Following by a Different Road
The Trial of the Christ • Sermon • Submitted
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· 8 viewsAs Christ is glorified in the completion of His task, ours is just beginning.
Notes
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In late 2006, Rodney Atkins released a song called “Watching You.” The lyrics portray a father grappling with the fact that his son is watching and copying everything that he does. It made me cry the first time I heard it. Hannah was only a little more than a year old, but she was already walking and talking. We had just found out that we were expecting, and I remember hearing this fun, tender song, and feeling overwhelmed.
I was overwhelmed by a burgeoning reality that my character mattered to far more people than just myself. And while I had been taught this as a small child, and while I had seen it some in my walk with Christ, in my education, in my young marriage, and in my place of employment, I don’t think the full weight of it really hit me until we started raising kids.
As a parent, you get to see what it really looks like for someone to follow you. Watch your children, and in them you will see your greatest attributes and your ugliest sins in amplified forms. Our children watch us to know what to do, and they seem to copy best those things that we do really well and really poorly.
Turn with me, if you will to the Gospel of John, chapter 13. That’s the Gospel of John, chapter 13. We’re going to be starting this morning right where we left off last week, and as you find your spot, let me remind you all that last week we were talking about this contrast we see between John and Judas at the Last Supper. We were talking about the beloved and the betrayer, how both men had spent three years side by side with Jesus, and yet ended up in very different places because of what they fixed their hearts on pursuing.
And as we return to the text this morning, Judas has just gotten up from the table, and he has gone out into the night. So, we’re going to be reading this morning from , beginning in verse 31. And as is our custom here, I’d ask you, if you are able to stand with me in honor of the reading of God’s Word. Let’s read together, from
Therefore when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him;
if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately.
“Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.”
Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.”
Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.
PRAY —> Lord, Jesus, we come to You this morning with hearts and minds open and ready to receive what You would teach us. And though we are spread out far and wide, in our homes and gathered around televisions, phones, tablets, and computers, we are gathered this morning as one body in Christ. We are gathered this morning to worship You, and to spend time reflecting on the truth of Your Word. And we ask, Holy Spirit, that You would come and be our teacher this morning. Would You come and be with each one of us this morning, right where we are. And though we cannot be gathered together in one place, we ask You to unite us as You work in each of us to change us to be more like Jesus. It is in His Holy and sweet name that we pray, Amen.
The glory of Christ is the glory of God
The glory of Christ is the glory of God
Thank you, you may be seated. As we started off this morning, we were talking about children and parenting, and I chose this analogy because whether we realize it or not, it is a ready comparison to following Jesus Christ.
As His children, we are to follow after His footsteps. We are to watch where He walks and go where He goes and do what He does. Jesus said in Matthew 18:3
and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
In
like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,
Throughout the New Testament, followers of Jesus are called the adopted sons and daughters of God that call on God as our Father, like in , where it reads.
For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
We are called God’s children, children. Children that are to follow where Jesus walks and go where Jesus goes and to do what Jesus does. But the allusion doesn’t stop there. For you and I are supposed to make disciples. We are supposed to follow Jesus, but we are also supposed to help others to do the same.
We are supposed to make disciples. We are supposed to live our lives in example and allow other people to follow us as we teach them to be like Jesus, much like a parent teaches their children. Is this not what Paul means to do when he writes in :14-16
I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.
Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.
I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.
Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.
For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.
Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you.
But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power.
For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.
What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
You and I, who follow Jesus, are part of the family of God. We are to watch Jesus, and we are to follow in His footsteps, doing what He calls us to do. And so, as we look at this text this morning, beloved, I hope that we are paying attention, because Jesus tells us about the path ahead. In this passage, Jesus gives us a look ahead into where we are going. He tells us about some ways we need to imitate Him, but He also points us to some things that only He can do. In the middle of this text, Jesus flips the script. He says some unsettling things, and then He gives us new directions.
In the middle of this text, Jesus flips the script. He says some unsettling things, and then He gives us new directions.
