Sinful Arrogance and the Humble Savior

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg.

The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew chapters 26 and.

27.

When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, You know that after two days the Passover is coming and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified. Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest whose name was Caiaphas and they plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.

But they said not during the feast lest there be an uproar among the people. Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask, a very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.

And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant saying, Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor. But Jesus aware of this said to them, Why do you trouble the woman?

For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.

Then one of the twelve whose name was Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and said, What will you give me if I deliver him over to you? And they paid him thirty pieces of silver and from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus saying, Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover? 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. And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve, and as they were eating, he said, Truly I say to you, One of you will betray me.

And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, Is it I, Lord? He answered, He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, But woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.

It would have been better for that man if he had not been born. Judas, who would betray him, answered, Is it I, Rabbi? He said to him, You have said so. Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it, broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is my body.

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it with you in my Father's kingdom. And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, You will all fall away because of me this night, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered, and after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.

Peter answered him, Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away. Jesus said to him, Truly I tell you, this very night before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. Peter said to him, Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you.

And the disciples said the same. Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, Sit here, while I go over there and pray. And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.

Then he said to them, My soul is very sorrowful, even to death, remain here and watch with me. And going a little farther, he fell on his face, and he prayed, saying, My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.

Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, So could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, My father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done. And again, he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.

So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand.

The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand. While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs from the chief priests and the elders of the people.

Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, The one I will kiss as the man sees him. And he came to Jesus at once and said, Greetings, Rabbi. And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, Friend, do what you came to do.

And they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.

Then Jesus said to them, Put your sword back in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my father and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?

But how then should the scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so? At that hour, Jesus said to the crowds, Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day, I sat in the temple teaching and you did not seize me.

But all this has taken place that the scripture of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples left him and fled. Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered.

Peter was following him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest. And going inside, he sat with the guards to see the end. Now, the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none.

Though many false witnesses came forward, at last two came forward and said, This man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days. And the high priest stood up and said, Have you no answer to make?

What is this that these men testify against you? But Jesus remained silent and the high priest said to him, I adjure you by the living God. Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to him, You have said so.

But I tell you, from now on, you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his robes and said, He has uttered blasphemy. What further witness do we need?

You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment? They answered, He deserves death. And they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, Prophesy to us, you Christ. Who is it that struck you?

Now, Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard and a servant girl came up to him and said, You also were with Jesus, the Galilean. But he denied it before them all, saying, I don't know what you mean.

And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him and she said to the bystanders, This man was with Jesus of Nazareth. And again, he denied it with an oath. I don't know the man. And after a little while, the bystanders came up and said to Peter, Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.

Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, I don't know the man. And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus before the rooster crows, You will deny me three times.

And he went out and he wept bitterly. When morning came, all the chief priests, the elders of the people, took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate, the governor.

When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.

They said, What is that to us? See to it yourself. And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed and went and hanged himself. But the chief priest taking the pieces of silver said, It is not lawful to put them into the treasury since it is blood money.

So they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore, that field has been called the field of blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what has been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying,.

And they took the 30 pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel. And they gave them for the potter's field as the Lord directed me. Now, Jesus stood before the governor and the governor asked him, Are you the king of the Jews?

He said, You have said so. But when he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate said to him, Do you not hear how many things they testify against you? But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Now, at the feast, the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, Whom do you want me to release for you, Barabbas or Jesus, who is called Christ?

For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. Beside, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.

Now, the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, Which of the two of you want me to release for you? They said, Barabbas.

Pilate said to them, Then what shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ? They all said, Let him be crucified. And he said, Why? What evil has he done? But they shouted all the more, Let him be crucified.

So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, I am innocent of this man's blood. See to it yourself.

And all the people answered, His blood be on us and on our children. Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him, and they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him and twisting together a crown of thorns.

They put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand and kneeling before him. And they mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews. And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.

And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross.

And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means the place of a skull, they offered him wine to drink mixed with gall. But when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots.

Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head, they put the charge against him, which read, This is Jesus, the king of the Jews. Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left.

And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself. If you are the son of God, come down from the cross. So the chief priests and the scribes and the elders mocked him, saying he saved others.

He cannot save himself. He's the king of Israel. Let him come down from the cross and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now if he desires him. For he said, I am the son of God.

And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. Now, from the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, That is my God, my God.

Why have you forsaken me? Some of the bystanders hearing it said, This man is calling Elijah. And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink.

But the other said, Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him. And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and he yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom and the earth shook and the rocks were split.

The tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him keeping watch over Jesus saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, truly, this was the son of God.

There were also many women there looking on from a distance who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, laid it in his own tomb, which he had cut in the rock.

And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there sitting opposite the tomb. The next day, that is the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, Sir, we remember how that imposter said while he was still alive, after three days I will rise.

Therefore, order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people he has risen from the dead and the last fraud will be worse than the first.

