Jesus Betrayed and Denied

Good morning. The Christian podcast and blogs and news have been covering a significant former pastor. His name is Joshua Harris. Many of you probably have heard of him. He wrote an influential book in the 90s. He pastored a very influential church in Maryland. And he posted via Instagram a few weeks ago that he was leaving his wife. He and his wife were pursuing a divorce. And then this past week, he wrote a new statement, and this is just part of it. I have undergone a massive shift in regard to my faith in Jesus. The popular phrase for this is deconstruction. The biblical phrase is falling away. By all the measures that I have for defining a Christian, I am not a Christian. Many people tell me that there is a different way to practice faith, and I want to remain open to this, but I'm not there now. This is very shocking. This is startling. If you think about this, this young man, or this man my age now, for 20-some years, he proclaimed faithfully the gospel of Jesus Christ from a pulpit. He wrote many works promoting the gospel of Jesus Christ. He was a central figure in teaching God's church. And here on Instagram, in just a few words, By all measurements that I have for defining a Christian, I'm not a Christian. On one level, I want to thank him for his honesty and that he's not going to distort Christianity into something that fits him. On another level, I'm terrified. What happened? His church went through a very difficult, divisive issue or issues. He's gone through transformation. It's terrifying. Scripture tells us we're supposed to look at these events and recognize that they were of us. They're among us, but not of us. We're supposed to look at these kind of declarations and take heed, be warned, and to pray for ourselves not to fall into such a denial and to pray that He would come back. I bring that up not because it's the most recent news, but because our entire passage is about denying Christ. If you read through the Gospels, you will see over and over again, warning after warning of Jesus, do not fall away. Warning of the seriousness of denying Him before man. This morning as we look at our text, I believe there are represented here four ways in which we deny Christ. Denial by arrogance. Denial by laziness. Denial by anger. Denial by fear. We're entering into a very weighty section of Scripture. The betrayal of Christ. The denial of Christ. The trial and crucifixion of Christ, these are weighty sections of Scripture to consider as we think about how we've treated God. And this morning we need to hear the warning so that we might walk faithfully by faith through His and in His grace. If you're new with us, we walk through books of the Bible at a time. We've been in Mark for some time. We're, we're wrapping this up this month. Next month rather, August. And here in, in Mark, Jesus has come into Jerusalem for the last time. He went into the temple. He cleansed it, which means he took the robbers out. He brought a great commotion in wanting the worship of God to be pure. He was then challenged by the different religious leaders, what we call the Sanhedrin, the elders, the scribes, the priests, the Pharisees. Then they kept coming to him, and over and over again they tried to question him, to trick him. And finally after he just stumped them one after another, they said they, they didn't ask him anything else. A couple weeks ago we looked at how he presented the Lord's Supper. The Passover meal that, that defined Israel. The Passover meal that, that reminded them of their exodus from Egypt. He has now turned that into the Lord's Supper because he is the Lamb of God who has come to truly take away sins. And in the midst of that he warned them, what if he's going to betray me? Now here we are. And what we really see is they all deny him. Jesus' betrayal is unique and significant because of how it was predicted and what it means, but we have to realize Jesus went through his final hours alone. Let us continue and study the Gospel of Mark. The first point, if you're taking notes, is denial by arrogance. Denial by arrogance. Verses 26 to 31. And when they, that is the disciples, Judas has left, he's gone, and they think he must be doing something regarding the taxes. He was the treasure among the disciples. And when they had sung a hymn after the Lord's Supper, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Jesus said to them, you will all fall away. For it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. And after I'm raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. Peter said to him, even though they all fall away, I will not. And Jesus said to him, truly I tell you this very night before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. But he said emphatically, if I must die with you, I will not deny you. And they all said the same. We see them singing the hymn after the Lord's Supper. We think maybe they're getting it. You know, you sing a song after receiving the Lord's Supper with joy from Christ who says, this is the blood of my covenant. And Jesus wants to warn them. He's given them the declaration, one will betray me, but now he's gonna warn them all. And notice the emphasis of the word all. You will all fall away. He's given them a warning to heed. And the reasoning is from scripture, I will strike the shepherd and the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. Well, that's a declaration from the word, but it's also, this is proverbial. God's people need a leader. These disciples have invested