Two Traitors, Two Kings
246 | “Betrayal of a Close Friend” | Seven Sermon Summer Surfin’ Spectacular
See the Prophecy in the Pain
We welcome our friend Allen Greeley back for his final sermon in our "Seven Sermon Summer Surfin' Spectacular"! This week's lesson, "Betrayal of a Close Friend," gets personal. How did King David's psalms give voice to Jesus's heartbreak over Judas hundreds of years before it happened? In what ways did the betrayal of David by his own trusted advisor serve as a haunting prequel to the gospel story? And what does it mean that in the moment of betrayal, Jesus still called Judas "Friend"? Join us for a powerful look at the human cost of betrayal.
Takeaways
The Big Idea: The psalms foretold not just the event of the betrayal, but the real, human pain Jesus would feel as a friend.
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Introduction
Allen: I love musicals. recently,
Ryan: I didn't see that coming either.
Bryan: yes. Well, hello, everyone. And welcome back to our penultimate episode in the seven sermon summer surfing spectacular here on the show. We are back here for the very last time in this series with our good buddy, one of our favorite preachers from the Plainfield Ponderings podcast.
It's Alan Greely. Welcome back to the show.
Allen: Thank you guys. I'm so blessed to be on your show. I love your show, by the way. I love you guys. May God continue to bless all that you guys do. Thank you for having me.
Ryan: Well, think you're one of those people that we would consider an unofficial Bible geek, you know? You're an honorary
Bryan: Not even not even unofficial.
Ryan: yeah. I mean, you're a true blue geek whether you-- there's nobody that we can lose ourselves in geeky Bible details with better than you, so we love having you on, and your sermons are such a blessing, and it's great to be in this and to be talking, again, about the way the Old Testament starts to unpack the truth of who Christ is.
And in this one, you know, it's funny we're talking about friendship because there is a tragic turn--maybe it's not so funny-- but a tragic turn in the friendship of Christ that we see foretold long ago in the Psalms of
Bryan: Where where when you were putting this one together, where did you land in needing to preach this one? Because this I will say like if you take a broad view of the Old Testament looking for Jesus series that you've been doing. This one stands out as a very different episode or sermon in that whole series.
Why this one?
Allen: Yeah. I didn't make the point on the podcast recording, but I did when I preached it. so, what I tend to do is record these as podcast messages, share them on my podcast, and then I take that same message and preach it on the Lord's Day with the church. and it always ends up being a little bit of a different lesson.
But at the end of the sermon portion, I really Not that it was at length or anything, But we really got into betraying the Lord, and thinking about ourselves, and how we can still be Judas today. just not letting that crush us when we do betray him, not leaving him completely, like he ended up committing suicide.
But that was definitely on my heart. I also wanted to think about just his humanity. I just like to sit in the fact that Christ was a human a lot, because some of the things that he experienced and went through are just so tragic. We get addicted to thinking about him as deity, and as God, and as creator, and all of that is most definitely true.
And I think his humanity and his human experiences sometimes get lost. And so, I wanted to share this story, the betrayal of Judas, just to say, think about the feelings that David are sharing through these Psalms, and all of these feelings can be attributed to Christ.
Bryan: right. Well, let's get into that conversation here because this is one of my favorite episodes in the series and it's and it's deep. So buckle up.
Sermon 6: "Betrayal of a Close Friend"
Bryan: Everybody is going to be a really good one. and this one is in that series finding Christ in the Old Testament from Alan.
This one's called betrayal of a close friend.
Allen: Ponder with me the cutting reality of the betrayal of close friends. I'm going to begin reading in John 13, verse 21. We often focus on the foot washing here in John 13, and then the statements about love at the latter part. But this narrative, right sandwiched in between those two, we rarely talk about in depth.
But let's do that in this episode. Verse 21, John 13. After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit and testified, "Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me." The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of the disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table close to Jesus.
So Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said, "Lord, who is it?" Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it." So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.
Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly." Now, no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that because Judas had the money bag, and Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the feast," or that he should give something to the poor.
So after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out, and it was night. A quick tragedy for you. In the darkened heart of medieval Scotland, beneath the howling winds and the shadowed halls of castles, a noble warrior named Macbeth stood honored and true. He was a man of valor. He was celebrated for his courage in battle.
