In the sermon titled 'The Messiah Is Bound,' Peter Allison explores the events leading to Jesus' arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, emphasizing Judas' betrayal with a kiss and its significance. He discusses the theological and symbolic implications of Jesus referring to Himself as the Son of Man, a title rooted in Old Testament prophecy, particularly from Daniel. The sermon highlights the importance of the number twelve, representing divine order and perfection, and its connection to the twelve apostles and the church's foundation. Allison also addresses the role of Satan and the power of darkness in Jesus' arrest, explaining that this was a divinely ordained hour where evil had temporary reign to fulfill God's salvific plan. The sermon concludes by reflecting on Jesus' willing submission to suffering and the ultimate triumph over darkness, which grants believers freedom from sin.

Please turn in your Bible to Luke chapter 22. Beginning at verse forty seven and while he was still speaking behold the multitude and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said to him, Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss? When those around him saw what was going to happen, they said To him, Lord, shall we strike with the sword? And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.

But Jesus answered and said, Permit even this. And he touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple and the elders who had come to him, Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs? When I was with you daily in the temple, did you not, You did not try to seize me, but this is your hour and the power of darkness. May indignation take hold of us when the wicked forsake this God's law.

Heavenly Father, we ask that you would open our eyes that we might behold wondrous things out of your word. We ask that you would give to us an understanding of your Word. We ask that you might be exalted and lifted up in the proclamation of your Word. May you preserve my lips from error and sanctify them to proclaim your holiness. In Jesus' name I ask, amen.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus begins to suffer in his soul the rejection and the wrath of God and being cut off from the Father, His Father. And this section that we've just read further elaborates on this aspect of the suffering of Christ in his soul as he bears that wrath of God and is cut off from the fellowship of God the Father. You see no No detail in God's Word is without significance. No detail. Paul even argues at times from single letters, whether a word is plural or singular.

Every jot and tittle, Jesus said wouldn't pass away. No John or Tittle would pass away until all was fulfilled So in this passage there are a couple of details that are mentioned here that we'd like to look at this morning. Details of significance in the garden as Jesus is still speaking to the disciples, having just come back from an hour of prayer, an hour of agony where his sweat was falling like drops of blood. And he finds the disciples are sleeping, not able to pray with Him even one hour. As He is still speaking to them, this great multitude shows up.

A multitude armed with swords and clubs comprised of the chief priests and the elders and the temple captains, Roman soldiers that have been requested to accomplish this arrest. They show up with torches to seize Jesus. And John records some aspects of this that Luke does not. Jesus, John tells us that when they came forward, Jesus said, Jesus asked them, whom are you seeking and they said Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus said I am he he didn't need Judas to identify him and when Jesus said I am he John says that they all fell back. Shocked.

Surprised. Caught off guard. They all fell back. They fell to the ground before the presence of this God in the flesh. So he asked them again, Who are you seeking?

And they said again, Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus answered then, I have told you, I am he. If you seek me, then let these others go. And This is where Luke's narrative picks up. And Jesus says, Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?

Now Judas was with this multitudes and Luke said he was one who was called Judas, one of the twelve. What is the significance of this account, of this betrayal? How does this add to Christ's suffering as our Messiah? We see Judas and Jesus are not merely friends who have broken bread together and now one of whom is betraying the other. This is not merely a disgruntled disciple turning against his mentor and teacher.

That happens a lot. I've heard some people say that it seems like all the mentors, all the proteges that they take under their wing and give money to and help significantly turn against them. But this is not just that happy. This is not just a disgruntled disciple turning against his teacher. It is all this, but but it's more.

This is the son of man, God in the flesh, and Judas, who, Luke says, is one of the twelve. The Son of Man is a mediatorial title. Comes from Daniel chapter seven. Daniel says I was watching in the night visions and behold one like the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came up to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him and then to him.

To this son of man was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all the peoples and nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away. And his kingdom, the one which shall not be destroyed. This is who the Son of Man is. And Jesus identifies Himself in this very night, in this garden, as He speaks to Judas, he identifies himself as the Son of Man.

This one to whom a kingdom has been given, an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away. This is the Son of man who fulfills and completes in himself all the historical types of the Old Testament, Joshua, Jehovah saves, David, and all the other types of Christ in the Old Testament. The Son of Man is God revealing Himself in human flesh, in human form. And so Jesus' reference to Himself as the Son of Man at this point is an unmistakable witness to the fact that Jesus was the Messiah, the Anointed of God. He was identifying Himself to the Jews and to the Romans as the one whom they were seeking, as the one whose reign would have no end." He's bearing witness to this fact, to the Jews and the Romans, to this entire crowd.