So, let’s start at the beginning, with what Jesus says about Himself that we should imitate. Look at verse 31 with me
Jesus
And as we look at this text this morning,
Therefore when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him;
if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately.
John
Therefore when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him;
If you’ve got your listening guide, or you’re taking notes at home, the first thing I want you to write down this morning is this:
The glory of Christ is the glory of God
The glory of Christ is the glory of God
The glory of Christ is the glory of God
The glory of Christ is the glory of God
The glory of Christ is the glory of God
Judas has gone. He has gone out into the night to betray Jesus. We’ve been building up to this throughout the Gospel of John, and now in chapter 13, we finally see the wheel set into motion. The events that would lead to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection are starting right here.
And Jesus knows it is happening, and so what we see this morning is the beginning of the conversation between Jesus and His disciples in the final hours that He had with them before His arrest. And the very first thing that Jesus has to say is that this is really about His glory.
That the point of this whole thing is the glory of God. Everything in the life of Jesus up to this point has been about glorifying God, and though the world meant to bring shame upon Him through the cross, God intended it to be His greatest triumph in glory.
This shouldn’t surprise us. It was the message that we heard in chapter 12, When Jesus said
“Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
:
It was also the message we heard in ,
“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
Jesus alway meant to be lifted up. He always meant to come to that greatest moment of earthly shame for the glory of God the Father and the glory of His name. And in this passage this morning, Jesus is saying, beloved, that it is being accomplished.
And what this means for you and me as followers of Jesus is this:
The glory of Christ is the glory of God
The glory of Christ is the glory of God
Our greatest aspiration is to glorify God
Our greatest aspiration is to glorify God
Our very purpose in existing is to bring glory to the Name of God. And if the purpose of Jesus in everything He did was to bring glory to His Name, and you and I are followers of Jesus, shouldn’t our greatest goal be to bring glory to God?
Shouldn’t it be the thing we spend the most time and effort on? Shouldn’t it be our top priority? Should we not head the words of Paul, when he wrote in :5-10
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
The very first thing that Jesus has to say to us in this most important conversation is that His life has been only about the glory of God, and He is glorified because of it. And if you and I want our lives to be like His, if we are His children imitating Him, then we need to glorify God as well as our first and foremost goal.
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Now, this thing has started off pretty well. There is great power in the call for us to bring glory to God in our lives by following Jesus. But then, Jesus says something that anyone following Him should be confused by. Look at verse 33:
“Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’
And skipping down to verse 36, it reads
Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.”
Pastor, you just said, we’re supposed to follow Jesus. Now, Jesus says twice in our passage that He is going somewhere that we can’t follow. So, which is it? I think that most of us have a response to this like Peter’s: What do you mean you’re going? What do you mean that you are going somewhere that I can’t follow?
And I think that the key to the answer is in Jesus’ response to Peter in verse 36: “Where I go, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow later.”
And I think that the key to the answer is in Jesus’ response to Peter in verse 36: “Where I go, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow later.”
In other words,
We could not go to the Father without the bridge of Christ
We could not go to the Father without the bridge of Christ
We could not go to the Father without the bridge of Christ
We could not go to the Father without the bridge of Christ
Why do we build bridges? We build bridges so that we can get from where we are to a place that we would not be able to reach otherwise. Bridges cover chasms. They cover rivers and bays. They cover canyons and ravines. They cover a path ahead that would be insurmountable without them. And there is a chasm that you and I have made between us and God. It is called sin.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
It is those things that we have done wrong, that are against God’s law. And because God is a righteous judge, and because you and I deserve punishment for what we have done wrong, we were stuck. We were on one side of the chasm and God was on the other, and we had no way to cross the divide. We couldn’t go to the Father.
