Week 45

Matthew 26:17-29, Mark 14:12-25, Luke 22:7-38, and John 13

On the day that Jesus will later be arrested, arrangements are made for them to celebrate the Passover meal, which is where the Lord initiates the new covenant, based on His blood that will be shed, and His body that will be broken.  He again tells them that He will be taken and crucified, and that the one who will betray Him is among them.  He identifies Judas as His betrayer, but no one seems to notice, just like they persist in ignoring that He is preparing to die the very next day.  He also tells Peter that he will deny Him three times that very night, which he does not believe.

There had been many times in Christ’s ministry when the disciples would argue about which of them would be the greatest in His kingdom, and this happens again, just hours before Jesus is going to be betrayed and arrested later that night.  Jesus again tells them that anyone who wants to be great in His kingdom must humble himself to be the least of all servants, and then He demonstrates that very thing by humbling Himself to wash each of their feet.  It was the duty of the lowest household slave to wash the feet of guests who came into the house, and Jesus does what none of His disciples had done when they first arrived, serving each of them in the role of the lowest slave.  We never see another time when any of these disciples will see each other as competition in the Lord’s kingdom.

John 14-16

In these three chapters the Lord gives direct instruction to His disciples as He is preparing to be arrested that same night.  In them He said clearly that He was going to leave them, but He was not going to leave them alone, because He was going to ask the Father to send His Holy Spirit to abide with them forever.  It will be the Lord’s Holy Spirit in them that will enable them to do even more for the Father than Jesus did Himself, speaking about the work they will do as witnesses for Him for the rest of their lives.  He said that the Holy Spirit will be given to lead believers into all truth, and for unbelievers He will convict their hearts of sin, and of God’s judgement, so that some might repent and turn to Him.

As they were walking with Jesus from the place they had celebrated His last supper, Jesus instructs them about the critical importance of abiding only in Him.  This truth was demonstrated throughout the ministry of Jesus, Who never did anything, except what His Father told Him, and His disciples (including us) must also rely 100% on Him for direction and power to say and do those things He has prepared for us.  There is also an expectation for each of us to bear fruit that is pleasing to the Father, which is why we are here, and consistent with Ephesians 2:10, which says that He has prepared in advance many good works for us to do for Him.

John 17:1-18:1, Matthew 26:30-46, Mark 14:26-42, and Luke 22:39-46

John chapter 17 is one of the few prayers of Jesus that have been recorded for us, and in it He is praying to the Father for His disciples, as well as for all of those who will believer in Him as a consequence of their testimony (which includes us!).  One of the key wishes of Jesus in this prayer is for His disciples to be “one”, or in unity, just like the Father and the Son are in perfect accord.  This is a charge for us to fulfill also, where we need to unite on all we hold in common, and refuse to let non-essential differences of opinion drive wedges between believers.  It’s unfortunate that the church of Jesus is better known for the things we disagree on, rather than what and Who we hold in common!

After these things the Lord and His disciples go to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prays.  He prays three times to the Father, asking that the trial He was about to face be removed, if there was any other way to accomplish His plan.  This episode demonstrates vividly that there was no other way for men to be saved, except that Jesus be sacrificed to pay for the sin of the world, and that is how His prayer ends, when He says “nevertheless, not my will, but Yours be done”.  Many people today say that there are many ways to get to God, but if that were true, then it would have never been necessary for Jesus to be crucified that night.

Matthew 26:47-75, Mark 14:43-72, Luke 22:47-65, and John 18:2-27

Immediately following the prayer of Jesus in the garden, Judas led hundreds of soldiers there to arrest Him.  It’s been noted that Judas had to identify Jesus with a kiss, and that he was probably very ordinary in the way he looked.  They first take Jesus to the house of Annas, the father-in-law of the High Priest, Caiaphas, and it is in the courtyard of his house that Peter denies Jesus three times before the rooster crows.

Jesus is questioned, with the intent that He would say something they could kill Him for, but He only says what He had been saying before.  None of the witnesses against Him were consistent in saying the same thing.  In all of these things the trail and conviction of Jesus was illegal in Israel, yet they were already determined to kill Him.  Finally, they ask Him plainly if He is the Christ, and Jesus confirms that He is, which they interpret to be blaspheme - of course, it’s not blaspheme if it’s true!

Matthew 27:1-26, Mark 15:1-15, Luke 22:66-23:25, John 18:28-19:16

After being questioned by the High Priest and the rulers of the temple, Jesus is taken by them to Pilate, where they petitioned him to crucify Jesus for blasphemy.  Pilate makes many attempts to avoid doing that, saying that he could find no fault in Jesus, and even trying to pass Him off to Herod, but that didn’t work either.  He also tried releasing Him outright, but the Jews would have none of that, and demanded that he release Barabbas instead, who was a convicted insurrectionist, robber, and murderer.

Jesus confirmed to Pilate that He was a king, but that His kingdom was not of this world, and therefore not a threat to him, or to Rome.  Jesus tells Pilate that all of this is happening because it has been approved by His Father in heaven, and that he would have no ability to kill Him if that wasn’t the case.

Pilate finally turns Jesus over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified after having Him scourged.

Matthew 27:27-56, Mark 15:16-41, Luke 23:26-49, and John 19:17-30

Here is the account of our Lord’s crucifixion, to which He submitted willingly, and which had been planned in heaven from before the time of creation.  Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that He Who knew no sin became sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God.  Jesus was slain as the Passover Lamb, and took away the sin of the world, so that God might extend His grace and mercy towards all who will come to Him in repentance.

As Jesus was dying, the massively thick veil inside the temple was Divinely torn in half, opening the way for all to go into the presence of God inside the holy of holies.

Matthew 27:57-28:8, Mark 15:42-16:8, Luke 23:50-24:12, and John 19:31-20:10

The very creation God had made conspired to kill His only Son, and He was dead and buried for three days and nights, just as He had predicted.  However, just as He had promised, He did not stay dead, and God raised Him to life on that following Sunday morning.  The tomb where He was buried was empty when the women and disciples went to examine it that Sunday morning, and that tomb is still empty today, signifying the victory of Jesus Christ over death and the grave, which was the curse of sin that had been introduced into the world by Adam.  Jesus took upon Himself the punishment of God in order to atone for the sin of mankind, but then He demonstrated victory over death and the grave, so that all who come to God in Him might also live forever with Him.

It is His death, His burial, and His resurrection on the third day that signifies the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ, and the hope of eternal life that every person can have with God, who place their faith in Him!  No other religion can point to an empty grave, and a risen Lord!