I Came Here to Play Cards | Matthew 26:50

[00:00:00] Real Truth Daily. This is Daily Truths with Dave Ahlman.

[00:00:07] Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Daily Truths. I can remember back like 30, 35 years ago, my folks, when we were living in El Paso, came to see us and they lived in a place that they rented for like two months. And many times during that time, they'd come over to our house to play cards.

[00:00:24] So anyway, one night they came over and we were putting our kids to bed. Of course, they were, you know, little guys. And so we spent a lot of time getting them ready, you know, making sure they got their baths ready, reading their stories, all that kind of stuff.

[00:00:38] And they're running back and forth and they're being what kids do at 8, 10, 12 years old. You know, they're just being squirrely.

[00:00:44] And my dad was sitting there fairly patiently at the dining room table waiting for all of that to unfold so that he could finally play cards.

[00:00:53] And finally, after probably 45 minutes of him sitting there, he looked at all of us and he said, doggone it, I came here to play cards.

[00:01:04] He had one goal in mind and that was to play pitch.

[00:01:09] That's a card game.

[00:01:11] So we're in Matthew chapter 26.

[00:01:14] And remember, Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane and he's with his disciples.

[00:01:18] And all of a sudden, Judas, along with a bunch of leaders from the Jewish synagogue and Jewish temple, come to him.

[00:01:26] And of course, they're going to arrest him.

[00:01:28] They come with clubs and swords.

[00:01:29] And we already talked about that.

[00:01:30] And then we pick up this in verse 50.

[00:01:34] Jesus said to him, namely Judas, friend, do what you came to do.

[00:01:40] Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.

[00:01:45] It's interesting that Jesus called Judas Fred.

[00:01:48] Here he knew what Judas was about to do to betray him, basically, to betray him with a kiss, to be seized by these folks that had come to apprehend him in the garden and to take him away.

[00:01:59] And yet Jesus, in his love and concern and grace and mercy for Judas, calls him not traitor, not betrayer, not one who really messed up, but rather friend.

[00:02:12] And he went willingly, Jesus did.

[00:02:15] And he didn't try to run away.

[00:02:16] He didn't try to make excuses.

[00:02:18] He didn't try to resist.

[00:02:20] He didn't try to fight back.

[00:02:21] He simply allowed them to apprehend him and take him away.

[00:02:26] What can we say about that?

[00:02:29] That Peter said, doggone it.

[00:02:31] I came here to have you arrested.

[00:02:34] And Jesus' response to that was, I came here to win salvation.

[00:02:39] And so I'm going to do whatever is necessary, allowing myself to be seized, even though it's not fair, even though it's not right.

[00:02:47] Allowing myself to be seized and relegated to a common criminal's cross.

[00:02:52] Why?

[00:02:52] Because that's what I came here to do.

[00:02:55] I came here to win salvation.

[00:03:00] There's a great hymn of faith called A Lamb Goes Uncomplainingly Forth.

[00:03:05] And a couple verses of that hymn go like this.

[00:03:09] A lamb goes uncomplainingly forth, the guilt of sinners bearing, and laden with the sins of earth, none else the burden sharing.

[00:03:18] Goes patient on, grows weak and faint, to slaughter lead without complaint.

[00:03:24] That spotless life to offer.

[00:03:26] He bears the stripes, the wounds, the lies, the mockery, and yet replies, all this I gladly suffer.

[00:03:35] The lamb is Christ, the soul's great friend, the lamb of God, our savior, whom God the father chose to send to gain for us his favor.

[00:03:46] Go forth, my son, the father said, and free my children from their dread of guilt and condemnation.

[00:03:54] The wrath and stripes are hard to bear, but by your passion, they will share the fruit of your salvation.

[00:04:04] Judas came to the garden saying, I came here to have you arrested.

[00:04:09] Jesus said in a very wonderful way, I came to planet earth.

[00:04:14] I came here to win salvation.

[00:04:17] And as a result of that, he calls us friend.

[00:04:24] Isn't that comforting today?

[00:04:27] Isn't that a great promise today?

[00:04:29] I mean, I see a lot of myself and Judas and Peter and Thomas and all the other disciples that failed Jesus during his critical time.

[00:04:39] When he's ready to go to the cross, they all abandoned him.

[00:04:43] And in so many ways, we fail and disappoint and let God down through our sin.

[00:04:49] But Jesus comes to us from the cross, from the empty tomb, and he calls us his friend.

[00:04:55] What a friend we have in Jesus.

[00:04:57] And Jesus can say, I came here not to play cards.

[00:05:01] I came here to win salvation.

[00:05:04] And through faith in what he's done, salvation is ours, both now and forever.

[00:05:12] And that is today's Daily Truth.

[00:05:15] Have a great day in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[00:05:17] Thank you for tuning in to Daily Truths with Dave Allman.

[00:05:21] Pastor Dave Allman is the pastor of Mount Hope Church in Boulder, Colorado.

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[00:05:36] Come back tomorrow for your next Daily Truth.