Title: Following Jesus, Our Greatest Giver
Text: Matthew 26:14-16
Text: Matthew 26:14-16
Facebook live: Following Jesus in the right use of office
14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.
Following Jesus in the right use of office
God had been very good to Judas Iscariot and the chief priests. He placed them in important and honorable offices, entrusting them with duties necessary for the people's everlasting well-being. The Lord called Judas as an apostle, one of the twelve men He specially trained and sent out to preach the good news of God's kingdom.
The Lord placed the chief priests into the holy priesthood of Israel, the sacred office in which they were to teach the people, intercede for them, and offer the sacrifices through which the Lord bestowed upon them the forgiveness of sins.
Sadly, however, Judas and the chief priests all misused their offices. Judas was dishonest and greedy. John tells us he was a thief; he had the disciples' moneybag and would take what was put into it. Jn. 12:6
So in his greed he went to the chief priests and asked them what they were willing to give him if he handed Jesus over to them. They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and Judas started looking for a good opportunity to betray the Lord. And you all know how it turned out.
Before long, Judas found his chance to hand Jesus over to the armed agents of the chief priests under the cover of darkness in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was a key link in the chain of events that led to the unjust condemnation and crucifixion of our Savior.
Obviously, this entire arrangement between Judas and the chief priests was sinful. Just think, in the course of his apostolic training, Judas had become intimately familiar with Jesus, so much so that our Lord called him
My close friend in whom I trusted. Ps. 41:9/Jn 13:18
That was a good thing. But Judas used that close familiarity with Jesus, not to tell others about Him for their salvation, but to betray Him to His enemies.
The chief priests likewise misused their office, not to mention their money. Instead of serving the Lord for the blessing of His people in the sacred duties entrusted to them, the chief priests conspired against the Lord in a wicked attempt to get rid of Him forever.
And they used the money He had entrusted to them – and where the money came from matters little; it all belonged to the Lord – they used that money with the intention of serving their own evil purposes, not the Lord's loving purposes.
So, Judas and the chief priests forever stand as decidedly bad examples for us, in that they selfishly misused the important offices to which God had called them. Clearly, we do not want to be like them!
On the other hand …
consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, who was faithful to the One who appointed Him. (Heb. 3:1-2)
Unlike Judas and the chief priests, Jesus used His high and honorable offices rightly! For our Lord Jesus is the supreme Apostle, sent by His Father to speak His word and carry out His saving works.
And that is exactly what Jesus did. He never used His office selfishly or for evil purposes, but to do the will of Him who sent Him, always for the good of others.
Jesus was far closer to His Father than Judas ever was to Him.
And Jesus used that divine intimacy to make the Father known to us, by His words and by His works. By His teaching discourses and parables, by His countless miracles of mercy, and chiefly by His voluntary suffering and death on the cross, the Father's Apostle has shown us that God truly is good and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
He forgives us poor sinners for the sake of His mercy in His Son, and earnestly desires us to live with Him forever. Because of Jesus' faithfulness in His apostolic office, we know God rightly!
Jesus also bears the office of High Priest.
He is our great High Priest forever!
And Jesus always used, and still uses, His priestly office in selfless love, for our salvation, just as His Father wills it. Jesus interceded for the forgiveness of those who were responsible for His crucifixion That includes you and me, because our sins necessitated His death on the cross.
And as Priest forever, Jesus still pleads to His Father on our behalf for our everlasting blessing.
Most importantly, Jesus offered Himself on the cross as the sacrifice that fully atoned for all our sins. And now, in His Holy Supper, He still gives us His body and blood, which He sacrificed once for all in His crucifixion, for the forgiveness of sins. Because of Jesus' faithfulness in His priestly office, we have forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation!
As both Apostle and High Priest, then, Jesus always was and ever remains faithful, always doing the Father's will and serving for our salvation. Jesus forever stands as the perfect example in the right use of office.
So, by all means, we do want to be like Him!
And Jesus actually calls us to this very thing – to follow Him in the right use of the various offices in which He has placed us. We are, after all, the Lord's servants and stewards in whatever offices He has entrusted to us. And, as God reminds us,
it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. 1 Cor. 4:2
Now, the offices God has entrusted to us are simply the various stations in life in which He has placed us and given us responsibilities. And God has been very good to us in this, placing us all into honorable and important offices.
You might remember how the Table of Duties section of our Small Catechism contains numerous Scripture passages for our various stations to admonish us concerning our office and service.
And then it mentions several of them, such as the office of preachers, hearers of God's word, civil government, citizens, husbands, wives, parents, children, workers, employers, and so forth. These are the kinds of offices into which God has placed us, and He expects us to use them rightly – to be faithful as we function in them
Earlier we heard examples from the Bible of the misuse of office, and then the perfect example of Jesus.
We could point out other good examples from the Bible of people who used their offices rightly. These are encouraging for us, because they demonstrate that by the Lord's working in the lives of His people, ordinary believers really can be faithful in office.
Our reading from 2 Chronicles gave us the fine example of Jehoiada the high priest.
He used his office to anoint and enthrone the rightful king of Judah, (little Joash,) to urge the people to be faithful to the Lord, to stamp out Baal worship, and to re-establish the proper priestly service in the house of the Lord – all after the reign of the wicked queen Athaliah. All this was in keeping with God's will, and for the blessing of His people.
We also heard from Acts 20 how Paul did what was right in his apostolic office, teaching the people the whole counsel of God, and giving them a good example of hard work and of helping the weak. He, too, carried out his office selflessly, as the Lord directed, and for the good of the people he served. Paul is another good example of the right use of office.
Now, we certainly cannot point out the details of what comprises faithfulness in every office the Lord may give us. Yet we can summarize the Lord's overarching guidance for any office we have like this:
We should not be doing anything in our offices out of selfishness, or just because it's what we want to do. Rather, we should carry out the duties of our offices always in keeping with God's will as we learn it from the Scriptures, and we should do so in service to others.
It's the same as always; God wants us to live in faith toward Him and in love for our neighbor. That means we strive to do what He says as we function in our offices, and we do so for the blessing of others. This is following Jesus in the right use of office. And in view of His faithful service to us, how can we do any less?
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen
14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.
Following Jesus in the right use of office
God had been very good to Judas Iscariot and the chief priests. He placed them in important and honorable offices, entrusting them with duties necessary for the people's everlasting well-being. The Lord called Judas as an apostle, one of the twelve men He specially trained and sent out to preach the good news of God's kingdom.
The Lord placed the chief priests into the holy priesthood of Israel, the sacred office in which they were to teach the people, intercede for them, and offer the sacrifices through which the Lord bestowed upon them the forgiveness of sins.
Sadly, however, Judas and the chief priests all misused their offices. Judas was dishonest and greedy. John tells us he was a thief; he had the disciples' moneybag and would take what was put into it. Jn. 12:6
So in his greed he went to the chief priests and asked them what they were willing to give him if he handed Jesus over to them. They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and Judas started looking for a good opportunity to betray the Lord. And you all know how it turned out.
Before long, Judas found his chance to hand Jesus over to the armed agents of the chief priests under the cover of darkness in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was a key link in the chain of events that led to the unjust condemnation and crucifixion of our Savior.
Obviously, this entire arrangement between Judas and the chief priests was sinful. Just think, in the course of his apostolic training, Judas had become intimately familiar with Jesus, so much so that our Lord called him
My close friend in whom I trusted. Ps. 41:9/Jn 13:18
That was a good thing. But Judas used that close familiarity with Jesus, not to tell others about Him for their salvation, but to betray Him to His enemies.
The chief priests likewise misused their office, not to mention their money. Instead of serving the Lord for the blessing of His people in the sacred duties entrusted to them, the chief priests conspired against the Lord in a wicked attempt to get rid of Him forever.
And they used the money He had entrusted to them – and where the money came from matters little; it all belonged to the Lord – they used that money with the intention of serving their own evil purposes, not the Lord's loving purposes.
So, Judas and the chief priests forever stand as decidedly bad examples for us, in that they selfishly misused the important offices to which God had called them. Clearly, we do not want to be like them!
