OUR FATHER WHO GAVE HIS SON AS A SACRIFICE FOR THE SINS OF THE WORLD

Matthew chapter 27 verses 45 - 56 records the last few minutes of Jesusˋ life;

45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

47 Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!” 48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.

49 The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.”

50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

55 And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

While the Lord Jesus hung on the cross, a strange darkness lingered over the land from noon to 3:00 pm and at about 3:00 pm, the Lord, His body failing quickly, cried out the first words of Psalm 22 when He said, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Psalm 22 verse 3 prophetically reveals Jesusˋ fortitude while His body approached the point of failure by recording His thoughts of reverence towards God even though He was now reaching the agonizing end of His life;

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. 

Some witness were trying to understand what He was saying while others were tried to offer Him some of the bitter vinegar. Others were scornful and remained close by to see if Jesus was going to be saved supernaturally.

With total heart faiure imminent, Jesus mustered the last of His strength and cried out in a loud voice and released His spirit and bowed His head in death.

A sequence of highly unusual events tooks place imediately after Jesus died;

1. The veil over the holiest part of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom
2. A great earthquake occured
3. Rocks around the are split into two pieces which opened up sealed graves
4. Saints who had died and were burried, arose from the dead went into Jerusalem
5. The saints who rose from the dead showed themselves to people in the city

The strange events that occured when Jesus died scared the soldiers charged with guarding and executing Him. They were able to recognize that the particular crucifixion that had just concluded was diferent from all the others they had done. They declared that the death of the man who died on the cross was so markedly different that He must have been the Son of God as He claimed even though He was being mocked for saying so.

This passage also gives a roll call of the women who had stayed close by and ministered to Jesus up to the time of His death;

1. Mary Magdalene
2. Mary the mother of James and Joses (Joseph)
3. The mother of James and John Zebedee.

Have mercy on us O God.

8

OUR FATHER WHO GAVE HIS SON AS A SACRIFICE FOR THE SINS OF THE WORLD

In Matthew chapter 27 verses 32 - 43, the Lord Jesus, having been scourged and then handed over to be crucified, was now in a physically weakened state and so a man from Cyrene (which is a port city in the the area of modern day Lybia) was shanghaied into carrying a cross for Jesus until they reached the site of crucifixion at a place called Golgotha.

He was nailed to the cross and lifted up so that the distress to His body would cause a gradual descent into death as His organs failed one by one.

As dehydration set in, Jesus asked for a drink and they gave him a bitter liquid on a sponge to drink but after he tasted it, He could not drink. This is a reflection of Psalm 69 verses 20 - 21 which describes the sour liquid they offered Jesus but also describes the mockery that was leveled at Jesus as He hung on the spikes that held Him to the cross;

20 Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none. 21 They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

Our passage in Matthew which describes the scene of Jesusˋ suffering on the cross, reads this way;

32 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross. 33 And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, 34 they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.

35 Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: “They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.”

36 Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. 37 And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him:

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

38 Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.

39 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

41 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, 42 “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. 43 He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing. 

As He suffered, the Romans gambled for His clothing which is captured in Psalm 22 verse 18 which reads;

They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

The people who were witnessing the events were many of same people whom he had taught about the kingdom of God and righteousness but they mocked Him and used His words to jeer at Him and they challenged Him to free Himself from the cross since He claimed to be the Son of God and they reasoned that if He were truly from God, God would save Him from the cross.

This too was foretold in the twenty-second Psalm from verse 6 to verse 8 which reads;

6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

The Lord hung in this deteriorating condition of dehydration and shock for about 3 hours. His breathing became more laboured and His heart started to beat faster and faster trying to distribute oxygenated blood around the body but was increasingly unable to keep up.

The Lordˋs death was approaching.

Have mercy on us O God.

24

OUR FATHER WHO GAVE HIS ONLY SON TO PAY FOR OUR SINS

Matthew chapter 27 verses 15 - 26 records the how the Roman court responded the claims being made against Jesus by the religious leaders of Israel.

