I invite you to turn to Matthew chapter 26 tonight. Matthew chapter 26. We're just continuing where we left off. It seems weird to jump anywhere else, so we're going to continue where we left off this past Sunday. And as we looked at the betrayal and arrest of Jesus, now we look at him before Caiaphas and the council and correlated well with Peter's denial. We'll see why that's important. Matthew chapter 26, page 990 tonight. This is the word of the Lord. Beginning our reading is at verse 57 to the end of the chapter.
"Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. And Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest. And going inside, he sat with the guards to see the end. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last, two came forward and said, this man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days. And the high priest stood up and said, have you no answer to make? Why is it that what is it that these men testify against you? But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, I adjure you by the living God. Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to him, you, have said so, but I tell you from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore its robes and said, he's uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard this blasphemy. What is your judgment. They answered, He deserves death. Then they spit in his face and struck him, and some slapped him, saying, Prophesy to us, you Christ, who is it that struck you? Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a little servant girl came up to him and said, You also were with Jesus the Galilean. But he denied it before them all, saying, I do not know what you mean. And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him and she said to the bystanders, this man was with Jesus of Nazareth. And again, he denied it with an oath: I do not know the man. After a little while, the bystanders came up and said to Peter, certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you. Then he began to swear, to invoke a curse on himself, and to swear, I do not know the man. And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus: before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. And he went out and wept bitterly."
We'll end the reading of God's Word there.
We've been studying in Matthew what we looked at last week when Jesus said so clearly and asked the question, "Are you able to drink this cup that I am to drink?" And they all said that they were. The narratives are very clear that Jesus, and especially Matthew's emphasis on this is so profound tonight as we come to this Good Friday service and think about the death of Christ for us. He has to go at this alone. He has to drink this cup alone. He has the responsibility to bear this alone. So whatever we study in the passion narratives, whatever we see in all the events, what we really are stunned at is the utter sovereignty of God, that everything is working out just according to the Scriptures to fulfill the Scriptures, and that every single circumstance is so under His control, He is bringing it to the end that He determines. every circumstance. And that includes Peter, who doesn't have the ability to keep himself.
This really, tonight, captures the heart of the Christian faith. The marvel, what we're looking at and celebrating tonight, is that Jesus, when we confess in the incarnation that he became one of us, assuming a human nature, and that he stepped into our place to become the curse for us. You remember in Matthew 25, those very words on the last day, to those who do not have a mediator: "Depart, you cursed, into the fire." The cursed are those who have no mediator. He has become the curse for us so that He would release us from the curse, Galatians 3, so that we would hear, "Come, you blessed of my Father, enter the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."
We would never make up this story, by the way. We could never come up with something like this. We never would. We would never have this assessment about ourselves. We would never show ourselves this way. And woven into the example of this is the disciples in utter shame and in utter failure. And it's amazing how our Heidelberg takes that. It wants us to see in these narratives: How do you interpret this failure? What do you do with this failure massive failure of Peter and the disciples in this? And it's interesting that our catechism and our confessions are very clear on this, that when we come into periods of great distress in our own lives, when we are distressed, when we have a sense of hopelessness, when we fail in sin, when we stumble and fall, when we make about a mess of everything. Well, this is the Lord's day on him descending into hell. It is meant to assure us during attacks of deepest dread and temptation that "Christ my Lord, by suffering unspeakable anguish, pain, and terror of soul on the cross, but also earlier, has delivered me from the hellish anguish and torment."
Well, that's a lot of stress relieving. That's a lot of burden taken off. The Lord has forgiven you. The Lord has set you free. The Lord's not putting you through the judgment. That's what this is all telling us. And that's why the whole message of the faith, the whole message even of the apostles and as they went out, was was to always set this in front of the people: "Consider him, and think about this. For tonight, what we're briefly looking at: Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility that's what this is against himself, so that you don't become weary or faint-hearted." Well, that's such an encouragement. Whatever you're facing, I don't want you to become weary or faint-hearted. Consider him. Consider what he took on for you. Consider what he accomplished for you. And that gives us a cheer in every way. It gives us hope and happiness in every way.
What is detailed before us tonight is him on trial. Jesus has been in the garden at this point. Remember, there stands a cohort of around 600 men. The ecclesiastical temple police have come with the scribes and the Pharisees. Detachment of troops are there. The captain of the officers has arrested Jesus and bound him as a common criminal. It's a scene that's hard to even ponder when we think of who he is and his identity, which comes out tonight. The word means here that they tied him up. Verse 57: "That they led him away to the high priest, and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes."