It is those things that we have done wrong, that are against God’s law. And because God is a righteous judge, and because you and I deserve punishment for what we have done wrong, we were stuck. We were on one side of the chasm and God was on the other, and we had no way to cross the divide. We couldn’t go to the Father, and that is where Jesus was going.
tells us
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Our sin blocked us from going where Jesus went. But this is why Jesus came. What does this last verse say that our sin earned for us? death! Our sin earned us death. And what happened on the cross? Jesus died. He died the death that you and I deserved.
You’ll notice what Jesus said to Peter at the end of verse 36, “You will follow later.” Before Christ’s death, and burial, and resurrection, we were stuck on one side of the divide. All of mankind was stuck on one side of the divide. But Jesus, being both God and man, did what no man could do: He bridged the divide.
You see,
Because of Christ’s death we can now go where we couldn’t
Because of Christ’s death we can now go where we couldn’t
Why did Jesus say He was going somewhere they couldn’t? Because His saving work had not yet been completed. But now it has. Now, there is a bridge to God. It was built for us on the cross of Jesus Christ. It was built for us to have a way out of our sin and the death. It was built to give us a pathway from death into life.
And I want to be clear here. I want to be clear, because people in our world tend to get mixed up on this. You see, our God is a forgiving God. No one more forgiving could ever exist. There is nothing that you can do, there is nothing you could say that would ever be able to make your soul unreachable by the blood of Jesus Christ. Anyone can be saved from death into life. Anyone can find forgiveness for the things that they have done wrong.
But it isn’t enough to just know that, you have to step forward in faith and actually follow.
You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
James
It is good that you say you believe, but that is just the starting point. You have to act on that belief. Look with me at verse 37-38
Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.”
Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.
Peter says, “Lord, I’ll lay down everything for you. I would die for you.” And Jesus responds, “No, you will deny me this very night!”
This is Peter we’re talking about! This is the man who stepped out of the boat and walked on water with Jesus. This is the first of the disciples to confess Christ as the Son of God. This is the same Peter that would later be crucified upside down because he thought it too dignified to die in the same manner as Jesus.
And what is Jesus’ response? You’re not as ready as think you are. You see,
Reaching Christ’s bridge means facing our failures
Reaching Christ’s bridge means facing our failures
This morning, we are gathered together in our living rooms because 1000’s of people around us are spreading a virus to others around them that they don’t even know that they have.
Health experts say that by the time most people realize they have this virus, they will have infected 50 others because you are infectious well before any symptoms ever show up. They also say that the global number of infections is actually much larger than we can confirm because so many people don’t go to the doctor or get tested.
When a patient develops cancer, the first step in treatment is detection because you can’t treat an illness you don’t know that you have.
Here’s a fact, friends,
If you don’t know you’re broken, you can’t ask to be healed
If you don’t know you’re broken, you can’t ask to be healed
Sitting at the table with Jesus is good! Believing that He can heal you is good! But you won’t ask for healing until you truly know that you need it. Peter had walked with Jesus. He had testified to Jesus as the Son of God.
God did amazing things through Peter. He worked many miracles and was critical in the growth of the early church. He wrote part of the New Testament and planted many churches. And yet, all of these things came after the brokenness he went through when he denied Christ. In , in the midst of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus turns to Peter and says,
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;
but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
But he said to Him, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!”
And He said, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me.”
Jesus said that He was praying for Peter, that his faith would not fail, but that once Peter was restored, he was to strengthen his brothers. When was Peter to strengthen others?
WHEN HE was restored. In other words, Jesus just told him, “you are going to fall. You are going to fail. You are going to sin against me. And when you do, and you have realized it, and have been restored, when you have repented, then you will be able to help others.
Because you can know all the truth in the world, but until you realize your sin, you cannot ask for forgiveness. Until you admit your guilt, you cannot accept Christ’s atonement. Until you know that you are broken, you cannot ask for healing.
In this passage, Jesus is giving us the Gospel, yet again. When we step back and look at the things that we have talked about to this point, what we see is that our greatest purpose and reason for being is to follow Jesus in glorifying the Father, even as Jesus glorified the Father. We see that Jesus went to make a bridge for us over the chasm of our sin so that we can be with God. We see that our healing in Christ can only begin when we realize that we’re broken in the first place.
