Plymothian

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

² There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

¹¹ While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. ¹² When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, ¹³ telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵ So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

Witnesses Give Testimony Jesus Is Alive

People who do not want to believe the gospels are trustworthy give up on them at this point.  No-one rises from the dead and so this is a myth at best, a lie at worst, and so we should just move on and create meaning from life ourselves.  If you are open to the Gospel of Matthew being a factual account of what really happened you have the evidence that the most remarkable event in history happened.  Jesus, who we have seen as truly dead, became truly alive.  Guards witness an earthquake and an angel which accounts for why they did not do their duty.  The angel gives supernatural explanation that Jesus is risen.

There must have been a story that generated about the disciples stealing Jesus’ body to make it seem like he was risen.  It is unlikely that they were so intoxicated by the power of their own lies that they would willingly endure torture and death.  This adds credibility to the story that is told in Matthew and detracts from the story spread by the Jewish leaders.

Finally, we think of women as credible witnesses, the ancient Jewish world did not.  If this staory was made up, it would be more likely that the discovery of the empty tomb woud be given to male disciples rather than females.  It actually adds to the sense of authenticity that truly women found teh empty tomb.

So given the evidence, what does it mean for you?

Questions

1. What scared the guards?
2. Why do you tink the situation with the guards is given so much attention in Matthew?
3. What did it mean to the disciples that Jesus rose from the grave?
4. Do you believe the evidence of the gospels?  Why do people choose to be doubtful of the situation or to believe?
5. What does Jesus’ rising mean for you?

⁵⁷ As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸ Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. ⁵⁹ Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰ and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. ⁶¹ Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

⁶² The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. ⁶³ “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ ⁶⁴ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

⁶⁵ “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” ⁶⁶ So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

When Dead Is Dead

Although Jesus’ disciples were somehwhat baffled and depressed about Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, the authorities were aware that people thought he might rise again.  If the body was snatched from the tomb, false rumours of Jesus’ resurrection would circulate.  The chief priests did circulate a rumour that Jesus’ body had been snatched after the resurrection.  Like all great schemers they had a number of ways to adapt in order to deny the truth.

There were witnesses to the death and witnesses to the burial of Jesus.  He was killed by people who killed people for a living.  He was guarded by people who would have been executed if the body was removed.  Jesus’ grave was sealed shut.  In normal life there was ‘closure’.  It was now time for disciples to count their losses and plan for a return into the fishing, tax or other trades because the hopes that they had in their rabbi were dashed.

People who don’t want to believe that Jesus was dead deny the evidence of scripture.  God allows them to think zealous fools wrote fiction for the masses.  However, if this is the account of a true witness and his investigations.  Jesus was dead and securely buried.  That is important.  Without death there is no resurrection.

Questions

1. Matthew 27:57-65 describes the tomb.  How would you describe Jesus’ final resting place the days after he died?
2. Why are two women looking on an odd thing for a Jewish first-century writer to include?
3. Why did the Jewish leaders understand Jesus’ meaning about rising from the dead better than his disciples?
4. How certain are you that Christ was dead at this point?
5. Have you ‘died’ as completely as Jesus in a spiritual sense so that you can be raised to new life?

⁴⁵ From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. ⁴⁶ About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,^[c] lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).^[d]

⁴⁷ When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”

⁴⁸ Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. ⁴⁹ The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

⁵⁰ And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split ⁵² and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³ They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and^[e] went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

⁵⁴ When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵ Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. ⁵⁶ Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph,^[f] and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

Divine Infant:  Born to Die

Genesis have made some beautiful music, especially in their earlier years with Peter Gabriel on lead vocals.  I used to listen to it as a teen and be transported to a land of butterflies and fairies, as Phil Collins might say.  A line popped out from the lyrics as I listened back then and comes to mind now:

Once a Jesus suffered
Heaven could not see him.
And now my ship is sinking
The captain stands alone.
A pawn on a chessboard
A false move by God will
Now destroy me
But wait on the horizon
A new dawn seems to be rising
Never to recall this
Passerby born to die.

