The Players in the Plot to Kill Jesus

Satan entered into Judas, who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray them, betray him to them. And they were glad and agreed to give him money. And he consented and began seeking a good opportunity to betray him to them, apart from the multitude. Now, if you just read that, you have no understanding of the sovereignty of God, you would begin to think that Satan was in complete control of everything that would take place when it came to the betrayal and the crucifixion of Christ.

You would say that simply because having read the Scriptures, you would know that Jesus said to the religious establishment, you are of your father the devil. So he told the religious leaders that they were of their father the devil. He also told us that Judas was a devil. So you begin to think that the devil was in charge. He had a plan and he was accomplishing his plan. And if you read John's epistle in 1st John 5 verse number 19, you would know that he tells us that the whole world lies under the power, the influence of the evil one, which is Satan.

So you would come to an understanding to some degree that everything that takes place when it comes to the death of the Messiah, having read Luke 22, that Satan somehow was in charge of Judas, was in charge of the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the chief priests, the religious establishment. That somehow Satan was behind everything. But if you come to that conclusion, you have a very weak view of God. Because the Lord God, the sovereign God, the sovereign Lord of the universe, was in complete control of everything.

We tried to help you understand last week, everything concerning the Old Testament was all a prologue to the cross. It was all preparation for the cross. After the cross, in the New Testament, everything is about the proclamation of that cross. In the book of Acts, you have the explanation of the cross. In the epistles, you have the application of the cross. And in the book of Revelation, you have the celebration of the cross. Because the Lamb will be celebrated throughout all eternity. In the Gospels, you have the prediction concerning the cross.

And we took you to some of those predictions last week. I want to take you back to one to show you something, to show you exactly what the Lord was telling his men. That they might understand exactly what is happening. We've already covered it in Luke's Gospel. So turn back with me, if you would, to to the Gospel of Mark. The Gospel of Mark. As you recall, Jesus and his men were in a place in Israel called Caesarea Philippi. Which is in the northern section of the land of Israel. And he had a conversation with his men.

And you know the conversation we've gone over at a myriad of times over the years. Who do men say that I am? Well, some say you're Elijah. Some say you're Jeremiah. Some say you're one of the prophets. He wants to know what is the popular opinion of who I am. And then he says, but who do you say that I am? Because he wants to know what their personal opinion is. It makes no difference what the popular opinion is of Christ. It's what your personal opinion is of Christ. So he says, who do you say that I am?

Peter, speaking for the twelve, says, thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And Jesus commends him for that. He commends him by saying, all flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, Simon Barjona. But my Father who is in heaven has revealed this to you. Telling us that only if God reveals to you the identity the Messiah, you'll never know who he is. God must reveal him to you. He blessed him. He said, upon this rock I will build my church. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

And it was all that great confession that Peter made. You are the Christ. You're the Messiah. You are the Son of the Living God. And then Jesus says something rather absurd in our minds.

He says, shh, you can't tell anybody what you just said. You can't say that. What do you mean we can't say that? Because you see, they had an idea, Israel did, that their Messiah would be this political revolutionist. That he would come on the scene, he would override Rome, he would lead his people to conquer Rome, and they they had a misconstrued idea of the character and nature of the Messiah. In Mark's Gospel, it says in verse number 30, Mark chapter 8, I'm sorry, I thought I told you that one, Mark chapter 8, verse number 30, he warned them to tell no one about him.

He warned them, don't tell him what you just said, Peter. Now you got to read the next verse, verse 31. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again, verse 32. And he was stating the matter plainly. He was stating the matter openly. He was saying, okay, this is what I want you to openly declare. Don't openly declare that I am the Son of God. Don't openly declare that I am the Messiah of Israel.

But instead, openly declare this, that the Son of Man must suffer. He must die. He must rise again. This is what you tell everybody. And this is when Peter comes back and rebukes the Lord saying, Lord, you got it all wrong. That's not how it works. You're the Messiah. And what did Christ say to Peter? Get thee behind me, Satan, because you don't have in mind the purposes of God. You have in mind your purposes. You know what? Jesus made a very remarkable statement. All of those statements are remarkable, but think of it this way.

