Matthew 28 English Standard Version (ESV) The Resurrection 28:1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” The Report of the Guard 11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. The Great Commission 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” We wrap up the gospel of Matthew with the Resurrection of Jesus. How fitting as I am writing this blog during Holy Week 2020, and it is nearly time for us to once again celebrate the resurrection of our risen Lord.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is finished, as is the Sabbath day that follows, and Matthew is very clear that we are talking about Sunday morning--the first day of the week. Some women, specifically mentioned here are Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary." We see from putting all the gospels together that there were several women in this group, but not everyone gets mentioned in every story. And there was a great earthquake when an unnamed angel of the Lord rolled back the stone and sat on it so that the tomb was open for them and he could greet the women when they got to the tomb. His presence also took care of the Roman guard that had been posted as they were afraid and "fell like dead men" (maybe they fainted) because of their fear when they were in the presence of God's messenger. Ultimately though the message this angel had was not for the Roman guard--it was for the women who were visiting the tomb that morning--“Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” Notice that the soldiers did have need to fear, but for those for whom the message was intended, the first words that were given were "Do no be afraid." For those of us who are in Christ, the resurrection is not something to fear, but something that brings great job, but for the enemies of God who thought they had defeated the King of Kings--for them to see and hear that Jesus had risen and to see but one heavenly warrior guarding the tomb struck great fear in their hearts. The women left the tomb with great joy, but still did not truly understand, and Jesus personally appeared to the women to show them He was alive and to deliver the message personally that they need not be afraid and that He would be waiting for the disciples in Galilee (a long way away from Jerusalem where this story was happening). We return to the guards and see that while they were a Roman cohort, they realized that they were keeping the tomb secure at the request of the chief priests--so we see them going to report the events to them. The chief priests again turned to money, probably out of the temple treasury again, to bribe the guards to tell a lie that would normally mean not just the end of a Roman soldier's career, but the end of his life, so it must have been a very good bribe. They instructed the soldiers to tell the people that they had fallen asleep during their watch and that during the night, the disciples had come and stolen the body to fake the resurrection. The bribe also came with a promise of political protection as the Sanhedrin promised to protect them from Pilate and any other Roman governor that might try to come after the guard for such utter dereliction of duty. Matthew ends this part to say that this lie is still circulated and believed by many of the Jews at the time that he wrote his gospel, and it is still one of the theories circulated today. Last, but not least, we see Matthew tell us the final words that Jesus gave to His disciples and the Church before ascending into heaven. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew doesn't even tell us what happens to Jesus at that point as that wasn't the story that he was telling. This is the gospel of Matthew that was written mostly to the Jewish people to explain that he knew these things were real. He had seen the risen Christ, and the disciples were out making disciples of all the nations because that is what the risen Christ had commanded them to do, and it is what He has also commanded all of us to do. Our mission is The Great Commission.
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Matthew 27:32-66 English Standard Version (ESV) LISTEN: https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Matt.27.32-Matt.27.66 The Crucifixion 32 As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. 33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34 they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. 36 Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. 37 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. 39 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. The Death of Jesus 45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” 48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” 55 There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. Jesus Is Buried 57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. The Guard at the Tomb 62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. Jesus was so battered and beaten from the torture that He had just endured that He could not even complete the task of carrying His own cross and a man from the crowd--Simon of Cyrene--was compelled to carry the cross (probably the crossbeam) the rest of the way to Golgotha (The Place of the Skull) which we also know as Mount Calvary. Once He was hung on the cross the soldiers tried to offer Him wine to drink, but it had been mixed with myrrh so as to dull the pain and slow the breathing and aid in a faster, less painful death. When Jesus tasted that the wine they offered Him was spiked, He spit it out and would not take any to drink--He would experience the fullness of the pain and torture that He came to bear for us.