It was a tradition in Judea at that time for the governor to release one prisoner back to the people on the day of the feast and so, Pontius Pilate, having diserned that it was envy that had motivated the chief priests to bring Jesus before him, wanted to give them a choice between letting Jesus go and releasing a dangerous criminal named Barnabas.

Pilate believed that the priests, even though they felt that Jesus was outclassing them in the eyes of the people of Israel, would rather have Jesus in their midst than have Barnabas released into to their community. Pilate was wrong.

He had not correctly anticipated how verciforous the religious leaders were going to be in their pursuit of Jesusˋ death and even though he knew Jesus was innocent and even his own wife came to him to warn him to leave Jesus alone because she had been disturbed by dreams she had about Him, Pilate ultimately caved to the intense pressure that was brought to bear against Jesus demanding that He be crucified.

15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude to one prisoner whom they wished. 16 And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17 Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.

19 While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.”

20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They said, “Barabbas!”

22 Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”

23 Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”

24 When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.”

25 And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.”

26 Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.

The Roman governor, realizing that the chief priests were going to go to all ends,   including starting a riot in the city get Jesus crucified, yielded to them. He took water and before all of Jesusˋ accusers, washed his hands of the blood of the Jesus and they all accepted the responsibility for the death of an innocent man saying that ˋHis blood would be upon them and their children.ˋ

Having subjected Jesus to a scourging, Pontius Pilate release Jesus into the hands of the priests who then took the  innocent lamb of God and sacrified Him on the cross out side the city walls.

The majestic phrophecy of Isaiah chapter 53 verses 3 - 8 fortold this sequence of events from the rejection of Jesusˋministry, His intense suffering, His bruising and scourging, His unjust sentence of death, His abandonment by His friends and His expulsion from the city and the sacrfice of His life by execution;

3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,

yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way;

and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth;

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested?

For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.

Have mercy on us O God.

8

OUR FATHER WHO LAID UPON JESUS THE SINS OF THE WORLD

Matthew chapter 27 verses 11 - 14 which records when Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate the Roman governor. 

The strategy the religious leaders of Isreal planned to use against Jesus was to dump a large number of charges against Him before the Roman court and then use public pressure to get Pontius Pilate to acquiece to their demands to have Jesus killed.

Pontius Pilate, wanting to acertain what identity Jesus was claiming for Himself, asked Him directly if He was the king of Jews.  To this question, Jesus answered,  ˋIt is as you sayˋ but He reverted to silence when the religious leaders of Israel introduced a litany of accusations against Him.

11 Now Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?”rges

Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.” 12 And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.

13 Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” 14 But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.

Jesus remained quiet as the barrage of indictiments were leveled against Him in keeping with the prophecy in Isaiah chapter 53 verse 7 which says;

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

Jesus did not refute the charges they were pressing against Him and accepted them in the same way that He was accepting the sins of mankind that were laid on Him as His own even though He had not inccured them.

Thus the Lord Jesus did not speak in His own defense but set Himself up to take the fall for us all as Isaiah chapter 53 verse 6 says,

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Have mercy on us O god.

2

OUR FATHER WHO KNOWS THE END FROM THE BEGINNING

Matthew chaa

pter 27 verses 3 - 10 breaks away from the main narrative to record the actions of Judas after he had betrayed Jesus and had seen what was happening as a result.

Judas had interacted with the religious leaders beforehand and they had offered him thirty pieces of silver ( about $500 USD ) if he helped them track down Jesus in a secluded area so that they could discreetly arrest him.

He, maybe naively, thought that the religious leaders wanted to question Him or expel Him from the city but at the trial the next morning, Jesus was condemed to death for blasphemy and was taken to the Roman governor in order to get the sentence of death sanctioned.

Not having understood the intentions of the religious leaders, Judas was horrified that the sentence of death was being sought and in remorse, he went back to the chief priests and elders of Israel to repent for accepting their offer. When they rebuffed his attempt to rescind his transaction, he threw the silver back at them and went and hanged himself seeing that there was no pathway out of the mess of transacting in the blood of an innocent man that he was now permanently linked to.

3 Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!”

5 Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.

6 But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.” 7 And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. 8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.