Macbeth had earned King Duncan's trust with blood and bravery. He was the very blade that kept Scotland safe. But within Macbeth, ambition was stirring. A whisper first, and then a storm. And soon, that ambition would lead him down a path of betrayal that would stain his soul. He had met with three witches on the moor, as the story goes, and their cryptic prophecy planted a seed in Macbeth's mind.
It simply said, "All hail Macbeth! Thou shalt be king hereafter." They didn't command him to act. They didn't say what he should do, what he needed to do. They merely spoke of what could be, and yet from that moment, Macbeth could no longer rest in his present reality. The prophecy had unlocked a hunger that no crown could satisfy.
And at first, Macbeth wanted to resist. You know, his conscience was still eating at him. His conscience was still alive. King Duncan had honored him. He had loved him. He had called him worthy. Macbeth knew that the king was a good king. He knew of the king's virtues, and in a quiet moment of reflection, he wanted to turn away.
But then came Lady Macbeth. Cold, determined, unflinching, she struck at his pride, calling him less than a man if he would not take what fate promised. With her chilling words and bold resolve, she lit a fuse of treachery within him. When Macbeth welcomed King Duncan into his home, it was under the mask of loyalty that they thought they shared.
He fed him. He smiled at him. They were friends. And then, under the cover of night, Macbeth took his dagger and silenced the man who trusted him the most. That single act shattered every oath he had sworn, and then nightmares, they replaced honor. He was wracked by guilt and paranoia. He committed other acts of violence on his friends, just in case, you know, just in case they knew of something or suspected of something.
But these only pushed his insanity further, of course, until he was a shell of himself. His treachery did not help. It was the beginning of the end. Is that the story of Macbeth or the story of Judas Iscariot? I can barely tell the difference. Oh yes, I know there are plenty of differences between the stories, but there are enough similarities to almost be haunting.
A trusted friend in the cover of night betraying a king. Except this king in Scripture knew it was coming, which makes the story of Judas even worse, I think. But think of it. A trusted friend in the cover of night. Did you hear the last four words of the reading there in verse 30? After he had received the morsel of bread, it says that he immediately went out, and the last four words are, "And it was night."
If that sounds ominous, it's supposed to be ominous. If this were a movie, you'd hear some tragic, emotional orchestra playing in the background, and it will be in the cover of night when Judas shows back up in Jesus' presence in Gethsemane, but with an army in tow. But what I want to focus on in this lesson is that they were friends.
They were dear friends. I didn't read the earlier part of John 13 where it brings up their friendship, but look at it with me now. I began reading in verse 21, but if you back up to verse 17, the Scripture says, "If you know these things"--this is Jesus talking to the apostles-- "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
I am not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but the Scripture will be fulfilled. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me." Now, as you read that quotation, which is from Psalm 41, "He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me," at face value, you look at that and say, "Alan, that doesn't sound anything like friendship.
Nothing about friendship is stated." Ah. That is why we must go back and read these quotations in their original context, in their original Old Testament context, because the psalm being quoted does specify their friendship. I have two psalms for you in this episode. They all have to do with Judas, but of course, our real intention is not to see Judas necessarily.
It's to see Jesus in the Old Testament. I want us to sit in the tragedy of it all-- the tragedy of being betrayed by a dear friend, the tragedy of Jesus having to go through it, the tragedy of Jesus knowing that it was going to take place exactly as it turned out-- and I want us to sit in the evidence of that, too-- the evidence that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God-- that these ancient texts could speak so clearly to the betrayal of Jesus should build our faith.
And that's what I want to do in this episode. Build your faith in Jesus by letting us see the tragedy of it all before Jesus was even born into the world. Psalm 41, if you want to follow along, be turning there, please. Psalm 41 is a psalm of David. You can see that in the superscription. It says, "To the choir master, a psalm of David."
David writes this psalm about a betrayal of a friend. I'll talk about in a moment how that relates to the life of David and who that betrayer is in the life of David. But this is where the quotation from John 13 about Judas betraying Jesus comes from. So, yes, there is a David application, and we'll talk about that, but I want you to hear the story.
I want you to hear the psalm and think about Jesus while we read. So we'll stop periodically just to make sure that we're hearing the life of Jesus. Just let me begin by reading one verse. I'll start in verse 5. Psalm 41, verse 5. "My enemies say of me in malice, 'When will he die and his name perish?'" You can already hear the life of Jesus, can't you?
