can probably do

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a lot worse than that, right?

298

So this is kind of like

the biggest flex ever.

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Jesus is like, look, I don't need your

help sword guy who we find out is Peter.

300

He's like, don't you think that I can

appeal to my father and he will at once

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send me more than 12 legions of angels?

302

See, the soldiers think that

they're arresting Jesus, right?

303

Who's really in control here.

304

Jesus is right.

305

Even as he's being arrested,

Jesus is the one in control.

306

And in verse 54, you see how then

should the scriptures be fulfilled?

307

Jesus is saying, this is on purpose.

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Everything that I'm

doing here is on purpose.

309

I've got this all under control.

310

I am the one who's really

making things happen here.

311

Everything is happening the way

Jesus wants, and so that's why.

312

Hopefully for you that's building

your confidence in the kind of

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savior that Jesus is, right?

314

Maybe in your life you're thinking,

man, I don't know if Jesus is in control

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of, of what's going on with me, right?

316

Is just in control of my parents.

317

Maybe your parents are going

through a hard time, is just in

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control of my, my classes at school.

319

You know, I'm not sure how

this class is gonna go.

320

I'm not sure if I'm gonna be

able to make it into, into this.

321

College, I'm not sure if I can

make it onto this team, or I don't

322

know how this is gonna work out.

323

Maybe you're anxious about something

or you're, you're doubting something

324

or you're afraid of something.

325

Jesus is the one who's in control.

326

If Jesus is in control of his arrest,

Jesus is surely in control of everything

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that you've, that you worry about.

328

See, confidence in Jesus will protect

you from anxiety, from doubt, from fear.

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All these things.

330

Think about it, right?

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If, if you're anxious, let,

let's say, let's say you've got

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a big test coming up, right?

333

And you're like, man, I don't

think I'm gonna pass this test.

334

I've studied hard, I've

done my job, right?

335

I'm not, I'm not anxious

because I'm unprepared, right?

336

That's different.

337

I'm anxious just because it's hard

and I'm not, I'm worried about how

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it's gonna go now, in that moment,

how does confidence in Jesus help you?

339

Well, you could say,

one, I'm confident that.

340

My worth is more than

just my grades, right?

341

And my worth is not just my score on

this test or my grade in this class.

342

And I know that because I know

that from Jesus, my worth is, is

343

defined by God, not by my grades.

344

So maybe that's how

confidence in Jesus helps you.

345

Or maybe you say, you know what?

346

Whatever happens on this test, right?

347

Or whatever my parents say about my grade

or whatever, my friends think about me.

348

If I don't do well on this test, I know.

349

God is in control.

350

And so whatever happens, it's because

God is sovereign and God let that happen.

351

And if God let that happen, surely

it's coming from a good, loving God.

352

Or maybe your confidence in

Jesus is something bigger.

353

Maybe you're, you're dealing

with something like, I don't

354

know if I'm a Christian, how does

confidence in Jesus help you there?

355

Well, remember that Jesus knows

if you're a Christian or not.

356

Jesus already knows everything about you.

357

He's in control of

everything in your life.

358

Jesus already knows if you're a Christian

or not, and so if you're not sure, but

359

you're like, oh, I really hope I am a

Christian, you can come to Jesus and say,

360

Jesus, I'm not sure if I'm a Christian.

361

Will you please show

me if I'm a Christian?

362

Jesus knows He can show you.

363

He can do anything.

364

He can reattach a dude's ear on the spot.

365

He can help you.

366

Maybe you're thinking, okay, that, that

sounds great, but I don't even know if

367

Jesus, I don't even know if this is true.

368

I don't even know if, if anything.

369

I dunno if I can believe

what the Bible says.

370

It's a really old book.

371

You know, someone at school told me

that, you know, the church just put

372

it all together and the three hundreds

and Constantine did this and whatever.

373

Maybe that's what you heard, right?

374

And you're like, I don't even

know if the Bible's true.

375

Well, did you notice?

376

Did you notice stuff like

this in this passage?

377

How then should the

scriptures be fulfilled?

378

There's been prophecies that

Matthew is pulling together.

379

We don't have time to look at all of

them, but maybe one we can look at

380

together right now, we can look at.

