Miracles of Jesus, September 27th, 2026

- Well, good morning, Fellowship. Man, it's great to be with you. Those of you that are with us in the chapel, maybe joining us online. Thanks for being here today. What a great day. It's been so far with child dedication. And I just love this special day here in the worship center. We've been able to celebrate eight families at the 11 o'clock hour. We'll celebrate eight families as well. It's just a great, great morning. Listen, if you're new to us, maybe you are here for the child dedication and we haven't had a chance to meet yet. My name is Mark. I'm one of the teaching pastors here. If this is your first time here, we're so glad that you're with us today. Thanks for being here. If you'd like to find out a little bit more about Fellowship, how you can get connected here, be a part of what God's doing in and through our church, both in the city. And as we saw in the video there, all across the world, we'd love to have you do that. The best way to do that is after the service dropped by a place right outside these doors over by the cross called the connection center. And we can help you get connected here at Fellowship.

Now, almost for a month now, we have been talking about a big initiative for our church. You may remember two years ago, we rolled out an initiative where we said that we want to love on and care for every single person incarcerated in the state of Arkansas. And we gathered and packed up care packages. And you may remember a couple of years ago, there were a tribe of us that went and delivered all of those packages in every single person in the state of Arkansas received a care package so that they would know that they are loved and seen by God. And then a month ago, we mentioned on Vision Sunday that this year we want to do that for people who are in foster care. People, kids that are in foster care, foster families, those who serve and love those families on behalf of the government, the DFCS that have such hard work, what a group of people that so often feel unseen and unloved by the world. And what a picture of the gospel that can be for us as a people to take a care package to them. You do realize that at the heart of the gospel is this idea that all of us have been adopted in the God's family by grace through faith in Jesus. All of us. And what a beautiful opportunity we have

to show and model the gospel to these families all across the state. And so our hope is that we would be able to pack some 9,000 care packages and that represents all of the kids and families and workers who serve those families all across the state across all seven of our campuses. So simply, here are three things that I want to ask you to consider today. The first is this, would you be willing to show up on October the 7th to the packing night here at the West Little Rock campus from six to eight and help us put together these care packages that'll go out to these kids, to these families and be a part of what we feel like is going to be an incredible blessing. And I want to encourage you to sign up for that to register that. Second, you'll notice there is would you be willing to pick up a card that represents one of the kids that is in foster care. And on that card are different things that we're asking you to buy for that care package. Each card represents approximately about $35 to $50, give or take per kid. Would you be willing to pick up one or two or three or multiple of those cards, go and buy those things and then bring those back, incredibly important, Right now, on the West Little Rock campus, we have 1,000 over 1,000 kids that still need to be picked up.

And so I want to encourage you today. Don't hesitate any longer. Go out to the table out here on the plaza out there. You'll see it. It's clearly marked, go and grab one of those cards. And over the next week or so, pick those things up for us. The last thing I want to ask you to do is to consider going out with us to distribute those care packages. On October the 17th, we'll take those out to different parts of the state, deliver those to the foster kids, to the foster families, and of course to the workers that do such an amazing job of serving those families. What an incredible opportunity we have as the people of God to put the gospel on display for our whole city, our whole state to see, for a group of people who so often are unseen and unloved. And just in a very small way to hand them a package and just say, Jesus loves you and Jesus sees you. So I want to encourage you, if you're not already a part of it, man, jump on board with us. It's going to be a great opportunity for us as a church. Well, we are in a series that we are calling the miracles of Jesus. And we have been looking at six miracles of Jesus. Now, of course, Jesus did a lot more than six miracles, right? But these six miracles really emphasize the theme that we have as a church as a people this year, which is God is able. God is able. Specifically, what we've seen in this series is that God is able by His power and His authority