The torture did not stop with the beatings. We get the word excruciating from the same word as crucifixion. Those being crucified were positioned in such a way where their own body weight would push on their lungs and they would suffocate unless they pushed against the nails/spikes in their hands and feet to push themselves up, rubbing their raw, beaten backs against the splintery surface of the wooden cross, all so that they can take one more breath and extend the time they are hanging there a little longer. All during this time they exposed to the elements with the sun beating on them and wind against their naked, beaten bodies, and the birds coming to pick at them, all while the crowds stood by and jeered at them and while their friends and family stood by--those that could stand to watch--and you would see the pain in their eyes. This is the scene of today's text. The garments that He was stripped of before being hung on the cross were gambled for by the soldiers, and they "kept watch over Him" to do whatever they could to extend the torture and keep Him alive that much longer. Over the sign of each criminal was a list of the charges for why they were being crucified so that the public would see what would happen to people that committed these kinds of crimes against the Roman empire. What were the charges against Jesus? Pilate wrote the charges to say in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic, "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews." We see in other gospels that this infuriated the Jewish leaders and they asked Pilate to change the charges to say "He claimed to be the King of the Jews," but Pilate responded with "I have said what I have said." Those that waled by who were Jewish instead accused Him of the "crimes" that the Sanhedrin originally arrested Him for--claiming He was the Son of God and saying that after three days "this temple" (meaning His own physical body) would be raised back up if they destroyed it. However they falsely accused Him of saying that He was going to destroy the temple (the physical building). They were "wagging their heads" in disbelief for some in a taunting way for others. Even the other criminals who were there with Him--we see them called thieves here, but they were probably guilty of much more than petty theft if they are getting the death penalty. They cried out that He said He would save all mankind, but He could not even save Himself, and if He was the Son of God, He should come down from the cross Himself or at least God should step in and stop this and save Him. The fact that God did not do so was proof enough to them that Jesus couldn't be who He said He was because there's no way they could fathom that God would come in the flesh and willingly allow Himself to be crucified and that the Father would allow something like this to happen to the Son. Even in all of this, Jesus was tempted without sin to surrender and in saving Himself would fail to provide salvation for the whole world, and would fail to accomplish His mission and purpose for His first coming--"To seek and to save that which was lost." We don't usually talk about time in "hours" such as this. The nigh "watches" ended at 6am (sunrise) and then the time was given in hours so "the sixth hour" should be high noon and the "ninth hour" should be 3pm. This should be the brightest part of the day, but instead, creation reacted to what was going on with darkness as if it was trying to help hide the brutality of what was going on to its Creator. Three hours of pitch black in the middle of the day. Then Jesus cried out using the words of the Psalmist, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" It is my opinion this feeling of separation from God must have been the greatest torture that the Son had to endure, as He had always been in perfect communion with the Father and the Spirit even to the point of saying, "I and the Father are one." and "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father." Maybe God didn't really leave Him, but the sin that Jesus was taking onto Himself separated Him from God in the same way that our sin separates us from God. God looks on His son and sees our sin and Jesus not only took our sin upon Himself but became sin for us so that the wrath of God that was deserved by our sins would be poured out on Him and that we might become His righteousness in the eye of God. Even in this the crowds did not understand and jeered Him thinking that He was praying to the prophet Elijah to come and save Him, but the pagan, Roman guards who saw all these things said, "Truly this was a son of the gods." That's the best they could do in their paganism, but it showed that they realized that heaven was mourning over the loss of the Son of God. At this point, we see that Jesus again being in complete control said, "It is finished," and yielded up His spirit. Notice that no one took His life away from Him, but He laid it down willingly. We are then given an aside that many of the women who followed Jesus were there watching all of this transpire. It must have been extremely difficult for them to watch and for Him to watch the pain in their faces and to hear the grief and pain in their voices. We then meet a new character--Joseph of Arimathea. He seemed to be a wealthy man and someone with some political influence and also a follower of Jesus. He had a tomb that He wished to give to Jesus and asked permission from the Roman government to take the body of Jesus off the cross and bury Him in the tomb. Some context we are missing here is that this needed to be done with great haste as if they did not complete the task before sundown, they would be violating the Sabbath and may have been ceremonially unclean from touching a dead body and may not be able to enter the temple or participate in