From the Top to the Bottom

Introduction

A few weeks before Easter, Nicolas Mierzwiak opens the Gospel of Matthew to chapter 26, verses 57 to 68: Jesus stands before the Jewish tribunal, at the house of the high priest Caiaphas. False witnesses parade through, accusations pile up, and Jesus, pressed by the high priest, lets fall a sentence that will turn everything upside down. In a single passage, you see Jesus go from the very top, "the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty," all the way to the bottom, humiliated, slapped, beaten. From the top to the bottom. He is up there, you are down here. And yet, it is he who comes down to find you.

Outline of the Message

1. Watch Out for Half Truths About Jesus

• Jewish law required that two testimonies match to serve as proof. Before this tribunal, no two accounts agreed. It was obvious to everyone that what was being said about Jesus was false.
• Even today, some claims about Jesus are clearly false, and you can spot them right away: "Jesus never existed," "Jesus was not crucified," "Jesus was a misogynist." It is obvious that this is false.
• But two false witnesses finally claim: "This man said, I can destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days" (v. 60-61). The accusation is serious, because for the Jews, blaspheming the temple is blaspheming God himself.
• The problem is that Jesus never said he was going to destroy the temple. This lie is drawn from the truth: it resembles an actual passage in John 2. It is a half truth. And a half truth is a lie.
• There are half truths about Jesus circulating today that we are ready to follow: "Jesus wants me to succeed in my career." "Jesus wants me to have a beautiful house." "Jesus is not my Savior, but he's a great life coach." "Jesus is my provider: I ask, I ask, I receive." "Jesus is the best therapist: when I feel a little guilty, he soothes my heart and I go back to my business."
• All of these things are drawn from the truth, but they are not entirely true. We love them because they are less disruptive than a real Jesus who asks you to give up everything. We love them because sometimes they even feed our idols.
• The real question is: do you follow the Jesus you serve, or do you follow the Jesus who is supposed to serve you? Do you choose the real one, or the fake one?

2. Real or Fake: You Always Choose the Real One

• Nicolas tells his own story as a sneaker fan. As a teenager, he owned about fifteen pairs. His father had even asked him: "Why do you always have new shoes?" He loved it so much that he would never buy fakes.
• When you travel and see markets full of five dollar knockoffs, you don't even look: those shoes have less value, less quality, and they wear out much faster.
• He recalls once being given a pair of Nike TNs. They looked nice, they had hundred dollar bills printed on them, he was showing off a little. But they were fake. No real value at all. Just a pale imitation that looked like the real thing.
• If Nicolas asked you: "A real diploma or a fake diploma? A real friendship or a fake friendship? Real love or fake love?" Those who have been manipulated in the name of love and then discarded know the answer. For nothing in the world would you choose the fake.
• Whatever the question, we always choose the real one. But when it comes to Jesus, do you choose the real one, the one you must serve? Or do you choose the fake one, the one who is supposed to serve you?

3. "You Have Said So": Jesus Is the Messiah, But Not the One They Expected

• Before the false witnesses, Jesus remains silent. Then the high priest commands him: "I put you under oath by the living God: tell us if you are the Messiah" (v. 63).
• Jesus answers: "You have said so." In other words: "Those are your own words. I am." But Bible scholars explain that Jesus adds a nuance: "I am the Messiah, but not in the way you understand it."
• There were more than four hundred Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. The Jews were expecting a Messiah who would free Israel from Roman oppression, make the nation shine, make it prosper. They were expecting a liberator from Rome, an agent of prosperity, a springboard to greatness.
• Jesus says: "I am the Messiah, but not in the sense you understand. I am far more than that." And he adds in verse 64: "I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty God and coming on the clouds of heaven."

4. Jesus Is the One Daniel Saw Coming on the Clouds

• What Jesus says here is a prophecy drawn from the Old Testament. In the book of Daniel, the prophet has a vision of four beasts, representing four kingdoms of the ancient world: kingdoms that dominate the world, with global power and influence.
• Daniel announces what no one expects: these kingdoms will fall. All of them, one after another. No matter how powerful a government is, no matter who stands at its head, one day, it falls.
• But Daniel 7:13-14 says: "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."
• Daniel sees a son of man who receives dominion, glory, and kingship forever and without limit. Someone whom every man and woman, of every nation, every language, every background, will one day worship.
• Nicolas proclaims it: we serve, we worship, we praise, we celebrate, we dedicate our lives to this Son of Man. Jesus dominates, Jesus reigns. Over what is happening in the Middle East, in the United States, in Canada, all over the world. Nothing escapes him. We are troubled, but he is not troubled.
• And if he reigns over everything happening in the world, he also reigns over your life. Jesus reigns over your suffering, over your greatest trials, over your anxieties, over your failures, over your fiercest enemies. Jesus reigns.

