Complete Sermon Notes

 

“Lord, Is It I?”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

Matt 26 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, 2 “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” 3 Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4 and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. 5 But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”

 

• What is the passover? Ex. 12:12 “For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. 13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”

 

Baruch Maoz, an Israeli pastor of Jewish descent, doesn’t believe it is wrong for Jewish Christians to celebrate the feasts. But also explains why Gentile Christians shouldn’t observe them – “The ritual aspects of the Law, its symbols, hopes, and expectations, all find fulfillment in Jesus. Having been fulfilled, they no longer have the religious value they had in the past yet, for us Jewish Christians, they form part of our national culture. The shadows have passed to give room for the reality, and it is not right for us to insist upon those shadows as if they were still in force.”

 

• The problem – “Christ isn’t sufficient”, so they thought: Col. 2:16-17 NKJV, “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance [the real thing] is of Christ.”

 

CHRIST IS SUFFICIENT – You don’t have to do anything because He did everything!

1. A day of rest
2. Good works
3. Holiness
4. Love others, and God, and His Word
5. Partake in Baptism and Communion – “I want to get baptized so I don’t go to hell!” BEEP! . . . Wrong answer…

 

The Anointing at Bethany

6 And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. 8 But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.” 10 But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. 11 For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. 12 For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. 13 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

• If everything is a priority then nothing is “Why doesn’t the church do this…?”

 

• Jesus was the priority – much like Mary and Martha: Luke 10:38-41, “As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”…NIV Jesus said Oh, Martha! You worry and fuss about a lot of things.

If you’re only focused on serving and not surrender – spending time in ministry and not time with the Lord – your walk will be severely hindered.

Mary is the worshipper / Martha is the worker – we need both

* “You’re too heavenly minded to be any earthly good,” comes from observing the worshipper.

* “I know your works and your labor, but you have left your first love,” comes from observing the worker.

The Loveless Church Rev. 2:2 “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3 and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.

 

Repentance is change – not good intentions.

 

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. 16 So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

• The slow descent of sin – “What are you willing to give me.” He stole from the Treasury – he missed an opportunity with the costly fragrant oil so he sought opportunity to betray Jesus.

Jesus Celebrates Passover with His Disciples

17 Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 18 And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover. 20 When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. 21 Now as they were eating, He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” 22 And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?” 23 He answered and said, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. 24 The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” 25 Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Rabbi, is it I?” He said to him, “You have said it.”

• Judas vs the others – a deceiver vs. a genuine seeker
• The power of self-examination – “Lord, is it I?” [scriptures below from NASB]

Job 13:23 How many are my iniquities & sins? Make known to me my rebellion & my sin.

Lamentations 3:40 Let us examine and probe our ways, And let us return to the LORD.

2 Corinthians 13:5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you–unless indeed you fail the test?

1 Corinthians 11:27-31 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.

• The hedge of protection is removed – “He shelters … He covers … He guards … He protects.”

 

Jesus Institutes the Lord’s Supper – 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” 30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

• “The New Covenant?” –  “I will put my law in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Jeremiah 31:31, 33).

Who Partakes? Believers who examine themselves: “Lord, is it I?”