the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This may explain why the woman were coming so early on Sunday morning to annoint the body with spices and ointment (we will get there in the coming passages). Jesus was laid in a borrowed tomb (another fulfillment of prophecy) and a large stone was rolled in front of the entrance and a Roman guard was posted to guard the tomb. The Sanhedrin may not have been listening well to Jesus on many occasions, but they remembered Him talking about rising from the dead and they wanted to make sure that no one came to steal the body and fake a resurrection. Funny enough, this is the exact story the concocted later after the resurrection--the the guards fell asleep on the job and someone broke the Roman seal (you wouldn't do this unless you too wanted to be crucified), and that they rolled away the massive stone and stole the body away and hid it somewhere. We know better though because we have the eyewitness accounts of many who saw the risen Christ, but I'm getting ahead of myself as we'll talk about the resurrection of Jesus in tomorrow, Lord willing. Matthew 27:1-31 English Standard Version (ESV) LISTEN: https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Matt.27.1-Matt.27.31 Jesus Delivered to Pilate 27 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. 2 And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor. Judas Hangs Himself 3 Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” 5 And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. 6 But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. 8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, 10 and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me.” Jesus Before Pilate 11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” 12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. The Crowd Chooses Barabbas 15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16 And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17 So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. 19 Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” 20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” 23 And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified 24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves.” 25 And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified. Jesus Is Mocked 27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. 28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. There is much to say here, and I'd recommend that if you have never seen it to watch The Passion of the Christ--maybe even stream it at home this week during Holy Week as today as I write this blog, it is Palm Sunday for 2020, though many of us may have lost track of the days given the current situation where we've been ordered to stay at home due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. Even though we may not be able to come together to celebrate The Passion of the Christ in person this week in our local congregations, we can still remember this time together.
We start the passage with a short statement saying that the chief priests and elders of the Jewish people handed Jesus over to Pilate for trial--much more has gone on in the evening but we don't read about it here, but Jesus has been up all night having jurisdictional disputes over His trial until finally Pilate sees tha the Jews may riot if he doesn't do something, so he agrees to hear the case. I'm not sure what Judas expected to happen when he turned Jesus over to the chief priests and elders for 30 pieces of silver, but Judas now sees the full weight and consequences of what he has done. Instead of crying out of forgiveness and repenting, he decides instead that he no longer deserves to live and that there's no hope of forgiveness for him and that the only answer left is for him to hang himself (though we'll read later that the rope will break and he will be dashed to pieces when he hits the ground). It was not at all a pleasant death and he chooses to hang himself on a tree because that's was the fate of accursed people in the Old Covenant--dragged outside of town, stoned to death and then hung on a tree for those that walked by as a message to say "Don't live like this person or you'll also face the same fate as this person." Judas did the only thing that he knew to do--try to return the money and then pay for his sin with his own life--unfortunately our own deaths cannot pay for our own sin debt, and this was yet another lie Satan had whispered in Judas's ear--that it would all be better if he would just end his life. I believe the Bible is pretty clear that Judas was not saved. While he had remorse, he had no real repentance, he was only trying to soothe his own soul and make himself feel better about himself. While all this is going on, Jesus is taking the punishment that Judas deserved and facing the death on a tree that Judas deserved and paying for the sin, but also taking the guilt and shame that Judas deserved for all those who would call upon and believe on His name. "Those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Even this action as sad as it was was prophesied and the 30 pieces of silver were used as God foretold to buy the potter's field where strangers and foreigners who had no place to be buried could be laid to rest. We still practice this today in most communities and have a"Potter's Field" where the poor people and "John and Jane Does" can be buried by the state. The practice started back here. We now return to the trial before Pilate--here is the question that we have been leading to for the entire book of Matthew. Pilate asks based off of the charges brought by the chief priests and elders, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus gives a very non-answer answer of, "So you say," meaning