THE KINGDOM OF LOVE AND LIGHT (MATTHEW 26:55-56)
Thomas Aquinas, the 13th century Italian thinker, was one of the greatest philosophers, writers and theologians of the church, if not the greatest. In his time Christians were long past being hated and persecuted and the Roman Catholic Church, in particular, had amassed power and riches beyond belief.
Aquinas told that while he was walking amid the splendors of Rome, a friend said to him, “We Christians certainly no longer have to say to the world, “Silver and gold have we none” – alluding to Peter’s famous statement upon performing his first miracle in healing a cripple: “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (Acts 3:6)
To this Aquinas replied: “But neither can we say to the lame man, ‘In the name of Jesus of Nazareth rise up and walk.’” (The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard)
The disciples followed Jesus to Jerusalem, expecting to crown Him as King of the Jews, waiting for Him to set up His kingdom and sitting on thrones and judging the twelve tribes (Lk 22:30), but things went terribly wrong that night. Instead, Jesus was arrested without any resistance or struggle. This episode remains the apostles’ greatest heartbreak.
What kind of kingdom did Jesus promise His disciples? What kind of kingdom would truly fulfill God’s plan’s salvation, reconciliation and transformation of man?
God’s Kingdom is Peaceable, Not Provoked
47 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” 49 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. 50 Jesus replied, “Friend, do what you came for.” Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. (Matt 26:47-50)
Abraham Lincoln was known as a gentleman even to his fiercest critics.
One evening as the president was strolling in silence with one of his old and intimate friends from Illinois, anxious and depressed over the Civil War and the overpowering responsibility, a man suddenly stepped in front of him, presented him a paper and said, “Mr. Lincoln, this is the only opportunity I have had to speak to you. Please consider my case. I…” but Lincoln interrupted him impatiently, “My man, don’t annoy me this way. I have too much to think of. You must let me alone.”
Lincoln then passed on with his companion, leaving the applicant standing dejectedly on the sidewalk. The two friends walked a short distance without speaking, when suddenly Lincoln stopped and said: “John, I treated that man shamefully. I must go back and see him.” At once he returned and walked up to the petitioner, who had remained in his despondent attitude.
“My friend,” said Lincoln, “I was rude to you just now; I ask your pardon. I have great deal to worry and trouble me at this time, but I had no right to treat you so uncivilly. Take this card, and come to my office in the morning, and I will do what I can for you. Good night.” (Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln” Anthony Gross, 1994)
Jesus demonstrated a patient and tolerant attitude facing the conspiracy and nonsense at hand. The three groups working in sync that night were the large crowd, Jewish authorities and Judas (vv 47, 49). He saw right through their act of hypocrisy, their show of force and abuse of power, and yet he was not provoked, outraged or incensed, even though He had a right to be.
The “large crowd” that showed up to arrest Jesus really made its presence felt. A small or normal “crowd” was more than enough to arrest the forefather of pacifism. Other similar occasions in the Gospels for the Greek phrase “large crowd” refer to the “large crowd” that turned to Jesus following John the Baptist’s arrest (Matt 14:14), a large crowd that argued with the teachers of the law (Mark 9:14), a large crowd of tax collectors and guests that Levi invited to his house to meet Jesus (Luke 5:29) and the “great crowd” Jesus fed (John 6:2, 5).
Matthew, Mark and Luke are in agreement the large crowd was armed with swords and clubs (Matt 26:47, Mark 14:43, Luke 22:52). The word “clubs” is translated elsewhere as “stocks” (Acts 16:24), “wood” (1 Cor 3:12, Rev 18:12) and even “tree” (Luke 23:31, Acts 5:29, Acts 10:39). A contingent of men with the equivalent of long knives and wooden bats in their hands present that night was a comedy, a circus and a farce.
Actually, the pretentious kiss or love that Judas showed (v 48) did not give Jesus away. “Kiss” is simply the Greek word “phileo” (Phila-delphia), meaning “love.” In John’s narrative, there is no kiss. Instead, Jesus twice asked the men and officials: “Who is it you want?” and answered it himself: “I am he.” (John 18:4-8) In truth, Jesus surrendered without a fight, a commotion or a murmur. The religious authorities wasted their money on Judas. The large crowd who were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons in John’s gospel were making a big fuss out of nothing, killing a chicken with a cattle cleaver, as the Chinese say. Jesus was more than willing to give himself away: “Friend, do what you came for.” (v 50) Note that Jesus even addressed his betrayer as “friend,” not foe.
Matthew, Mark and John make no indication that Jewish authorities were present at his arrest, but Luke records the presence of the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard and the elders (Lk 22:52). The truth is the religious leaders had no authority and jurisdiction to arrest and detain Jesus; the Roman authorities had. KJV had the correct translation in John’s gospel, recording that “men/band,” and not “soldiers” were sent to arrest Jesus. There were no soldiers present; it was a religious set-up and a self-conceived plan without the knowledge of the higher-ups.
Through all this Jesus was calm, cooperative and considerate.
God’s Kingdom is Powerful, Not Political
51 With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 52 “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” (Matt 26:51-54)
A truck driver was sitting in a restaurant minding his own business when a motorcycle gang came in and began to harass the trucker. One hoodlum, in particular, got right up in his face and said, “You think you’re a big man when you’re in that 18 wheeler. But you get out of that truck and you’re nothing but a wimp.” The trucker just ignored him and kept on eating.
Finally after some more verbal abuse that the trucker disregarded the gang member took his orange juice and poured it all over his food and said, “How do you like that?” The trucker just pushed himself back from the table, went over to the cash register, paid and walked out.
The hood looked at the waitress and said, “He’s nothing. Once he gets out of that truck, he’s not much of a man, is he?” And the waitress who was looking out the window said, “No, and he’s not much of a driver either. He just ran over six motorcycles on the way out of here!’