9 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced, 10 and gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”

The religious leaders, seeing that the silver as back in their possesion, had to decide what to do with it because it could no longer go back into general funds because of the purpose for which it had been withdrawn.

One of the pressing issues at the time was that when people died while in Jerusalem and remained unclaimed, there was nowhere allocated to bury them and so the religious leaders decided to use the silver to buy an available plot of land that was owned by a potter. If the potter used it to get clay for making pots,  it was probably not good for other uses like agriculture so it was on the market for a low price and the thirty pieces of silver was enough to purchase it.

Matthew, in verses 9 - 10, referenced the foretelling of this unusually specific occurance by the prophet Jeremiah by name and the prophet Zechariah by text.

Jeremiah chapter 19 verses 1 - 4;

1 This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the elders of the people and of the priests 2 and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you, 3 and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. 

4 For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods; they have burned incense in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent

Zechariah chapter 11 verse 12 - 13;

12 Then I said to them, “If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.

13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter. 14Then I cut in two my other staff, Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

Have mercy on us O God.

4

OUR FATHER WHO GAVE HIS ONLY SON TO SAVE US

As the working day started that morning, the Lord Jesus was still in the custody of the chief priests of Israel 

A meeting was held by the religious leaders to discuss what steps to take now that they had Jesus in their hands.  They wanted to put Him to death but under Roman law, they could not do so unless a Roman court condemned Jesus.

They strategized how they would manipulate the system to make sure that they could have Jesus killed as soon as possible.

Having settled on a plan of action, they retrieved Jesus from their holds, tied Him up hand and foot and took Him to Pontious Pilate who was the Roman governor in authority over Judea at the time.

The Messiah sent by God to the people of Israel was rejected by His own people and was presented to a gentile ruler for judgement.

Matthew chapter 7 verses 1 - 2 records the begining of the manipulation of the system starting with binding Jesus with fetters so that He looked like a dangerous criminal when He appeared before Pilate.

1 When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. 2 And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.

24

OUR FATHER WHO TRANSFORMS HIS PEOPLE BY HIS SPIRIT

As the Lord Jesus was being questioned, harangued and abused in Ciaphasˋ palace, the disciple Peter was waiting in the courtyard to see what was going to happen to Jesus when in quick succession, three different people confronted him with the fact that he seemed to be one of the accomplices of Jesus. 

Peter, having pledged to the Lord Jesus that he would never deny Him even to the point of death, suddenly found himself under pressure and fear overwhelmed him and he instinctively distanced himself from Jesus using curses and swearing to provide camouflage for himself by seeming to be from a crass underword culture rather than an associate of a righteous prophet.

Matthew chapter 26 verses 69 - 75 captures these interactions thusly.

69 Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.”

70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.”

71 And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

72 But again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!”

73 And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.”

74 Then he began to curse and swear, saying, “I do not know the Man!” Immediately a rooster crowed. 

75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly.

When Peter had devolved to instinctual behaviour three times, a rooster crowed as morning was breaking and Peter realized that in the face of personal danger, he had denied Jesus in public three times even though a few hours before, he had been boldly proclaiming that he would steadfastly stand alongside Jesus.

This brought Peter to a crisis where he had a sudden loss of confidence in himself and he wept bitterly at the realization that he had been weak and like a reed, was easily blown around by the wind.

Later on, after Jesus had risen from the dead, the same Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, was a new man. He was now very courageous and when he himself was arrested and brought before the religious and civic authorities for propagating  a new message of the risen Jesus and healing people, he declared to their faces that they had rejected the Son of God who was the Messiah whom they purported to be waiting for and as such, were now obsolete vestiges of a by-gone era. This example of Peter's transformation is found in the book of Acts chapter 4 verses 10 - 13;

10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is

“‘the stone you builders rejected,

   which has become the cornerstone.’

12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

The transforming power of Jesus dramatically changed Simon to Peter, a reed to a rock.

Amen.

2

OUR FATHER WHO GAVE HIS SON TO SAVE US

Matthew chapter 26 verses 57 - 68 records the events that followed the Lord Jesusˋ arrest where they took him to Caiaphasˋ house who was the high priest that year.

