The Trial of Mankind

Luke 22-23

INTRODUCTION: The Philosopher Plato once pondered the question, “What would happen if a perfect man ever came to live on an imperfect planet?” 

The Plato had it right when he said - 

“The just man would be thrown into prison, scourged and racked, have his eyes burnt out, and, after every kind of torment, be impaled. 

Without realizing it, Plato pretty accurately described the world’s response to Jesus of Nazareth. 

Jesus was born in obscurity, raised as a marginalized Galilean peasant, and from the beginning of his ministry, underwent the cruelty and the deepest humiliation this world can dish out. 

ILLUSTRATION: Russian playwright Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), who is considered one of the greatest writers of all time, is credited for developing the principle known as “Chekhov’s Gun.” As he explained in letters to colleagues, if a gun is introduced in a story, it should be used later on.

Scripture has a few examples of “Chekhov’s Gun”. As you read through the text of scripture, there is an unmistakable reverberative theme of JUSTICE, legal, formal Justice - that continues to come up again and again. Even in the usage of words, as you read through the narrative, the author will slip in words here or there that clue us in that something significant related to Justice is coming. 

As we are reading through the 10 commandments, we are told, 

Thou shall not steal

Thou shall not murder

Thou shall not commit adultery

All of those are part of the standard ethical, moral framework we should expect of the Hebrew God. But then suddenly, there is a slight twist -

Exodus 20:16 (ESV)

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You see, we would expect Him to say, “Thou shall not lie”; that’s the linguistic rhythm he had developed. But He doesn’t - he places the context of the command in a courtroom preceding, where you have been called to testify in a legal proceeding. 

Certainly, ordinary fibbing is forbidden as well, but I am pointing out the shift into terms of Justice. It is Chekhov’s Gun. It is a sign that something big is coming. 

I will show you another instance in the NT, we read it on Wednesday night. 

In 1 Timothy 1:9–10 (ESV) Paul is laying out a list of those for whom the OT law was particularly designed for:

9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,

NOTICE how Paul uses two words - one the typical word for telling a lie, the next for telling a lie in a legal context. 

CONTEXT: The Chekhov’s gun alluded to in the previous texts we see on full display in the passage before us in Luke’s Gospel. 

As you remember, Jesus had been imploring the disciples in Gethsemane to pray that they enter not into temptation. 

TEXT: Luke 22:47–53 (ESV)

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Maximum Life is the Media Ministry of Pastor Zach Terry.

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