The song is called Dusk and seems to be the ramblings of a person on the cusp of death.  They recall that Jesus once suffered as they do.  Like Jesus, they are a passerby born to die.  However, unlike Jesus they will be forever forgotten.  God holds the power to create, to kill and to destroy.  In this season of Christmas we remember the greatest of creative miracles.  God overshadowed a virgin and His life became human in her.  This was not ‘sex’ in the way we use the word.  This was a purposeful begetting of a life where the eternal second person of the Trinity became Emmanuel, God with us.  He was Joshua/Yeshua/Jesus, the LORD saves.  His arrival was peace on earth, good will to men.  His death would be propitiation, appeasement of God’s divine judgement on sin.  His resurrection would be the first birth into new life.

Did Jesus know who he was when he arrived?  No.  He wasn’t mulling over divine thoughts about justification, redemption, and propitiation when he came from the womb.  His destiny unfolded before him as it unfolded before the disciples.  His mother knew something special was in the offing.  However, no-one could have known the importance of this precious life as it lay newly begotten in the manger.  The all powerful God had emptied himself.  He took on the genuine life of a human with all its dependency and frailty.  Then he became a passerby born to die.

Question

1. What did Jesus cry out?
2. How does this relate to Psalm 22?
3. Why would the people who were there at the crucifixion still look to see if Elijah would come?
4. How does Jesus’ death help a person understand Christmas?
5. How does The Holly and the Ivy tie Christmas to Easter?  Could you sing it?  Go on – it’s Christmas Eve.

¹¹ Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“You have said so,” Jesus replied.

¹² When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. ¹³ Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” ¹⁴ But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.

¹⁵ Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. ¹⁶ At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus^[b] Barabbas. ¹⁷ So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” ¹⁸ For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.

¹⁹ While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”

²⁰ But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.

²¹ “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.

“Barabbas,” they answered.

²² “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.

They all answered, “Crucify him!”

²³ “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

²⁴ When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”

²⁵ All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”

²⁶ Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

²⁷ Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. ²⁸ They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹ and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. ³⁰ They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. ³¹ After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

³² As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. ³³ They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ³⁴ There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. ³⁵ When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. ³⁶ And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. ³⁷ Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.

³⁸ Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁹ Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” ⁴¹ In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ⁴² “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s 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 rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

Mocked

Jesus had said that when we lose our temper with someone we cease to see the majesty of their humanity.  We dehumanize people that we don’t like and this sets us on the path to murder.  I am reminded of people in political situations who start calling their opponents cockroaches, spiders, snakes, or asses.  Jesus opponents not only fail to see his divine nature, they set about destroying his humanity.  They rpeatedly insult him, beat him, and mock him.

How do you deal with false accusations?  How much control do you have under duress?  I know that I struggle to accept valid criticism and I hate it when I know I am misunderstood.  Jesus endured slander and disgust from his peers on earth because he had to endure through the sacrifice.  We should look on this passage and be grateful.  All of this was endured for us.

Questions

1. What cruel things are said to Jesus?
2. How does Jesus respond?
3. How is God’s plan evident in the midst of suffering?
4. How does Jesus’ sacrifice in the light of false opposition develop your image of him?
5. What lesson do you learn from Jesus’ love and faithfulness?

Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed.² So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

³ When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. ⁴ “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

⁵ So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

⁶ The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” ⁷ So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. ⁸ That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. ⁹ Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, ¹⁰ and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”^[a]

Judas Hangs Himself

A person can be consumed with the thought that they are doing a good thing, and that they are justified only to be horrified when they find that they are wrong.  Judas may have simply been possessed by Satan.  Not having fully bought into the discipleship role laid out by Jesus, Judas advances himself by taking on the financial responsibilities of the disciples.  Judas is a disciple who is not completely devoted to the pursuit of Jesus and so he can be enticed and possessed by Satan to pursue his purposes.