This garden, as we saw last week, shows us the suffering of Christ in his human soul. The Son of Man, God incarnate, God in the flesh. Yes, Jesus knew that Judas would betray him. He said as much at the supper a few hours earlier and on many other occasions He identified that he would be betrayed. Jesus understood of course and could provide a theological and doctrinal explanation for Judas's perdition.

But all of that in no way diminishes that Jesus, the God-man, He is God, but He is also at the same time, without diminishing any of His deity, He is a human, with a human soul, just as we have. And none of these other things diminish the suffering of Christ's human soul for the loss of one who has been given to Him. Christ's suffering here lies in the fact that one of those given to him by the Father has been lost. And this is what pains Jesus most. Jesus prayed in the upper room, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name.

Those whom you gave me I have kept, and not one of them is lost, except the Son of Perdition that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. But he's not suffering just as a human would in that situation. Having lost one who has been given to him. Having lost this person with whom he ate and fellowshiped. His suffering, his pain here is unique to his mediatorial office.

He suffers not just as a human. He suffers as the chief cornerstone of the foundation. One of the twelve foundation stones is lost. Remember Aaron bore those stones upon his breastplate when He went into the Holy of Holies. There were twelve stones that He bore, not eleven.

See the number twelve is a rather significant number in the Scriptures and in God's church. Twelve is three times four. Three is the number of the Trinity, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Three persons, one God. Four is the number of the earth.

All right, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Revelation all speak about the four corners of the earth. Revelation speaks about angels that are holding back the hordes of demons at the four corners of the earth. The river that flowed out of the Garden of Eden breaks into four rivers. Pisan, Gaihan, Hedekal, and Euphrates. These four rivers flow out of the Garden of Eden.

There are four seasons or times that God creates in Genesis 1. The physical universe was finished on the fourth day of creation, and day five and six fill out the earth. And so so for twelve is the product of four and three, Christ trained twelve men. To through him, bring the world into a relationship with God. But now one of those twelve is lost.

And that's not just an insignificant matter, because perfection and harmony and symmetry and beauty are important to God. We see that in the world that He has made. This world is filled with this kind of harmony and symmetry. But we also see this in the Scriptures themselves and in the Church of Jesus Christ. Twelve is connected with the foundation of both the Old Testament Church and the New Testament Church.

The Old Testament Church was built on twelve patriarchs. The New Testament Church was built on the foundation of the 12 apostles and the prophets, Christ being the chief cornerstone, Ephesians tells us Ephesians 2. The monument of stones that marked the entrance of this Old Testament church into the land of Canaan was composed of 12 stones. The bronze laver sat on the backs of 12 oxen. The heavenly Jerusalem is described in 12s, you remember those that have been sitting through the Revelation study.

In Revelation 21, this new Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem, has a wall with 12 gates and 12 angels at the gates. And the names written on them, which are the names of the 12 Tribes of the Children of Israel, Revelation 21 tells us. And in verse 14, Now the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and on them were the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. The city is laid out as a square, Its length is as great as its breadth. And the city is measured with the reed.

It's 12, 000 furlongs long, 12, 000 furlongs wide, 12, 000 furlongs high. Its length and breadth and height are equivalent. The twelve gates of this city are twelve pearls. Each individual gate was of one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold like transparent glass.

And in the middle of the street, on either side of the river was the tree of life which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. See, twelve is very significant to the church, the Old Testament church and the New Testament church. And Judas, Luke tells us, not insignificantly, is one of the 12. Right there in verse 47. Judas was one of these twelve foundation stones.

Judas was chosen after a night of prayer. Jesus prayed all night before He chose the twelve disciples. He was one of those who was given to Jesus Christ by the Father. Now I'll just add here in the majority text In verse at the end of verse 47 Judas one of the twelve went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss him And the majority text has this also he had given them this sign, whomever I kiss is he. It's not in the received text that we use or that our translation is based on, but it is in some 45% of the Greek manuscripts, and these are the ones that comprise the majority text.

This sign that Judas had given, whomever I kiss, is he. This crowd of Judas' leading, Judas went before them. He's leading the crowd And it meets Jesus as He's still speaking. It's a great crowd, Matthew tells us, a big crowd. And when they attack, those who are around him saw what is going to happen.

It was obvious. When the SWAT team shows up, when black SUVs pull up today with dark windows, and they all of a sudden appear out of nowhere, and One goes in front of your car and one goes behind your car, and three come up beside. You know something's about to happen. And the disciples see this crowd coming. They recognize the SWAT team of their day.

