The Courageous Captive

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0:00We are in a seven-week mini-series about the passion narrative of Christ, the events that happened leading up to and including his crucifixion. And this has been a deeper dive even for me, and it's been helpful for me as I've seen how, and trying to bring to you all, how each little thing that happens, a lot of you may know the story, but each little event that happens to Jesus along the way in this last 24 hours of his life before he dies, each one of those things tells us something about Jesus and teaches us something really important.

0:38There's no greater love than the love that Jesus demonstrated for us. That's what this is all about, these seven weeks. There's no greater love. The first week, Jesus showed us that he is the faithful friend, the one that will do what it takes for his friends, the one that will not fail his friends, the one that in fact makes us, makes enemies his friend. The second week, he showed us that he's the servant leader. He combined two things that we don't ever combine, leadership and service.

1:14He puts them together in one, and he says, this is how it's done, and I'm going to show you, and I'm going to be the servant leader. Week three, last week, we saw that he was the obedient son, praying and agonizing in the garden about what awaited him, but ultimately saying to his father, not my will, but yours be done. I will obey, even though this is hard. I will drink the cup. So, today's subject is courage. Courage. C.S. Lewis wrote this. Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.

1:58Now, this is really insightful. Stop and think about this for a second. Courage is something that shows up or doesn't show up when you face the test of any virtue. That's what he's trying to say. It's not a virtue in and of itself. It's the end point when you face the test of virtue. The bigger the test, the more courage it takes to pass that test. When you're in the checkout line at the grocery store, and you realize the cashier forgot to scan something, it takes courage to say something and say, you forgot to scan this, instead of just walking out with it for free.

2:39But when you're on your way out of the grocery store to the car, and you find on the ground a bank envelope with $1,000 in it, it takes more courage to take that into the customer service desk, and say, somebody dropped this, right? The second one takes more courage.

3:04Now, when your courage fails, and I know that it has because you're human like I'm human, our courage fails. At many times in our lives. It shakes you. Because you realize that you are not the person that you thought that you were.

3:26And that's exactly what happens in this story to Peter. He said he was all in on Jesus. He boasted, my commitment to you is greater, greater than all these other guys. I love you more. And I'll prove it to you. He said he would always be true. But today he faces a test that is too great.

3:55He reaches the end of his own courage. And his commitment to Jesus fails. But then he looks at Jesus. And Jesus looks at him. And he finds where real courage comes from. It doesn't come from inside here. It comes from Christ.

4:19So let's turn to Luke 22 and see what happens. Church, I want to remind you, this is God's word. It is completely holy in every part. It is trustworthy and true. Not only can you build your life on it, but you ought to build your life on it. It is the only stable place to build your life. It's the unfailing word of God. So let's listen to it. And let's attend to it carefully. Starting in verse 47.

4:53While he, Jesus, was still speaking, there came a crowd. The man called Judas, one of the 12, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said to him, Judas, would you betray the son of man with a kiss?

5:14And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, Lord, shall we strike with the sword? And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, no more of this. And he touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests and the officers of the temple and the elders who had come out against him, have you come out against a robber with swords and clubs? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me.

5:51But this is your hour and the power of darkness. Then they seized him, led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house. And Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard, sat down together, Peter sat down among them.

6:17Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, this man also was with him. But he denied it, saying, woman, I do not know him. And a little later, someone else saw him and said, you also are one of them. But Peter said, man, I am not. And after an interval of about an hour, still another insisted, saying, certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean. But Peter said, man, I do not know what you're talking about.

6:59And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times. And he went out and wept bitterly.

7:23Pray with me. Teach us by your word and change us by your word. Lord, we want our hearts, our minds, our will, all to be renewed in the image of Christ. Make us more like our Savior. Do that work as your word goes forth. With power. Because that is exactly what you have ordained it to do. To bring about new life in us. We trust you, Lord. We love you. We want to follow you. Give us strength and grace to do that. In Jesus' name.

8:07Jesus is the courageous captive. So this passage tells us to take the risk. Take the risk to follow the one who gave himself for you. This was a night of cowardice. It was all around Jesus. And it starts with betrayal. After all the plotting and the scheming of the religious authorities, the Pharisees, the scribes, the priests, the treachery came from within. Luke reminds us. This is the second time he's told us one of the 12. One of the 12 betrayed him.