The enemies of Jesus wanted Jesus out of the picture so badly, if that meant death, so be it. They wanted his death so desperately that even though they did not want him to die, they did not want him to be executed during the Passover because they feared a riot, they felt like they had to take the chance and kill him during Passover.
You remember this quote? This is from Matthew 26, verses 3-5, just to illustrate how much they feared the people, but they took the opportunity anyway because they wanted him dead so badly. This is verses 3-5, Matthew 26. "Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.
But they said, 'Not during the feast!' lest there be an uproar among the people." They did not want to kill him during Passover, but guess what? That's exactly what happened. Now, of course, God is pulling the strings here. We need to remember that, and I want to honor that. But I show you that verse to illustrate just how badly they wanted him dead.
They feared an uproar. They feared a riot, but they still took the chance to kill him, partly because Judas presented them with the opportunity. Psalm 41, now, 6 and 7. "When one comes to see me, he utters empty words, while his heart gathers iniquity. He goes out, he tells it abroad. All who hate me whisper together about me.
They imagine the worst for me." Read the last week of Jesus' life before the crucifixion. It was one trapping after another. One trap after another trap after another trap. All the whispering of how to entangle him, "How are we going to do this? Are we going to do this by stealth?" All the secret meetings about how to kill him.
And none of it went unnoticed by Christ. He was a man on a mission. Verse 8, "They say a deadly thing is poured out on him. He will not rise again from where he lies." Ooh, isn't the irony so thick here? Listen to the words of the enemies again. "He will not rise again." No doubt David is not talking about resurrection himself, but because we know that this story, this psalm, can be read from the standpoint of Jesus, you know that that can be referring to resurrection.
"He will not rise again." Ah, but that's exactly what happens. But now here's the quote from John 13, verse 9. "Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me." "Even my close friend." That's Judas Iscariot being described as a close friend of Jesus. That puts a different spin on the accusation that some of the enemies made earlier in his life.
"He's a friend of sinners!" Actually, quite literally, he was. Not in the sense of how they were accusing him. They were accusing him of befriending people whose lives were not morally acceptable, and basically in their mind he was accepting their sin, excusing their sin. He wasn't, of course. But a friend of sinners, in the sense that he was a dear friend of Judas Iscariot.
"Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread." And John 13 calls that to our attention. The last thing that Judas does in the upper room is take a morsel of bread from Christ's hand. As if Christ was saying, "Here's a gift of bread, friend. A few more calories for the rest of your night." He took it from his hand, he immediately left the room, and it was the cover of night.
"Even my close friend has lifted his heel against me." And I want you to think about lifting your heel against someone. The imagery of someone lifting their heel indicates the one that's about to be stomped on is in a very, very vulnerable position. For someone to lift their heel and about to crush it on you, you've got to be underneath that person.
It's a very vulnerable spot. It's a very dangerous spot to be in. But you generally only let yourself be in the most vulnerable positions with your close friends and family. Verse 10, "But you, O Lord, be gracious to me and raise me up." Again, no doubt, David does not refer to that as resurrection in his mind.
Oh, but the double meaning of it all. "Raise me up." Verse 11, "By this I know you have delighted me. My enemy will not shout in triumph over me." Verse 12, "But you have upheld me because of my integrity and set me in your presence forever." And that's exactly where Jesus is right now. In God's presence, at his right hand, forever.
Now, as I mentioned before, the psalm was written by David, and obviously David is writing this psalm about something in his life. Yes, it serves as a prophecy of the life of Jesus as well, but we can be sure that something in David's life caused him to write this about his own circumstance. And when you comb through the life of David, looking for friends that betrayed him, the story of Judas becomes even more crystal clear.
Most of you remember that his son Absalom tried to usurp David's throne. Absalom had an army formed and actually kicked David out of Jerusalem in an effort to kill his father and take his spot. And before you think, "Oh, okay, maybe his son Solomon is the traitor and is the friend mentioned here in the psalm," no, I believe it's someone else that's very close to Absalom and close to David.