(The book of John chapter 18 records that they first stopped that the house of Annas who was the high priestˋs father-in-law who then sent Jesusˋ onto to Caiaphasˋhouse.)

Peter (and another disciple per John 18) followed behind the arresting detachment to see what was going to happen to Jesus.

57 And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 58 But Peter followed Him at a distance to the high priest’s courtyard. And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end.

59 Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, 60 but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward 61 and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’ ”

62 And the high priest arose and said to Him, “Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?” 63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”

64 Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

65 Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy! 66 What do you think?”

They answered and said, “He is deserving of death.”

67 Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, 68 saying, “Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?”

During the questioning of Jesus, false witnesses appeared to testify against Jesus but there were no credible testmonies until two witnesses presented the fact that they heard Jesus say that He was able to destroy the temple and rebuild it three days.

Through the questioning, Jesus was silent but when the high priest, putting Jesus under oath, asked Jesus directly if He was the Christ, the Son of God.

To this Jesus answered that He was indeed who Caiaphas was asking if He was hand further to that, He would been see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.

This astounding statement by Jesus where He described His future position on the throne of God and His ultimate return to earth in glory scandalized the participants in the trial and they settled that Jesus was guilty of blasphemy and worthy of death.

Once they had determined among themselves that Jesus was guilty, they felt free to degrade Him and they began spitting on His face and striking Him and mocking His claim to be the Christ.

Because Israel was under the control of the Roman Empire at that time, the leaders of Israel had no power to impose capital punishment on anyone and so in order to have Jesus killed, they would have to take Jesus to the Roman authorities to have Him tried in Roman courts so that they could legally have Him put to death and thus the narataive will take us to the palace of the Roman governor of Judea named Pontius Pilate.

4

OUR FATHER WHO GAVE HIS ONLY SON

Judas Iscariot, knowing that Jesus and the disciples would be on the mount of Olives in the garden called Gethsemane, led the enforcers from the chief priests and the elders up to where Jesus was, and indicated who their quarry was by using the prearranged signal of a kiss.

When the enforcers arrested Jesus, Peter the disciple, in a frantic response, grabbed a sword and cut off the ear of the high priestˋs servant. 

Jesus, now under arrest, spoke to His followers not to resist with their weapons because a kingdom sustained by weapons would ultimately die by weapons.

He attempted to assure the disciples that even at that time, he could have asked the Father to make twelve legions of angels available to defend them from the authorities but what was happening was the fulfillment of scripture.

He asked the arresting officers why they had come to take Him in the night when He was with them all day long in the temple. He answered His own question by stating that the fulfillment of prophecy was shaping the sequence of events and the long prophecied 

The disciples who had been with Him, suddenly lost heart and abandoned Jesus in the hands of His captors fulfilling the prophecy of Zecharia chapter 13 verse 7 which said;

ˋStrike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scatteredˋ

Matthew chapter 26 verses 47 - 56 captures when the Lord Jesus was given into the hands of sinners and reads this way;

47 And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.

48 Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him.” 49 Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.

50 But Jesus said to him, “Friend, why have you come?”

Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him. 51 And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.

52 But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? 54 How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?”

55 In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me. 56 But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.”

Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

And thus Jesusˋ ordeal began with Him alone and engulfed in the ranks of His enemies.

 Psalm 17 verses 8 - 12 foretold the moment of arrest from Jesusˋ point of view as He prayed to His Father to keep Him in the apple of His eye.

                    Keep me as the apple of your eye;

    hide me in the shadow of your wings

9 from the wicked who are out to destroy me,

    from my mortal enemies who surround me.

10 They close up their callous hearts,

    and their mouths speak with arrogance.

11 They have tracked me down, they now surround me,

    with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.

12 They are like a lion hungry for prey,

    like a fierce lion crouching in cover.

What a great price our Lord paid for us.

4

OUR FATHER WHO GAVE HIS ONLY SON TO SAVE THE WORLD

 Matthew chapter 26 verses 36 - 46 says this;

36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”

39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” 43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.

