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.

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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.

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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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