They saw what was going to happen and they said, Lord, should we strike with the sword? When they attack, The disciples ask if they should attack, but they don't wait for an answer. Peter cuts off the ear of the high priest. Luke doesn't say who it is, but John tells us it's Peter. John tells us that the name of this servant is Malchus.

See, Peter's actually making good on his promise that all the others might leave, but Peter would never leave Christ. It's actually, humanly speaking, quite a brave thing that he does here. Surely Peter didn't think he would repel the Roman army. And he certainly knew what we know today that if somebody fires on the police, the police respond with overwhelming force. It doesn't go well for anybody that fires on the police.

It's no different in his day. The Nazis, the German Nazis, massacred whole cities in Czechoslovakia if one Nazi soldier was killed. The Romans were the same. They didn't allow anybody to challenge their authority. They responded swiftly.

There was nobody that could stand in their way. There was no army that day that could stand in the way of the Roman army. And if a city rebelled, they destroyed it. Just like they did Jerusalem a little later. Peter knew this.

In fact, The Romans didn't even allow people to carry a sword, own a sword at this time in Israel. So the mere fact that Peter had a sword was an illegal action as far as the Romans were concerned. And this wasn't just anyone that Peter attacked. This was the servant of the high priest. And if Judas is leading him, he must have been right next to Judas as well.

He was possibly, he would have been an important person as the servant. And He may have been the representative of the high priest leading the way at this arrest. His master was certainly, the high priest was certainly the mastermind behind this event. This could have become a very bloody situation when Peter attacks this servant of the high priest who's with an army, a great crowd armed with swords and clubs. But Jesus very quickly ends all that.

He says, permit even this. And he heals the ear. He didn't just say, oh, it's a slave, it's just an ear. Cutting off an ear is a common punishment in some Muslim countries. Iraq under Saddam Hussein, it was a very common practice to mar people this way.

It's something you can live through. It's not a fatal injury at all. It's a very disfiguring one, but not a fatal one. But for Christ, there are no insignificant people. In healing the servant's ear, Christ proclaims God's long suffering to a wicked world.

Hebrews compares the blood of the mediator, Christ, to the blood of Abel. In Romans 12 where we learn that we've come to this heavenly Jerusalem to Jesus the mediator to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. Abel's blood cried out to God for vengeance and God put a mark on Cain so that no one would kill him. At Gethsemane, the greater Abel cried out, his blood cried out to God, but God left him. God abandoned him, turned his face upon him, cut off his access to his fellowship.

But Christ's blood speaks better things than that of Abel's. Christ as God and man in one person, he fixes his sign upon this armor bearer of Cain's army, this the servant of the high priest, this army that is comprised of the enemies of Christ. He affixes a mark upon this armor-bearer, and He proclaims God's long suffering and patience to this wicked army. See, God put a mark on Cain so that he would be preserved until the day of Christ, that no one would take vengeance upon Him before that time. And this mark, this sign on Malchus' ear proclaimed the day of grace.

God withholding his judgment until the day of Christ. Because Christ came at this time not for judgment, but to give his life a ransom for many. And so this event is not a refutation of self-defense. This event is unique in all of human history. There is never a day, never was a day like it, and never will be another day like it.

And so Christ is bound. He seized and He's bound. He's seized and He's bound. This hour, Jesus said, is your hour and the power of darkness. This hour was ordained by God from before the foundation of the world.

Why are these forces of evil now able to bind Him at this time when they were never able to do so before? It's because now is the hour that God has ordained. The chief priests and the elders had tried to capture him earlier in John 7. They sought to take him, but no one could lay a hand on him because his hour was not yet come. Or in chapter eight, Jesus spoke these words in the treasury as he taught in the temple that week leading up to this very week.

And no one laid hands on him because his hour had not yet come. They wouldn't have needed anybody to betray him at that time. He could have found him easily, but his hour had not yet come. You see, God has arranged the centuries to bring this hour to pass. God destroyed the armies of Egypt that sought to destroy this seed and to destroy this hour, and he drowned those armies in the Red Sea.

He directed the stone that killed a giant seeking to enslave his people and destroy the seed. He destroyed the Assyrian army that was seeking to destroy the seed by sending his angel of death and slaying 185, 000 men in one night. He directed the battles of the Caesars, the migration of nations, the course of world wars as well as the sun and the moon and the stars. All were directed to bring this hour to pass. This hour for Satan.

God here gives Satan and the powers of darkness free reign to attack Christ and to do as they desire. The Angels are not allowed to come and to help. Jesus said He could have called 12 legions of angels. They were available. It only took one angel of death to destroy 185, 000 men in one night.