381

Chapter 26.

382

Let's go to verse 31.

383

Verse 31.

384

Jesus said to the disciples, you will

all fall away because of me this night.

385

For it is written, I will strike

the shepherd and the sheep of

386

the flock will be scattered.

387

That's a quote from Zacharia chapter 11.

388

So

389

the Bible, their stuff written in

the Bible before Jesus lived, right?

390

All the Old Testament, everything

before Matthew was written, before

391

Jesus lived, and it talks about Jesus.

392

What Matthew's doing in this section.

393

He's not just saying, you can be confident

in Jesus because he is in control.

394

You can be confident in Jesus because

he really is who God says he is.

395

He's got all these prophecies about him

that Matthew's pulling together and he's

396

saying, look, Jesus, for it is written.

397

This happened.

398

This happened, this happened.

399

The Bible's the only book

with stuff like that.

400

The Bible's the only book that has that

kind of evidence that it's from God.

401

Right?

402

And you can do the research.

403

I challenge you if you're not sure, if

you're like, oh, I don't know if, if.

404

Bible's true.

405

I don't know if, if God's real, do

the research, do your homework and,

406

and you'll find that God is, God has

answers for your questions and so you

407

can build your confidence in Jesus.

408

Ultimately, you can trust

that he can save you.

409

That's what this comes down to.

410

It's we wanna know if Jesus is

someone we can trust with our life.

411

'cause maybe you're thinking, well, I'd

rather live for myself than live for God.

412

In some ways that's a trust issue.

413

You don't trust that

living for God is better.

414

Than living for yourself, right?

415

You don't think that living God's way will

make you happier than living your way.

416

You're like, well, I know

what's better for me.

417

I know better than God.

418

God says, don't do this, but I think

if I did that, I'd be really happy.

419

Or God says, do this, and I know

if I did that, I wouldn't be happy.

420

What you're saying is,

God, I don't trust you.

421

I don't trust you to take care of me.

422

I don't trust you to look out for me.

423

I don't trust that your

way is better for me.

424

So.

425

How can we build our confidence in Jesus?

426

Right?

427

Maybe you wanna follow God.

428

You're just like, I don't really

know if doing what God says is,

429

is really gonna work out well

for me in those moments, right?

430

When you're, when you're afraid, when

you're anxious, when you're tempted,

431

do what Matthew's doing here, right?

432

Matthew is giving you all

of this evidence, right?

433

We saw that.

434

All of these reasons, right?

435

These are, this is all evidence for you

to look at and say, man, God is so big.

436

Jesus is so powerful.

437

Jesus is in control.

438

So remind yourself of those things, right?

439

You can remind yourself

and say, well, well, look.

440

Look what Jesus did in the past.

441

Right?

442

Look back.

443

Look back at your own life.

444

How did Jesus take care of

me my whole life so far?

445

How did Jesus take care of my

friend, my parents, people at church?

446

I know people in my small group.

447

You can look around and and

build your confidence in Jesus.

448

But see, the only reason

any of this matters.

449

Because Jesus is the only

one who can get you to God.

450

And that's why ultimately you wanna trust

Jesus is because Jesus is the only person

451

you can trust to get you eternal life

to, to get you a relationship with God.

452

And that's what Matthew does with

this section on the Lord's Supper.

453

So we're gonna zoom in for a bit

on just three verses right here.

454

So look at verse 26 with me.

455

Okay.

456

Matthew 26.

457

26.

458

So they're eating the

Passover meal, right?

459

Passover meal.

460

They're celebrating what happened

at the Exodus right now As they

461

were eating, Jesus took bread and

after blessing it, he broke it.

462

He gave it to the disciples

and he said, take eat.

463

This is my body.

464

He took a cup, and when he had given

thanks, he gave it to them, saying, drink

465

it, all of you, for this is my blood

of the covenant, which is poured out

466

for many for the forgiveness of sins.

467

So.

468

What Jesus is doing is he's like

repurposing the Passover meal

469

and he's turning it into what we

know as the Lord's Supper, right?

470

As communion.

471

That's what's happening right here.

472

He's taking something in the Old

Testament and saying, this actually points

473

forward to what I'm about to do, right?

474

He's talking about blood now in the

Old Testament, what was blood for?