that He has never called Himself that to this point and He's not exactly denying it, but He is saying that they are putting words in His mouth that have not been His own words. Jesus still gives no real answer when Pilate asks him if He realizes what's going on and the number of witnesses and the fact that He could be put to death. We'll see in other gospels that Jesus does give and answer to say "My kingdom is not of this world" and said that if it was His servants would have fought to keep Him from being arrested--He was not trying to fight cause an insurrection and overthrow the political powers of Rome or the Sanhedrin (Jewish ruling council) for that matter. Pilate finds no reason to condemn Him and literally "washes his hands" of the matter. He then tries a political trick to see if he can get rid of this case and make the people happy. There was a tradition at the time of Passover to release one prisoner. Pilate gave the people the choice of releasing Jesus and the chief priests and elders convinced the people to instead ask for Barabbas--a legitimate terrorist, serial killer, and insurrectionist. Pilate couldn't believe what he was hearing and asked what then he should do with Jesus and they chief priests and elders once again worked the crowd up to shout "Crucify Him!" (The same crowd that on Palm Sunday had been shouting Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"). Pilate could do nothing to quiet the crowd and a riot would mean the end of his political career. If he didn't do something he might be the one to be executed by Rome. Pilate does not believe Jesus is guilty and says he is innocent of this many's blood, and the Jews say, "His blood is on our hands and the hands of our children." Oh how true these words are that the Jews have been seen as the ones that are responsible for the death of Christ for years--though that's not really the true story. They were but instruments in the hand of God to accomplish His divine plan. Each of them responsible for his or her own choices yet in some way beyond our comprehension, God used and superintended those decisions to bring about His plan for His glory and the redemption and salvation of His people. So much is wrapped up in the statement that Jesus was scourged and handed over to be crucified. We are saved a lot of the bloody, gory details, but I again encourage you to see The Passion of the Christ if you ever want to know what is wrapped up in this single verse. There was much brutality--both physical and verbal, and the soldiers showed no mercy. Jesus was beaten within an inch of His life--in fact, any normal man probably would have died. But no man could take Jesus' life from Him--it would not end for Him until He said "It is finished." The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the King of Heaven and the King of Jews now mocked as He is dressed in royal robes with a crown of thorns and a makeshift staff put in His hand and they would blindfold Him and beat Him and ask Him to prophecy to tell them which one if Him struck Him. In all of this Jesus was silent like a lamb lead to the slaughter--The Lamb of God that would take away the sin of the world. Once they had their fun they put His clothes back on Him--the very garments they will soon cast lots for and divide among themselves as that's all He had for possessions when He was arrested, and would compel Him to bear his crossbeam to Calvary where He would be crucified. Next time we'll talk more of the crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus. Until then, meditate on the price that was paid for your sin and my sin. This is what each of us deserved, but the ultimate pain has not come for Jesus yet--that will come when Jesus on the cross takes on the weight of all our sin and shame and feels cut off from the very presence of God and cries out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Have you fully trusted in Christ to save you and change your identity and accepted this gift of eternal life? If not, you can do it today. Contact me if you'd like to know how. Matthew 26:36-75 English Standard Version (ESV) LISTEN: https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Matt.26.36-Matt.26.75 Jesus Prays in Gethsemane 36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus 47 While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” 49 And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him. 50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. 51 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” 55 At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. 56 But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled. Jesus Before Caiaphas and the Council 57 Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. 58 And Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end. 59 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, 60 but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward 61 and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’” 62 And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” 63 But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. 66 What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” 67 Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, 68 saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?” Peter Denies Jesus 69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” 71 And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” 73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” 74 Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly. Don't get too overwhelmed with the large amount of text for today. I feel like it should be familiar to most of you and we should be able to go through it rather quickly. The main point that I want you to see throughout this passage is how much Jesus remains in control.