Alternatively Judas can see that the Kingdom of God isn’t quite what he thought it was.  When the disciples thought that Jesus was the Messiah they seem to have had a conquering king in mind.  Jesus shows himself as a destroyer of temple tradition without an army to back him up.  Judas may have been a temple sympathizer.  Judas may have thought Jesus went too far by putting himself clearly in the role of focal point of a new religious order.  If Judas was disgusted with Jesus’ treatment of the temple, he would have easily sided with the Pharisees who were devoted to God and proud and outraged.

Watching a person suffer excruciating torture because of what we have done can reverse our sensibilities in an instant.  As the punishment and fate of Jesus unfolds Judas must have realised what he had done.  Perhaps Satan in a wicked act of glee  left Judas in his ‘right’ mind to see all that he had accomplished.  Lacking Satanic motivation, his human spirit self-destructed.  Or he saw that Jesus accepted his fate and walked toward the end that he had already predicted.  There are many ways that Judas could have realised, with horror, what he had done.

Judas is not an improbable character who lacks motive.  On the contrary any of us could have cultivated a heart that is so quick to change for many motives.  The Bible allows Judas to be a warning to every would-be disciple by not fully disclosing his motives or his reasons for such fervent regret.  I am thankful I was not one of the 12.  In retrospect it is good not to have had the possibility of being Judas.

As a young man, depressed and unstable it can be easy to see death as an answer.  I believe that hanging here refers to impaling.  Judas falls headlong onto a spear, sharp stick, or sword and his guts spill out.  He pronounces judgement on himself because he believes he can not receive God’s grace.  His judgement is accurate.  We all deserve such a death.  However, grace is sufficient to give us all what we don’t deserve.  Judas could have repented if his story had gone on any longer.  As Jesus forgave Peter for denying him, I believe that he could have forgiven Judas for betraying him.  However, Judas was lost in his own mind and he thought he closed the book right there.  He ended it.

However, the horror of his ending was just the beginning of the horror of his eternal fate.  Forever he abides in Gehenna and it would have been better for him if he had not been born.  I pray that my faith will endure and show itself to be true.  I pray that darkness, deceit and despair will not come down upon me like night.  I pray that I will awake to the Light after my death and not to an eternal darkness that uncovers the unforgiven horror of my corrupt soul.

Questions

1. What is the motive for Judas’ suicide?
2. Why do you think Judas betrayed Jesus in the first place?
3. Why are we told of Judas’ suicide?
4. Why do some people take the death of Judas as proof that the Bible is poor fiction?
5. How does the death of Judas warn those who think they follow Jesus?

As you read the following passage focus on the role of Peter.

³¹ Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:

³² But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

³³ Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”

³⁴ “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”

³⁵ But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.

³⁶ Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸ Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

³⁹ Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

⁴⁰ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. ⁴¹ “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

⁴² He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

⁴³ When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴ So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

⁴⁵ Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

⁴⁷ While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. ⁴⁸ Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” ⁴⁹ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.

⁵⁰ Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”^[d]

Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. ⁵¹ With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

⁵² “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. ⁵³ Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴ But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

⁵⁵ In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. ⁵⁶ But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.

⁵⁷ Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. ⁵⁸ But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome.

⁵⁹ The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. ⁶⁰ But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.

Finally two came forward ⁶¹ and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

⁶² Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” ⁶³ But Jesus remained silent.

The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

⁶⁴ “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”^[e]

⁶⁵ Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. ⁶⁶ What do you think?”

“He is worthy of death,” they answered.

⁶⁷ Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him ⁶⁸ and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”

⁶⁹ Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.