475

Think of Leviticus.

476

Think all the books that make

you not wanna do the DBR, right?

477

Those books.

478

Are about atonement, they're

about how does God, who's holy,

479

live with a sinful people.

480

'cause remember at the end, how

does the Book of Exodus end,

481

anyone else, the top of their head?

482

How does the book of Exodus end?

483

They build this tabernacle, right?

484

They, they start getting all the

instructions for the, for the, for this

485

big tent that they're gonna live in.

486

And then it's like God's

about to move into the tent.

487

Now I have a question.

488

If God is about to move in with you

at your house, you'd be like, shoot.

489

There's a lot of, there's a

lot of issues with me, right?

490

There's a lot, I've got a lot of problems.

491

If God lived with me, right,

you'd probably feel exposed.

492

You'd probably feel really sinful.

493

You'd be like, oh, man, if God's gonna

live in my, like, in my neighborhood or

494

in my house, there'd be a, a lot of, I,

I'd feel so like, just guilty, right?

495

All, all the things I think about,

all the things I, I've maybe seen

496

or, or watched or said or felt.

497

Done.

498

Right.

499

I would feel so.

500

So how does a holy God

live with a sinful people?

501

Well, something has to be done

about sin, and that's what

502

Jesus is talking about here.

503

So in, in the Old Testament,

they would substitute the lamb

504

or the whatever animal for them.

505

They would say, you know what?

506

The wages of my sin is death.

507

And so instead of me dying,

this lamb is gonna die.

508

That's what the priest would do.

509

So you put your hand on the lamb

and they'd come over and they would.

510

You know, the lamb and um, the

blood would get, would go all over.

511

And the point was that your sin caused

death and that should have been you.

512

And so you had this vivid

representation of my sin did that,

513

and that should have been me.

514

And Jesus is saying, that

is actually all about me.

515

That's what I'm about to do.

516

Jesus is about to, to die to

bleed for the forgiveness of sin.

517

That's what the cross is about.

518

And, and that's what you need to

trust Jesus for so point to depend on

519

Jesus, for your relationship with God.

520

The idea here is that Jesus is the only

way for you to, to have a relationship

521

with God, to, to be connected with God.

522

It's kind of like.

523

Imagine that you were, imagine you were

dating like the, the, the daughter or

524

the son of a really famous person, right?

525

Imagine you like this, you know, you just,

you didn't know the parents, you just met

526

this person and you started dating them,

and then you found out, oh my goodness,

527

like their, their dad's super famous.

528

You know, like, oh, maybe they're, I don't

know, maybe they're, let's just go with

529

first famous person I thought of would be.

530

Judge.

531

Let's say their dad's Aaron

Judge from the Yankees, right?

532

Or let's say their dad is, I don't

know, let's just, Donald Trump.

533

I don't know.

534

Right?

535

Let's say their dad's super famous.

536

The only reason you have a

relationship with that person,

537

with that, let's say with Mr.

538

President is because you know

someone they love, right?

539

You know their daughter,

you know their son, right?

540

That's the only, that's the only

way you're connected with them.

541

You're associated.

542

With their kid.

543

So they love you by extension, right?

544

They, they, they've never seen you.

545

They've never met you, but because you're

associated with their, with their kid,

546

now they have a relationship with you.

547

And now they, they care about you, right?

548

Your connection with Jesus is the

foundation for your relationship with God.

549

That's why you hear about

that phrase in Christ, right?

550

In Christ, it's all

over the New Testament.

551

What does that even mean?

552

Like I'm not literally in Christ, right?

553

Just like you can't accept

Jesus into your heart.

554

Jesus isn't in there, right?

555

You ever heard the story about like a

little kid, they go to the doctor to get

556

an X-ray and they're like, wait, stop.

557

Jesus might be in there

and he won't get hurt.

558

Like, no, that's not how it works, right?

559

So you're not literally in Christ, just

like Jesus isn't literally in you, right?

560

So how does that work?

561

What does it mean to be in Christ?

562

Well, think about like the

term connected to Christ.

563

You're united with Christ.

564

You're closely associated with him.

565

That's what it means to be a Christian.

566

You're someone who said,

I'm, I'm with Jesus.

567

He's the only reason I can

have a relationship with God.

568

If I was by myself, I would have no

reason to have a relationship with God.

569

In fact, God should punish me for my sin.

570

That's why all those animals had to die.

571

'cause I'm a, I'm a guilty sinner.

572

The wages of sin is death, but

because of my association with Jesus.

573

I trust him because I've, I've

put my faith in him because I've

574

connected myself to him by faith, I

can now have a relationship with God.

575

Now, the additional part of this is

that you need blood for forgiveness.

576

That's what the idea of death.

577

The wage of sin is death.

578

'cause God can't just be like,

well, you and Jesus are tight,

579

but there's all this sin.

580

What's God gonna do about all the sin?

581

Right?

582

Think about, let's say, um, there's,

there's a judge, a, a, a, a good judge.

583

And let's say that I, let's say

that I, I don't know, beat up

584

Carson and took all his stuff, okay?

585

Hypothetical, right?

586

Let's say I beat up Carson, took all

his stuff, and then Carson takes me

587

to court and he's like, look, Mr.

588

Judge Lewis beat me up

and took all my stuff.

589

And the judge is like,

well, I'm a loving, kind.

590

Forgiving judge, so you're good, Louis.

591

Don't worry about it.

592

You'd be like, what in the world?

593

Like, what's wrong?

594

Come on, man, like you're

not doing a good job.

595

Carson would be very upset, right?

596

Carson, you don't look so happy.

597

You're supposed to look upset.

598

There we go.

599

Right?

600

That judge isn't being a good

judge because he's not doing

601

his job in the same way.

602

You can't just be like, oh, hey God.

603

I'm sorry for my sin.

604

Forgive me.

605

We're good now.

606

Right?

607

Well, if, if you want God to do

that with your sin, what if God

608

did that with someone else's sin?

609

What if God did that with Hitler's sin?

610

What if God did that with the person

who cut you in the lunch line?

611

What if God did that with someone who

did something terrible to your family?

612

Right?

613

You don't want God to

do that with their sin.

614

You don't think that's fair, but

you want God to do it with your sin.

615

So, God, we, we want God

to do something about sin.

616

We want him to punish sin, right?

617

So that's why Jesus had to die.

618

That's why this is all happening.

619

That's why we're talking

about the crucifixion.

620

That's why we're talking about Jesus

going to, to his death on a cross.

621

God can't let your sin just be there.

622

He has to do something about it,

and you want him to do something

623

about it except for yours, right?

624

We don't want God to do

something about my sin.

625

We also do something

about everyone else's sin.

626

That would be great.

627

So you don't just acknowledge

like, oh yeah, I like Jesus.

628

We're gonna be buddies

now I get to go to heaven.

629

Right.

630

We're, we're trusting Jesus for something.

631

We're depending on Jesus for something.

632

We're depending on

Jesus to pay for my sin.

633

You're depending on Jesus

to pay for your sin.

634

That's what it means to

trust God, to have faith.

635

What are you trusting God for?

636

What are you depending on him for?

637

Well, Jesus died.

638

Because of my sin.

639

The reason Jesus had to bleed on

the cross, the reason Jesus had

640

to suffer God's wrath was because

he had to take away my sin.

641

And I want God to take away

my sin because I, I, I, I need

642

something to be done with it.

643

I can't make up for it.

644

And that's what this next part

of, of what we're gonna look

645

at is talking about is that.

646

Jesus didn't just take away sin.

647

He also lived a perfect life.

648

And that's something else that Matthew

wants us to see is that Jesus is

649

faithful and, and righteous, and he's

gonna contrast that with the disciples.

650

So if you look in your Bible, if we've

got two disciples that get a lot of

651

screen time in this chapter, right?

652

We've got Judas and Peter.

653

They both get talked about a lot, right?

654

We've got Jesus.

655

Talking about Judas Betrayal a lot.

656

We even see Judas saying, Hey, I'm gonna

sell Jesus out, literally and betray him.

657

And then we, in verse 33, they're

talking about Peter's denial, right?

658

We know that Peter said,

I'll never fall away.

659

And then guess what he did, right?

660

And all the other disciples actually

fall away right at the end of the scene

661

in the garden where Jesus tach the

guy's ear, the disciples all run away.

662

They flee, they, they abandon Jesus.

663

They say, you know what?

664

We followed you for three years, but now

that you're getting arrested, we're done.

665

We're out.

666

The disciples all fail.

667

They all let Jesus down.

668

They all abandoned him.

669

And if we're honest, we've all done that.

670

We've all said, Jesus,

you're not worth it.

671

And we've done that by sinning.

672

We've said, Jesus, I

love this more than you.

673

I love people's approval

more than I love you.

674

I love money more than I love you.

675

I love pleasure more than I love you.

676

We've all said that.

677

I love control more

than I love you, Jesus.

678

We've all done that.

679

We've all failed Jesus.

680

We've all abandoned him.

681

And that and that.

682

Even Matthew even shows that when Jesus

is on trial, Jesus is on trial and

683

he's doing, he's he's being faithful.

684

He's not giving in to the persecution.

685

He's enduring it.

686

He's not giving up.

687

And then what's the next thing

that happens after Jesus' trial?

688

Verse 69, we now see Peter and Peter's

on trial, but instead of getting beat

689

up by the Roman guards and, and the

Jews, Peter is talking to a little

690

girl in the courtyard and she's like,

oh, I thought I saw you with Jesus.

691

And Peter's like, Uhuh,

I wasn't with Jesus.

692

So Peter's trial is a lot less scary,

but Peter gives in, that's that big

693

section at the end of chapter 26.

694

And then.

695

So actually I'm gonna go

back to this big screen.

696

See that?

697

So Jesus is on trial right here, and then

Peter is on trial and he denies Jesus.

698

So Jesus endures and is

faithful, Peter is not.

699

And then what's the next thing we see?

700

There's this little, there's

little part right here.

701

And then Judas.

702

So what Matthew's doing is

he's putting all three of

703

these guys next to each other.

704

You see that pe Jesus, Peter, Judas.

705

'cause he wants you to see the difference.

706

He wants you to see, look.

707

Jesus is righteous.

708

Peter is a failure and

Judas is worse, right?

709

That's what Matthew wants you to see.

710

We don't try to look at all of

it, but that's the big picture

711

that Matthew wants us to see.

712

And what he's trying to help you see is

that Jesus is righteous and you're not.

713

And that's our third point tonight,

once I get to it, rely on Jesus

714

righteousness, not your own.

715

Rely on Jesus righteousness, not your own.

716

Jesus is faithful, but his

disciples are failures and us like

717

the disciples are also failures.

718

And we see this actually

all over Chapter 26.

719

The disciples do not get a good look

in chapter 26, and which honestly,

720

if you're, maybe you're a skeptic,

you don't think the Bible's true.

721

If you made up Christianity and

you were a disciple of Jesus.

722

Why would you make the disciple look bad?

723

Right?

724

If you're an early church person

trying to make up Christianity, why

725

would you put, oh yeah, Peter denied

Jesus, but Peter started the church.

726

Like, why would you do that, right?

727

If you're making this up, this is

a horrible way to do it, right?

728

So that's one.

729

Another way, you know it's not made up

right, is the disciples in the gospels

730

and all the gospels actually aren't

like the greatest people in the world.

731

If you were making up a religion,

you'd be like, I'm awesome.

732

Look at me.

733

If they don't do that anyway, the

point here that Matthew's making

734

is that the disciples and Jesus,

he's, he's contrasting them, right?

735

Jesus faithful disciples are failures

and we see that all over 26, the

736

disciples, remember that lady

who anointed Jesus poured all the

737

expensive perfume on him disciples.

738

You know, they said about that.

739

They weren't like, oh, awesome.

740

Look at this.

741

This woman who's, who's worshiping Jesus.

742

They were like, that's such a waste.

743

Why are you doing that?

744

Not a, not a good look

for the disciples, right?

745

Then we have Judas, who's betraying

Jesus, for which, by the way, 30 pieces

746

of silver, that's the price of a slave.

747

So Jesus, Judas thinks Jesus

is worth 30 pieces of silver,

748

the same price as a slave.

749

Meanwhile, that random woman from

earlier put all this expensive

750

perfume on Jesus and wasted it all.

751

So she thought Jesus was worth

more than even Judas was willing

752

to sell him out for anyway.

753

Then Judas betrays Jesus and

the disciples all fall away.

754

Peter's prideful.

755

He's like, no, I'm never gonna fall away.

756

And then what does he do?

757

Deny Jesus three times.

758

And then we have that contrast between

Jesus, Peter, and Judas, and see, relying

759

on your own righteousness will end,

will leave you where the disciples were.

760

You'll be just ashamed,

embarrassed, and worn out.

761

If you're depending on your

own goodness, your own.

762

Church going your own Bible knowledge,

your own morality to make you feel

763

good enough for God, it's, you're

gonna, you're gonna let yourself down.

764

You aren't good enough.

765

You can't be good enough.

766

And also you can't pretend to be good

enough because God sees right through you.

767

Jesus knew exactly what his

disciples were gonna do.

768

He knew they were gonna run away.

769

He knew that they were gonna abandon him.

770

So relying on your own righteousness,

I, if you are thinking, well, I

771

must be a Christian because my

parents are Christians, or, I

772

must be a Christian because look

at all the things I do, right?

773

If someone asks you, oh,

why are you a Christian?

774

Or, when did you become a Christian?

775

Or, how did you become a Christian?

776

You're like, look at all the stuff I did.

777

I, you know, I, I did this, I did, I,

I memorized the books of the Bible.

778

I did this all, all

these programs at church.

779

I, you know, did all these things for God.

780

Look at what I did for you.

781

That's, that's not good enough.

782

You need perfect righteousness.

783

You need 100% all of the time.

784

Heart level righteousness, not external.

785

Look at all this stuff.

786

I've done Jesus righteousness.

787

Relying on your own righteousness

will leave you exhausted, but it

788

also will send you to hell because

you're gonna stand before God.

789

You're gonna say just like

those people in Matthew seven,

790

scariest verse in the Bible.

791

Did I not do this?

792

Jesus.

793

And he's gonna say, I never knew you

794

because you didn't trust me.

795

You didn't depend on me.

796

You trusted yourself, because that's

really what you're doing when you're

797

relying on Jesus righteousness or

relying on your own righteousness.

798

You're, you're relying on yourself.

799

You're saying, I'm good

enough to go to heaven.

800

I don't need Jesus.

801

That's really what you're saying.

802

So if, if that's you tonight, if, if

you've been, if you've been playing the

803

church game and, and you think, man, I, I.

804

I deserve to go to heaven, or I'm a

good person, so I should go to heaven.

805

Or I've always, I've, I've

always been a Christian.

806

This is always what I've done and

that's why I should go to heaven.

807

If, if you've never admitted, I mean,

I don't deserve to go to heaven.

808

I actually deserve hell.

809

I've, I've sinned against God.

810

I've separated myself from him.

811

I've chosen other things instead of him.

812

If you have never admitted that and

said, Jesus, I need your righteousness.

813

I'm not bringing anything to the table.

814

You bring the righteousness.

815

I bring nothing.

816

There's a famous theologian,

he said that the only thing you

817

contribute to your salvation is

the sin that made it necessary.

818

All you bring to the table

is you need to be saved, but

819

also sometimes you, maybe

you are a Christian.

820

You rely on your own righteousness,

not for salvation, but for assurance.

821

And maybe that's you, maybe you're,

you're, you know, you're a Christian,

822

but you always are, aren't sure.

823

You're always feeling like, oh, I

don't know if I'm really a Christian

824

because I, I did this, or I said

this, or I keep sinning, or I do this.

825

And maybe you're just, you're, you,

it's maybe it's been years and you've

826

always been like, oh, I'm not sure if

I'm a Christian because I keep sinning.

827

Well, one.

828

Newsflash, you're gonna sin

for the rest of your life.

829

Christians keep sinning,

830

but Christians hate sin.

831

Christians confess sin.

832

Christians grow in godliness.

833

Christians love Jesus.

834

Christians aren't sinless, but

they do as, as my old pastor

835

put it, sinless Christians have.

836

There's a trajectory of coming

to God and repenting from sin.

837

I don't wanna do this anymore.

838

I stopped doing this.

839

I hate this.