You remember this name? Ahithophel. He was a trusted advisor to David, one might say a close friend. Ahithophel betrays David, and he goes over with Absalom, thinking to himself that Absalom is going to win this war against David, Absalom is going to come out on top, and Ahithophel, being the politician that he is, he wants to get on Absalom's good side.
That's why the politicians do. They kind of position themselves on the side that's going to win. So this Macbeth character, Ahithophel, betrays David, goes over to Absalom's side, and right after David and his men are kicked out of the city, Ahithophel gives the advice to Absalom, "You need to strike now and strike hard, strike fast.
Kick David while he's down." It was actually good military advice. Little did Absalom know, or Ahithophel know, David had a double agent on the inside. He had a true friend. He had been betrayed by one friend, Ahithophel, but he's got a true friend, a double agent on the inside. His name is Hushai. And Hushai tells Absalom, "No, no, no, no, no.
David and his men are experts in war. Don't go after them now. It's better to wait." And he's giving this advice to Absalom so that David will have time to run away. One of the best spy novels known to man actually began in Scripture. Now, what does this all have to do with King David's Psalm 41? When Ahithophel finds out his little plan fails, he commits suicide, which is what the friend of Jesus did.
So in Ahithophel, you have this Macbeth traitor, just like Judas Iscariot. And just like Judas, they were both friends of the king. And just like Judas, their plans don't end up working. And just like Judas, they both commit suicide. Listen to the typology here. They were both friends of the king. Both traitors.
Both have their plans fail. Both commit suicide. So not only do you have this psalm from David about a close friend betraying, but the stories play out very similarly. Fascinating, fascinating stuff here. The Scripture is so deep and vast, so much more than we'll ever be able to realize. But turn now to Psalm 55.
Psalm 55. Here is another betrayal psalm about the betrayal of a friend. Maybe written from the perspective of Ahithophel as well. And this one is a psalm of David. You can see that in the superscription. "To the choirmaster with stringed instruments, a masquille of David." And just like Psalm 41, he's going to mention the enemies ganging up on him, but then he quickly transitions to the betrayal of a friend.
Read the first six verses with me. This is Psalm 55, 1-6. "Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy. Attend to me and answer me. I am restless in my complaint and I moan. Because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked, they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
My heart is in anguish within me, the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling have come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. And I say, 'Oh, that I had wings like a dove, I would fly away and be at rest.'" Have you ever been so stressed out that you thought to yourself, "I just want to be anywhere but here.
I would choose any place other than the place and the situation that I am in right now. Anywhere but here." And that's how David feels. "If I could be anywhere else like a dove, I would leave." But it also sounds like Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, doesn't it? Wanted to be anywhere but there. But God's will be done.
Skipping down now to verse 12, he's going to stop talking about the enemies, and he's going to start talking about the betrayal also of a friend. "For it is not just an enemy who taunts me, then I could bear it. It is not an adversary who deals insolently with me, then I could hide from him." If it was just an enemy, David says, that wouldn't be that big of a deal.
But who else has turned their back? Look at verse 13. "But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend." If it was just an enemy, I would take that all day long. "My dear friend, I hope you are seeing just how crushing the human betrayal of Christ would have felt like. As much as Christ was God, he was a man, turned on by a close confidant."
And then he continues talking about what he had done with that friend, all the good times. Look at verse 14. "We used to take sweet counsel together within God's house. We walked in the throng." In other words, Judas, we had so many good times together. We had so many good conversations, so many walks in God's house.
Judas, we had so many good times. Dropping down to verse 16, "But I call to God, and the Lord will save me." You know, in all these psalms--and there are more psalms about the betrayal of friends than just these two-- but in all of these psalms, when a friend is betraying David, you know what he does? He gives himself over to God.
Every single psalm he mentions a betrayal of sorts, David says, "God, I'm yours. God, I need you." More on that thought in a moment, but just kind of tuck that in the back of your mind. Dropping down to verse 20, David continuing to talk about his companion. "My companion stretched out his hand against his friends.
He violated his covenant." Verse 21, "His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil, but they were drawn swords." The traitor's speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil, but they were like drawn swords. You know what's so fascinating about this?
Drawn swords. When Judas shows up in Gethsemane, he brought an army like he meant war. He spoke all nice. "Greetings, Rabbi." That's literally what he says. "Greetings, Rabbi," like freshly churned farm butter. "Greetings, Rabbi," softer than oil. But meanwhile, the army that was in tow, what had they brung? Swords and clubs.