8:56Imagine. If this has never happened to you, imagine. If it has happened to you, remember. Remember how deep the pain is when someone close to you betrays you.

9:11And the sign that Judas uses is a kiss on the cheek. In this culture, a kiss doesn't indicate romance. It's a greeting of respect, of affection. To use this to tell the people who to arrest is egregious.

9:37It's like hugging someone to stab him in the back. Jesus is horrified. Would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss? And the crowd, the soldiers, the religious leaders, they came with weapons, swords, clubs. They were so fearful, they armed themselves against a pacifist.

10:10That's how terrified they were. How cowardly they were. And they did it at night. They did it in secret. They hid under the cover of darkness in the middle of the night to avoid blowback from the multitudes that still were on Jesus' side. Cowardly. And Jesus calls them out for it.

10:36He knows what's up. He calls a spade a spade. He says, you all are cowards. And yet, this is in accord with their character. And he knew that it would happen. This is your hour. And the power of darkness. But the arrest of Jesus, it sets up really the main scene for us today. And it's a scene that if it weren't so familiar to most of you, you would be shocked to read it.

11:10Maybe try to wipe away some of that familiarity and be shocked again to read about the test of Peter's courage. The one who was so dedicated or thought he was. Jesus' closest friend, perhaps.

11:31He chooses self-protection. And he does it in three ways. As we watch him, we see the same things in ourselves. The first thing we see is this. Peter is afraid to come near him.

11:48While Jesus was led away, Peter was following at a distance. And there he stayed. He's in the courtyard. He's sitting by the fire. He's watching what's happening. He's listening, trying to hear what's happening in the house. Straining to hear, but not going any closer. Not taking that risk.

12:12Just hours earlier, the words were still ringing in the air. Jesus, I'm ready to go with you both to prison and to death. Just hours earlier. Now, not so much. Those soldiers look a little bit too intimidating. A little too burly. Those swords that they're carrying look a little bit too sharp. Those religious leaders, they've got a little bit too much power.

12:45Peter's thinking about his safety. Well, what about us? Why do we keep our distance from the Lord? We're not so much worried about swords. We're thinking about and we're avoiding a different kind of impact. I believe that we're afraid to come near to Jesus because we're afraid that he might change our lives. If we come close, what might he say to us?

13:20What might he ask us to do? A few months ago, I went up to an establishment up in Richmond. I was going in to read. I had a book with me. When I walked in, it was a small place, smaller than this room. When I walked in, I saw, to my surprise, there was a comedy show going on. I had been to this place before. There had never been comedy happening. There was somebody up on a little stage doing their routine. I stood near the door. I hung in the back.

13:51I surveyed the scene. It was real small. And I wanted to go up to the counter in order. But in order to do that, I'd have to get a lot closer to the stage. And I really did not want to catch the attention of the comedian.

14:11I didn't want any eye contact. I didn't want to be part of his act. Get a look at this guy. Hey, what's your story? What's with that shirt? Hey, why you got the book there? What is this, a library? I was just imagining what he might say, how he might pull me into his act. So I kind of slunk up to the counter, tried my best to blend in. And that's how we are about Jesus sometimes. We stand on the edges of the crowd, listening, trying not to make eye contact with him.

14:56We're intrigued. We really are, but we're also afraid. If we come any closer, he might look at us. What might he ask us to do? What will he say? Now, friends, you hear him now, don't you?

15:21You hear him calling you. He's saying, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. You hear him saying that to you now, don't you? Oh, it sounds so good, doesn't it? Listen, our burdens are heavy.

15:51We want rest. But he also says, take my yoke upon you and learn from me. And we're afraid of what that might mean. What will my life be like if I'm no longer in control of it?

16:14You just don't know until you try. My burden might be heavy, we say, but at least it's familiar. Here, change is hard, even if it might be a good change.

16:32Are you hanging out in the courtyard, friends? Are you sitting by the fire? Come closer to Jesus. Come all the way to him. Won't you come to him? Won't you come all the way?

16:52This is not horseshoes. Close enough doesn't count. You're either committed to Christ, and you've entrusted yourself to him. You've given your burden to him and taken his yoke upon you, or you haven't. There's no middle ground.