5. Seated at the Right Hand of the Almighty: No One Else Has Ever Done That

• Jesus goes further than Daniel 7. He says he is "seated at the right hand of the Almighty," a phrase drawn from Psalm 110. No one in the Old Testament was ever able to sit at God's right hand.
• In the Bible, a few men and women received a revelation of God. But none of them could sit at his right hand. Because God's throne is too great for us. His glory is so far beyond us that our minds cannot even measure it.
• Nicolas dares to say it: God has nothing to do with you. You are insignificant before God. This is not to belittle you, it is to show how great he is. If this touches you right now, go talk to Jesus, because it is precisely because he is truly all powerful.
• The prophet Isaiah, in chapter 6, has a vision of God and cries out: "Woe to me, I am ruined." In Judges 13, Manoah receives a revelation of God and, seized with terror along with his wife, says: "We are going to die, for we have seen God."
• In the New Testament, the apostle John, a pillar of Christianity, a man who walked with Jesus, writes in Revelation 1: "Among the lampstands was someone like a son of man... and I fell at his feet as though dead." Because before the glory of this holy God, you cannot stand.
• And yet, Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of that very God. That is who Jesus really is. That is who he is.

6. From the Top to the Bottom: The Almighty Comes Down to the Lowest Place

• From one verse to the next, everything flips. In verse 64, Jesus declares himself the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty. In verse 65, the high priest tears his clothes and cries out blasphemy. In verses 67-68, "they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, Prophesy to us, Christ, who hit you."
• You go from the one who is the Son of Man to the one who is spat on. From the one seated at God's right hand to the one who is struck and beaten. From the one coming on the clouds of heaven to the one who is insulted, slapped, and mocked.
• Jesus came down to the very bottom. Why? Because some of us are all the way down. Jesus came all the way down to seek out those who are lower than the ground.
• And the most incredible thing is that despite the suffering, despite the blows, despite the punishment, despite the death that was coming, Jesus remained standing. He stayed firm. He did not give up.
• If Jesus remained standing in that moment, it means that in your greatest suffering, when you are no longer able to fight, when the trial is too hard, when life hits too hard and you are on the ground, he is still standing. He is the only one able to hold on.

7. The Real Jesus Is Not Indifferent to Your Suffering

• Sometimes we hear people give up on Jesus because he "did not answer their prayer." The real sentence behind those words is: "If he really existed, he would not have let me suffer the way I have."
• Nicolas asks the question honestly: when our trials push us away from God more than anything else, maybe it is because we have not truly grasped who the real Jesus is.
• The real Jesus is not indifferent to suffering. This is the Jesus who came lower than the ground. This Jesus who is moved by your suffering. This Jesus whose heart breaks when you cry before him and cry out to him.
• He chose not to give up. He chose to go all the way so that you could lean on him when you are all the way down.
• We can suffer for so many reasons: our children drifting from God, sickness, an uncertain end of the month, a job going badly, an addiction we can't shake, a Christian walk that has stalled. There are seasons when we feel like we are lying down, unable to move forward.
• In the weeks leading up to Easter, Nicolas wants to remind you: the one who is at the very top is the one who came all the way down. No matter your situation, no matter how hard or intense it is, he is there, and he has remained standing.

8. Miles, Birmingham, and the Ghetto: When a Man Goes Down to the Lowest Place

• This week, Nicolas had the privilege of visiting the church of Pastor George White in Alabama, a friend of La Chapelle. There he met one of the pastors, Miles, who runs the ministry in the tough neighborhoods of Birmingham.
• Miles took the group into the city's ghetto. Nicolas, who had already served in difficult neighborhoods in France, says he had never seen anything like it: collapsing roofs, boarded up houses, holes in the windows, holes in the walls. And people lived in these houses. Mister George, Mister Gibbs.
• Miles also showed them the spots where young people spend the whole day selling drugs, carrying weapons, not knowing how it will end. A zone of misery, of suffering.
• Nicolas makes an important point: "You don't need to live in the ghetto to be at the bottom. Sometimes you can have all the comfort in the world and still be at the bottom, because it's happening right here, in the heart. The only difference between them and us is that no one sees us. But God sees you. When no one sees you, God sees you."
• Miles is not a guy from the ghetto. More than 10 years ago, with his wife, they decided to buy a house in the neighborhood to make Jesus visible there. They went down to the lowest place.
• One evening, while his wife was standing in front of the house, a man was shot dead right in front of her. Six gunshots. Bullets went through Miles' house. Nicolas walked past the old house: you could still see the holes in the walls.
• He recounts the fruit of this ministry: 115 young people baptized, 24 young people who went off to college (and when you know what that costs there, it's a miracle), others who joined the workforce, one who was about to enlist in the army. Transformed lives. Young people who moved from death to life, pulled literally out of hell.
• Miles became Nicolas's hero. He asked him: "Have you ever wanted to leave?" The answer: "Certainly, many times." Even the strongest are not able to stay standing in suffering. Even those who seem tough. But Miles did not give up. Because he decided to put his trust in the one who is both seated on the throne and who came all the way down.