everything in Christ. All their hope. They've left homes, farms, businesses, families. They've left everything for the sake of Christ. And Jesus makes it very clear. If the shepherd is struck, the sheep scatter. Whatever those are, the one that they, they're trusting, when he's struck, they, they lose their courage. There is something here that we need to have some sympathy with while I'm going to present this as something that should be frustrating. They followed him for three years. Everything is found in Jesus. And then as soon as he's betrayed by Judas, which had to be very startling, he's taken in, they're all gonna deny him. And if you think about it, psychologically, you can kind of have a lot of empathy for them there. But I want to share something with you very, that's very clear. They scattered because the shepherd was struck. Okay? We still worship that same shepherd. The difference between us and the disciples, we're on this side of the cross and the resurrection. Christ has been struck. He has been crucified. He has died in our place, fulfilling God's righteousness. He took our punishment. He will not be struck again. He stands in absolute victory, in the highest position of authority, and we can have absolute security in Him. We should not act like these disciples. He cannot be shaken. As we read this, we can have some, some empathy here, because, because the one they're hoping in, He's taught them, He's trained them. They should be ready for this. He's, He's, He's predicted this over and over. We should even be more secure because of the great security we have in Christ. We should not be tossed to and fro. He is at the right hand of the Father. But, we're probably a lot like Peter if we're honest. Look at this. Jesus said to them, you'll all fall away as it is written. Verse 28. Or verse 29. Peter replies, Even though they all fall away, I will not." That's not really how you make friends with other people. All these other jokers, they're, I'm gonna be with you, Jesus. I don't know about these guys though. All right, so he's already separating himself out. You hear the arrogance. I'm better than them. Even if they all fall away, you can count on one thing, I will not. Jesus said to them, Peter, in just a couple hours, you're going to deny me twice. Let's take a reality, this point here. Let's think about the reality of who you are and how you function and who I am and what's about to happen. In just a couple hours, you're going to deny what you just said. At this point, Jesus has said, all of you are going to deny me. You can kind of think, maybe I'm the exception. But now Jesus says specifically, Peter, because you spoke up first, as you always do, you're going to deny me in just a few hours. At that point, if you really think Jesus is the Messiah, you should probably take a step back and think, huh, I should consider what I'm thinking and saying. Not Peter. Verse 31. He said emphatically, If I must die with you, I will not die with you. And they all said the same. It's amazing how some of the most bold claims can be made by some of the greatest cowards. We see here just an emphasis. Jesus, I got this. Jesus, I will not deny you. I have faith in myself. There's no way I'm going to be afraid. I'm going to follow you to the point of death. They still don't get it. It's not about them, their strength, their courage, their willpower. It's about looking up and actually listening to Jesus in a humble way that says, Jesus, you're warning me. Help me. He's still insisting upon his ability to do what he needs to do, not saying, Jesus, I hear your warning. Help me. We need help from outside. One of the ways we actually can relate to this, there are sins that entangle brothers and sisters in this church regularly. That's why the author of Hebrews actually challenges us on that. We know the sins that entangle us because God warns us of those. God is a good God who's going to give us regular reminders of the kinds of sins that are going to entangle us. We get entangled because we don't heed warning. We don't heed warning. It's not like we just actually fall into sin. We don't heed the warning. Something else I want to address here that, that I think just jumps out when, in terms of Peter's self-assurance. He's saying, I'm gonna do this. I hear a lot of Christians when they, when they're, when they're, they're, they're finding difficulty, or they're trying to, to overcome difficulty, they're gonna, they say things like, I'm gonna try harder. That's not the right thing. I get what you're saying, and I appreciate it, but the right thing is that I need to depend upon Christ more. It's not about doing more. We're the problem. It's about relying upon Christ and His grace more. The main problem we see in Peter's denial, and he's denying Jesus in verse 26 and 31 already. He's denying the warning. And denying the warning leads to brokenness and weeping. The second denial we see in our text is Denial by laziness. Denial by laziness. And they went up to the place called Gethsemane and he said to his disciples, sit here while I pray. And he took with him Peter, James, and John. Now, this isn't the first time he's taken these three out of the disciples. This is kind of what we've called the inner circle. They got to see the Mount of Transfiguration. These three are the three he seems to be teaching and focusing on most. They're going to be the more significant when it comes to Acts and the Gospel going out into the nations. He takes these three, Peter, James, and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. He's