Peter only thought about what he wanted everybody to see about the Messiah. He only thought about himself. He didn't think about the Lord God of Israel. You see, what Jesus did in Luke's gospel, look at Luke's gospel, Luke chapter 18.

Luke chapter 18, from where we are on Luke 22, just go back a couple of chapters. Luke 18, verse 31, he took the 12 aside and said to them, behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. And he goes on and talk about the brutality of the cross. Did you get what he says? All things that have been written concerning the Messiah must be accomplished. All things written about the Son of Man. Now, you know that that's a title that Christ spoke of himself many times in the gospels to show everybody that he is the fulfillment of Daniel chapter 7, when Daniel saw the vision of the Son of Man coming in clouds of great glory.

And what Jesus does is he ties two Old Testament figures together, Daniel 7 and Isaiah chapter 3. He brings them both together in that one statement and says that everything that has been written about the Son of Man, that means everything the prophets said, that's because everything in the Old Testament is what? Preparation for the cross. When you read the Old Testament, if you missed that, you've missed what God wants you to see in the Old Testament. It's all in preparation for the coming Messiah who will die on Calvary's cross.

And so Jesus ties both of those two Old Testament figures, the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, who is the lamb that would be slain before the foundation of the world and the Son of Man of Daniel chapter 7 to show that the Son of Man is that lamb that will be slain in fulfillment of what all the prophets in the Old Testament said. That is precise. The Lord is so magnificent in how he puts everything together for us to show us exactly what it is we need to learn, what it is we need to understand about who Jesus Christ is.

Now, in John's gospel, John doesn't give us those particulars about the predictions of the cross, except in the framework of what he calls the hour. I made reference of this to you last week, so turn with me to John chapter 2.

I want to show you those seven references in the gospel of John that Jesus gives us, seven, the number of completion, right? Because everything was about the coming redemptive work of the Messiah about that particular hour. It happens in John's gospel, the second chapter, when it says these words.

Now listen carefully. And on the third day there was a wedding. Now, if you read that, many communicators will extrapolate about what the third day means.

And they come up with all these ideas that on the third day there is a wedding in Cana. Remember, John writes after the resurrection, the crucifixion, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord. So he's thinking back. And as he thinks back, he's thinking about the fact that this is the first time in the ministry of Jesus that Jesus mentions the hour.

And if you're going to mention the hour, you got to mention the celebration of the hour. Because when Jesus talked about his death, he always proclaimed the victory of the cross, right? And so when John thinks back about the hour of his crucifixion, he ties it together with the third day, because on the third day, he rises again from the dead.

It's not that hard to figure out what John is doing. And so he says, it was on the third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.

And Jesus also was invited and his disciples to the wedding. And when the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine. And Jesus said to her, woman, what do I have to do with you? My hour has not yet come. Now, this is the first miracle that Jesus performs in the land of Cana.

You got to remember that it was not the living of his life that saves you. It is the giving of his life that saves you. None of his miracles saved anybody spiritually. All right. He made marvelous statements. He preached the most incredible sermons ever, but none of that is the reason for his coming. His coming was to die. You need to understand that he came to die. He came to remove iniquity. He came to ravage the enemy. He came to radiate his father's glory. He came here in order to restore your dignity and mine, that he might one day return in all of his glory.

You must understand that. So you come to grips with the reality, the centrality, the glory of the cross, because that is everything to the believer in Jesus. I don't think you can spend too much time talking about the cross. Remember years ago, we did a series called consider the cross. It was, I think, 12 weeks long, maybe longer than that, but it's just all about the cross of Christ because we don't spend time contemplating, considering everything about the cross. There is so much about the cross.

You're going to see it all unfold for you in the next chapter or two with the conversion of the criminal at the cross, right? Or all the conversions around the cross, the inscription above the cross, the devastation that takes place at the cross, the repercussions of the cross. Everything is about the cross. Everything is. So you can't spend too much time talking about the cross because our hope is built on the coming of the Messiah to die for your sins and mine, to rise again, to proclaim victory over sin, death, and Satan.