to do the miraculous at any time for your good, for my good, but ultimately for His glory. And we've been able to see that throughout this series so far. Interestingly enough, today, what we're going to see is Jesus do a miracle in the middle of arguably the most famous betrayal that our world has ever known. I wonder, have you ever been betrayed? Ever been blindsided? I'm talking about that cold, sinking feeling in your stomach when you realize that somebody you trusted, somebody you loved has turned on you? Maybe it was a spouse who left you for someone else. Maybe it was a business partner who stole a client. Maybe it was a close friend who shared with others something that you had shared with them in the strictest of confidence. All of us have felt the sting of betrayal. And listen, if you have it, you will. Betrayal hurts. It hurts because it never comes from an enemy. Betrayal is something that always comes from someone who says they love us. It's a deep hurt because betrayal requires intimacy. It requires closeness in the relationship. It requires trust. And that's why the pain is like no other pain. It's why our human reaction to betrayal is almost always a desire to retaliate or to seek revenge or to erect really high walls around our heart so that in the future we don't get hurt again.

Betrayal is a pain that is unbearable. And if you've ever personally experienced this pain, then you're uniquely prepared to step into the garden to this miracle story on the night that Jesus was arrested. And you'll find this story in your Bible or on your Bible app in Luke chapter 22, Luke chapter 22. Here in just a moment, we're going to pick it up in verse 47. But before we do that, as you're making your way there, let me give you a little bit of context to the passage that we're going to be looking at today. Jesus and his disciples. Man, Jesus has been in agonizing prayer. In fact, so much so that we're told that at one point his sweat actually started turning to blood because he's starting to feel the weight, the weight, the agonizing weight, the agonizing weight of what is to come. That soon and very soon he's going to be on a cross giving up his life for the sins of the whole world, for your sins, for my sins, and it's weighing heavily on him. And here is what happens next, verse 47. Here's what we're told. While he was still speaking, that's Jesus. There came a crowd, and the man called Judas. One of the twelve was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, "Judas, would you betray the Son of man with a kiss?" And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, "Lord shall we strike with the sword." And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. But Jesus said, "No more of this." And he touched his ear and healed him. And Jesus said to the chief priests and the officers of the temples and elders who had

come out against him, "Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs?" When I was with you day after day and the temple you did not lay hands on me, but this is your hour and the power of darkness. What I want to do this morning is I want to walk through this verse by verse with you. And I've got three questions that you can see there. One thing to look of it is as three points of application. I think these questions work alongside the three questions that we already see in this text. Let's look at verse 47 again. We're told while he was still speaking, there came a crowd and the man called Judas, one of the twelve was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, "Judas, would you betray the son of man with a kiss?" So Jesus is speaking here, probably teaching his disciples and those that are with his disciples and suddenly a crowd shows up. They're armed. They're there with purpose. The purpose is to arrest Jesus. And they've come to do that, obviously, under the cover of darkness. Why? Because they're trying to avoid a larger conflict. I mean, Jesus is incredibly popular with the people. I mean, just a short while ago, as he was coming into Jerusalem, all of the people were gathered there shouting, "Hosanna in the highest." There are a lot of people that love and support and are encouraged and hopeful of Jesus. What's most shocking here is not the swords, but the one who steps forward to betray Jesus. It's none other than Judas. Now, why is that shocking? Would Judas is not an outsider? He is not a Roman spy.

In fact, we're told, notice in verse 47, that he is one of the twelve. He's an insider, if you want to think about it that way. As a disciple, and don't lose sight of this, Judas for three years has walked and talked and done life with Jesus. Judas was in the boat when Jesus walked on water, man, with his own ears, no pun intended. He actually heard the Sermon on the Mount. Man, this guy has seen Jesus with his own eyes heal the lame, the sick, the blind. And Judas was trusted by Jesus and the other disciples, so much so that we're told in the gospel of John that Judas was the one who Using our language today, Judas was the CFO of the group. Listen, friends, you don't give the money to somebody you don't trust. And I think Judas was a friend of Jesus. And maybe why when Judas walks up, Jesus noticed in verse 48 actually causing by name, Judas. And maybe that's what makes this betrayal even more horrific and hurtful. And take note here of how Judas carries out his betrayal of the Lord Jesus. Luke tells us he kissed him, a kiss is no casual greeting. In this culture it was a sign of love and respect for the other person. Oftentimes a student might come up to their beloved teacher or their beloved rabbi and in a show of affection and respect they would kiss them on each side of the cheek. And Judas uses this sign of affection as a tool of betrayal, pointing those who wish to kill Jesus to their target. Which is exactly why Jesus asked him the question that he does, he says, "Judas, would you betray