more vulnerable with them. He's going higher up to pray, and he's bringing his three closest friends with him. And he said to them, my soul is very sorrowful, even to death. I believe what we see here is Jesus is starting to feel the full weight of our sin. He's starting to relate to God as a human, who will be treated as a sinner, More than he's normally relating to him as a son and a father. We're starting to see that separation way down on the Son of God who came to take our burden. My soul is sorrowful, even to death. He's realizing what's ahead of him, and so he asks for help. Remain here and watch. Jesus went a little further and fell to the ground and prayed. that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And here, here he's, you can see the full weight of the humanity. Father, if there's any way for, for, for our people to, to be saved, if there's any way for forgiveness to take place without me having to suffer for their sin, let it happen. We see here the exclusivity of Christ. There's no other way for salvation to happen. We see here the Son of God expressing The fear, is there some other way? Verse 36, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will. He's feeling that full weight. He's praying, but we can see that he's praying, seeking the Father's will. He's denying himself. He is going to follow along with a mission to save us, despite the pain it's going to cost. Verse 37, and he came back and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, who's going to be with him to the end, Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." We see here a clear warning again. Watch and pray. And the principle, the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. I don't believe sometimes in Scripture Paul used the word flesh to talk about sin nature. I don't think that's what Jesus is saying. We're a body and a soul. We're a material and an immaterial. That's what makes us human beings, those two parts. I'm simply saying our human nature is weak. It needs rest. There's a warning here about temptation. Be wary of wanting too much sleep. Not being watchful and aware in prayer. There's a warning here for us to consider. There's a warning against a laziness that becomes us. Verse 39, and again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And again he came and found them sleeping. For their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. And he came a third time and said to them, are you still sleeping and taking rest? This is a very sad picture of the disciples denying Christ. Three times he's come and found them and instructed them with me, be watchful." He's feeling the weight of being all alone under God's judgment, and he keeps coming back, and he's finding those who are supposed to be with him asleep. Their weaknesses reveal. Now, the command, watch and pray. It's very important that we understand Jesus saying that the most helpful way to be on guard against temptation, the most helpful way for us to be on guard against those sins that entangle us, is to be watching and praying. Being very aware, heeding whatever warnings are there, and listening to God. Because here's the opposite of what Jesus says. Just be entertained by your own inner dialogue. When we're entertained by our inner dialogue, this is what happens. We tell ourselves about all the other sins that have been committed against us. That produces bitterness. We tell ourselves how justified we are in our actions. That produces self-righteousness. We reason ourselves that the sin is not that bad. That leads to licentiousness. When we do not watch and pray, we are giving ourselves over to temptation because we're just giving ourselves over to, to what we want. bitterness, self-righteousness, and licentious. The call here is to look up. God, what would you have for me to believe? God, what would you have for me to do? God, give me the warnings I need to avoid the kind of sin that entangles. I want to avoid temptation. The disciples, they keep sleeping. They're warned three times. They're instructed three times. three times. Jesus, you can hear the frustration. Can you not stay awake for an hour? Simple practical application. What are you sleeping through? What are you seeking rest through right now? What are you missing? Think about it. These disciples had the opportunity to watch and pray with Jesus their Savior in His last hours. And they decided their eyelids were just too heavy. They had to take a nap. What kind of blessings, what kind of opportunities would we, are we missing? Because we're just lazy. Because we don't want to give the effort required in focusing on watching and praying. I'll warn you. If you're not in regular prayer, yourself, and with the church, and with other believers, you're easy prey for Satan and sin. If you're not being watchful of prayer, you're not resisting temptation according to Christ. We see here, they're denying His very instruction, watch and pray. Because of laziness. There's a third denial. This was different because it's not his disciples necessarily. There's Judas involved. But this is denial by hatred. This is 43 through 65. And immediately, remember if you're even with us, Mark likes to use the word immediately to draw our attention. It's a catch word that he uses regularly. Immediately isn't just chronologically here focused, even though it seems like this just kind of happens all of a sudden. It draws our attention. While Jesus was still speaking, Judas came back, one of the 12, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. Who do you think he is? Okay, he got a little physical in the temple. He threw some people out, but clubs and spears. Jesus then points out, you're treating me like I'm a robber. I'm a teacher. Who do you think you're coming to grab? Notice that from the chief priests, the scribes, the elders, the Sanhedrin. And the betrayer, that's how Judas is referred to, the betrayer, had given them a sign, saying, the one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard. And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, Rabbi, and he kissed him. This is a, this is a hard passage to read because we see here Jesus, knowing who Jesus is, knowing who Judas is, knowing what he's going to do, and submitting himself to this. Someone who he's invested in for three years of his life. Jesus' ministry has been going on for three years up to this point. For three years, Judas has walked with him, he's been with the disciple, he's given him the Passover meal, the Lord's Supper, And the way Judas responds is by giving him the kiss of betrayal. What appears to be a, a genuine sign of affection, it's actually a, a sign of hatred. It's a mark to destroy him. And Judas cements. Verse 36, and they, they laid hands on him and seized him. We see the disciples, there seems to be some kind of courage, even though they're misplaced. But one of those stood by a druid's sword and struck the servant on the high priest and cut off his ear. Jesus says, Jesus says no to him. We still go from another passage. Have you come out against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching and you did not seize me. But let the scripture be fulfilled. That is a key phrase there for this particular section. Jesus is the Lord who has given us the Scriptures. He is the one who has made promises in the Old Testament, and now he's simply saying they must be fulfilled. I have to keep my word. Jesus isn't reading an instruction manual, trying to follow it. No. He has made promises in the Old Testament, and now they must be fulfilled, which means he has to submit himself to Judas's kiss of death. the chief priests, the religious leaders, and to these men who want to hurt him. And they all left him and fled him. Verse 51, and a young man followed him with nothing but a linen cloth about his body, and they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked. Now we can look at this passage and think spiritually what we think is how, you know, following Christ leaves us vulnerable. No, that's not what we're supposed to think at all. We need to not try to think, let's spiritually apply something from each section. I think this is a fantastic verse for a number of reasons. First and foremost, this is an eyewitness account of what happened. Why else would this be here? It's just there because it happened. Mark, we believe, was recording what Peter shares with him. This whole thing is about Peter and his assertion, and then how Peter felt. And I think here in verse 51, it's simply what Peter saw. There's no spiritual importance to verse 51 other than the fact that we can see Mark is a historical narrative that is trustworthy and reliable, provided by eyewitnesses of what actually happened. Let's continue. Verse 53. And they led Jesus to the high priest, and now he's in front of the religious leaders. The chief priests, the elders, and the scribes came together. Peter had followed him at a distance. It's helpful that Peter is letting us know where he's at. He has asserted that he will always be with Jesus. We see him following closely, even at the fire with the other guards. but, but our, our, our focus is on the scene in the room with the whole council of the people who are supposed to be leading Israel in true worship. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. It's interesting. When you're looking for testimony, they're trying to find something against Jesus. They're trying to dig up any kind of dirt they could possibly find on Him. And notice it makes it very clear why they couldn't find any. There are plenty of people who are willing to give false witness. The problem is they did not agree with one another. It clearly lies, and there's nothing they can take to the Roman leaders who would actually put Christ to death, because none of it actually makes sense when considered together. And some stood up more false witness against him. We could hear the kind of things they were saying. We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I'll build another not made with hands. He did say something very similar to this. The temple will be destroyed. And he will build up a new temple. The, the church. But we see here they're, they're twisting words and, and presenting things as, as, as not exactly as they are. And even about their testimony did not agree, the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus. We can see this kind of frustration. The chief priest gets frustrated. Have you no answer to make? What is it these men testify against you? Jesus remains silent. As, as Isaiah 53 said he would. He would be silent against his accusers. He would, he would not give an answer. And the priest asked him a specific question. Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? So first he's asked for a general question and Jesus will not answer that. They're looking to figure out what he might say so they can twist it against him. He will not give an answer. But now he asks a specific yes-no question. Are you the Christ? Are you the Promised One? Are you the Son of the Blessed? Are you, are you God's own child as you've claimed? Jesus said, I am and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. I believe this is a warning to the chief priest. When you see me again, I'm going to be coming in judgment, and you will stand alone in your sin as I come down from heaven and make a clear judgment against you when I come back. He's declaring that he is the one who has all authority. He is the one who's been sent down. But, but he's not, there's not the normal welcoming, yes, this is who I am. Come and believe. You're going to see me when I come back down in judgment. And the high priest wore his garment and said, what further witness do we need? You have heard his blasphemy. He's misrepresenting God. He himself is claiming to be equal with God. What is your decision, he says? They all condemned him as deserving death. And some began to spit on him, to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, prophesy. And the guards received him with blows. They're, they're, they're punching him. Verse 65. We see here what sin looks like. They revile him. They spit on him. They mock him. The, the real sad part here is they're mockingly saying, prophesy. He just did. I am, as you say. the Anointed One, the Son of the Blessed. I, I am the one who is going to be seated at the right hand, who alone can forgive your sins. And I am the one who's going to come down in judgment and hear, instead of heeding that warning and hearing it, they start spitting on him, mocking him, saying prophesy. They're not listening. We, we really see what sin looks like. If you're a believer today, I, I, I, I pray right now you would want to know who Jesus is, and that you would want to hear Him and heed Him, because this is what our sin looks like to God. And when Jesus Christ comes back, there will be judgment. This is what sin looks like. Now, now maybe you say, I would never punch Jesus. I would never spit on Him. I'd never mock Him. This happens to us, as it's in the story, that this is for us to reflect. This is how I would treat Jesus. Because when He comes, He's a light that reveals our darkness. He shows us who we really are, and if we don't submit to Him, we're going to hate Him. If you're wondering what our lives look like to God, it's this. Rejecting, spitting, mocking, punching. There's two incredible things that we should be overwhelmed by as we look at this passage. what our sin looks like. Just pure hatred of God. We've rebelled against Him. We take what He has given us, and we reject it, and we use it for our purposes. We're opposed to God. His righteousness is revealed because of how rebellious we are. His love, it reveals our hate. His patience reveals how childishly demanding we are. His glory reveals the facade that we've built in our own kind of kingdom. His truth reveals the lies we embrace. There's a hatred. We reject God. So there's something about just being overwhelmed by what our sin looks like towards God. And there's something overwhelming about how Jesus allows this to happen, to show us his love. Christ's love isn't just a warm feeling about us. It's a commitment. He endures this punishment. He endures this spitting, mocking, punching, because he knows this is the only way he's going to get on the cross, where he's going to endure an even worse punishment that is God's own wrath against our sin. And it's the only way we can know his love. Peter says, I'm never gonna leave you, I'll die with you. Jesus says that and keeps the promise. I'll never leave you, I'll die for you. The most amazing thing as we think about Christ here, he's all alone. He's starting to feel the Father's forsaken us. He's all alone. None of his friends are with him. He's by himself on trial. He is all alone to take the punishment. And the thing we should walk away with, he stands all alone in our place so that we are never alone. He is with us. He is for us. This kind of love is demonstrated in that he will not stop them from punching him. He could call down a myriad of angels and destroy all these guys in one second. He remains faithful to the task. He remains faithful of being punished as if a sinner. He remains faithful to stand in our place so that we're never alone. It's easy to feel alone. It's easy to feel a sense of hopelessness. But here's the clear focus. Christ is the one who's truly alone, and He went through this process. He stood there alone so that we would know He is always with us and for us. Our final denial. Denial by fear. We've come to a full circle. This section really It finishes here. We have the bookend of Jesus' warning about Peter denying. We have now Peter's denial. Final scene. We're in the courtyard. Jesus is there being punched. Peter is outside, and as God would predestine and ordain it, it wasn't a soldier who confronts Jesus at first. It's a servant girl. Someone who has no stature in society. Someone who should not be threatening in any way. Someone who should not make him cower in any kind of fear, just to make it clear who Peter really is. The servant girl comes, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, you were also with that Nazarene Jesus. Peter denied it. saying, I neither norm to understand what you mean. Claiming ignorance is always a first good line of defense. And he went out of the gateway and the rooster crowed. We see here there's a warning. There's no heeding. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, this man is one of them. But again, he denied it. And after a little while, the bystanders again said to Peter, certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean. But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, I do not know this man of whom you speak. And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him just hours before. Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times." And he broke down and he wept. This section began with a very proud man who asserted, Jesus, you can count on one thing, I will be with you. And Jesus said, there's one thing you should know, you are a coward without me. He did not heed. Here we see that after three confrontations to an unthreatening servant girl, he denies this man Jesus. He just says, I have no idea what you're talking about. He swears, and invoking a curse on himself. I do not know this man. And then God gave him another warning, or really a revelation. The crow, the rooster crows, and he realizes what he's done. It's a sad ending here for Peter. And he broke down and he, wow, we have here a broken man. We have a humbled man. Not a humble, humbled. We have a man who's distraught and fear and recognizing he couldn't keep his word. We have a man who should be seeing the coward he is. Now, we can't stop here. We need to praise God this isn't the end. Turn over with me to Mark 16. I'm gonna begin in verse six. There's an angel sitting in the tomb. The ladies who came to visit Jesus in the tomb found the stone rolled away and a young man sitting in. And this angel says, and he said to them, do not be alarmed, you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. See the place where He laid Him. First we can praise God that the beating and the crucifixion, that's not the end of Jesus. He is risen and He has conquered sin and death. But go, tell His disciples and Peter. He names Peter. Now Peter's gonna stand out as a significant, he's been stood as a significant apostle and disciple because he's usually the first to speak. He's a significant disciple because he's the first to give a Christian sermon. I think he mentions Peter so that Peter knows he's still invited. He mentions Peter by name, I believe, so that Peter knows he's still invited. A broken man needs that invitation. A broken man needs to hear your... The only way you can remain outside of Christ is to continue to deny Him. Jesus is risen. He is not here. Go tell His disciples and Peter. It's amazing. Jesus did not hold anything back in terms of clarity about Peter's own sin, and he holds nothing back in clarity of affirming and loving and welcoming him back as a sinner. Those two things are hard to do regularly, right? Being clear about what sin is, and being clear about being a welcoming, loving, forgiver. Jesus is good at this. This text has everything to do with Peter. We're supposed to highlight the emphasis of Peter and what a coward he is on his own. We're supposed to see how this self-reliance and self-assurance is a facade. Peter has nothing in himself to bring to the table, but Christ says, I want you, I love you, I want to know you, and I'm going to use you. But you have to first learn to have courage in me, not yourself. Same for us. Our failure comes when we say, Jesus, I've got this, you can trust me. Now the prayers, I believe, help my unbelief. I need grace to be faithful. As we conclude, who's against Jesus? The disciples flee, they fall asleep, they deny him, The crowds, they're coming to bear false witness. The religious leaders, they find the false witnesses and mock him. And the soldiers, they're going to punch him. So think about this passage. Where would I be? Where would I be? Where would you be in this story? What kind of denial would you be giving? Another way we could ask this is, what tempts me most to deny Jesus? Is it my arrogance? Pride in my competence? Is it my laziness, just refusing to do the hard work of discipleship and commitment, the idea of duty to follow Christ and His commands even when I don't feel like it? Is it my anger, just refusing to submit to Christ? Is it my fear? I don't believe He can care for me. I'm afraid of what happens if I'm numbered with Him. My encouragement and exhortation to you is watch and pray. Look up to Christ. He is risen with all authority. He is a sin of the right hand of the Father. He cannot be shaken. He will not leave you alone. He desires your sanctification. I believe this passage is a warning for us as to what happens when we trust ourselves. It's a call to courageous faith. A faith that fights against fear, guilt, love for sin. The hard reality is we have to face, we've all denied Christ, we all deny Christ, and Christ is faithful. The call is to trust him more and depend upon his grace. Will you pray with me? Father, as this has been a weighty word, as we've seen, a man you use mightily later on. A man we can look up to because of his courageous faith in you, where he stood before the Sanhedrin, and he did not deny the Gospel. He proclaimed it all the more boldly. We thank you for that testimony that you not only called him by name, but you restored him, you healed him. You made him a great ambassador of the kingdom. Lord, for those broken, for those confused in entangled sin, we thank you, Lord, for this word of hope. We thank you, Lord, that as we dive deep into the clarity of denials of Jesus, Jesus makes it clear he stands alone with us, he stands for us, and he always welcomes us. Lord, give us the grace we need to see our sin, to repent of that sin, and to keep ourselves away from that sin. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.