And so here we are looking at the details, the precision of every prediction centered around the cross, the precision of the preparation for the cross. Everything is precise. So at this wedding in Cana in John chapter two, Jesus says, woman, my hour has not yet come.

Now he does the miracle, but he wants you to know that there's an hour coming from there. You go over to John chapter seven, John chapter seven. And in John chapter seven, you have these words, John chapter seven, verse number 30. They were seeking therefore to seize him and no man laid his hand on him because his hour had not yet come. What hour? The hour of the cross. The second mention of the hour in John's gospel.

The hour had not yet come. They sought to lay hands on him. Remember in John chapter five, it turned the tide against the Messiah. When he healed the lame man on the Sabbath, they were seeking for ways to kill him, but his hour had not yet come. Then you go over to John chapter eight, John chapter eight in verse number 20, John chapter eight, verse number 20. These words he spoke in the treasury as he taught in the temple and no one seized him because his hour had not yet come. No one seized him as he was teaching because his hour had not yet come.

They wanted him dead, but no one seized him because it wasn't his hour. Remember Christ said in John 10, no one takes my life from me. I lay it down on my own initiative. And then you go over to John chapter 20 in verse number 20, John 12, verse number 20. I'm sorry, John 12, verse number 20. In verse number 23, he says, the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified. And then down in verse number 27, now my soul has become troubled. And what shall I say? Father saved me from this hour, but for this purpose, I came to this hour.

Father glorify your name. Now you come to John chapter 13, verse number one. Now, before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, that is the sixth mention of his hour. And then in John 17, the seventh mention, father, the hour has come glorify thy son that the son may be glorified in thee. That's John 17, verse number one.

So there you have the seven hours mentioned by Christ concerning the hour of his crucifixion, the hour of his death. Why do we tell you all that? Well, if you're in John 22, which I hopefully you are back there in John 22, verse number 53, these words are spoken. Christ is in the garden of Gethsemane while I was with you daily in the temple. You did not lay hands on me, but this hour and the power of darkness are yours. Okay. So now Jesus gives his hour to them. Okay. Luke 22 verse number 53. Is that right?

Did I not say that? Did I say John? Wow. You know, at least you're paying attention. At least you're awake. Okay. I'm sorry. I meant Luke 22. There's not 22 chapters in John's gospel. It's only 21. Okay. Luke 22, verse number 53. So now he says that now the hour of darkness is yours. I mean, the hour is now yours. You're going to call it the hour of darkness. The power of darkness is yours. I'm giving it to you. Do your thing. See, because he's all in complete control. Here's what you need to know about the precision of the cross as it pertains to all the players in the plot to kill the Messiah.

It all begins with the sovereign Lord of the universe. Everything does. Everything begins with the sovereign Lord of the universe. That's why he was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Everything runs on a precise scale, precise time, because God is in complete control of everything. Everything. And so he wants you to understand that. He wants you to see that. And so you need to understand the sovereign Lord of the universe. And when you come to Luke 22, verse number one, the drama begins to unfold.

It begins to unfold. It is Wednesday of Passion Week. Matthew 26 says he will die in two days. That's at Passover on Friday. He will die when all the Passover lambs are being slain. He's going to die at the right time at the right place. Listen, he was born at the right time, right? Galatians four, verse four, in the fullness of time, God sent forth a son born of a woman born under the law in the fullness of time is a phrase that depicts the exact period of time. Okay? In the fullness of time, God sent forth a son born of a woman born under the law.

So he was born at the right time. He was born in the right place. Bethlehem, Micah four, eight, Micah five, verse number two, right?

And he died at the right place, Mount Moriah, Genesis chapter 22. Everything was running on schedule. Everything was as he had determined it to happen because he is in complete charge of everything. The sovereign Lord is in charge. Then you have the superficial leaders of Israel. You have the sovereign Lord. You have the superficial leaders of Israel. It says this in verse number two, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put him to death for they were afraid of the people in Matthew's account and Matthew 26.

It says this in verse number three, then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest named Caiaphas, and they plotted together to seize him by stealth and kill him.

But they were saying not during the festival, lest a riot occur among the people. Can't do it during Passover. Can't do it during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Can't do it now.