44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then He came to His disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”

The Lord Jesus, knowing the difficulty of what was to come, was in distress and He asked His three close disciples to be with Him while He prayed.

He fell on His face before the Father and asked Him, if it were possible, to let the cup of intense suffering to pass from Him but He said to the Father that He would submit to the Fatherˋs will.

Jesus travailed for an hour and when He checked His three disciples, they were asleep. He advised them to pray so that they could avoid entering temptation for the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

The Lord prayed in sorrow for three hours but at each hour, He returned to find His disciples sleeping. 

On the third hour, Jesus returned and announced to them that the time had come for Him to be betrayed into the hands of sinners and they should get going for the betrayer was getting close.

The Lord Jesus, set His face to flint and with resolve, went to surrender Himself into the hands of the authorities who were seeking to kill Him.

And so the passion of the Christ began.

Amen.

12

OUR FATHER WHO GAVE HIS ONLY SON

After their last supper,  The Lord Jesus, in Matthew chapter 26 verses 31 - 35, prophesied to His disciples that it was not only Judas who would stumble that evening but rather all of them. 

31 Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble 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 have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”

33 Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are [g]made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.”

34 Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”

35 Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!”

And so said all the disciples.

In this passage, the Lord Jesus referenced Zechariah chapter 13 verse 7 which reads this way;

“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, Against the Man who is My Companion,” Says the Lord of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered; Then I will turn My hand against the little ones.

Locked into the scriptures written centuries before, was the behaviour of the disciples when their leader was arrested and taken for trial.

The Lord of Hosts, calling the weapon of the state against His Shepherd, a man whom He named His companion (a glimpse into the nature of Jesus being One who was alongside God the Father ), foretells that the sheep would scatter.

When Jesus said this to His disciples, the apostle Peter declared that he would never deny Jesus but Jesus, to make a point that the scriptures cannot be broken, described the specific circumstances (a cock crowing three times) that would surround Peterˋs denial to which Peter replied that he would not deny Jesus even to the point of death.

The other disciples also made the same profession but the scriptures were indeed unbreakable and within a few hours, the disciples were scattered when Jesus was apprehended by the authorities in the garden of Gethsemene.

If a non-metaphoric shepard were to be struck, real sheep would scatter and so it was not against nature that the disciples were prophecied to scatter in the face of an attack on their master. 

When Jesus ressurected and the disciples were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, they no longer had the nature of sheep but rather the nature of their master and they boldly testified about Jesus in the face of the ones who had plotted His death.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON

The Lord Jesus, as they were eating the last supper, instituted the rite of  communion where the bread was broken and shared to represent His body that was to be broken and the wine that was shared that represented His Blood that was to be spilled for the remission of sins. This scene, to be repeated for two millenia so far, was for the commemoration of the Lordˋs death until He returned in glory.

26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

With the handing out of the wine, the Lord clicked the stopwatch to indicated that from that moment, they would no longer be sharing anything until the kingdom of God had been made acceesible to His disciples and they shared the wine of the Spirit.

From that moment, the totality of the plan of the salvation of mankind was going to be accomplished including the trials, the scourging, the crucifixion, the death, the burial, the descent into hell, the ressurection, the ascent into heaven, and the redemption of mankind.  All these eternally momentous events were going to occur before they shared wine in the kingdom of God.

A hymn was sang to mark the moment in time and they left to the mount of olives where the unstoppable chain reaction would begin when the Son of Man was handed over into the hands of sinners.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER GAVE HIS ONLY SON TO REDEEM MANKIND AND NOW HIS TIME WAS AT HAND

The Lord Jesus, with the day of His suffering set for the next day, begins the final protocols that needed to be instituted before hand.

Starting with the Last Supper, the Lord was approached by His disciples about where to set up the passover meal.  He instructed them to go into the city and find a man who had the facilities and  been briefed beforehand and to tell him that the time had come and to provide the required space and victuals.

17 Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?”

18 And 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 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.

Once it was evening, Jesus sat down with the twelve disciples and as they ate, the Lord Jesus broached the fact that someone in their midst was going to betray Him. This was a shock  to the group of men and they each began to try make it known the to the others  that they were not involved in treachery against Him. They all asked the Lord to testify that it wasnˋt they who were involved. 