⁷⁰ But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

⁷¹ Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁷² He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”

⁷³ After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”

⁷⁴ Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”

Immediately a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵ Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Peter’s Decline

How would you fare if your best friend was going to die?  Peter promised a noble defence of Jesus.  He stated that he would outdo all other disciples in remaining faithful.  He did try, but his courage gave out.  Jesus had told him that the flesh is weak.  He had a bold spirit but he had a weak body.  We often make important resolutions not to drink, overeat, or lust, but even though our commitment was sincere the pattern of sin repeats in our flesh.  We often make a sincere commitment like Peter to follow Jesus, but in the physical, material lives that we have chosen our sincere commitment is forgotten.

In Matthew Peter is representative of all of us.  He is sincere and he is weak, but Jesus chooses him to be the lead disciple.  It is not when we promise the world that Jesus is impressed.  He wants us to know our weakness so that we know his strength.  Sometimes Jesus lets our false promises and sinful choices come to fruition.  We end up with lung cancer, fatherless children, and alcoholism because we thought we could handle life our own way.  When we are finally defeated and surrender fully to Jesus, he can pick us up and show his strength in our weakness.

Questions

1. How does Peter decline?
2. What are his honourable motives?
3. How does Jesus’ story move forward in this passage?
4. When have you made grand promises to Jesus?  How did it work out?
5. How do we follow Jesus in light of our failures?

¹⁷ On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

¹⁸ He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” ¹⁹ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.

²⁰ When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. ²¹ And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

²² They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”

²³ Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. ²⁴ The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

²⁵ Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”

Jesus answered, “You have said so.”

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

²⁷ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ This is my blood of the^[b] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

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

Jesus Reinvents Passover

Although we don’t really know when the Advent or Christmas was, we do know that Easter took place during the Passover week.  Jesus took the elements of Passover and made them new.  The blood of the Passover lamb which saved Israel from the angel of death was a sign of the blood of Jesus which would save the world from sin.  Jesus also took the bread and made it a symbol of his body.  I have attended a few Passover Seders performed by Messianic Jews.  These are people who claim Jewish heritage and who celebrate Jesus’ Jewish heritage whilst following Jesus as Messiah or Christ.  The rich symbolism of the Passover meal and its fulfilment in Jesus is a wonderful thing to behold.

Our small group had a Seder two years ago, but this past year we were in China collecting our new daughter.   She is a gift from God and a symbol to us of new life.  However, salvation from sin and a new life for God are only possible in Jesus.  A disciple takes the body and blood of Jesus and remembers what Jesus did in allowing himself to be crucified for us.

Secondly, the intentionality of Jesus is apparent at the Last Supper.  He knew who would betray him and yet he kept it quiet so as to not avoid his mission.  Imagine if he had outed Judas in front of the others.  Jesus boldly accepted his fate and moved with purpose toward it.

Questions

1. What did Jesus tell his disciples would happen?
2. What did Jesus tell his disciples about the Passover bread and wine?
3. Why do you think the author told us they sang a hymn?
4. How often do you remember Jesus death by drinking wine and eating bread?
5. How do you sing regularly – how does it alter a person’s emotional state?

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, ² “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

³ Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, ⁴ and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. ⁵ “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”

⁶ While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, ⁷ a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

⁸ When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. ⁹ “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

¹⁰ Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹ The poor you will always have with you,^[a] but you will not always have me. ¹² When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³ Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

¹⁴ Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶ From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

Prediction and Fulfillment

Jesus was aware of what was going to happen to him and so he tells his disciples.  Once more they show that they did not understand, but a lowly woman shows she understands more than they do.  It is remarkable that a woman is commended by Jesus in this way as women had little status in society, but her sacrificial action would lead to her story being retold for two millennia.  Jesus couples her action with an understanding that he was to be prepared for burial.

Judas loved money and would have particularly resented her sacrifice.  In one account we are told that he was pilfering from the disciples and Jesus because he managed the accounts.  Jesus knew he would be betrayed and denied but he went forward with his mission in Jerusalem anyway.

We follow one who knows what will happen in the future and who can be trusted to lead us.  Also, Jesus is a model of ideal human life.  His faithful following is a lesson to us.  In this season of Christmas we remember how the Light (Jesus) came into the darkness.  Once more the darkness of the world is painfully apparent, but following Jesus dispels the darkness and provides a way forward.  In the midst of great suffering there can be acts of great kindness and there can be true beauty.  May we be such people.

Questions

1. What does Jesus predict?
2. Who understands what he is saying?
3. How is his prediction fulfilled?
4. How does evil seem to prevail today?
5. How can beauty, light, and courage be experienced despite the rise of evil?

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

⁶ “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

⁷ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

¹³ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

¹⁴ “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,^[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

¹⁹ “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

²¹ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²² “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

²³ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²⁴ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

²⁸ “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Not What You Do But Who You Know

When I used to read these three stories I thought there was little connection.   The story of the virgins seemed to say that we should make sure we had more oil.  Keep rushing to the oil store to make sure that you are up on your oil supplies.  The second story was a story of a suspect rich person and cast some cruel ideas about who God might be.  Thirdly, the last story seemed to indicate that we should be guilted into giving as many cups of water as we could to people wed didn’t know.  This time of reading it through I see a connection.

The first story has a strange answer when the foolish brides knock on the door.  The answer isn’t, “You are idiots who haven’t got enough oil.”  The answer is that the groom never knew them.  In the second story the scared servant seems to give an inaccurate representation of who his master is.  In other words he doesn’t know him.  Thirdly the sheep and the goats are separated by who does anything for Jesus.  All three stories seem connected by whether people know Jesus.

Jesus has just judged a corrupt system of behaving one’s way to God.  The way to God is one.  The way to God is Jesus.  The judgement at the End of the Age is centered on Jesus.

Questions

1. What does the groom say to the foolish brides?
2. How does the person who buried his treasure describe the master?
3. What do these three stories teach about being prepared for the Final Judgement?
4. Why do many preachers today drum up guilt and good behavior as the way to prepare for the End Times?
5. How does a right attitude to every day prepare a person for the End Times?

³⁶ “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,^[f] but only the Father. ³⁷ As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹ and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰ Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

⁴² “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. ⁴⁷ Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰ The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. ⁵¹ He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Keep Watch

If we are a disciple of Jesus, we are to keep watch.  We are to be vigilant.  We are to be alert.  It is the mark of a false disciple that they have no staying power.  The alert disciple gets into a mode of thinking of Jesus and working for Jesus so that they are delighted at his return.  The false disciple thinks of Jesus once in a while but has little or no motivation. The false disciple withdraws, satisfies self, wastes resources on pointless partying.  The mind that is full of Jesus attunes all of their time and resources to what God wants.  This is less and less burdensome as our worldview changes.  When we are far from God, our will pulls our attention away from loving God and serving others.  As our mind becomes the mind of Jesus, all of our time and resources serve the greater good more and more.

Someone who is moving toward Jesus hopes for his return.  Someone who isn’t thinking about Jesus is going to be caught out.  To keep watch, then, is not to sit idle staring at the sky.  To keep watch is to be mindful of Jesus all the time.  To hope that today might be the day, but to prepare for his return every day.

Say you had a loved one in the secret service who was deployed to Iraq.  Does the faithful spouse lose enthusiasm over time?  Doesn’t he or she keep the house in order every day and run the house well in their absence?  When they clean the house each day, wouldn’t they think with longing, “My spouse would like this.”  Do they remove the picture of the spouse from the mantle?  Do they send the children to a boarding school and spend the family funds on binge drinking?  When the spouse returns they will find a well-kept house and a lover who was waiting for their return.  This is what Matthew 24 teaches us about the attitude of the disciple.  Their mind is so full of Christ every day that they are not caught out by is sudden return.

Questions

1. Who knows the day and the hour?
2. How is a servant to be faithful and wise?
3. How does a random return affect the false disciples of Jesus?
4. Why do many people want Jesus to hold off on his coming?
5. How can you cultivate an excited expectation that wakes each morning and says, “Maybe today is the day?”