The word “seized” (v 50) is the use of strength and force to hold fast to or lay hand on someone or something. The seizure was unnecessary because Jesus had never hidden from them or attempted to escape capture. Jesus’ power was in his openness, helpfulness, selflessness, gentleness and kindness.
John’s gospels tells us that it was Simon who cut off the high priest servant’s ear (John 18:10). He must have felt pressured to act as the leader of the apostles since Jesus the founder did not behave like one. Simon still thought the sword and an uprising would help bring in the kingdom. It was strange to know that Peter had a sword in his possession. You would expect the other Simon - the guerilla and activist Simon the Zealot (Matt 10:4, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15), to bear a sword, but not the fisherman Simon. Luke’s gospel reveals that the disciples had two swords with them (Luke 22:38); however, we are not told one of them ended in Peter’s hands. Jesus reprimanded Simon Peter for resorting to violence, aggression and bloodshed to solve problems (v 53).
The Roman army has its chain of command and organization in battle. Wikipedia notes that ordinary soldiers in the Roman army were called legionaries. A group of 8 soldiers was a “contubernium.” A centurion is in charge of 100 men, reduced to 80 later in history. Next “cohorts” were made up of 6 centuries (480-600 men). The largest group in the Roman Army was the Legion, which has nine cohorts or 4,000 to 6,000 men.
BBC claims: “There were 59 centuries (4720-5,900 soldiers) in a legion and about 30 legions in the Roman army.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/romans/army.shtml
Jesus had on hand more than twelve legions of angels (plural), not mere men, at his disposal and in his service. Do the math = about 56,640-70,800. And an angel of the Lord could handily kill seventy thousand of the people (2 Sam 24:15).
However, Jesus’ power and coming was meant to save and heal, not to destroy or punish. Jesus immediately touched the man’s ear and healed him (Luke 22:51), so that no one would be implicated, charged or sentenced with Him. The reason Jesus stepped in was to fulfill the words of Scripture: “I have not lost one of those you gave me” (John 18:9). Besides fulfilling Scripture, Jesus did so because the moral, psychological and emotional burden of severing a person’s body part would be too hard for Peter or any disciple to bear. The issue was never complicated by or dependent on the large crowd and the pressure tactics. Jesus commanded Peter in John 18:11: “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”
God’s Kingdom is Plain, Not Popular
55 At that time Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. 56 But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled. (Matt 26:55-56)
One of the former coaches of the Los Angeles Kings hockey team was a player-turned-coach by the name of Tom Webster, who was more than impressive during his three years on the job, even winning the division at one time, but the playoffs were a different matter. The team was dispatched easily by opponents.
The Kings promptly fired him after losing in the playoffs. When 40-year old Webster learned that he was fired, he had some advice the next day for his unknown successor. He said, “Get what you can while you’re still in demand. Because once you’re here, you’re not so bright and you’re not so good. When I first go the job, even though I had limited experience, I got a three-year contract. Then even though we won our division last year, I was lucky to get a one-year extension.”
Football coach Bum Phillips once said, “There are only two kinds of coaches – them that’s been fired and them that’s about to be fired.”
Richard Nixon was right when he said, “When you win, you hear from everyone; when you lose you hear from your friends.”
Jesus led a revolution, not a rebellion, a revolt, a riot or even a robbery. The phrase “leading a rebellion” (v 55) is translated as “robber” in seven instances (Matt 21:13, 27:38, Mark 11:17, 15:27, Luke 10:30, 19:46, John 10:1) and “bandit” once (2 Cor 11:26). Robbers operate in secret, hide from view and disguise their identity. Jesus has nothing to hide, fear or apologize for.
Actually, He was never a revolutionary, a robber or a bandit. He was more like an outcast, a loner, an independent, a man of sorrows, according to Isaiah 53:3. Matthew and Mark both record that all the disciples deserted him and fled (Matt 26:56, Mark 14:50).
In the end, Jesus was not a popular leader, not what the disciples believed, thought or wanted. He was not flexible or ambitious, He did not want to have altercation or cause harm, and He had no weapon or guards. They wanted him to be the Iron John and the alpha male that He was not, not the Suffering Messiah and the Good Shepherd He was. His disciples realized it was time to bail out, split up and jump ship. There was no time to lose, nothing to salvage and no one to lead. Ironically and shockingly, the Lord chose for apostles a group of men who feared for their lives, who put self over Him and others, who only wanted to identify with Him in good times but not in bad times or lean times. Jesus was alone and abandoned but not aggrieved in His death.
Ironically, the disciples who left their nets, boat and father to follow Him (Matt 4:20, 4:22) came to a full circle. They “deserted” Him without hesitation – the same word for “left.” The parallel passage of Mark also emphasizes the words
“all,” “deserted” and “fled.” (Mark 14:50) They ran for their lives without stopping for breath or taking a break. None was an exception, not even Jesus’ closest and most trusted group members, Peter, James and John. Peter’s passionate “to prison and death” (Luke 22:33) oath uttered less than 24 hours ago was a distant memory.
Conclusion: Are you a crowd pleaser or a flaky Christian? Do you follow Him when things are smooth and flee Him when it is rocky? Are you a dime a dozen or a tried by fire believer? What kind of kingdom did Jesus usher in? The kingdom of our Lord and God is not a matter of talk but of power (1 Cor 4:20), not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17), for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God
(1 Cor 15:50). Are you going to usher in or miss out on the second coming of the King of Glory (Ps 24:10), the Kings of Ages (Rev 15:3) and the King of Kings and Lord of Lord (Rev 19:16)?
Victor Yap
Other sermons in the series and other sermon series:
www.epreaching.blogspot.com