the son of man with a kiss?" By the way, Jesus is not surprised by Judas' betrayal. He's not, Jesus has not caught off guard here. Don't think that Jesus is an incomplete control. Jesus' any moment could have said a word and walk through the arresting mob to his own freedom. But he knew and he knows that this is a part of God's unfolding purpose and plan to redeem the world. And so he is willingly giving up himself in the garden here to arrest. You know, I think it's easy to look at Judas and to distance ourselves from him. What I mean is we see him as a monster, a traitor, a villain, we read this story and we see ourselves in the story and we say that we would never betray Jesus like Judas does here. But I wonder if we look a little closer at ourselves today if we might see a little Judas in our hearts. What I mean is that outwardly we show love and devotion to Jesus, but inwardly our heart is compromised. So the first question I wanna ask you and it's close to the question that Jesus asked of Judas here is are you betraying Jesus with a kiss? See some of us outwardly say we love Jesus, but there's an inward rebellion in our heart. We come to church, we sing songs of surrender, we read our Bible and we leave here and we're just like the rest of the world. And you don't think about it this way and you wouldn't say it this way,

but it's as if that's a kiss of betrayal to Jesus. You say you wanna love and follow Jesus, but you willingly live a life of secret sin. It's as if it's a kiss of betrayal to Jesus. You say you wanna love and follow Jesus, but you're not willing to surrender all of the parts of your life. You're not willing to surrender your money. You're not willing to surrender your dreams. You're not willing to surrender your dating life. You're not willing to surrender your sexuality. And we might not say it this way. We might not think about it this way, but we're betraying Jesus with a kiss because we profess to him our love and devotion only to betray him with a heart of disobedience. way, we so desperately need God's grace and forgiveness every single day. And thank you for it. I wonder friend, in what way, in what area in your life, are you betraying Jesus with the kids? You're saying one thing, you're looking one way, but on the inside, at the heart level. There's rebellion. There's disobedience in your heart. Well, the story continues. Look what happens after this kiss of betrayal, verse 49. We're told him, "When those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, 'Lord shall we strike with the sword.'" And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, "Cut off his ear, cut off his right ear, but Jesus said no more of this, and he touched his ear and healed him.'" There is the miracle. Now, it's interesting, Luke does not name this disciple, but we know from one of the other gospel accounts, do you want to guess who this is? Peter. This is Peter. In this moment, Peter, he panics. He thinks the kingdom of God's falling apart, so what does he do? He takes out his sword and he just starts swinging. And he cuts off the ear of a servant named Malchus. And what I find fascinating here, and I want you to see it, is Luke here, who by the way, as a physician goes into great