Too many people. It'll cause a riot. But that was God's plan, not theirs. See? Because God is in complete control, he's going to die on Passover at the precise time determined by the Lord God of Israel. Now remember what Caiaphas said. Go with me in John chapter 12, I'm sorry, John chapter 11, verse number 47. It says this, therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council and were saying, what are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, all men will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.

They were deathly afraid of what Rome would do. If Jesus begins to continue as he is, there will be an uprising. If there's an uprising, they will overthrow us. If they overthrow us, Rome gets upset. We're going to lose everything. That cannot happen. So verse 49, but a certain one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year said to them, you know, nothing at all. You guys have no idea what you're talking about. He says this, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people and that the whole nation should not perish.

That is a word of prophecy. Caiaphas did not know that he says, listen, we're not going to let the whole nation perish because of one man. Oh, well, no, we're going to kill him. We're gonna get rid of him. And look what it says next. Verse 51. Now this, he did not say on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation and not for the nation only, but that he might also gather together into one, the children of God who are scattered abroad.

So from that day on, they planned together to kill him, but they couldn't do it because of the crowds. They overestimated the fickleness of the crowd. They thought the crowd would turn against them, but they needed to catch him by stealth. How were they going to do that? Well, it just so happens by coincidence that Judas shows up in Caiaphas's courtyard. Now I'm speaking facetiously because there are no coincidences. All right. Everything is by divine providence. So if you go back with me, if you would, to Matthew's gospel, Matthew chapter 26, it says, then one of the 12 named Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and said, what are you willing to give me to deliver him up to you?

And they weighed out to him 30 pieces of silver. And from then on, he began looking for a good opportunity to betray him. So the chief priests and scribes are gathered together. The Sadducees are there and they're gathering together on a plot to kill Jesus. And Judas shows up in Caiaphas's house. Now I've been to the house of Caiaphas. It's really interesting to note that on the way up from the Kidron Valley, there are steps that are over 2000 years old that you can walk on that leads you from the Kidron that come from the Mount of Olives to the house of Caiaphas.

So Judas would leave where he was with the disciples in the upper room. He would make his way to the house of Caiaphas, but he's already put into their mind how it is this could all take place. Now, why would Judas do that? Why would Judas want to betray the Messiah? Why would Judas who spent three years in the presence of the Lord of the universe want to betray him? Why would Judas do that? Let me tell you something about Judas.

The Bible says in Luke's gospel, Luke 22, and Satan entered into Judas, who was called Iscariot belonging to the number of the and he went away.

In the King James version, it says, and he went his way. Judas always went his way. The first way he went was the way of glory, way back in Mark's gospel, Mark chapter three, verse number 13.

And he, Jesus went up to the mountain and summoned those whom he himself wanted. And they came to him and he appointed 12, that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to cast out demons. Verse 19, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him was one of those 12. Judas was from Kerioth, which is in Southern Judea. He was the only one of the 12, not from the Galilee. So he was rather anonymous when it comes to, or by himself, there was a complete anonymity about Judas.

No one knew who he was or where he's from or what he did, but Judas was in the way of glory. It's all about his glory. Here's his Messiah, man. If he truly is the Messiah, he truly is going to overthrow Rome. He's really going to lead a nation to glory. I want to be a part of the glory. I want to be a part of all that's going to happen. And so as he listens at the feet of Jesus, as he hears Jesus speaks, he is overwhelmed by this man, his ability to speak, his ability to perform miracles. He wants to be a part of the 12.

And lo and behold, Jesus chooses him to be one of his 12. And he will go and he will preach the gospel. He will go and he will cast out demons. He will do everything that the other 11 did, but he never was a part of the regenerate 11. Never was, but he was engaged in doing everything else they did because his way was the way of glory. It was all about him. It was all about what he wanted. And what did he want? He wanted to be glorified. He wanted to be honored. He wanted to be seen. He wanted to be a somebody.