So what we have here tonight briefly is, and what we have before him going to the cross are two trials that take place. The first trial is the ecclesiastical trial; it would be the church trial. And then he is delivered over to a civil trial. So these two trials are very important. John maps this out a little different with Annas and his relation here to Caiaphas. Annas was probably the head or chief, but because of the corruption he was ousted, maybe had still held that place. That's another story. But this first trial begins with the most powerful and influential Jewish leaders.
And the tactics are really shocking. The tactics are painful. I think we always moan corruption. If you've ever moaned corruption in government, this is as bad as it gets here. It's always been so. They're interrogating him as if he's a false prophet. That he has done nothing but, in the course of his ministry, nothing but stir up among the brethren false ideas. Now, keep in mind, these are the Jews. These are his people. These are his congregation. They're just cruel. And they're cruel to him. He said, "I spoke openly to the world. I didn't do things in secret. You know what false teachers do. I was open. I spoke truth." Matthew zeroes in on this vicious tactic here. Verse 59: "The chief priests and the whole council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus so that they might put him to death."
The implication is person after person after person kept coming forward, probably paid off. They'd already done it with Judas. Verse 60: we read, "They could not find a charge that would stick. I was always in the synagogues and in the temple where the Jews met secret. I said nothing. But two come forward, what seemed like the one charge where they would get him, that was legitimate in their eyes. This man stated, I'm able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days. Did he say it like that? What did he say? What a crafty presentation. That's not what he said. Jesus said, destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days. The gospel made clear he was speaking about the temple of his body. They didn't listen to him. So they used it against him in a flat-out twist of words. This man said he's going to tear down our rebuilt Herod temple and that he himself will rebuild it. He's a crazy man. They gave him no just hearing. Nothing was established as true.
I think we've seen in our times how bad ecclesiastical trials can be. Oh sure, they're important and they're right, but they can also run amok. When charges are made against people, this is a very serious thing. We've almost forgotten that in our time today, in our culture. It's almost universally believed today if someone brings a charge if we hear a terrible charge against somebody, it's just universally believed apart from any pursuit of the truth today. And somebody's reputation can be utterly destroyed this way. They're done. Without it being established at all. This goes on all the time. False accusations ruin people. We're not any different in our time than in their time. And if you've at all seen this, you know how utterly devastating it is to somebody if they didn't do it. A reputation lost is hardly recovered.
The biblical writers want us to see that this whole thing is corrupt. Technically, it's an illegal trial. You know what time it is? Jesus is being tried and condemned about 1 to 3 a.m., executed on the feast. The arrest came as a result of the bribe money from judas blood money. And now Jesus is put on trial to incriminate himself. Now imagine if you heard that of a trial that a leader took place in secret at 2 a.m.? I mean, it's just scandalous. All of it's wrong. What's his response? What would you do? Well, you defend yourself. Think of all the psalms that cry out because of unjust charges. I mean, this is all over the Psalter: "Deliver me not over to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen up against me, and they breathe out cruelty," Psalm 27. People are cruel. And you know where they're cruelest? To God and his servant.
And after all the accusations, the high priest stands up and says, "Don't you answer? What is it these men are testifying against you?" And then you read verse 63, and I think you're meant to read it in shock. But he kept silent and answered nothing. Nothing. They have brought false witnesses, verse 63, but Jesus remained silent. And all these false things are spoken and his words are twisted, the ninth commandment's broken, the trial's a sham. What would you do? Not a word. Not a word. Never did one thing wrong. He knows it's all false. And he stays silent.
But then, seeing he won't answer, they go after the greatest charge against him. They knew that he made himself equal with God. They understood that teaching. People may struggle with that today. They didn't struggle with that. They knew exactly what Jesus claimed of himself. So this is the big moment. The high priest says, "I adjure you by the living God that you tell us whether you're the Christ, the Son of God."
Now, this is the moment Jesus does answer. So you have to think about why. Why? It seems reversed. You think you would answer on the first charge and you'd leave this one alone. But not Jesus. Now, he revealed who he was to a few people along the way, the woman at the well, the disciples. All along, he kept saying, "Do not reveal, do not reveal. It'd be revealed at the cross." Now, in the ecclesiastical trial, he speaks. Jesus says and speaks, and now he speaks. Jesus said, "You have said it yourself." He confesses, and then he does something to drive home the confession. Then he says, "I tell you, after you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven."