Jesus know the trial is coming--in some ways we could say one of the hardest parts of the entire ordeal was fought right here in these first few verses where Jesus spends hours upon hours in prayer praying for God to make another way if possible, but not his will but the Father's will be done. We also see in John 17 that during this time Jesus prayed for His disciples, for the Church, for the world, for Himself, and even for the Father (that He would be glorified). Jesus has much on His mind that He needed to talk to His Father and God about (they just so happen to be one in the same here) before marching off to His death on a cross. It would not be at all pleasant and Satan since at least the baptism of Christ (and maybe before that) had been tempting Jesus to try and shortcut the process or find some other way that would require Him to go through the torture and pain and sacrifice--"Only bow down and worship me [Satan] and I will give you all these things [the kingdoms of the world that he had show to Jesus]." Satan had no authority to make that kind of promise to Christ because he may be the prince of this world, but is not the king--he has no ownership, but he knew that if Jesus were to bow down and worship him that it would invalidate any attempt to die to save mankind and would make the true Son of God ineligible to receive His inheritance and the throne from God the Father. Those who say "there must be some other way" for salvation other than the cross--that bloody, messy, cruel event--are falling right into the trap of Satan. There is only one Way to God and it is through the blood and the body of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. "No man comes to the Father except by Me." This battle was fought and won on Jesus' knees in the Garden of Gethsemane. From that point forward the dye had been cast and Christ knew what must be done and accepted all of it willingly for you and for me, but not primarily for us, but for the glory of the Father and the Son. The goodness of God and His great Name were on the line here. Was He unwilling or unable to provide a way of salvation for His people? Was He unwilling or unable to effectuate the promises that He had given ever since the Fall? If not, then Satan had won and everyone past, present and future had died in their sins and now belonged to the kingdom of darkness. There is much more on the line here than you and me. The cross is all about if God is really who He said He is and can do what He said He can do, and the Father had to make the greatest sacrifice--to kill His own Son in order to provide a way of salvation for those that were His enemies and rebelled against Him and that He knew would be unfaithful to Him. Would you do the same in His place? This is why He is God and we are not! Romans 5:6-11 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. The part that we probably give the least importance to is probably the most important piece--Jesus willingly laid down His life for you. (See John 10:9-18). We also see from those verses in John that Jesus already knew He was going to rise from the dead (and we've seen many prophecies of this even in Matthew). So now let's move on and see the "play" progress to the next act--The Betrayal. I called it a play not to diminish it, but to put it in perspective here that Jesus is the one in control and there is much dramatic irony. "The Passion of the Christ" is played out in theaters all across the country this time of year and is rehearsed and recited every week as part of the Roman Catholic mass (full disclosure for those wondering that I am not Roman Catholic but grew up in a Roman Catholic neighborhood and have several Roman Catholic friends and co-workers--apologies to any of them if I used imprecise terminology, I mean no disrespect). You may have noticed throughout the Gospels that Jesus has told people many times "My time has not yet come," or "The time has not yet come." Sometimes this was in reference to His true nature being revealed when He told people at the beginning of His ministry to keep quiet about what He had done. Other times it was in reference to plots to kill Him that could not be successful because His time had not yet come. Jesus finishes praying and says that the hour has come and is now upon them for Him to be betrayed into the hands of sinful men. He wakes up the sleeping disciples and tells them to get ready. Judas comes with a cohort of temple guards. He has agreed to show the guards who to arrest by betraying Jesus with a kiss--something that would seem innocuous in Middle Eastern culture, especially at that time., but Jesus knew exactly what was going on and just like at the Last Supper told Judas to do what he had to do. While not named here, we know that it is Peter that drew his sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest and, again, Jesus being fully in control of the situation tells Peter to put his sword away (the same sword that Jesus had instructed Peter to bring with him earlier) and healed the servant of the high priest. Jesus took time to have mercy on His enemies that were there to arrest Him and kill Him. We also see in the other gospels that even after the sign given by Judas that Jesus is asked His identity....He responds with the covenant name of God, "I AM" and the priests and guards fill down at the power of His great name. We see here that Jesus asks why they come to Him with weapons. Don't they know that they are not going to be able to take Him by force because He is the Lord of Hosts and could call down 12 legions of angels to His defense and the defense of the Eleven disciples that were with Him? But again, we see that Jesus willingly went with them. This was always on His terms and conditions and His timetable. He allowed Himself to be arrested and put on trial. That brings us to the next act--The Trial. The trial is held in secret at the home of the high priest. There's many things that Matthew says here that are intended for his Jewish audience to pick up on the fact that this is a sham trial. Those accusing