To be a part of Jesus was to be a somebody because the crowds that followed Jesus were enormous. He comes into the city to the cry of Hosanna and the crowds are out of their minds with this one called Jesus, the Messiah. Well, all throughout his ministry, Judas was there watching, learning, listening, a part of everything the other 11 were doing because of his way, the way of glory. But his way was also the way of greed, the way of greed. Remember in John, I believe it is John chapter 12, verse number four, pick up in verse number one, Jesus therefore six days before the Passover came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

So he made him a supper there and Martha was serving, but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him. Mary therefore took a pound of very costly perfume of pure Nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples who was intending to betray him said, why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii and given to poor people? Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief.

And as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put in to it. His way was the way of glory. His way was the way of greed, the way of avarice. Everything was about what can I get? He was the keeper of the money. He was the most trusted of the 12. So he would be the protector of the money. But John tells us that there were times that the money was gone. He pilfered the fund. Maybe he thought in his own mind, maybe he could rationalize it. You know, I'm doing all this work. I'm protecting their money.

I should be compensated. They should give me something for this. I mean, after all, I'm doing all the work. I'm like the bank. I'm the walking bank for the 12 disciples. I'm going to draw interest here. I'm going to take some of this money for myself. His way was always the way of greed. So when it came time to sell the Messiah for 30 pieces of silver, okay, the price you would sell a slave for, he took it. Because somehow he must be compensated. It was four months wages for a slave. And somehow I must be compensated for these years that I have wasted with the Messiah.

He figures everything's going south. Nothing's happening as he thought it was going to happen. Nothing was going as he thought it would go. After Monday, he thought for sure that Jesus would do something. He did nothing. He did nothing. It was getting worse, not getting better. Everybody wanted him dead. That is the religious establishment. So his way was the way of glory. His way was the way of greed. His way was the way of guilt. Because when it was all said and done, he would go out, he would hang himself.

Was he remorseful? Oh yeah, he was remorseful. Was he repentant? No, never repented. Very remorseful because of the way of guilt. Remember in John's account of the Lord's table, you have John to the right of Jesus. You have Judas to the left of Jesus. Judas is in a place of honor. Jesus must have come to Judas before that night and said, I want you to sit to my left, Judas. You're in the place of honor. This is why his way is the way of guilt. If you go back to John chapter 13, what do you have? You have these words.

Now, therefore the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour has come, that he might depart out of this world to the father, loved his own who were in the world. He loved them to the end. That includes Judas. He loved them to the end. It says these words in verse 21 of John 13, when Jesus had said this, he became troubled in spirit and testified and said, truly, truly, I say to you that one of you will betray me. The disciples began looking at one another at a loss to know of which one he was speaking.

It's not that they looked at one another and said, well, we know who that is. That's going to be Judas. They had no idea. Christ said, one of you is going to betray me. They had no idea who it was. There was reclining on Jesus' breast, one of his disciples whom Jesus loved, that's John. Simon Peter, therefore, gestured to him and said to him, tell us who it is of whom he is speaking. Tell us, John, who are you talking about? And it says, verse 25, he leaned back, thus on Jesus' breast, said to him, Lord, who is it?

Jesus, therefore, answered that that is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him. Now listen, not only was Judas in the place of honor, that when you dip the morsel, you would give it to the most honorable one at the table. He dips the morsel, he gives it to Judas. Okay, so read on. So when he had dipped the morsel, he took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. And after the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Satan had influenced him earlier. Satan had put it into his mind, this is what you need to do.

This is how you can get it accomplished. Now at the Passover, at the most holy time, Satan enters into Judas. The text says these words, and after the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Jesus, therefore, said to him, what you do, do quickly. Now, no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose he had said this to him. For some were supposing because Judas had the money box that Jesus was saying to him, buy the things we have need of for the feast, or else that he should give something to the poor.

And so after receiving, after receiving the morsel, he went out immediately and it was night. And then it says, when therefore he had gone out, Jesus said, now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. Now the Son of Man is glorified. Now the Son of Man is glorified because the hour is present. Everything is on a divine timetable. You ask, how did they not know that Judas was the betrayer? Oh, you got to wait till we get to the Lord's last supper to explain the details on how to know.