The Lord announced that the one who dipped a piece of bread into the broth at the same time that He did was the one who was going to betray Him and that the person who was going to do it was better off never to have been born because of how agregious the act of betraying the son of man was.

Judas, knowing that it was he who dipped at the same time as Jesus, asked if it was he who was going to betray Jesus and Jesus answered that it was.

20 When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. 21 Now as they were eating, He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.”

22 And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?”

23 He answered and said, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. 24 The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”

25 Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Rabbi, is it I?”

He said to him, “You have said it.”

Thus the sequence of events that led to the death of the Lord Jesus began in earnest and the identification of the person who would turn Jesus over into the hands of His enemies was the first of the steps.

Judas left the venue shortly after to fulfill his end of the agreement he had made with the religious leaders for thirty pieces of silver and by the next night, Jesus would be dead.

Have mercy on us O God.

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OUR FATHER WHO GAVE HIS ONLY SON TO SAVE THE WORLD

Matthew chapter 26 verse 14 - 16 records the event where Judas Iscariot decided that he could benefit the most by betraying Jesus into the hands of the religious leaders.

He asked them what price they would pay to get Jesus and they agreed on thirty pieces of silver.

14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. 16 So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

The book of Zechariah chapter 11 verses 12 - 13 aludes to this event thusly;

12 I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.

13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.

This prophecy appears to capture the words fo Jesus speaking of the ˋhandsomeˋ price of thirty pieces of silver that they paid to get Jesus but in a cryptic way, revealing that the money was paid out and then returned and that the money was laundered by the aquisition of a potterˋs field.

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OUR FATHER WHO HONORS THOSE WHO HONOR HIS SON

Matthew chapter 26 verses 6 - 13 captures a moment when a woman, inspired by the Holy Spirit, approached the Lord Jesus and poured an expensive frangant oil on His head as he sat at the table.

Jesusˋ disciples were annoyed that so much money was wasted instead of being put towards a good cause like helping the poor. 

6 And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. 8 But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.”
10 But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. 11 For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. 12 For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. 13 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

Jesusˋ response to the complaints of the disciples revealed a glimpse behind-the-scenes of the preparations being made for Jesusˋ crucifixion and burial.

As the time approached for Jesus to give Himself into the hands of the authorities, the preparation for His burial were underway and the pouring of the fragrant oil represented the physical version of what was happening in the spiritual realm.

The womanˋs sacrifice and obedience to the prompting of the Spirit immortalized her participation in the story of the salvation of mankind and as Jesus foretold, her actions are  still being read and studied two thousand years later.

John chapter 12 verse 26 says this:

If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be. If any man serve Me, him will My Father honor.

Amen.

4

OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DIE FOR THE SINS OF THE WORLD

Matthew chapter 26 verses 1 - 5 records the change in the atmosphere that occurred two days before the Passover feast when the Lord Jesus finished teaching His followers about His return in great glory as the judge of the whole world but He predicted that first, He was going to be delivered into the hands of the authorities to be crucified.

At that time, the plot to kill Jesus intensified as the Pharisees, scribes and the elders of Israel gathered at the residence of Caiaphas the high priest and planned  

1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, 2 “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

3 Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4 and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him. 5 But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”

The people of Israel were gathering in Jerusalem for the Passover feast and the religious and political leaders, as they planned to eliminate Jesus, realised that it would be disruptive and cause unrest and chaos with all the people in the city and so they were constrained in what they could do at the time but with trickery, they intended to ensnare Jesus and kill Him.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE KINGDOM IS RIGHTEOUS KINGDOM

The Lord Jesus, giving the last parable before the dominos that led to His cricifixion began to fall, described a scene where He would be arriving in great glory accompanied by holy angels and He will occupiy a great throne of glory.