description, he even tells us it's his right ear. Do you see that? I think that's incredible because the Bible, what you hold in your hands is true and right and precise and detailed. These are generalities. These are things that are in the Word of God that speak to your life in my life that are incredibly specific. He tells us that he chopped off his right ear. And at some point, in the middle of this chaotic scene, Jesus is being wrongfully arrested. Jesus is innocent. He's about to be beaten, mocked, and killed. And yet, in the middle of all of this, what does Jesus do? He stops and heals this man. Now, we don't know exactly how this happened. We don't know if Jesus kind of reached down and grabbed this dude's ear and stuck it back on and kind of healed him. We don't know if in that moment that Jesus just put his hand there and recreated a new ear for Malchus. We don't really know exactly how this miracle happened. And I'm not sure that's even terribly important. I think what is important is that this servant is an enemy of Jesus. This person has come to do ill will to Jesus. This is someone who is there who will wrong Jesus, arrest Jesus who is an innocent man. And Jesus shows love, compassion, and kindness to this man and heals his ear. And can you imagine the stories this guy must have told the rest of his life? Huh? You know how it is at a dinner party or when you're out with your friends, you're kind of telling old stories? Let me tell you something. When they got to this cat and he started talking about, "Hey, you're not going to believe this, but I met a guy one time who cut off my ear and healed it." Let me tell you what that is. That's a mic drop, right? So we don't know how it happened, but here's what we do know. Man, what a beautiful moment that our Savior is showing us of what it looks like to love our enemies. It defies human logic. And here's the thing. Jesus calls us as his followers to that same kind of radical love. It's incredibly hard. Listen to what Jesus Jesus says about this. These are His words, Matthew 5, 43. you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. I'd say one of the most challenging aspects of following Jesus is responding with grace and love to those who are against you.

It's very difficult to rise above our desire to wanna retaliate and seek revenge against those who have wronged us, those who have hurt us. I would say that we have a little bit of a Peter instinct in us. When we get wrong, do we get hurt by someone? We like to take matters into our own hands, don't we? And we start swinging a sword, which leads me to my second question of application. Are you someone who swings a sword? Now, the sword that Peter is swinging here is a literal sword. He's cutting off the ear of the high priest servant. But our swords look a little different today, but we still use them to inflict harm on the people around us. When your spouse hurts you or angers you, do you pick up your sword? Start using harsh words and a loud voice to cut them down to size. Do you retaliate by giving them the silent treatment? You might not think about it this way. You might not say it this way, but it's like you're picking up a sword. When you see something on social media that maybe is against your values or something you politically disagree with, how do you respond? Do you take out your sword and type of harsh response in hope of taking down the other person?

As you write it, you tell yourself that you're just defending the truth, standing up for what's right, but really it's you just responding. In anger. I can tell you this story now because it was 15 years ago, but one Wednesday night a youth group, my son showed up a youth group and somebody slashed his tire. And in a moment of anger with a desire to protect my son, I went on social media and accused a group of people of slashing my son's tire. I wasn't being anything like Jesus. I wasn't loving my enemies. I wasn't blessing those who persecute me. I was picking up my sword. And I hurt that group of people. I sinned against that group of people. And I had to go and confess my sin to that group of people. And they were incredibly gracious to me and forgave me. But I think it's very easy when we get hurt, when we get wronged or someone that we love gets wronged to look down and to pick up our sword and to seek to retaliate or get revenge against the people that have hurt us. And I think Jesus looks at our anger and our desire for revenge and he says to us what he says to Peter here. What does he say to him?

He says, no more of this. In other words, set aside your anger, set aside your sword, set aside your sinful flesh. And love your enemies with a radical love. And the only way you can love people and love your enemies is through the power and the work of the Holy Spirit in you. We can't manufacture somehow this radical love that Jesus is talking about here. We need the power and the work of God. His grace working in and through us to be able to love our enemies and those who have wronged us. We need his strength, but thankfully we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. And look how this miracle story ends. Jesus heals this man in this chaotic scene. Show such love and compassion. priest and officers of the temple and elders who had come out against him, 'Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs?' And when I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me, but this is your hour and the power of darkness.' After healing this man's ear, Jesus turns his attention to the religious leaders who were there, who really have put together this late night mob to come and to arrest him. And he confronts their cowardice. He calls him out for coming to him under the cover of darkness and treating him like he's a ruthless criminal. And notice the last statement that Jesus makes here in verse 53, it's really the theological anchor of this text. He says this, "This is your hour and the power of darkness." Very interesting statement. This is your hour and the power of darkness. When Jesus says this is your hour, He is acknowledging a brutal reality that for a specific window of time, evil was given the upper hand. Satan was temporarily allowed to work his evil scheme. Judas could betray Jesus. The soldiers and religious leaders could arrest Jesus. To everyone watching that night, it must have looked like Jesus was losing.

