Matthew - 2 Men, Two Sorrows
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The following material is adopted from John MacArthur’s commentary on Matthew and his Study guide. Additional material taken from sources listed at the end
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— Prayers ( Blue )
— Promises ( Green )
— Warnings ( Red )
— Commands ( Purple )
— Two men called by Jesus and they followed Him
— They slept side by side, they walked together and ate together
— Jesus and these two men were inseparable
— They both declared their devotion to Jesus
— They were trained by Jesus to evaluate everything that they saw and heard
— They had one teacher for 3 years and everything that He taught He modeled
— They saw it all :
— Cure a leaper ( Matt 8:3 )
— Cast out demons ( Matt 8:32 )
— Cure a paralytic in the middle of sermon ( Matt 9 :6 )
— Cure of a women with an issue of blood for 12 years ( Matt 9:22 )
— Raises the temple official’s daughter from death ( Matt 9 :25 )
— He interrupts a funeral and raises the widow’s son ( Lk 7:11-17 )
— Cure two blind men ( Matt 9:27 )
— Feed Five thousand ( Matt 15:13 ) and 4 Thousand ( 15:32 )
— Walks on water and stills the waves the sea ( Lk 8:22 -25 )
— Raise Lazarus from the dead ( John 11 )
— He even delegated this power to them and they did miracles in his name
— During this final week these two men did something incomprehensible - both betrayed Jesus
— Both betrayed Jesus boldly, emphatically, publicly, and they betrayed Him at the end of their years with Him just before He was crucified
— One is a SAINT and you’ll meet him in heaven
— His name is Peter and he is a saint
— His name is at the head of the four lists of apostles
— Some of you know someone named Peter
— The other, and only those who reject Christ might meet him, is in Hell
— The other is Judas and I bet that no one knows anyone named Judas
— His name is at the bottom of every list of apostles, but they had the same experience with the same person
— Both were sinners and they knew it
— Both felt guilt that was so powerful and so overwhelming that it affected them emotionally and they lost control
— Another parallel, both of them, were overtaken by Satan himself to be his unholy agent
— They are so similar — how did they end up so different?
What made the difference was how they felt about Jesus Christ
— Mary lavishly pours perfume on Jesus
— Matt 26:8 says that the disciples were indignant that this money was wasted
— But John 12:4 says that it was actually Judas
— Jesus is talking about His death again and it is like a knife was thrust into his gut
— He had joined the group to become powerful and wealthy
— To become a player in the kingdom
— He played his cards close to his chest, even better than James & John, who sent their mother to see what role her children would have in the kingdom
— Now things are starting to unravel
Mount of Olives / Garden of Gethsemane
— They go there to pray and the disciples fall asleep
— Jesus prayed 3x that God would have another way other than the cross
— He tells His disciples to “Get up” and Judas is there with a large crowd
— Jesus is hauled off to trial
Chapter 27 - Judas’s denial
— Judas sneaks off into the night with the filthy money in his hand and no doubt the rest of the money
— When Judas saw that Jesus was condemned, he felt remorse ( 27:3 )
— Judas returns the money ( Ex 21:32 ) but the chief priests will have none of it — suddenly they become righteous
— LEGALISM: They are about to kill the Son of God, but they will not put the money in the temple treasury
John tells us:
2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,
— Back in John 6:70 Jesus tells his 12 disciples that one of them is a devil, a false accuser
— One of you is a fake
— One of you is a phony but they had no idea
— Judas is in the presence of God for 3 1/2 years, sees all of His glory on display and he rejects Christ
Chapter 26 - Peter’s denial
— In Matthew 26:33 Peter says that he will never deny the Lord
— As evil as was Judas’ betrayal, as heinous and wicked as was his rejection of Jesus, his shame over Christ, Peter would do the same thing.
Back in Matthew 16, when Jesus said He was going to die, Peter said, “No, no. No, Lord, that’s not going to happen,” and Jesus looked right at Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan!” Satan put things in the mind of Judas, Satan put things in the mind of Peter. Judas was influenced by Satan, Peter was influenced by Satan.
— Peter is in the court yard and a servant girl ( Matt 26:69 ) and sees him and says “You are with Jesus the Galilean” and Peter denies to her and everyone
— A few minutes later, Peter moves out of the court yard and is now on the fringe
— Another servant-girl says ( Matt 26:71 ), “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth”
— He amps it up and denies with an OATH this time
— And then verse 73, a crowd confronts Peter and he curses and swears that he doesn’t know Jesus
The Cock crows and Peter remembers what Jesus said
— What did Peter do? Did he kill himself?
— He went out and wept bitterly
Something happened to Peter before he went out and wept bitterly. Just one moment happened and it’s recorded in Luke 22:61, and this is what it says. “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter.” He turned and looked at Peter and their eyes met, and Peter was devastated. He was shattered. He was destroyed and he went out and wept bitterly.
What is the end of the story about Peter?
— He ended up a saint
— He became the great preacher of the first 12 chapters of Acts
— Peter and John are together and John never opens his mouth ; Peter preaches all the sermons
— Peter is restored in the Sea of Galilee ( John 21 )
— Jesus restored him 3x
— Once for each denial (Feed by sheep 3x)
What is the difference between these two men?
— Both had guilt but that is not enough
— Guilt can make a sinner feel bad
— Make a sinner cry
— Make a sinner try to undo what was done
— But guilt will not make a sinner repent
The difference was Peter’s LOVE for Christ
— Judas resented the Lord and saw him as a means to an end
— And Peter could see Jesus from a distance, catch His eye, and be overwhelmed with love from Him
22 If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!
— During the Last Supper, Jesus defined what it means to love Him
Jesus said, If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” ( John 14:15 )
— That’s not a command, that’s a statement of fact.
— Verse 21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
— Again, in verse 23, “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word,’ – He says that again and again – ‘and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.’”
— It is about LOVE for Christ
Additional Resources
MacArthur, John. Two Men, Two Sorrows. https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/GTY141/two-men-two-sorrows
MacArthur, John. Betraying Christ: A tale of two disciples. https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/81-92/betraying-christ-a-tale-of-two-disciples