All the nations of the earth will be gathered before Him and as a judge, He will separate these nations into two categories: The sheep and the goats. The sheep will be placed on His right side and He will bless them and welcome them into the kingdom they have inherited. The Lord gives the reason for their inclusion in this first group is that they;

• When Jesus was hungry, they gave Him food
• When Jesus was thirsty, they have Him drink
• When Jesus was unknown, they welcomed and included Him
• When Jesus was naked, they gave him clothes
• When Jesus was sick, they visited Him
• When Jesus was imprisoned, they came to see Him

Those who were blessed were confounded because they had no recollection of doing these things for Jesus but He informed them that everytime they helped the people in the margins with no status, no voice and no strength, they were directly helping Him.

31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of 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 took Me in; 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 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

In contrast, those who were placed on the left side of the throne, classified as goats, were those who did not undertake to minister to those on the lowest rungs of society and by failing to do so, let Jesus languish in their midst and were now to face eternal judgement.

41 “Then He will also say to those on the  left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting 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 take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

44 “Then they also will answer Him, 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, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch 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 everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

This sobering event reminds us that a primary preoccupation of the Lord is the care of the weak and lowly for He very strongly identifies with them and He has given all people  an unlimited credit card such that anything given to the poor and any expense undertaken on their behalf is charged to Him and he will repay it.

As Proverbs chapter 19 verse 17 says;

He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, And He will pay back what he has given.

This unconditional contract removes any excuse that we may have from helping the poor. 

Have mercy on us O God.

8

OUR FATHER WHO GAVE US HIS SPIRIT AND HIS POWER TO PROFIT HIS KINGDOM

The Lord Jesus, in Matthew chapter 25 verses 14 - 30, continuing to teach His followers about the kingdom of Heaven, used a parable to explain to them how to be profitable servants during his absence.

In the parable of the talents, Jesus told them of a man who was to travel to a distant country and so divided some of his holdings among his servants to take care of and then went on his way. When the man returned, he assessed the performance of each servant based on what they had done with the assets he had left them. 

14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 22 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.

29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

In this parable, the man was Jesus Himself and His followers were the servants to whom the money was consigned. The money represented any deposit of the Spirit of God who supplied the spiritual gifts and power left in the charge those who followed Jesus.

This portion of the gifting and power of the kingdom of God given into our care consists of what is revealed to us as requirements in the kingdom of God for which we are also given unique abilities that we can use to attended to and fulfill them.

In the case of the first and second servants who was given five and two talents respectively, they traded and invested what was given to them and they were able to return double their masters original goods.

What does the trading and investing represent? In the corporeal world, if one were given an amount of cash to administer, one could buy a business or invest in projects that yielded dividends after a period. Carefully managing the portfolio would result in the growth of the value of the holding over time and when the owner of the asset called to draw upon the investment, the deposit would worth more than the initial fund.

Translating these principles into spiritual terms as they relate to the kingdom of God,  what is being proposed is that we handle our own revelations of the kingdom of God and the individual abilities and strengths that are bestowed on us as opportunities to invest in the growth of the kingdom of God with the understanding that what we have been given and how we steward them will be used to guage what we can be entrusted with in the kingdom to come.

In the parable, the third servant displeased his master because he was risk averse and decided to safely bury what he was given so that when the master returned, he could return to him exactly what he was given.

The master argued that if risk aversion was the operating principle, the third servant should have at least placed the money in a low-risk, interest-bearing savings account so that when the master returned, his money could have gained some interest instead of being static and perhaps suffering the ravages of inflation.

This suggestion by Jesus translates into the spiritual realm as an option to serve in other peopleˋs ventures and ministries to take advantage of their successful investments that more gifted people are able to manage and as a result, what was given to the servant would be put towards a growing investment and when Jesus returned, would find that the servant has contributed to another personˋs successfull efforts and would be able to realise interest on His investment.

The third servant, in effect, was given an investment of gifts and power in his life and what he returned to his master was himself alone. The expectation, however, was that each person, having been given a deposit of the Spirit of God, would be able to present other people to his Lord who had been won over to the kingdom of God by the investment of their time and gifts and even if the person could not directly win over souls, could at least join in to help the fishers of men who were successfully netting the souls of men for the kingdom.

Have mercy on us O God.

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