9. This God Who Reigns and Who Comes to Sit Beside You

• Nicolas does not know what season you are in. Standing or on the ground. If you are standing, be grateful to God this morning: "Lord, I am so glad not to be in suffering right now."
• But wherever you find yourself, may suffering never push you away from God. Because even when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you fear no evil, for he is with you (Psalm 23:4).
• This morning, Jesus is standing beside you. This morning, Jesus still has his hand on your shoulder. And he asks you a simple question: "Will you take it?"
• He is this God who reigns. This God who is so great, so powerful, so exalted, so immense. And at the same time, he is this God who comes to sit beside you.
• Nicolas closes with the same sentence he opened his sermon with: "He is this God before whom you are not able to stand, but who decided to come all the way down so that you could stand before him."

What to Remember

Matthew 26:57-68 is a dizzying reversal. In just a few verses, Jesus declares himself the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty, the one Daniel saw coming on the clouds, the one to whom every nation will one day give glory. And in the verses that follow, he is spat on, struck, mocked. From the top to the bottom. This movement is no accident: it is the heart of the gospel. The all powerful God came all the way down to seek out those who are all the way down. He remained standing in his suffering so that, when you are no longer able to hold on, he can reach out his hand and carry you.

Choose the real Jesus. Not the à la carte therapist, not the success coach, not the automatic provider. The real one. The one who reigns over your life and who came all the way down for you. Even when no one sees you, he sees you. Even when you are on the ground, he is standing beside you. A few weeks before Easter, let this truth lift you back to your feet.

FAQ

What does "from the top to the bottom" mean in Nicolas Mierzwiak's message?

In a single passage, Matthew 26:57-68, Jesus moves from being "the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty, coming on the clouds of heaven" (v. 64) to being the one who is spat on and slapped (v. 67-68). The all powerful God comes all the way down to seek out those who are lower than the ground. That is the heart of the message.

How do I tell the real Jesus apart from the half truths I hear everywhere?

A lie is often drawn from the truth. "Jesus wants my career to succeed," "Jesus is my coach," "Jesus is my therapist": these phrases sound like the truth, but they turn Jesus into someone who serves you instead of the one you serve. The real Jesus is the one seated on the throne of the universe, who sometimes asks you to give things up, to change, to step out of your comfort zone.

Why did Jesus remain standing in his suffering?

Because he knew that in your greatest suffering, when you can no longer fight, when life hits too hard, someone had to remain standing beside you. He is the only one able to hold firm through the heaviest trials, and to reach out his hand to carry you.

Is suffering proof that God has abandoned me?

No. Nicolas warns: when trials push us away from God more than anything else, it is often because we have not grasped who the real Jesus is. The real Jesus is not indifferent to suffering. He came lower than the ground. He is moved by your suffering. His heart breaks when you cry before him. Even in the valley of the shadow of death, he is with you.

Who is Miles, whose story Nicolas tells?

Miles is one of the pastors at Pastor George White's church in Birmingham, Alabama, a friend of La Chapelle. He runs the ministry in the city's tough neighborhoods. With his wife, he bought a house in the ghetto more than 10 years ago to make Jesus visible there. Despite bullets going through their house, he did not give up, and his ministry has seen 115 young people baptized and 24 go on to college.

Take Action This Week

• Spot a half truth about Jesus that you carry. Write it down, then measure it against the biblical text. Is this the Jesus you serve, or the Jesus who is supposed to serve you?
• Read Matthew 26:57-68 slowly again, tracing with your finger the shift between verse 64 and verse 67. Let the contrast grab you.
• Name your "all the way down" zone. Where you are on the ground, where you feel like no one sees you. Remember: God sees you, and he is standing beside you.
• Pray Psalm 23:4: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me."
• In the weeks leading up to Easter, take two minutes each day to say out loud: "The one who is at the very top came all the way down for me."

Video Message

Watch the full message on YouTube, From the Top to the Bottom, Nicolas Mierzwiak