Sermon for the First Vespers of Lent

“The hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners” (Mark 14:41).

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Throughout this season of Lent, our eyes will serve as a
metaphor for the sin that dwells within us – treacherous eyes, slanderous eyes,
proud eyes and arrogant eyes, brutal eyes, heartless eyes, unappeasable
eyes…  The list is long according to St.
Paul’s words to Timothy (2 Tim 3:1-5), but tonight we will consider our
“Betraying Eyes,” that we may turn from our betrayal to gaze upon the light of
Christ who forgives our sin and gathers us to new life.

When we think of betrayal, certainly we think of Judas who
handed Jesus over to sinful men who would have Him killed. The name has come to
signify the height of treachery, for Judas was one of the twelve, one of the
chosen, one of the privileged who had a place in the inner circle with Jesus. He
knew firsthand the love and mercy of Christ. He had witnessed His miracles and
healings. He had heard Jesus speak of love and grace and mercy… So how could he
have committed such a treacherous act? How could he have betrayed his Lord in
such a callous way?

Certainly, you and I would never do a thing like that,
right? “Is it I?” they all asked, one after the other as they sat down to the
feast with their Lord. “Surely it is not me,” we all reassure ourselves… And we
would be wrong.

For the fact is, we all filter the world through the lenses
of our own wants, our own needs, and our own expectations… Like Judas and all of
us who have taken our flesh from Adam, we are all “lovers of self,” as St. Paul
writes, “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Tim 3:2-4), always looking
for ways to make things go the way we think they should go. And that’s all
Judas was trying to do. He thought he had a better plan, a way of jump-starting
the kingdom by forcing Jesus’ hand and getting the revolution started. He saw
it as a way of getting himself where he wanted to be: a better life, a better
kingdom, more money and more status – in fact, a 30-piece bonus of silver to
boot – It’s win/win, right?!

So Judas went to the chief priests and offered to hand Jesus
over. “And when they heard it, they were glad” (Mark14:10), for the Jews had
been looking for a way to arrest Jesus. And now, here was Judas, offering them the
perfect opportunity in an isolated garden in the middle of the night.

When the hour had come, Judas’s plan was in place. The
Passover meal had begun, and it was there that Jesus calmly surveyed the scene,
and then spoke the unspeakable: ‘Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray
Me, one who is eating with Me’” (Mark 14:18). In other words, Jesus knows our
sin. He sees our treacherous hearts and our betraying eyes – which is why He
lovingly invites us with these words to examine ourselves, to be honest with
ourselves, to confess that we are sinful and unclean that He might save us from
ourselves. As Jesus called Judas and all of them to repentance, “they began to
be sorrowful and to say one after another, ‘Is it I?’” Am I really capable of
sinning against my Lord Jesus Christ?

And the answer, of course, is YES – “It is I.” It is you. It
is me… We have all participated in the sins of Judas – We have all committed
treason by turning against our Lord. For that is, after all, what sin is: It is
the betrayal of our King of grace and the new life He has given us in Baptism.

And now, because of our sin, “the Son of Man [must go] as it
is written of Him” (Mark 14:21), “betrayed into the hands of sinners” (v. 41) –
betrayed not only by you, but FOR you! Because it is for this very
reason that Jesus came, to be betrayed and to pour out His holy, precious blood
for your sin, for Judas’s sin, for the sin of the whole world. “The Son of Man
came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many”
(Mark 10:45).

And this is where things get interesting, for the verb usually
translated as “betray” that weaves its way through our text tonight can also be
translated, “to hand over” or “to deliver.” And while it was certainly by means
of Judas that Jesus was “handed over,” it was in fact God the Father who “gave”
His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
eternal life (John 3:16). In fact, He continues to hand Him over for you. For
Jesus is “given, handed over, delivered” for you every Sunday at this altar. St.
Paul writes, “what I received from the Lord I also delivered/handed
over to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed/delivered/handed
over took bread . . .” And while we are accustomed to hearing “on the night
when He was betrayed,” the fact remains, God the Father handed Jesus over for
you – the Apostles then handed down the Lord’s Supper for you – and in that
Meal, Jesus now hands His body and blood over for you, that your sins may be
forgiven in Him.

Tonight, as you look through your betraying eyes, do not try
to hide your crimes, but confess them. For Jesus knows you are sinners – He
knew that when He went to the cross for you, and He knows it now as He comes for
you with His forgiveness. As you think of those times that you have betrayed
Him; as you recall those times that you have made promises to Him you couldn’t
keep; as you think about all the commandments that you have broken, remember
that Jesus was handed over for you – that His forgiveness was delivered for you
– that His Holy Absolution, His grace in Holy Baptism, His life-giving body and
blood are being given over and over and over again for you. Let us therefore “fix
our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set
before Him endured the cross” (Heb 12:2). And as you hear those precious words,
“on the night when He was betrayed,” rejoice that He was handed over for
your forgiveness, life, and salvation. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Preached by Pastor Holowach

Sermon Text: Mark
14:1-21, 41-46