Jesus even asked them, "What's all the weapons for? You saw me teaching every day in the temple. What made you guys think you needed weapons against me, like I'm going to throw a haymaker or something?" Like freshly churned warm butter, words softer than oil, but the army and the swords and the club, they showed something very different.
And then the last part that I'll give you is the very beginning of verse 22. Psalm 55, verse 22, "Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you." If you are ever betrayed by a friend, if you are ever betrayed by a family member, a spouse you've been cheated on, someone's committed adultery, I mean, think of the most stinging betrayals you can think of.
If someone ever stabs you in the back, I want you to know your only hope of climbing out of the despair and the hurt is to cast the burden on the Lord. It's all you can do. The hurt stings too much to do anything different. It's all David could do. But I hope I've convinced you that these psalms are about Jesus too.
And that's what Jesus did. From Psalm 41, remember what he's doing. He's casting it on the Lord, and the betrayal of a close friend is mentioned there in Psalm 41. He says, "Raise me up, set me in your presence." He's casting himself and his hope on God. Then Psalm 51 is about the betrayal of a close companion too, a close friend.
"I call to God, he'll save me." "Cast your burden on the Lord." Cast your betrayal on the Lord. What else can you do? But you know what? That's probably too much of a defeatist way of saying it. Here's a more positive spin. What better thing is there for you to do? Last verse. And I want you to promise me that you'll listen to it, or even turn there.
Matthew 26, when Judas actually shows up there in the garden. I want to begin reading in verse 47. You have to hear this. It is only in the Gospel of Matthew, you cannot find this in Mark, Luke, or John. Only in Matthew. Beginning in verse 47. "While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, and the chief priests and the elders of the people.
Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, 'The one I kiss is the man. Seize him!' And he came up to Jesus at once and said, 'Greetings, Rabbi!' like freshly churned farm butter. And he kissed him softer than oil." But I come to this passage to show you what Jesus says. How Jesus addresses him. Verse 50.
"Jesus said to him, 'Friend!'" Friend. Matthew is the only one that records this instance. This wording. Friend. Do what you came to do. And if I had to guess, it probably sounded more like, "Friend!" Friend! Do what you came to do. Let's get on with it. But when Jesus calls him "friend," based on the passages I just showed you this episode, I don't think Christ was being sarcastic.
I think he was being legit. And can't you imagine Jesus thinking about Psalm 41 and 55 as they are leading him away in shackles? "If this was just my enemies, this wouldn't hurt so bad. But my friend? My close companion?" But can't you also imagine him thinking about Psalm 41 and 55, about casting his cares and casting his hope on God?
"God, raise me up!" Psalm 41. And come Sunday, he did. Come Sunday, he was alive. But come Sunday, his friend was not. A tragedy. Much like Macbeth was. But because he was alive on Sunday, it's why every single person who gets a hold of this episode, whenever you get a hold of it, it's why you should be a Christian.
You know that. You know it. But the last thing I want to ask you, we often sing in our churches sometimes, "I'll be a friend to Jesus." But based on this context, I want to ask, "What kind?" Are you going to be the friend that turns away? People do that all the time. They're a friend of Jesus in faith. They're a friend of Jesus in obedience.
And they fall away. They turn their back. This kind of betrayal didn't just happen in Judas. It still happens. What kind of friend will you be to him? I know the type that he is to you.
Conversation About the Sermon
Bryan: when you were writing this sermon, I can't imagine that that this was an easy one of the ones that you've written to put together. Was
Allen: No, man, it? wasn't. office, I think I'm going to have to change the carpet out in my office, because as I'm writing these, I'm so emotionally moved. I'm just an emotional guy, which is who I am. And so, sometimes as I'm typing these out, I have to get up. I can't sit down. And so, I ended up pacing in the office.
And this one, I ended up doing some extra pacing, brought me to tears several times. So wasn't easy to write. I actually planned on sharing it at Sunday night, and I thought, we all just need to hear this. We all need to think about how heartbreaking this is. And so, I ended up sharing it at Sunday morning where a few more people are around, but tough one to write for sure.
