Episode Overview

Episode Title: CROSS TO COMMISSION | Between Devotion & Deceit
Passage: Matthew 26:1-16
Speaker: Philip Anthony Mitchell
Date: October 27, 2025

This episode marks the beginning of 2819 Church’s new series, “Cross to Commission,” focusing on the climactic final three chapters of Matthew’s Gospel. Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell unpacks Matthew 26:1-16 under the theme “Between Devotion & Deceit,” pressing listeners to contemplate which camp they occupy: Mary’s humble, self-giving devotion or Judas’s self-centered deceit. The message calls for a heart revival—where Christ’s love so radically grips the believer that everything else is yielded in worship and service.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: From Devotion to Cross

• Historic Gathering & Welcome (00:00-04:00)
  • Recap of recent church event where 50,000 gathered for worship/prayer, emphasizing the global, open invitation of the gospel.
  • Warm invitation extended specifically to nonbelievers: “You can belong before you believe” (03:20).
• Introducing Matthew 26 and Series Context (04:10-08:55)
  • The message kicks off the series finale of Matthew, emphasizing Christ’s drawing power and the growth of their church community as a testimony to Jesus being lifted up.

2. Universal Sinfulness and the Need for Redemption

• Sin’s Reach & The Human Struggle (08:55-13:33)
  • Sin as the root of shame, regret, suffering, and brokenness “Sin is the bane of all human existence. It has completely ruined the human experiment that God created perfect in the beginning.” (10:08, Assistant Pastor)
  • No one escapes sin: “Every person under the sound of my voice...was born in sin. No escape for you.” (10:36, Assistant Pastor)
  • True doctrine: “The wages of sin is death...it is not just physical death…but spiritual death.” (11:19, Lead Pastor)
• The Solution: The Cross (12:17-13:55)
  • God’s redemptive plan is only and solely fulfilled by the cross of Christ.
  • “On Calvary, God nails his Son to a wooden beam…and from the cross he exchanges his perfect righteousness for your unrighteousness…” (12:20, Assistant Pastor)

3. Clarity of God’s Will and the Centrality of the Cross

• Christ’s Prophecy and Purpose (15:30-18:44)

  • Jesus explicitly predicts His impending betrayal and crucifixion—demonstrating that true discipleship is not a path of ignorance but of revelation and preparedness.

  "The Lord desires for you to know his will...He does not want his children to live in darkness. If you are ignorant, it is your own fault." (17:07, Assistant Pastor)

4. Ministry at a Cost: Devotion is Misunderstood, Opposition is Inevitable

• Plotting Against Jesus: Fear, Jealousy, and Opposition (19:52-29:59)
  • Religious leaders plot to kill Jesus out of jealousy and fear of man—“There is no real ministry without opposition...For some of us, opposition is assigned to you that you’re moving in the right direction.” (22:33, Assistant Pastor)
  • Living obediently will invite misunderstanding and opposition: “If you are a real woman of God…expect opposition as you’re walking with the Lord.” (22:33, Assistant Pastor)
  • The crowd’s blind hostility is rooted in misplaced fear: “They have more fear of man than fear of God.” (28:08, Assistant Pastor)

5. Mary’s Alabaster Jar: The Model of Costly Devotion

• Mary’s Act of Extravagant Love (30:00-44:43)
  • Matthew inserts the narrative of Mary anointing Jesus with costly oil—an out-of-sequence flashback highlighting the significance of the moment.
  • Mary’s devotion: “What she did was extravagant...Her act shows that there was nothing in her life she thought too valuable not to lay at his feet.” (39:13, Assistant Pastor)
  • Devotion brings misunderstanding and criticism: “Every time we see Mary...she’s at the feet of Jesus, and every time, someone doesn’t understand her.” (35:15, Lead Pastor)
    • E.g., “Why do you listen to so much...Why are you always up praying...Why do you read your Bible so much?” (36:41, Lead Pastor)
  • Notable moment:

    “I've never met a person that took their entire salary for one year and bought a gift for somebody that impacted their life.” (37:00, Lead Pastor, [paraphrased])

  • The challenge to Western Christianity: “She is so enamored with him as a person...She displays a type of love for Christ that is almost unheard of in Western Christianity.” (40:16, Lead Pastor)