Jesus broke many of God's laws just to have this trial in the way that they had it--at night, in secret, without witnesses that could agree to the charges, and where the accused was ordered to give testimony against Himself. These are just a few of the things wrong with the trial, but Jesus willingly submitted to it. However, He did not answer any questions (that was His right, and what prophecy demanded) until the point where the high priest used his position as the spokesman for God to order Jesus to answer. Again, in submission to the local governing authorities Jesus did answer that question--once again a question of identity. Jesus once again refers back to the book of Daniel to refer to Himself as the Son of Man that is also the King of heaven. They knew the exact passage He referenced and that this was a claim to Him being God and they all responded as they should by tearing their clothes when hearing the blasphemy (though the high priest was never supposed to tear his high priestly garments--and he never should have been wearing them...again, probably a discussion for another time). The used these very words of Christ telling them who He really was as the charges to condemn Him of blasphemy under Jewish law--punishable by death--and this would have been a correct judgement and verdict if Jesus had not been who He claimed to be. So that is the question that now needed to be settled. Was Jesus who He claimed to be? They assumed that if so God would never let His Son die--especially death on a cross, but God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit had other plans--for the Resurrection of Christ on the third day to show that Christ's sacrifice was acceptable and sufficient and that He was who He said He was and that He was loved by God and not cursed by Him for the sin that the Jews presumed He had committed. The Jews were crafty here and knew that they did not have the authority to carry out the death penalty without the help of the Romans as the Romans had told them that they were allowed to execute any punishment they wanted short of capital punishment upon their own people. We'll see more about these additional trials later, but the Jewish leaders knew that a religious crime would not suffice for Rome to go through with a capital case, so they had to make a case for insurrection--a crime of treason that said that Jesus claimed to be the King of the Jews and was trying to establish an earthly kingdom in opposition to the Roman empire. We'll see how that goes later. Onto the next act--The Denial. Just as Jesus prophesied the disciples all scattered in the Garden, but Peter and John came back to watch the trial. John was friends with the family of the high priest somehow and was able to go inside, but Peter stayed outside near the fire where the servants were waiting for news to be relayed out to them. While standing there the others asked him several questions about if he was associated with Jesus. Peter being rightly afraid for his life gave into fear instead of faith and denied Jesus three times, just as it was foretold. We see in other accounts that Jesus actually turns around and looks at Peter the third time with great sadness and this is part of what makes Peter flee and weep bitterly with sorrow and remorse not for being caught, but because He knows He inflicted pain on Jesus and damaged their relationship--he believes in a way that is beyond repair. As we enter what is known by many as Holy Week, let us not be self-centered with a "me-centric" theology of how Jesus came and died for me so that i might be saved--that is only part of the story, and a small part at that, but this was done for His good pleasure to bring glory and honor to the Father and the Son and Christ to prove that He is worthy to open the scroll (the title deed of all creation) that we read about in the book of Revelation, and so much more. We are the benefactors of this for sure, and God does love us very much but let's remember to make God and His glory the centerpiece of this story as it is told this week. Matthew 26:17-35 English Standard Version (ESV) LISTEN: https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Matt.26.17-Matt.26.35 The Passover with the Disciples 17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 18 He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. 20 When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. 21 And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” 23 He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” 25 Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.” Institution of the Lord's Supper 26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.” Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial 30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” 33 Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same. We don't see much about Jesus participating in the feast of Passover since we see the story about Jesus teaching in the temple when He was 12 years old in Luke 2. There we are told that it was the custom of Jesus' family to attend the feast in Jerusalem and we have no reason to doubt that Jesus would also celebrate this feast--especially to fulfill all that is required of the Law, we just aren't given every detail of Jesus' life. This time however is a very special time. Jesus is once again in Jerusalem for the feast and He tells His disciples to go to a certain man's house to tell the man that the Lord and His disciples will eat the Passover Meal there. This may seem somewhat unusual to just tell someone that they must host you for the meal, but this is actually the way that the Law was written....everyone that had more than enough was to share invite those who were without and didn't have a place to celebrate to eat with them. In this case it appears this person probably had some close relationship with Jesus as it appears this is the same "upper room" where the disciples will go after the crucifixion when they were hiding and where they would wait for the Holy Spirit to come at Pentecost in the book of Acts.