Ryan: you really pulled out that heartbreak in--even your voice. We got to hear Alan the dramatist show up here as you were really, you know, heartbreakingly in the voice of Jesus as he addresses his friend. My favorite, is the villain voice of Judas, you know, as you played that out, but you also brought up Macbeth, which I would have never--that's a little of a different turn for an Alan Greely sermon as I'm used to them.
Where did that come from?
Allen: I love musicals. recently,
Ryan: I didn't see that coming either.
Bryan: yes.
Allen: And recently, I was listening to Hamilton. It's Hamilton at some point, writing a letter and saying, "They think me Macbeth," I think is the line.
And so, I did this deep dive in the story of Macbeth recently. Not that that was the reason I gave the sermon, but I was thinking about it the very same time as I was writing the lesson. And I thought, "Man, this is pretty close to the story of Judas." And just thinking, you know how it is, guys.
You both preach a ton. Thinking about creative ways of an introduction, getting people to latch on to the lesson early on. So, it was just coincidence hearing Hamilton reference Macbeth sent me down a spiral.
Ryan: Well, it's just--it's such a universal theme, as you pointed out. It's something, to some degree or another, not only in great stories, but we all have experienced a level of, you know, someone that we trusted betraying us or taking advantage of us, letting us down, and, you know, you make yourself vulnerable whenever you love someone and trust someone and bring them into your circle.
And, you know, Jesus had a different level of knowledge than we do of Judas's heart, but he loved him as a friend, and he was--the way you pull out the kiss and the touch and the words that he comes with just makes--it's such a heartbreaking moment. And, yeah, I was very touching to see that pulled
Allen: Yeah, I appreciate You mentioning that. I think we think sometimes because Christ knew the future And, he makes a comment that he knew who he had chosen. and so, we think in our minds, Christ chose him because he knew that he would betray him. And so, maybe that's the only reason he chose him or that, they didn't become close because Christ knew that that was going to happen.
But then when you read these Psalms from the standpoint of Jesus And Judas, you're like, "Man, that's not the case. They were really close." and that's what highlights the heartbreak so
Bryan: always struggle with that, you know, in these conversations about Judas that Jesus knew he knew what was going to happen. And yet, I mean, the amazing thing about Jesus is that the entire time Judas was around he was still friendly with him. You know, he was he wasn't keeping him at like any more of an arm's length than he was keeping the rest of the the disciples.
They were all they were all with him. And you know, he had a few close ones that he spent more time with than others. But, you know, Judas, Judas had access to Jesus and Jesus allowed that to happen. And it wasn't just like that, you know, arm's length kind of situation either. Like they were, like you said, close and that connection back to David and the Psalms and all of what David went through.
I never would have made that connection, honestly. And as you were bringing that out, the parallels there just that's what I love about the Psalms so often is is the way that they are fulfilled in such a poetic way. No pun intended. But the way that they're just woven into the actual events of things that occurred to Jesus and surrounding Jesus.
It's amazing to see how they all line up together.
Allen: Yeah, and woven into the life of the original writer. This one was kind of a twofer. You really get to see Christ's life there in the Psalms. But then as you think about it through David's lens and the people that betrayed him, I mentioned Ahithophel, and then thinking about him as a type. So, him as a type of Judas, David as a type Christ,
But yeah, the Psalms, oh man, unbelievably deep. If you had told me 15, 20 years ago that I'd be preaching as much from the Psalms, I would have been like, "Man, am I going to take some college classes or something?" Because I don't know what those are talking about most of the time. But once you see it in the historical life and you see it in the life of Jesus, just so awesome to see how the Holy Spirit is drawing everything
Ryan: At some point in the last decade, I started to see Jesus in almost every psalm. the way that David speaks, you know, he's speaking for himself, it's very personal, but you see this other layer to-- when he talks constantly about his innocence and the betrayal, yes, but also the way that he is pouring himself out before God, and you just start to notice almost all the psalms are messianic, in some way, and David himself in his life is messianic, so it's not surprising.
just taught through Ezekiel, and Ezekiel promises-- or God promises through Ezekiel that the one shepherd will be God, and then he says, "The one shepherd will be David." And, well, which is it? Is it God or is it David? Who's going to be the shepherd? And, of course, it's true to both. Whenever Jesus shows up, he is David.
He is the fulfillment of the promise that David was, just like all these psalms fulfill all that David was starting to embody as a man after God's own heart, but in a deeply flawed way.