Pilate said to them, you have a guard of soldiers. Go and make it as secure as you can. So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. This is the gospel of the Lord in the name of Jesus.

Amen. All right. So, uh, I don't know if you've noticed, I mean, they're keeping tallies now and the numbers now beyond a million of people who have tested positive for COVID -19. Well, um, hate to break it to you, but, uh, there's a bigger issue that we have to deal with here today.

And that is, is that of the seven plus billion people on planet earth, I have it on good authority, the word of God, that every single one of us has tested positive for the leprosy of sin. Sin is described as in terms of disease and rightly so.

And our gospel text, wow, all I got to say is we're going to pay attention to some contrasts here today. And so the idea here is this, if we're going to talk about sin, let's talk about sin as being utter arrogance.

Do you think you can conquer your sin by your sheer will? Do you think that you can ignore God's word? I mean, one of the most arrogant things I have ever seen in all of my life is what Kenneth Copeland has been doing this past week.

Good night. This man thinks he's the fourth member of the Trinity and he's out there decreeing and declaring and commanding the coronavirus to go away. A couple of days ago, he summoned the South wind.

We all know where that wind comes from. And he has commanded that the South wind heat up the world and destroy the coronavirus. Those of you living in the southern hemisphere, my apologies. Winter is coming for you as we are warming up here in the northern hemisphere.

Apparently he's powerless to help you. But all of that is what? Utter arrogance. And so I'm going to use the occasion of the fact that we have a long gospel text and all of you can't go anywhere. I love this.

It's like having a captive audience.

I get to preach these really long sermons.

It's awesome.

Anyway, we're going to use the occasion of our long text to take a look at some things here. And our frame is the arrogance of sin. I mean, consider what Isaiah says in 14 regarding the devil. He says, I will ascend to the highest heights.

I will. I, I, I, I.

Right. He doesn't listen to the word of God. How did Adam and Eve sin? They listen to the voice of the serpent rather than the voice of God. And we're going to note something here to kind of frame this all today.

We will consider our epistle text. Have this mind among yourselves, Paul writes, which is already yours in Christ Jesus, who, although he was by nature God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.

Think of it this way. Seven billion people tested positive for sin. And don't even get me started on the billions who preceded us. Every single one of us tested positive for sin. And Jesus shows up and he doesn't stand at the top of a mighty mountain with crags behind him in the background and thunder and lightning and summon the south wind and go toe to toe with the devil and say, I command, I decree, I declare, I judge.

None of the above. What does Jesus do to cure us of sin? Even though he's God and he spoke the universe into existence, he took the form of a slave. Being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

This is our salvation. This is our salvation. And so with that, let's consider our gospel text. We'll work our way through large swaths of it. It begins in 26 verse one. Jesus had finished all these sayings.

He said to his disciples, you know that after two days, the Passover is coming and the son of man will be delivered up to be crucified. You see, Jesus had just entered into Jerusalem just a couple of days prior to this.

As the prophets say, humble, humble. Behold, your king comes to you humble, riding on a colt full of a donkey. Humble indeed. So when Jesus had finished his sayings, he says that the son of man will be delivered up to be crucified.

And then verse three says, the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the place of the high priest. Now, let me kind of put this in context. We're talking about the religious leaders of the church at the time.

I know they had synagogue, but you kind of get the idea. This would be like Curtis Lines or Matt Harrison or whoever the head of any of the other confessional synods. This would be like them saying, we've got to put an end to this Jesus fellow, and we've got to engage in a murder plot together.

And everybody else on the church council, everybody else in the council of bishops, all the district presidents, all the pastors saying, amen, murder sounds like a good idea here, but the commandment stands.

Thou shall not murder. So the chief priests and the elders, the people gathered in the palace of the high priest. Why do high priests have a palace? That seems weird to me. Whose name was Caiaphas. And they plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and to kill him.

Oh yeah, by the way, you can always tell when you're up to no good because you're doing it secretly. If you're not sinning, then you could do it out in your front yard. But these guys are acting in secret to stealthily murder Jesus.

This is arrogance. This is the delusion of sin. By the way, we've all tested positive. You sit there and go, yeah, those high priests and those religious leaders, they sure are rascally, but I'm okay.

No, you're not. Even Jesus's disciples we see are utterly arrogant. So we then learn that Jesus will be anointed for his burial. And then after that, after Jesus is anointed, that's it, Judas is out. And you're going to watch Judas's behavior in verse 14.

One of the 12 whose name was Judas Iscariot, he went to the chief priest and said, what will you give me if I deliver him over to you? Yeah, I think he's evil too. I think he deserves to be murdered and he's an outlaw, but I'll turn state's evidence if you give me money.

This too is arrogance, because what do we know about Judas? This guy was a thief from the beginning. His greed had him stealing from the poor out of Jesus's own bag. And he's the one who thinks that Jesus is the criminal.