It appeared that darkness had won and that the light of the world was defeated. But don't miss the important word here, the word hour. He calls it an hour, which is a very specific, small, defined amount of time. And in this short window of time, darkness was allowed to operate, but its power was ultimately on a deadline. Satan was given a short lease to work out his plan, but the truth is he was just walking out the script that God had already written. God was in sovereign control, working everything in the garden, and he will work everything after the garden, ultimately for his glory. The evil one was ready to take his victory lap. But little did he know that Jesus' arrest was actually moving Jesus one step closer to the crushing defeat of sin and death forever on the cross. What looked like the defeat of God in the garden turned out to be the beginning of his ultimate victory. Jesus had to walk through a dark hour. You know, there will be times in your life and in my life where we will face a dark hour. And hear me, our dark hour will never compare to the dark hour that Jesus had to go through. But my final question to you and to me is this, are you willing to trust God when your dark hour comes? Jesus trusted God, his father, in his dark hour. He submitted himself to the will of his father, not my will, but your will be done. Are you willing to do the same? All of us will face a season that feels like a dark hour. It's the cancer diagnosis that changes everything in your life. It's the sudden death of someone that you love. It's the loss of a job or a broken relationship. It's the battle with depression that makes it hard for us to face today. And maybe some of you are in a dark hour even today. Life just feels overwhelming. And maybe even now the enemies whispering to you that the darkness has absolute and total control. I want to encourage you today that the darkness that you're going through is on a clock. It may be dark for a season in your life, but eventually, the light will break through. You're not alone in your darkness. The Lord Jesus is with you. And the Lord Jesus knows what it's like to go through the darkness. He Himself went through the darkest hour ever. And He will walk with you every step of the way. And in this darkness, Jesus was not overwhelmed. So you can trust Him, even in your dark hour, that He is with you and that Jesus is in control

and He's working everything, even though it may not feel like in your life. He's working everything for your good and ultimately for God's glory. Even in the darkest seasons of your life and in my life, you can trust, friend, that there's victory in Jesus. Here in the garden, it looks like defeat, but Jesus was actually headed towards the greatest victory. At the cross, it ultimately realized through the empty tin. And Jesus can work that same power, that same grace in your life and my life, even in the darkest of moments. Let's pray together. Jesus, thank you that in the darkest of hours, the darkest of moments, when it looked like a most certain defeat of you and your kingdom, that through your power, through your strength, God was working and accomplishing His divine plan and purposes ultimately to redeem a world, to redeem us, to offer us life and hope and forgiveness of sins through the sacrifice of Jesus. Thank you that in the darkness, eventually light will shine through. Lord, many of us need that encouragement, that hope, that comfort this morning. Would you comfort our hearts with the truth that we're not walking alone, that you are with us in this dark season? And there are some of us in here, whether we want to acknowledge it or not, there's a little bit of betrayal in our heart, Jesus. We too have given you the kiss of betrayal, maybe in small ways, maybe even in big ways today. Lord, Jesus, would you forgive us? We come to you with open hands and open hearts. We ask you to forgive us. We ask you that you would help us empower us, encourage us to walk faithfully with you and an obedience to you, we want to be a people that follow and love you with all of our heart, minds, and souls. Would you help us to do that for the glory of your name?

Would you be with us today? Use us today. We love you in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thanks again for listening to the Word of God. We are blessed to reach you throughout the week through whatever platform you're listening on. If you're reading prayer or you want to talk to someone about your walk with Jesus, reach out to us at fellowshipar.com/contact. Have a great week. (upbeat music)