Jesus takes this opportunity when they are all together to point out that He knows there is a traitor among them. All of them deny that it could be them, but at the same time ask the Lord if He's talking about them. When Judas asks, Jesus leans in close to Him so that the others cannot hear and says, "“You have said so." This indicated that Jesus knew it was Judas Iscariot who would betray Him and at that moment the other gospels tell us that Satan entered Judas Iscariot. Jesus had tried to give Judas one final out, but Jesus knew this had to happen for all prophecy to be fulfilled, but that it would be better for Judas if He had never been born. Things would not end well for Judas and this saddened Jesus, even though Jesus knew Judas was the one meant to betray Him. Judas then leaves the meal to go make plans to betray Jesus. He is not there for the next part. This is important because this ordinance and covenant is only for believers which Judas was not. As they eat the Passover meal together, Jesus establishes a new covenant with them. The Passover mean was remembrance of an old covenant when God rescued His people from the bondage of slavery in Egypt and it was a sign to point them forward to the time when the Bread of Life without any sin (yeast/leaven usually represented sin in the Bible) and the Lamb of God without blemish would die to free all people from their slavery to sin and so that spiritual death would "pass over" them and we might have eternal life. He would make a new people for Himself and lead them into the Promised Land that is heaven. But the disciples did not understand all that at this time--they will learn much of that after the Resurrection and when the Holy Spirit comes to reveal all truth to them. For now, Jesus takes the bread and says, "Take, eat; this is my body," and of the cup of win He says, "Drink of it, all of you for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." To this day we celebrate what is called the Eucharist, or Communion or the Lord's Supper (depending on what church you attend) to remember this covenant that He made with His body and His blood for us. It is that which all Christians should share in common with one another and something we are commanded to do until Christ's return as we do this in remembrance of Him. Jesus then tells them that He will not drink of the cup with them again until He drinks it with them again in the Father's kingdom (heaven). Jesus' heart is heavy at this point as He knows that all of His closest friends (the Eleven that remain) will all deny and abandon Him in His time of greatest need and moment of crisis and that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crows. All the disciples protest and say that even if the others would do such a think they would never do that, but Jesus knows that this once again must happen to fulfill the Scripture that "I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered." Notice it is God saying that He will strike the shepherd, so this is God's doing....just like we see in the story of Abraham and Isaac it is the Father who holds the knife to sacrifice the Son of Promise. Jesus, like Isaac gave His life willingly, and it is the Father--not the Jews nor the Romans who would kill Jesus as the sacrificial Passover Lamb. Matthew 26:1-16 English Standard Version (ESV) The Plot to Kill Jesus 26:1 When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” 3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5 But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.” Jesus Anointed at Bethany 6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 12 In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” Judas to Betray Jesus 14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him. The plot thickens! The Pharisees and Sadducees have been largely absent from the story during the Olivet Discourse. They were probably there listening but they dared not ask Jesus any more questions because He had bested them many times and exposed them for who they truly were. Now, they began to plot not simply to discredit Jesus and embarrass Him, but to kill him and destroy Him. Notice that Jesus is keenly aware of the plot and is totally in control of the timeline. He knows that He will the Passover Lamb slain so that death may pass over those who are under the protection of His blood. The chief priests, and elders meet together with Caiaphas the high priest in his palace (this should tell you something if the high priest lived in a palace). They thought they were being so sneaky plotting behind closed doors and Jesus had already told His disciples what they were up to and that it was God's plan, not their plan. They planned to wait until after Passover, but that was not God's plan and in a very short period of time, thing will escalate quickly and they will move to carry out their plot more quickly.