And as followers of Jesus Christ, these things form the foundation. As God’s adopted sons and daughters, these are the things that form what it means for us to know Jesus. But that is only half of the equation. This is only half of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. But look at the other half. Look at verses 34-35
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Isn’t it striking that the way that people identify us as followers of Jesus is our love for others. It seems like such a little thing, doesn’t it? And yet love is the farthest from a littl thing.
The road to Christ’s bridge is His love that we show
The road to Christ’s bridge is His love that we show
To love someone else, to put their needs, wants, desires, and greatest good before our own even to the point of our own detriment is not something that comes natural to us. In fact, it is so rare in the world around us that Jesus says it is THE sign by which others will see that we follow Jesus.
The other half of following Jesus is to make Him known. It is to tell others about Him. And the most practical way that you and I have to share Jesus with others is His love.
The road to Christ’s bridge is His love that we show others
The road to Christ’s bridge is His love that we show others
As followers of Jesus, we are to know Jesus and to make Him known, and the primary door by which people will see Jesus in us is in the way we love one another. And this isn’t just any kind of love, is it? We are commanded to love as He loves.
Jesus says that He is going where we can’t, and that our directive in the meantime, our instructions that are going to help us to continue to be like Him more and more and to lead others to Him is to love one another as He loved. Love sacrificially. Love through the hard stuff. Love forgivingly. Love with passionate humility. Love in service, seeing who can stoop lower. Love, love love.
Matthew 22
In , someone asked Jesus:
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
“This is the great and foremost commandment.
“The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
I wonder what would happen if we did that. What would happen if, as God’s people, we really loved one another the way that Jesus loves us. I think we would lead others to Christ. I think that we would find ourselves following Jesus, even into eternity. I think that the Father would be glorified. And I think that you and I would begin to finally take on the family resemblance. Isn’t it time that we started watching and imitating our Father?
I know there are those of you out their this morning, and you know a lot about Jesus. And maybe you say, Pastor I know about Jesus. And I believe that Jesus is God’s Son. But I have never asked Him for forgiveness. I’ve never confessed my faith in Him. And I realize that I have sinned and I need the bridge that only He can give us.
Or maybe you’re sitting there this morning, and you realized that while you have experienced the love of Christ yourself, you haven’t been so good about sharing it with others. And this morning, you are ready to start sharing the love of Christ with others, becoming fully obedient to the Gospel we have been called to.
Aren’t you glad we live in a world where we can still come to the bridge of Jesus Christ, and find that He has made a way for us! In a moment, I’m going to pray, and our musicians are going to come and play a song. And I invite you, this morning, to sing along if you like. Or, perhaps, there in your living room, today is a chance for you to go to the Lord on your knees. You don’t have to be in this building to come to the altar of the Lord. He is there waiting for you this morning, if You are ready to come to Him in humble prayer. Let’s talk to Him now:
Lord, Jesus, we come to you this morning, acknowledging that we exist to worship You. We exist to glorify Your Name. But like everyone else around us, we fall short of that mark. Either we have never truly come to accept your forgiveness, we’ve never trusted You as our Savior and King, or, like Peter, we haven’t fully realized what it means to follow you and to be desperate for the healing that only You can bring to the broken. But we’re here this morning, Lord. We’re here at the altar. We’re here asking for Your forgiveness, wanting to be changed by You. Would You draw us to Yourself this morning. Would You make us new. Would You cleanse our hearts, Lord Jesus, that we can cross that bridge to be with You forever in glory. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
Don’t let this moment pass you by. If the Spirit of God is stirring in you this morning, drawing you to change, I’m here to talk as long as you need me. Send me a private message so that we can talk together. Jesus loves You and so do I. I’m praying for you, longing for that day we can be together again. Until then, stay safe! We’ll see you back here on Wednesday night at 6:30. God bless you all!