6. Devotion vs. Deceit: The Heart’s Choice

• Judas’s Deceit, Mary’s Devotion (47:18-59:36)
  • Judas’s complaint and eventual betrayal rooted in selfishness—he stokes others’ offense (acquired offense), demonstrating how one person’s cynicism can infect a community.
  • Jesus vindicates Mary’s sacrifice: “She has done a beautiful thing to me...Wherever the gospel is preached...what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” (53:08, Lead Pastor)
  • The message to listeners: “Is it an alabaster box for you, or is it deceit? Is it devotion, or is it deceit?” (58:48, Lead Pastor)

7. Translating Devotion into Daily Life

• Prioritizing Presence Over Performance (49:24-52:56)
  • Warning about substituting busyness for genuine intimacy with Christ: “What good is activity if you’re never at his feet?...We use these Christian activities to mask the fact you have no intimacy with Christ. Enter the American church…” (49:24, Assistant Pastor)
  • Church staff culture—focus on purity, “clean hands, pure heart,” not just performance (52:23, Lead Pastor).

8. Pastoral Plea & Prayer

• Heartfelt Prayer for Deep Devotion (44:43-62:26)
  • The most moving moment: Pastor Philip’s emotional plea for God to “give you such a revelation of Christ that you would love Christ more than anything else in this life.” (43:02, Lead Pastor)
  • Prayer for listeners to have breakthrough encounters with Christ, bursting into tears at His presence, longing more for Him than anything else in life.
  • Pastoral vision for a church family marked by Mary-like devotion, not Judas-like resentment.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Every time we see Mary, she's at the feet of Jesus. She's there getting her blessing. She's there sharing her burden. She's there blessing him, at his feet. Every time we see Mary, she's at the feet of Jesus.”
  — Lead Pastor (35:15)

• “Wherever there is a person that's deeply devoted to Christ, you will be misunderstood. You are welcome, my brother.”
  — Assistant Pastor (36:28)

• “Mary is so deeply devoted to Christ that her act shows that there was nothing in her life she thought too valuable not to lay at his feet.”
  — Assistant Pastor (39:13)

• “I've never met a person that took their entire salary for one year and bought a gift for somebody that impacted their life.”
  — Lead Pastor (37:00)

• “We use all these Christian activities to mask the fact you have no intimacy with Christ. Enter the American church, a church full of busybodies that don't sit at his feet.”
  — Assistant Pastor (49:24)

• “What she did was extravagant.”
  — Assistant Pastor (39:13)

• “You honor God, God honors you. You take a stand for God. You take a stand for you. You acknowledge Jesus, he'll acknowledge you.”
  — Lead Pastor (53:08)

• “Is it devotion or is it deceit?...That is my prayer for you.”
  — Lead Pastor (60:05)

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|----------------------| | 00:00-04:00 | Introduction, welcome, and recap of historic gathering | | 08:55-13:33 | Discussion on sin, universal depravity, and the cross | | 19:52-29:59 | Plotting against Jesus, fear of man, opposition in ministry | | 30:00-44:43 | Mary anoints Jesus, devotion, and being misunderstood | | 47:18-49:24 | Judas’s complaint, acquired offense, disciples’ response | | 49:24-52:56 | Critique of mere busyness; plea for true intimacy with Jesus | | 53:08-57:47 | Jesus honors Mary; “what you honor will be honored” | | 58:48-60:05 | The choice: Devotion or Deceit—Judas’s betrayal | | 60:05-62:26 | Closing prayer: For radical devotion to Christ |

Conclusion: Call to Decision

The episode powerfully urges listeners to examine which camp their hearts reside in—devotion (Mary) or deceit (Judas). The essence of Christian maturity and fruitfulness is a love for Christ so fierce and deep that nothing is withheld from Him. The most important act is not religious service, but being at Jesus’ feet, loving Him wholeheartedly, and letting service flow from that devotion.

“My prayer for you is that you will remember what Christ has done for you…and that there is nothing you have that you will withhold from Him, that you will be on the side of devotion and not on the side of deceit.”
— Lead Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell (60:05)

For more resources and sermons, visit 2819Church.org.