17:16You're either following him, or you're following yourself. Come to him. All you who are heavy laden and burdened, and he will give you rest. Peter's also afraid to admit knowing him. Once people start noticing Peter, his crisis of courage goes from bad to worse. It doesn't take a big, hulking man or a soldier with a weapon to get him to crumble. It's a humble servant girl who makes this man crack. She looks closely at his face in the light of the fire, and she says, this man also was with him.

18:14This isn't an accusation. It's not even a crime. Nobody but Jesus was arrested that night, even though they could have been, but they weren't. And yet this little comment from a servant girl just makes Peter wilt.

18:34Woman, I do not know him. Peter had once said to Jesus, Lord, to who else shall we go? You have the words of life. Now he claims that he doesn't even know him. Don't associate me with him.

18:57I don't know him. Now we don't fear getting arrested like Peter did, but sometimes we act like we don't know him. Sometimes we tell others that we don't know him. Now you might say, well, pastor, I've never done that.

19:18But remember, across history and from tribes and tongues and nations across this whole world, all who know Jesus really and truly have this in common, they admit that they're sinners.

19:35Jesus says, those who are well have no need of a physician. You could rephrase this many ways, couldn't you? I came not to call the competent, but the helpless. I came not to call the wise, but the foolish. I came not to call the strong, but the weak. I came not to call the self-made man, but the one who had fallen and couldn't get up.

20:14To truly say, I know Jesus. I'm with Jesus is to say, I am helpless. I am foolish. I am weak. I am a sinner. You can't separate those two. You can't say, I know Jesus, but I'm also pretty competent. I mean, I don't need him as much as that guy over there or that person. Those two things don't go together. To come to Jesus and say, I'm with Jesus is to say, yes, I am a foolish, weak sinner, helpless on my own. Nothing in me could have saved myself.

20:54And that is exactly our struggle. Because we really, really like to be seen as competent and strong and capable and smart. Don't you? I mean, I do. We all do. When we give into that feeling, that fleshly feeling of, I really want to be known as these things. I want that to be my reputation. When we have that kind of posture, it is the same as saying, I don't know him. I don't need him.

21:36Are you willing to admit that you know him because you need him? Are you willing to admit that you know him because you need him? Desperately so. Every day. Can you say, I am weak and he is strong? I am foolish. I can't see my way forward. But he is wise. I am a lost sinner and he is the righteous one who forgave me.

22:13I hope so. Peter's also afraid to identify as one of them. Peter's first denial doesn't end things. Other people crowd around looking him over, checking him out. They get a sense that he belongs to that group. Those people. The disciples of Jesus.

22:47You also are one of them. Certainly this man also was with him for he too is a Galilean. It's Peter's accent that gives him away. Something about the look of him. The way he talks. People know you're from Galilee. Jesus was from Galilee. Most of his disciples were from Galilee. Wait a second. You're one of them.

23:15Peter denies this too. Man, I am not. And then his final one. I do not know what you're talking about. It's like you're speaking a foreign language. The other gospels say he did this vehemently. Calling down curses on himself. Taking oaths. Swearing. That he was telling the truth. That he was not one of them. He did not want to be associated with them. And here too we see ourselves in Peter. We resist being associated with other Christians. Not because we might get arrested.

23:56We're thinking about the 21st century prison. Obligation. We want to do our own thing. I want my space. I want my time. I like to decide what I give myself to. How I spend my time. And I also want to decide who I spend that time with. Being part of the church just might, you know, it might box me in too much. We want to be with our own people. People we have chosen. Right? The funny thing about church is that you can choose your church, but you can't choose the other people that join that church.

24:39So it's a little bit like family. You largely don't get to pick who you're with. And then when Christians near and far say and do things that are un-Christ-like, we really want to say I'm not with them. I'm not one of them. Then it really comes out, oh, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not one of them.

25:13I remember a story that a pastor friend of mine told when he was a college ministry leader. And he was doing some evangelism on the campus, talking to people who aren't Christians. And then some other Christians came that were saying some nasty things. Rather than say, oh, that's not my people. He admitted to the people that he was evangelizing to, the non-Christians, no, those are my people, but I don't like what they're saying. He held that line.