840

I love God, I want to do this, but maybe

you're thinking, well, I'm not sure if I'm

841

a Christian and because of X, Y, and Z.

842

I don't know.

843

Some days I feel like I

am, some days I'm not.

844

What makes you a Christian?

845

Is it again, are you saying, well, I

don't know if I'm a Christian because

846

look at all the stuff I've done.

847

Your focus is on the wrong spot

and that's why you're doubting.

848

It comes down to, do you

trust you this or do you not?

849

Because if you're always looking to your

own, your own performance as a Christian

850

for your security with God, if you're

saying, oh, well, I don't feel close to

851

God, so I don't know if I'm a Christian,

or if you're saying, well, I didn't do

852

very well reading the Bible this week,

so I don't know if I'm a Christian or

853

you're saying, oh, well, I, I don't,

I just, I, I gave into this one sin.

854

I don't know if I'm a Christian.

855

What makes you a Christian?

856

What saves you?

857

It's, it's Jesus, not you.

858

So when you're doubting, look to Jesus,

don't be like, oh, well, once I stop

859

doing this, then I'll become a Christian.

860

Or, oh, once I, you know, I, I

would feel better if I, I just

861

started being more righteous.

862

Like one, you probably, if you are a

Christian, you probably would feel better.

863

Because maybe the reason you're doubting

your sin or you're doubting your salvation

864

is because you've got unconfessed sin

in your life and you need to confess it.

865

Maybe that's why you're doubting your

salvation, but what saves you what?

866

What makes you good enough for God is

not how you're doing in your prayer life.

867

It's not how much you know

about the Bible, it's Jesus.

868

That's what makes you good enough

for God, because ultimately.

869

Justification is about what you're

looking for to make you feel good enough.

870

See, what happens is a lot of the time

871

we don't feel like we're good enough

and so we, we reach for something.

872

We say, oh, well, I don't feel

strong enough, so I'm gonna start

873

putting other people down, and

then I'll feel better about myself.

874

I don't feel respected.

875

I don't feel liked by people, so

I'm gonna start putting other people

876

down and making them feel bad,

and that'll make me feel better.

877

You're, you're looking for that to

make you feel good enough, right?

878

Or maybe you're saying, oh, once I get

to be with, you know, this boyfriend

879

or this girlfriend, or maybe once I

get to that school or once I get this

880

much money, or once I make it to that

career, then I'll be good enough.

881

That's your idol.

882

You're saying that's

gonna make me good enough.

883

And that's where Jesus

righteousness comes in.

884

'cause you can stand before God and say, I

am perfectly acceptable because of Jesus.

885

Because I trust him.

886

I don't bring anything to the table.

887

He brings everything and that's

what makes me good enough.

888

And that's what qualifies

someone for heaven.

889

It's not how well you're repenting.

890

It's not how much you know.

891

It's not who your parents are, it's Jesus.

892

And so maybe you don't feel like

you're worthy to go to heaven.

893

It's a good place to be

'cause you're not on your own.

894

That's why you need Jesus.

895

So I hope even though we didn't read

much of Matthew 26, that this flyover

896

of Matthew 26 has helped you see that

Jesus is worthy of your trust, that

897

you can depend on Jesus because he's in

control, because he took the penalty for

898

sin and because he lived a perfect life.

899

So let's pray and we'll go to small group.

900

God, thank you for sending your son.

901

You didn't have to, you went

out of your way to save us.

902

And so, God, I pray that you help us.

903

Remember that what saves us is not

anything we do, but it's what Jesus did.

904

Jesus takes away our sin and

and gives us righteousness.

905

So I pray that, um, if we

have any questions or if we're

906

confused about something that you.

907

Give us courage to ask in small groups.

908

I pray that you would help us

understand where we are before you.

909

If, if there's anyone who's not sure

if they're a Christian or maybe thinks

910

they're a Christian or isn't a Christian,

God, I pray that you would make that clear

911

to them where they stand, and I pray that,

um, we would be more confident in who

912

Jesus is, that we would trust Jesus more,

that we would love Jesus more, and that we

913

would have more if we are saved, have more

assurance that Jesus truly has saved us.

914

Praise this.

915

It's Jesus name.

916

Amen.