“It Must Happen This Way:”
The Arrest of Christ and the Sovereign Purpose of God
Matthew 26:47-56
April 15, 2022 (Good Friday)
Facts reflect the reality of a condition. They are true. They can be believed. But interpretations of facts are variable, inconsistent, at times inaccurate, and invariably not to be trusted.
One husband was complaining to his wife about their children, wondering if they would ever grow up. Saying, “Just a moment,” his wife pulled out a worn box that contained a frayed, yellowing diary — her diary from the year 1945. She read this entry from a particularly bad day: “May 7 — Terrible time in school, flunked the math quiz. Nancy bragged about her new bike. Why can’t I have one? I am bored, bored, BORED. Nothing important ever happens. Oh yes, P.S. Today is V-E Day. The war is over in Europe.”
The facts of her life and the situation in Europe were both true. Her perspective was horribly skewed and inaccurate. What she saw was accurate, but she wasn’t thinking about it in right ways.
On Good Friday, the disciples and the crowd around Jesus had many of the facts correct, but they both misinterpreted those facts and Jesus corrected them both in the same way with the same truth — with the perspective of God. One of the reasons we are sometimes prone to discouragement and despondency is that we are seeing the reality of circumstances correctly, but we are interpreting them wrongly. That happened for both the disciples and the crowds at Jesus’ arrest.
As we come to Good Friday and the communion table, let’s remember the facts of the night according to the perspective of God. Notice this evening three perspectives concerning the arrest of Jesus…
- Jesus’ Arrest from the Perspective of the Disciples: “It Has All Gone Wrong” (vv. 47-53)
- Jesus’ Arrest from the Perspective of the Crowds: “Jesus is Defeated” (vv. 47-53)
- Jesus’ Arrest from His Perspective: It Has All Gone According to Plan (vv. 54-56)
Download the rest of this sermon on Matthew 26:47-56.
The audio will be posted on the GBC website by early next week.
“The Crosses on Good Friday” by 50%ChanceofRain is marked with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Words of Grace 