Allen: Yeah, I don't know if we were talking about it off air or not, but you mentioned the multi-layer facet of a lot of prophecies. And I feel like you see that more clearly in the Psalms than any other place. You see it in the layer of that person's life, and then maybe that becomes a typology moment, and then you see it in the layer about Jesus.
And again, it's geeky stuff, which is why we're talking about it on your podcast. And I just, I can't tell you, I say at the beginning of my own podcast, I love just thinking and meditating on Scripture. And it's because of all of these layers that you mentioned that it can never be exhausted.
Ryan: And we've stumbled onto two impossible-to-fully-get-your-brain-around mysteries just in a few minutes of talking about this sermon, which are, one, what we just talked about, how David is speaking from his own heart, And
yet the Spirit of God is bringing something forth that is fulfilled in ways he could have never imagined, and also having to do with knowledge and how much knowledge there is, the way that the mystery of the Incarnation plays out in Jesus' life as he is not only taking on the experiences of humanity, but some level of self-limitation as God.
He's fully God, and yet how much does he know? And when does he know about Judas? At what point does he, as he's choosing Judas, know?
he doesn't know everything in that moment. He's choosing not to, you know, like when the woman touches him, and he says, "Who touched me?" And I think he really doesn't know.
He knows something went out, but he doesn't know who touched him until she identifies himself, and, you know, things like that that play out. It's fascinating to just ponder, as you say, what it is to be Jesus, to live the life like we do, to have abilities beyond what we have that allow him to do what we could never do, and yet to experience all of this, all of the garbage, all of the good, and to be able to look down on us and know us in such a deep and heartbreaking, at times, way that only one who becomes human and could be our high priest would know.
Allen: if Jesus chose not to know certain things in certain moments, which I do think is true, how much more true would that be of David? So David, you
Bryan: Yeah.
Allen: mentioned, you asked, how much does he know? So in moment, there's Psalms where he talks about the Christ in third person, the Lord said to my Lord, that's third person.
But then he makes first person statements, you will not abandon my soul to Hades. So it's like, it's personal in some Psalms, it's third person in another. And I think that's hard, why it's a little bit difficult to kind of wade through some of those. But yeah, man, fascinating stuff and just more and more to ponder as I get to know the Scripture.
Bryan: This lesson really does shout to your latest in the series that you've released so far as of this recording. I'm sure by the time this episode rolls out from our series that you'll have a few more. But back in that episode that you did from Psalm 22 and Jesus suffering, I think that was one of the one of the most powerful ones in the series.
think it was your 14th in that Old Testament series.
Allen: Yes, 14, it's called the crucifixion of Jesus in Hebrew poetry. And we start by talking about the road to Emmaus and just thinking about how the sticking point to so many Jews would be the death of Jesus. And they use that as a reason not to believe him. And then thinking about, we just sat and basked in Psalm 22.
Wow, God is good.
Bryan: is for sure.this really does wrap up Alan's involvement here in the Seven Sermon Summer Surfing Spectacular. And we have just absolutely loved
having you on the
Allen: I laugh every time you say that. Thank you guys, can't say thank you enough. And God bless you guys and love you guys a lot.
Ryan: Likewise, brother. You just keep preaching the word, and we'll keep finding ways to talk to you and learn from you and learn with you.
Bryan: If you want. Yeah, for sure. So if you want to get in touch with Alan, if you have any questions for him, he is available. You can reach out to him through his church website. You can reach out. I think you've got a link in all of your show notes there that you can send Alan a text and and get your pondering questions to him.
And I know Alan is active in talking to people about their faith. And I think I can speak for you, Alan, to say that you'd welcome folks reaching out with any questions.
Allen: Absolutely. Anything we can do to think about God's word together, I'm open. I'm ready.
Conclusion
Bryan: So thanks so much, everyone, for tuning in. You can find the show notes where you normally find them there on our website at biblegeeks.fm. Go check out Alan's podcast. And until our final conversation, where in this spectacular, we are going to do something a little different and is going to be a time travel back to the past, where Ryan and I, baby Ryan and I, did one of our very, very first Bible Geeks episodes many years before the actual podcast started.
So we're excited about that. And until that episode, may the Lord bless you and keep you.
Ryan: All