They didn't know that when Jesus said, the one whom I give the morsel to after dipping it, that is the one who's going to betray me. How did they not know that? Well, I think it's in four weeks, we're going to give that to you. Do you understand that? But it's important to realize that here was Judas. Satan had entered into his mind, influenced him, and that entered his heart and life. And he was doing what had been designed. Now, Judas is fully culpable in everything that happens. Everything. Totally responsible.

Because God in his sovereignty would use the treachery of Judas to accomplish his purposes. It speaks of the mastermind of the Messiah. He has everything in control. And so you have the sovereign Lord, you have the superficial leaders who want him dead, and then you have the son of perdition, Judas. He's a part of the plot. He's a part of the entire process. You say, okay, I get that. But why would Satan enter Judas so that he would betray Jesus so that there'd be a crucifixion? When Satan knows that if Jesus dies on the cross, he will pay the penalty for man's sin.

So why would Satan do that? You've asked that question? You're probably sitting there saying, never thought of that question before until you posed it to me. Why would Satan do that? Does Satan want Jesus dead? Answer? Yes, he does. He doesn't want him to die as a substitute on Calvary's cross on Mount Moriah in fulfillment of prophecy. Doesn't want that to happen, but he does want Jesus dead. That's why Herod was influenced to kill all the children two years and under. This is all about the protection of the cross.

Talked about last week. That's why in Matthew chapter four, the temptation, he tempted Christ to throw himself off of the pinnacle of the tower and his angels will have charge over you. He quoted scripture to say, look, if you jump off this thing, the angels who have charge over you will protect you. Go ahead. He wanted him to bypass the cross. He wanted him to die early. He wanted to die in a different way than being a substitute on Calvary's cross. That's why, that's why he tried to get Peter to tempt Christ to bypass the cross in Caesarea Philippi.

When he said, when Peter said to Christ, Lord, you're not going to die. You're the Messiah. And Christ said, but get thee behind me, Satan, for you don't have in mind the things of God, but the things of man, Peter, it's all about you. It's not about you. It's about me. It's about God. You're not in charge, Peter. You're wrong. You're being used of Satan to get me off of the track of the cross by which that is a reason I came. And then you have Peter again in Luke chapter 22, verse number 31, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat, but I prayed for you that your faith may not fail.

And you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. He said to him, Lord, with you, I am ready to go both to prison and to death. He said, I say to you, Peter, the cock will not crow until you have denied three times that you know me. You see what Christ is doing. He's helping you understand how it is Satan wants Christ to bypass the cross. He does. He's going to use Peter that maybe if Peter defects and defrocks the faith that the other 12 will follow and in the mission and ministry of Christ will begin to cease.

He doesn't know he's using Peter. He's using the one who is the 12. He's influencing the leader to detract the Messiah from the mission he came to accomplish. Satan is so deceptive. He's so diabolical in his methods, but Satan can't do anything unless he has permission. That's why Jesus said, Simon, Simon, he calls him Simon. Every time Peter acts in the flesh, he calls him Simon by his old name, the old nature. When he acts in the spirit, he calls him Peter. Okay. Simon, Simon, Satan wants to sift you like wheat.

He wants to, he wants to come after you, but I prayed for you, Peter. I prayed for you that your faith will not fail so that when you return, you'll be able to strengthen your brethren. But Satan had to ask permission. Remember Job, Job chapter one, when the sons of God gathered together at the throne of God, Satan was there and Satan had to ask permission to do anything to Job and God would grant him permission. Satan can't touch you unless God grants him permission because Satan is God's devil.

Did you know that? Satan is God's devil. Satan is ruled by the sovereign Lord of the universe. We forget that. Satan's not sovereign. Now remember, Satan can't see into the future. Satan doesn't have a crystal ball. Satan can't think, okay, now look, this is how it's all going to work out. He knows the future. He's read the book. He's read the book. And that's how ridiculous he is. He is so deceived. He is such a deceiver. He has wrapped himself in his own deception, believing that somehow he can detract the Messiah from accomplishing the Messiah's plan, the sovereign Lord of the universe.

That's how deceived he is. He has deceived his own self, somehow thinking that he can influence the players involved, but he can only influence them as the sovereign Lord of the universe allows him to. See, he's in charge. It's called the precision of the cross. Everything is on a divine timetable. Everything is working as the Lord God of the universe has designed it. This is absolutely remarkable. Because remember, this is the apex of redemptive history. Everything in the Old Testament leads up to this point on Mount Moriah, crucifixion, resurrection of the Messiah.

Everything from then on is all about what took place on Mount Moriah. Everything is. And throughout all eternity, we'll celebrate what took place on Mount Moriah by the land that was slain. But God was in complete charge, complete charge of every single thing. The status statement in this verse, of course, is, or in this set of verses is verse number three.

It says, and Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. Belonging to the number of the twelve. Can you imagine being in the presence of Jesus Christ, our Lord, every day for three years? Watching every miracle, participating in some of those miracles, hearing every sermon, participating in preaching sermons, watching demons being cast out, participating in demons being cast out, being a part of the ministry of Jesus Christ, our Lord, for three years and never coming to saving grace.

Can you imagine that? That is absolutely the most unbelievable thing that could ever happen this side of eternity on this earth. Except for the fact that as Judas would walk and talk with Jesus, so did Adam, who walked and talked with the living God in the cool of the day in the garden. And he too rebelled against him and sinned. But Adam recovered because he repented. Judas would never repent. In Acts chapter one, they tell us that he went to his place. Because of his pursuit of his own glory, because of his pursuit of his own greed, and because of the enormous guilt that he had, he went to his place called hell.

I guess the saddest thing to me is that churches today are filled with Judas's, filled with them. So filled with them that if you were to stand up and say, so-and-so is going to deny or defrock the faith, people say, no. You can say, is it I? No one said, well, it's got to be John. It must be Peter. He's always running off with a mouth. It's got to be Peter. Nobody ever once said it was Judas because he was the most trusted of the 12. He was at the place of honor at the table. Couldn't be Judas. But isn't it unbelievable to know that there are churches filled with Judas's?

They're on the Jesus train. They're on the Jesus train. Been there for a long time. Maybe it's because of their own glory or their own greed. Jesus would give a parable, and Judas would hear that parable about how the seed, the word of God would be sown in the kingdom age. How Satan would come and take the seed before it actually takes root. In others, it would take some form of root. They would jump on the Jesus train. They would receive Jesus with joy. They would be so excited about receiving Jesus with joy.

But when the deceitfulness of riches and the cares of this world began to overtake them, they would turn their back on Jesus because the seed did not take full root. And then there would be those who would jump on the Jesus train again with joy. They received the word with joy. But when persecution came, when affliction came, when hardship came, what did they do? They blamed God. They turned their back on God. They ran away from God. And they said, we're done. And Jesus says, they too, they too would not be a part of the kingdom.

And yet those two illustrations in the parable of the sow in the soil provide the framework for the kingdom age, which is this age on how the son of man would be received. And Judas sitting there listening knew that his way was the way of greed. For him, it was all about the money. For him, it was all about the opportunity, the way of glory. For him, it was all about the prestige. It was all what, what can Jesus give me? Because whatever he can give me, I need that. Except for the fact that what Jesus came to give was his life in order that you might be born again.

You might be saved from your sin. That wasn't what Judas wanted. Judas wanted the here and now. So when you look at, at the players involved in the plot to kill Jesus, you see the precision of the cross by looking at number one, the sovereign Lord of the universe, who's in complete charge of everything.

You had the, the superficial religious leaders of the day. You had the son of perdition. You have Satan himself. And then, and then as you prepare for the cross, you have the students of the Lord, the 12th. And that will be next week as they begin to prepare the Passover. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today. Truly Lord, you are a great God and you alone are worthy of praise. You are remarkable in all that you do. You do everything perfectly. You do everything righteously. You do everything justly.

And we come to praise you for that. We look at the cross. We realize that Lord, what you did there truly was the great glory of the universe. You glorified your name. You glorified your father. Everything was magnified on that day because that's why you came to this earth. I pray for those who are present with us today. They would come to realize that Jesus died for their sins, that Jesus died to remove all that iniquity, to restore their dignity, that they in turn might experience the beauty of salvation.

We thank you Lord for this day and what the future holds, knowing that you are the sovereign Lord who controls that future. In Jesus' name, amen.