Good
Friday, 2002
Am I The One?
Our service tonight is taken from
the Gospel of Luke, the 22nd and 23rd Chapters. We focus on the question asked by the
disciples at the last supper after Jesus told them He was about to be
betrayed. That Question was: Am I The One?
LUKE 22:
Now the
Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover lambs were sacrificed. 8Jesus
sent Peter and John ahead and said, "Go and prepare the Passover meal, so
we can eat it together."
9"Where do you want us to go?"
they asked him.
10He replied, "As soon as you enter
Jerusalem, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. At the
house he enters, 11say to the owner, `The Teacher asks, Where is the
guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?' 12He
will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is the
place. Go ahead and prepare our supper there." 13They went off
to the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the
Passover supper there.14Then at the proper time Jesus and the twelve
apostles sat down together at the table. 15Jesus said, "I have
looked forward to this hour with deep longing, anxious to eat this Passover
meal with you before my suffering begins. 16For I tell you now that
I won't eat it again until it comes to fulfillment in the Kingdom of God."
19Then he took a loaf of bread; and when he had thanked God
for it, he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, "This
is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."
20After supper he took another cup of wine and said,
"This wine is the token of God's new covenant to save you--an agreement
sealed with the blood I will pour out for you.[1]
21"But here at this table, sitting among us as a friend,
is the man who will betray me. 22For I, the Son of Man, must die
since it is part of God's plan. But how terrible it will be for my
betrayer!" 23Then the disciples began to ask each other which
of them would ever do such a thing.
Drama: “Am I The One?”
24And they began to argue among themselves as to who would be
the greatest in the coming Kingdom. 25Jesus told them, "In this
world the kings and great men order their people around, and yet they are
called `friends of the people.' 26But among you, those who are the
greatest should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. 27Normally
the master sits at the table and is served by his servants. But not here! For I
am your servant. 28You have remained true to me in my time of trial.
29And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant you
the right 30to eat and drink at my table in that Kingdom. And you
will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
31"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to
have all of you, to sift you like wheat. 32But I have pleaded in
prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have
repented and turned to me again, strengthen and build up your brothers."
33Peter said, "Lord, I am ready to
go to prison with you, and even to die with you."
34But Jesus said, "Peter, let me
tell you something. The rooster will not crow tomorrow morning until you have
denied three times that you even know me."
39Then,
accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to
the Mount of Olives. 40There he told them, "Pray that you will
not be overcome by temptation."
41He walked away, about a stone's throw,
and knelt down and prayed, 42"Father, if you are willing,
please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not
mine." 43Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened
him. 44He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit
that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.[3] 45At last he stood up again and returned
to the disciples, only to find them asleep, exhausted from grief. 46"Why
are you sleeping?" he asked. "Get up and pray. Otherwise temptation
will overpower you."
47But even as he said this, a mob
approached, led by Judas, one of his twelve disciples. Judas walked over to
Jesus and greeted him with a kiss. 48But Jesus said, "Judas,
how can you betray me, the Son of Man, with a kiss?"
54So they arrested him and led him to the
high priest's residence, and Peter was following far behind. 55The
guards lit a fire in the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter joined them
there. 56A servant girl noticed him in the firelight and began
staring at him. Finally she said, "This man was one of Jesus'
followers!"
57Peter denied it. "Woman," he
said, "I don't even know the man!"
58After a while someone else looked at
him and said, "You must be one of them!"
"No, man, I'm not!" Peter replied.
59About an hour later someone else
insisted, "This must be one of Jesus' disciples because he is a Galilean,
too."
60But Peter said, "Man, I don't know
what you are talking about." And as soon as he said these words, the
rooster crowed. 61At that moment the Lord turned and looked at
Peter. Then Peter remembered that the Lord had said, "Before the rooster
crows tomorrow morning, you will deny me three times." 62And
Peter left the courtyard, crying bitterly.
63Now the guards in charge of Jesus began mocking and beating
him. 64They blindfolded him; then they hit him and asked, "Who
hit you that time, you prophet?" 65And they threw all sorts of
terrible insults at him.
1Then the entire council took Jesus over to Pilate, the
Roman governor. 2They began at once to state their case: "This
man has been leading our people to ruin by telling them not to pay their taxes
to the Roman government and by claiming he is the Messiah, a king."
3So Pilate asked him, "Are you the
King of the Jews?"
Jesus replied, "Yes, it is as you say."
4Pilate turned to the leading priests and
to the crowd and said, "I find nothing wrong with this man!"
5Then they became desperate. "But he
is causing riots everywhere he goes, all over Judea, from Galilee to
Jerusalem!"
13Then Pilate called together the leading
priests and other religious leaders, along with the people, 14and he
announced his verdict. "You brought this man to me, accusing him of
leading a revolt. I have examined him thoroughly on this point in your presence
and find him innocent. 15Herod came to the same conclusion and sent
him back to us. Nothing this man has done calls for the death penalty. 16So
I will have him flogged, but then I will release him."[1]
20Pilate argued with them, because he
wanted to release Jesus. 21But they shouted, "Crucify him!
Crucify him!"
22For the third time he demanded,
"Why? What crime has he committed? I have found no reason to sentence him
to death. I will therefore flog him and let him go."
23But the crowd shouted louder and louder
for Jesus' death, and their voices prevailed. 24So Pilate sentenced
Jesus to die as they demanded. 25As they had requested, he released
Barabbas, the man in prison for insurrection and murder. But he delivered Jesus
over to them to do as they wished.
Am I
The One?
Have I
ever betrayed Him?
Have I
ever denied Him?
Was it
I who called out for His death?
Was it
I who washed my hands of His blood?
Was it
I who nailed Him to that cross?
In
fact, I am the one. It was for me He
died. It was my sin that nailed
Him there. As we sing this closing
hymn, pay particular attention to the words, and to the response in the last
verse.