And so he decides to turn state's evidence against Jesus for a mere 30 pieces of silver. And so from that moment, he sought an opportunity to betray Jesus. Now, if you think the disciples are any better, oh, no, they're not.

Oh, listen to this. So on the first day of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus and said, where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover? He told them to go into the city, a certain man and say to him, teacher, my time is at hand.

I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples. And then it was evening as he reclined at the table with the 12 as they were eating. Jesus said, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.

They were sorrowful, saying, well, which one, Lord? And then we learned that it's Judas. And Judas no sooner is ratted out by Jesus, we learn from the other disciples, from the other gospels. He's he hightails it to go meet with his new lords and masters.

Now, Jesus then institutes the Lord's Supper. And after the first Lord's Supper, you would think, having been refreshed and strengthened by that, that holy meal, that these guys would be completely on track with Jesus.

But here it comes. And this is where we all fall like them. So when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives and then Jesus said to them, and I want you to hear his words carefully, you will all fall away because of me this night.

Why? For it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. And he says, but after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. Now, up to this point, how many lies has Jesus told to the disciples?

Zero, not even one. Has Jesus ever said something was going to take place and it didn't take place? Nope. In fact, just a few days earlier from our gospel text from last week, just a few days prior to this, Jesus called Lazarus out of his grave and everyone was still talking about it on Palm Sunday.

That's what our initial gospel text said. So here's what Jesus said. You're going to fall away. And here's the reason why. Are you ready? Because the Bible says so. Does God's word ever lie? No, it doesn't.

But here is the delusion that comes from the fever of sin. Listen to what happens. Peter says, though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away. It's as if Peter is channeling Kenneth Copeland here.

I decree and declare, I will never fall away. I have true piety. I love you, Lord, with all my heart. Jesus just said, the reason you're going to fall away is because the written word of God says so. What's wrong with you?

This is arrogance. This is the pride of sin. And boy, I got to tell you this. If you don't think this is you, you are wrong. This is you. This is me. Just look at the commandments. The commandment says, thou shalt not, and then just fill in the blank.

Thou shalt not what? You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You will not covet. You will have no other gods before God.

You will not take his name in vain. And we know that the commandment stands against us. And it rightly says that God's anger and wrath are flared up against us. And we have earned his wrath and judgment and punishment by transgressing his holy law.

And we say, it's not that bad. And so here's Peter. Jesus has just invoked the holy written word of God and said, the prophecy says you're going to flee this night. And he's comforted his disciples and said, but after I am raised up, I will go before you.

And rather than saying, oh Lord, this is a hard word. Have mercy on us. Peter stands up and says, now, now, Jesus, now, now, now, now you underestimate me. So Jesus pushes back. He says, truly, I tell you this very night before the rooster crows, you'll deny me three times.

And then the next words should cause us to have our blood run cold. Peter said to him, even if I must die with you, I will not deny you. And all the disciples said the same. Let me kind of put it this way.

Y 'all remember going to college, right? You know, you ever pull one of those all-nighters to study for a final? I can neither confirm nor deny that I've done anything of the sort. I mean, but this would be like 90 of your final grade is hanging on this one test.

And these guys just failed the whole thing. Humble yourself. Listen to the word of God. You are not God. This type of arrogance is idolatry. You are not good. You have tested positive for sin. You are disease ridden and you are symptomatic.

None of us are asymptomatic when it comes to this disease. And Peter, in his arrogant sin, not only said, no, Lord, you're wrong. He then convinced the other disciples to go, yeah, Jesus, you don't even know what you're talking about, man.

We're with you to the end, man. But the word of God says that he will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. God knows what he says and nothing he ever says doesn't happen. So then Jesus went with him to a place called Gethsemane and he said to his disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray.

And if they had been listening to Jesus, they know that he is minutes, hours away from being arrested and killed. And they don't even let his words sink in. They do not catch the magnitude of the moment.

Only after when Matthew writes this account, does he recognize how important of a moment this is. And these guys fail it again. So no, we're not talking about the high priest now. We're talking about us.

Even we. So go over there and pray, Jesus said. And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and to be troubled. Note Jesus here again, humbling himself before the father.

He said to them, my soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me. Please be here for me. Right now, this is my hour. So going a little farther, listen to what it says. Jesus fell on his face and he prayed.

Now, have you ever seen artistic depictions of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane? There's some really interesting ones out there. But one of my least favorite is the one that shows Jesus with his elbows on a rock, praying, looking up to heaven with his golden European locks up to heaven and a moonbeam shining on his face.

The text says this, that the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Our God, our great God and Savior, he fell on his face. Jesus is all the way down to the ground, face down.

My father, if it's possible. Let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. He was obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Christ, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, although he is by nature God, he did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped.