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Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Listen to the Gospel reading one more time. It’s a short reading. “Jesus said, But behold the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.” And, of course, it’s referring to Judas. “For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined,” meaning to be betrayed and ultimately to be crucified, “but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed! And they,” meaning the disciples, the twelve that were there, “began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this. A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest,” which begs the question, “The greatest what?”

I hope you see the juxtaposition that was not put together by man but by God’s inspiration, that the disciples are arguing among themselves as to who it could possibly be who would be the betrayer of their Lord, and then they began to argue as to who would be the greatest. Putting the best construction on this and placing you and me in that setting, whenever there is a finger-pointing session going on, and we’ve all been a part of it, either inside of our own mind or heart or outside visibly, when fingers are being pointed, part of the impetus behind pointing fingers is guilt within our own bosom. Or why else would there be a need to point out to everyone else who the culprit is? To aid the investigation? To assist in the truth coming forth in light? Or to propitiate our own guilt? The motivation for these men to argue about who was the greatest, following the argument as to who could possibly be the betrayer, is all about guilt.

There are days when we end it, closing our eyes in bed, that we struggle over the things that we have said or done, the people unto whom we have spoken that we ought not to have spoken in the manner that we spoke, the thoughts that we could not stop from entering our head and bouncing around up there, the pain that we have incurred in our person from someone else’s misspoken words, not desiring to alleviate any guilt. It just transfers it. It’s still guilt and it’s still not dealt with.

This morning, with the youth that were here at the chapel, one of the gifts of being childlike, which unfortunately you and I don’t have anymore. We’ve lost it. The gift of being childlike is being humble enough and ignorant enough, however you wish to look at it, unenlightened enough to be repentant pretty easily, because they accept the authority of the one, the teacher, the parent, whomever, who is over them in age and in ability to be right and they not to know everything. But do you know what hangs around our neck as we grow older? It is that damnable pride. I say that because I have seen it in my own life, in my marriage, in my children, in my words spoken, and in reception of such words spoken to me. It gets in the way. For what reason? The children don’t seem to be bothered by swallowing it, by confessing it, by receiving forgiveness for it and moving on. But as we grow older, my stars, we have the elephant’s memory of the wrongs incurred and the wrongs that we are innocent of that we have been accused. There’s all kinds of reasons that we justify our actions and our words, but it all comes down to, just like these disciples, “Lord, though I know I’m not the betrayer, I know that I am not above him who is the betrayer.” But it didn’t start there; did it? Had it been, there would have been no discussion about who’s the greatest.

There was a Pharisee who said, “Lord, I thank you that I’m not like other men.” All of us can say that, for surely we can find another example in this world that we can say, “I thank you, Lord, that I’m not like him and I’m not like her,” and it would be somewhat of an honest and true statement; can we not? Of what purpose and benefit does it serve to speak such words? And that’s precisely right; it serves no purpose except to elevate ourselves and not humble ourselves and be repentant. But that’s Satan’s prompting; isn’t it? He feeds that to our flesh, and our flesh is more than hungry to consume such tripe and ingest it and let it be that which we speak and even believe about ourselves, shockingly so. Until we get broadsided and then we realize at least it is hoped that we realize.

There’s all kinds of mental gymnastics in discussing this with ourselves and we think about and say, “But in my situation it’s different, because, because….” And all these reasons come out of our mind’s thought processes as to why it’s different, as to why I’m innocent, as to why I’m not as guilty as they, and, by golly, I should be considered of some worth or value to God. Should we? There is only one who knows. There is only one who knows your sin intimately and that’s your Lord Jesus Christ. He knows every jot and tittle. He knows every excuse and every reason. He knows every proud moment and even the humble moments. He knows there is still clinging to it vestiges of pride because we can’t even repent perfectly. So lest we think no one knows the road down which we have trod, there is one who hung upon the tree who knows such a road. But not just yours, which, shouldn’t that be enough for Him? Your or my sin? But all of our sins. And not just of those that we include in this place called the church but those who will never ever be a part of a church who are already damned and serving in hell, for their sins, too, was He hung upon the accursed tree that they, too, may be declared innocent of crimes committed to their God and of excuses mounded up like sand against their God. There is only one that cleans, and that is Christ.

Do you wonder what the disciples must have reflected upon this night after the resurrection? Or maybe even better, do you wonder what these disciples thought as they faced their own martyrdom about this evening and the words they spoke? It would cause them a great amount of sorrow in their heart, and it would haunt them until they were finally martyred and rid of such hauntings. In the meantime, having been haunted, their solace and their refuge was in that forgiveness, in the one broken and cursed for them, in the one who covers all of our best intentions, purest of motives that we may have but still is sin tainted and sin filled. That’s where they found their solace as they reflected on this night, for there is only one greatest betrayer and greatest sinner, and it’s not you. It’s never going to be you. It will forever eternally remain your Lord for you. Find solace and peace in such a sacrifice. In His name, Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and your minds on Christ Jesus to life everlasting.

Amen.