Okay, that's maybe not the thing to say if you don't want to get killed. If there were any confusion, then he says, "Yes, I am the Son of God. And I want you to know I will be seated over all of you very soon. Over Caesar. And I'm coming again to judge." This is the whole implication here. He knew that was the nail in the coffin for him. That's the time you would think you might lie. He can't lie. He gave a confession that's absolutely true, but the greatest confession that he knew would seal his doom which is the cross. And then a great, false, ostentatious display of humiliation: the high priest tears his clothes. "What else do we need? You've heard the blasphemy. What do you think?" And they all say, "He deserves death."
As soon as he said this. he said this. Remember what I said at the beginning of the sermon? Everything's under the sovereign control. His sovereign control. They began to spit in his face. And they began to beat him with their fists. And others came up and slapped him. If he had lied, such a blow was righteous. But if what he just confessed was true, they just struck the Son of God with no fear. He was made a ridicule. He was laughed at. He was mocked. He was beaten. People hurled spit on his face. Then they come up and they start mocking him. "Prophesy. Prophesy to us, O Christ. If you're the Christ, prophesy." As they spit in him and strike him, they're mocking him. "Let's see if you can tell us who's slapping you now. Wham!" It's corruption. You kind of have to stop and say, "Now, do you see why we should take sin really seriously in the church? Why is he going through this? And who is this? Do we really know what our sins have caused?"
When Peter preached after at Pentecost, he leveled the playing field and said, "You all have taken by lawless hands, have crucified the Lord of glory, and put him to death." Revelation 1 makes clear it's not just the Jews. Our sins pierced him. Do you know the judgment day is described as a trial? The final judgment is a trial. You see what our Heidelberg says is so helpful: "Why did he suffer under Pontius pilot That's coming. That's where it's headed. "So that he, though innocent, might be condemned by a civil judge and so free us from the severe judgment of God." He was put under judgment, and we're getting a capture of that here. Ultimately, he had been put under the severe, just judgment of God for us. He underwent everything when he didn't deserve it, and he went all this to make clear that he stood before the tribunal of God as guilty for you. This is what we're studying.
It was unjust on the terms of men. He didn't deserve this. The Scriptures are clear on that, but he willingly laid down his life and went to this. Something really much greater is going on here. He's facing the judgment we deserve.
Now you understand Isaiah 53: "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb that's led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shears is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
And where do we end this sermon tonight? We hid our faces from him. We hid our faces from him. Peter I'll never deny you. I suppose Peter thinks he's going to go die with him at this moment. He's just chopped off an ear. All of a sudden, a little servant girl comes up. I mean, this is just a little girl. This is just a little girl. Can't you hold your own against a little girl? Notice this: "You were with Jesus, the Galilean." "I don't know what you're talking about." Then another little servant girl sees him. "He was with him, but he denied before them all and took an oath. He stood an oath stance: I don't know him, And then some bystanders come: "Surely you're one of them. We saw you. We can hear your accent. This is like saying, I know you're from Friesland. I hear your accent. I know where you're from." And he begins to curse and swear. That's not what you think. It's not just letting curse words fly. Most likely what that means is he's calling down, you notice it kind of hints at that here, he's calling down covenant curses upon himself, for God to curse him if he knows him.
Matthew wants you to feel the pain immediately that Peter experiences. Just then the rooster crows. Sovereignty of God. Everything is being directed just as the Lord wants it to go. And as soon as Peter hears the rooster, he goes out and weeps bitterly.
Jesus confesses. Peter denies. So intent on loving his Lord, wasn't he? So intent on following him to death. We hid our faces from him. Matthew wants us to see here that Jesus was covering even this sin. But even more, the narratives show us that Jesus himself was so much in control that he was fulfilling the Scriptures. That's the main point I want to drive home. He was fulfilling all of the Scriptures to be given in death for you. And that's how precious our confession is: "I believe in the forgiveness of sins."
At some point, you will weep bitterly. At some point. You will wonder if God forgives your sins. At some point, you will do something you wish you hadn't done. I can go down the line. You know this. And it's at these moments we look and see Jesus stepping into our place and shouldering the curse and becoming the propitiation, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Jesus didn't go through this for nothing. He did this so that you would understand that you are elected and loved with a love that far surpasses even your understanding. But he wants you to know and begin to grasp it. Whatever it is you're facing, don't despair. He was struck. He faced the trial for you. He stood in your place. And all these things were written as the summary, really, of all the Gospels, that as we'll look at Sunday, "all these things were written so that you would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you would have life in his name."
In this trial, you find your trial. Then know that nothing can separate you from the love of God because he was bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement for our peace was upon him. So then we should believe and receive the gospel with joy and the peace that he intends. Believe him. Trust him. He's done this for you. I know sometimes it's hard to trust. Rest and trust those promises. He was given for you. He died and he rose again triumphant and has defeated our sin and even the last enemy of death. Amen.