It may seem strange to now stop and talk about the anointing of Jesus at Bethany. While we may see similar stories in other gospels, only Mark tells us of this same event and the details there are almost identical to the details here, but we do learn from John that a very similar event happened at a different house involving different characters and and exact amount of ointment. The woman in this story may have seen or heard of that event that happened earlier that week or it may have been the Holy Spirit working independently in the lives of these two women to point others to the fact that Jesus was on His way to die for the sins of the whole world. We learn something interesting about Judas Iscariot in the passage in John (again it happened earlier that week--six days before Passover where we are now two days before Passover). Judas specifically protested the "waste" of anointing Jesus with the perfume because it was expensive and could be sold for much money. He said it was because the money could be given to the poor, but we learn that Judas Iscariot was the treasurer of the group and often used his position to steal money from the money bad (embezzling money from the very little the Lord and the disciples had). He was out for his own personal gain and to make Himself rich. He thought he was getting close to the King of the Jews that was going to take over and give him prominence, position, power, and wealth, but instead Jesus turned out to be someone other than He expected....the Prince of Peace who gave away everything He had in order to be a servant to all. By the second time this happened in one week, Judas had reached his tipping point and he runs to the chief priests and asks what they will pay him to deliver Jesus do them. Judas is in it for himself and in it for the money. He may have even thought, "Hey, this is Jesus' plan, I might as well help it along and get something for myself in the process." And Judas agreed to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver--the exact price prophesied in the Old Testament book of Zechariah, chapter 11, verses 12 and 13. This moved up the timetable of the Pharisees as it was now up to Judas to pick the opportune moment to betray Jesus (or was it?). We will see as we go through that Jesus is still in complete control, even as He gets betrayed and arrested. Matthew 25:31-46 English Standard Version (ESV) LISTEN: https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Matt.25.31-Matt.25.46 The Final Judgment 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” This passage is how Jesus ends the Olivet Discourse. He points back once again to Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Son of Man that many would recognize. he will come in all of His glory with his angels and will sit on His throne and judge all the nations and separate "the sheep" (the real believers) from "the goats" (those who pretended and looked to be sheep until you got up close to them).
To those that are the sheep that belong to The Good Shepherd, the King will say, "Come, you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Interesting.....we hear a lot of other things that God has ordained from the foundation of the world (before time began), but did you know that God prepared Heaven for His elect before the foundation of the world? Then Jesus outlines was in which this group demonstrated that their faith was genuine, "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you game me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me." There are all things that we as the Church can and still should be doing in these difficult times. It is not only our duty but our privilege to love and care for one another as members of the body of Christ. The "sheep" are confused saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ A good question since a good number of them were not alive when Jesus walked the earth in flesh and blood. Jesus replies, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." This ties many of the other teachings together because now we can understand why the servant mistreating the other servant(s) was thrown into hell, because how we treat other believers counts as how we treat Christ Himself. It also returns us to the teaching that Jesus has been trying to get across to the disciples since He's set His eyes on the cross and His return to Jerusalem. Those that want to be greatest in the kingdom of God, but be a servant to all, and also we return to the idea that we will be recognized as children of God for not only how we love God and His commandments and our obedience to them, but how we love others--"You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Notice that the identity of these true believers had so changed that they had just done what comes naturally to them. They didn't have any special reason to do the things that the King mentioned, it's just who they were and what they did. That's just who we are and what we do. A butterfly acts like a butterfly because it's a butterfly. Then King Jesus has a similar, but different conversation with "the goats." Notice this time though that Jesus does not say that they punishment that they were about to enter was prepared for them--hell and the lake of fire were prepared for the devil and his angels. Men choose to go there when like the devil we choose to rebel against God and desire the authority and the worship that only He deserves. I believe the King will be saddened to have to throw those out of His kingdom who have rejected Him and His authority. There will be no illegal immigration into heaven--everyone who enters must be a citizen of the kingdom, and there is only one Way that our citizenship changes from the kingdom of darkness that is of this world to the kingdom of light which is of heaven. The King lays out the evidence of why these people are not His people and are clearly citizens of a different kind of kingdom. He lists the same things but this time says they did not feed Him, give Him drink, welcome Him, clothe Him, visit Him, or come see Him. They too are surprised that they slighted the King in these ways and they too get a similar answer that whatever was done to the least of the King's servants was done unto Him. Remember, we are all ambassadors of the King, so we officially represent the kingdom and whatever attacks come upon us are direct attacks against the King and the kingdom. We are also children of God by adoption and family takes it very seriously when someone mistreats one of their own. Our "big brother" Jesus and God the Father have our back (and every other part of us). "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” It is important to say here that "the righteous" are not justified and declared righteous by their works that we see here--justified before men perhaps, but not before God. The works here are simply evidence of the metamorphosis (being "born again") that has happened. It is the righteous of Christ alone that will be recognized and we will be clothed in, just like in the parable of the wedding feast--those who were not in the proper wedding garments provided by the King would be cast out. We cannot come to Christ dressed in any other form of righteousness other that that which He provides and clothes us with. "When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh, may I then in Him be found; Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne." (The Solid Rock, Edward Mote, ca.1834) |
Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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