Jesus said 12 legions of angels, thousands of angels were available at His right hand, but they are not allowed to come. This night, this hour, is reserved for Satan and the demons. It's reserved for them by the power of God, by His divine decree. God is blowing the winds of judgment against His own Son. The angels stand back and watch.

You see Some 35 years later, John sees the angels holding back the hordes of demons that are about to be unleashed in judgment on Jerusalem. The angels are holding them back until the time is appointed and they are commanded to release them. We don't know what took place in heaven because the scriptures don't tell us, but the angels are restrained. God designated this hour. Satan is the servant of God by the grace of God, just like Nebuchadnezzar was the servant of God.

Nebuchadnezzar was a wicked, wicked ruler. He ruled over a very pagan nation, a nation that was completely destroyed, cast away. Jeremiah speaks about this. He says, Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, says the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants and against all these nations all around them and will utterly destroy them and make them an astonishment, a hissing and a perpetual desolation. Nebuchadnezzar, This wicked king who defied God, who built this statue and commanded everybody to fall down and worship it.

This king was God's servant. And now in Jeremiah 27, and now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant and the field I have given to him to serve him. And in verse 43, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, My servant, and set His throne above these stones that I have hidden, and will spread out His royal pavilion over them." See, this hour for Satan has come in order that all of his venom may be poured out on Christ in order that Satan might be destroyed. Satan in this hour is God's servant to accomplish the salvation of his people. This hour has come for Satan to attack Christ, that after all of his venom has been poured out on Christ, he may then be destroyed, and God's anointed may triumph over him, crushing his head, as was promised to Adam and Eve in the garden.

There's another number I didn't mention earlier, but it fits in here with Jesus as this liberator. He's a liberator, he comes as the Redeemer. He delivers Malchus, this servant. Remember in Matthew and his genealogies, Matthew says that there are 14 generations between in three different epochs Abraham to David and let me just turn there a minute. Abraham to David are 14 David until the captivity of 14 captivity until Christ or 14.

That's that immediately reminds us of seven groups of two. Seven times two, seven being this perfect number and two being the doubling. Interestingly, seven, where twelve is four times three, seven is four plus three. And Jesus comes after these three sets of fourteen, which is six sets of seven. See, Jesus is the in the vitticus twenty five.

Jesus is the Redeemer. And the Jubilee pointed to this. It came after six groups of seven years. Then you had the seventh group of seven years. So Jesus is coming.

Matthew lays out the very numbers in Jesus' genealogy. He is coming as the Redeemer, the year of Jubilee. He is the seventh seven, the seventh group of generations. Seventh group of seven generations, he comes as the Redeemer. And see this.

Jesus cannot break these bonds. We cannot understand the sovereignty of God independent of all his other attributes. God is sovereign and omnipotent in that he can do all of his holy will. But God cannot lie, God cannot break His will. His will in this matter is to do perfect justice.

Perfect justice requires that the wrath of God be poured upon Christ. It requires and allows for sainthood to have his hour and for the power of darkness to have their time to attack Christ. Jesus Christ cannot break these bonds because Jesus, the sovereign God, does only the will of God the Father. And it is not the will of God to break these bonds and so Jesus Christ our Savior is led away bound for us so that we might live. This is your hour.

The power of darkness. This is your hour and the power of darkness. Thankfully we know that Jesus triumphed over this darkness and that the pains of hell and death could not hold him. But in this hour, in this moment, he is held. He is held as the God-man.

He is held in His humanity, bound under the power of Satan, rejected by God the Father, abandoned and left to them. The angels withheld from Him The name of God who is a strong tower to the righteous to which we can run and be safe. That name is withheld from him as he endures in his soul, the death being cut off from God for our sake. We can praise the Lord that He did this. Because if He didn't, we could not live.

We could not know the grace that we know and that we enjoy today. Let us pray. Father in heaven we thank you that in your perfect and sovereign will You were bound and led away under the power of darkness so that we might be set free from our chains, from the power of darkness and from our sins. Father, we ask that you might impress upon us the truth of your word, the reality of your death, of your suffering in our place, and that through this your word we may come to love you more and to know you more as you have revealed yourself to us. And Lord, may this greater love lead us to greater zeal and obedience for you and for your kingdom.

May we see with spiritual eyes the reality of this spiritual world and these spiritual truths. That we may remember this age, this earth is not our home, but we seek a heavenly one. Well grant us Lord, diligence to occupy until you come. In Jesus' name, amen.