25:49He did not cut off relationship, cut off connection with them. When I heard that story, it really struck me that he had the courage, even as a young man, and the clarity to say, no, no, we are connected to the same Savior. I'd like to have a conversation with them about what they're saying. But he did not disassociate.

26:15And meanwhile, the world has stereotypes and misunderstandings about Christians, right? All the time. Wearing that label openly, not only does it mean association with wrong things that Christians have done, but also just plain old misunderstandings, stereotypes.

26:38Now, here's a newsflash. Maybe the young people in particular need to hear this. The church is full of sinners. And the church isn't cool. The sooner you can square yourselves against those realities, the better off you will be. The church is full of sinners, and the church is not cool. If you ever join a church thinking you found the one where there are no sinners, you've made a mistake. And if you ever join a church thinking that it's going to up your cool status, you've made a mistake.

27:13The church is full of sinners, and the church isn't cool. But you still need it. It is essential for your spiritual vitality and for other people's too. This is the body of Christ. With Jesus as the head. Listen, an independent Christian is like a severed finger. It can't help the rest of the body, and it won't last very long. An independent Christian is like a severed finger. It cannot help the rest of the body, and it won't last very long. And even worse than an independent Christian is an undercover Christian.

27:59Would my wife feel loved, and would our marriage thrive if I hid our marriage from everyone that knew us? No. She would not feel loved, and our marriage would not thrive.

28:17Joining up with other Christians means taking a risk. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, they were two religious leaders. They were secret disciples of Christ while Jesus walked the earth. But after his death, they finally had the courage to go public. They went to Pilate, retrieved the body of Jesus, anointed the body. They came out as Christians. They revealed themselves. We are followers of his. At great risk. Friends, are you willing to say, I'm one of them?

28:57I'm one of them. One of the people that the world might label intolerant, backwards, unscientific. As one of the people who foolishly spend their time and their money on all this religious stuff. Are you willing to call yourself one of them?

29:25Now, for all of those, like me, who lack courage, here's the good news. Courage is not found within yourself. Don't go searching for it there. Courage comes through faith in Jesus. After all these denials, Peter looks in Jesus' direction, and Jesus turned and looked at him. Now, parents give their children looks all the time. But this was not a look of, how could you? This was not even a look of, I told you so. This was a look of love.

30:11Peter knew. He remembered that Jesus said that he would betray him. But he also remembered Jesus saying, I've prayed for you, Peter, that your faith may not fail.

30:28And it didn't fail. Peter responds with tears, bitter tears. But a heart of deep remorse and repentance. He was convicted of his sin. And he came to his Savior. He saw how cowardly he actually was. But he saw his Savior, the courageous one. Jesus remained in the garden, vulnerable, defenseless, knowing that an armed crowd was coming to arrest him. He stayed. He quelled the violence of the disciples. When they were ready to fight back, he said, no more of this.

31:16He was submitting peacefully to armed arrest, even though he had done nothing wrong. And he showed mercy. It was Peter, the other Gospels tell us, who swung the sword, who cut off the ear of the high priest's servant. But Jesus healed the man. Think of that. Though he was in the group of enemies who came to arrest him, Jesus healed him. He touched his ear and he healed him. This is just a preview because in just a few hours, the same mercy towards his enemies would lead him from the cross to say, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

32:07He came to die for his enemies. Of course he would heal the ear of one. He came to die for people who spit on him and traded him for a criminal and then mocked him as he hung there. He came to die in the place of sinners to pay for their sins. This is what Peter would see. This is how Peter was drawn deeper into faith. He didn't find it from within. He didn't find some deep reservoir of courage. He found it in Jesus, who occupied his heart. Peter grew in his faith and his reliance upon the courageous one.

32:46He was reconciled to Jesus after the resurrection. And years later, he would write a letter to Christians that shows just how much Jesus had changed him. We heard this earlier. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God, chosen and precious, you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous life.

33:29Jesus came towards us when we were hanging out far away from him, and he called us out of darkness and into his light. We were keeping our distance, and he came out to get us. Through faith in him, we've come to know him, and together we are joined to him and joined to one another. We've become one of them, a spiritual house, a people for himself. Once you were not a people, but now you are a people. Through faith in Jesus, your Savior. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

34:17Through the courageous captive who gave himself for you and for me.