On the other hand …
consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, who was faithful to the One who appointed Him. (Heb. 3:1-2)
Unlike Judas and the chief priests, Jesus used His high and honorable offices rightly! For our Lord Jesus is the supreme Apostle, sent by His Father to speak His word and carry out His saving works.
And that is exactly what Jesus did. He never used His office selfishly or for evil purposes, but to do the will of Him who sent Him, always for the good of others.
Jesus was far closer to His Father than Judas ever was to Him.
And Jesus used that divine intimacy to make the Father known to us, by His words and by His works. By His teaching discourses and parables, by His countless miracles of mercy, and chiefly by His voluntary suffering and death on the cross, the Father's Apostle has shown us that God truly is good and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
He forgives us poor sinners for the sake of His mercy in His Son, and earnestly desires us to live with Him forever. Because of Jesus' faithfulness in His apostolic office, we know God rightly!
Jesus also bears the office of High Priest.
He is our great High Priest forever!
And Jesus always used, and still uses, His priestly office in selfless love, for our salvation, just as His Father wills it. Jesus interceded for the forgiveness of those who were responsible for His crucifixion That includes you and me, because our sins necessitated His death on the cross.
And as Priest forever, Jesus still pleads to His Father on our behalf for our everlasting blessing.
Most importantly, Jesus offered Himself on the cross as the sacrifice that fully atoned for all our sins. And now, in His Holy Supper, He still gives us His body and blood, which He sacrificed once for all in His crucifixion, for the forgiveness of sins. Because of Jesus' faithfulness in His priestly office, we have forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation!
As both Apostle and High Priest, then, Jesus always was and ever remains faithful, always doing the Father's will and serving for our salvation. Jesus forever stands as the perfect example in the right use of office.
So, by all means, we do want to be like Him!
And Jesus actually calls us to this very thing – to follow Him in the right use of the various offices in which He has placed us. We are, after all, the Lord's servants and stewards in whatever offices He has entrusted to us. And, as God reminds us,
it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. 1 Cor. 4:2
Now, the offices God has entrusted to us are simply the various stations in life in which He has placed us and given us responsibilities. And God has been very good to us in this, placing us all into honorable and important offices.
You might remember how the Table of Duties section of our Small Catechism contains numerous Scripture passages for our various stations to admonish us concerning our office and service.
And then it mentions several of them, such as the office of preachers, hearers of God's word, civil government, citizens, husbands, wives, parents, children, workers, employers, and so forth. These are the kinds of offices into which God has placed us, and He expects us to use them rightly – to be faithful as we function in them
Earlier we heard examples from the Bible of the misuse of office, and then the perfect example of Jesus.
We could point out other good examples from the Bible of people who used their offices rightly. These are encouraging for us, because they demonstrate that by the Lord's working in the lives of His people, ordinary believers really can be faithful in office.
Our reading from 2 Chronicles gave us the fine example of Jehoiada the high priest.
He used his office to anoint and enthrone the rightful king of Judah, (little Joash,) to urge the people to be faithful to the Lord, to stamp out Baal worship, and to re-establish the proper priestly service in the house of the Lord – all after the reign of the wicked queen Athaliah. All this was in keeping with God's will, and for the blessing of His people.
We also heard from Acts 20 how Paul did what was right in his apostolic office, teaching the people the whole counsel of God, and giving them a good example of hard work and of helping the weak. He, too, carried out his office selflessly, as the Lord directed, and for the good of the people he served. Paul is another good example of the right use of office.
Now, we certainly cannot point out the details of what comprises faithfulness in every office the Lord may give us. Yet we can summarize the Lord's overarching guidance for any office we have like this:
We should not be doing anything in our offices out of selfishness, or just because it's what we want to do. Rather, we should carry out the duties of our offices always in keeping with God's will as we learn it from the Scriptures, and we should do so in service to others.
It's the same as always; God wants us to live in faith toward Him and in love for our neighbor. That means we strive to do what He says as we function in our offices, and we do so for the blessing of others. This is following Jesus in the right use of office. And in view of His faithful service to us, how can we do any less?
In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!
Amen