Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible ® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission.
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MATTHEW CHAPTERS 27 & 28
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1-3 Now when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put Him to death; 2 and they bound Him, and led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate the governor. 3 Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
Mat 27-1,2
(65g) Paradox >>
Anomalies >> Satan brings unity >>
Satan unites the world for the cause of persecution -- These verses go
with verses 17-31
(160da) Works of the devil >> Satan’s attitude
determines our direction >>
Led by the devil to suppress the word of God >> Oppressing those who carry the gospel
(241h) Kingdom of God >>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the
death >>
Kill Jesus because of who He is
-- These verses go with verses 22-35
Mat 27-2
(53g) Paradox >>
Opposites >> Definition of freedom is bondage
-- Freedom is defined by the fences that protect us from bondage. Jesus was a
free man, even while being dragged into a kangaroo court and
wrongly sentenced to death. So long as He did the
will of His Father, regardless of what anyone did to Him, no one had the power
to take away His freedom. People in some countries have more freedom to
control their own destiny than people in other countries. We're not talking
about that kind of freedom; that's freedom of choice. Jesus had a spiritual
freedom, the freedom to do God's will. Someone could take all our choices away from
us and we would still be free to love and serve God. In this world we will always be in bondage
to our freedom, for there are forces at work that want to strip us of that
freedom, and the forces that work the hardest reside within our own flesh.
Once we harness the beast within, the jealousies of
others will seek to destroy Jesus who lives in us. We are to ever give your
spiritual freedom to anyone; it is our life.
Mat 27,3-10
(162e)
Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >>
Bondage >> A slave to unbelief >> Bondage to an inability to believe
–
Everything Judas hoped in Jesus died with the Lord, suggesting that those who
fall away from the faith, don’t believe in the resurrection; they don’t
believe in the life to come; they only believe in this life; that requires no
faith at all. They view Christianity as an advantage, as Paul said, “Who
suppose that godliness is a means of gain.” He continued saying,
“Godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by
contentment” (1Tim 6,3-8). If we live and walk in the Spirit as
intended, there is much to gain, but “if we have hoped in Christ in this
life only, we are of all men most to be pitied” (1Cor 15-19).
(186h)
Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >>
The reprobate >> Man’s role in becoming a
reprobate >> Being unable to repent – Even while walking with Jesus, Judas assumed
that secularism was the right way to look at the world, because it made the
most sense to him, and no amount of miracles would ever change his mind.
He must have assumed that a suitable explanation for what he was hearing and
seeing would eventually surface, and that secularism would once again reign
supreme as the proper interpretation of all things. And so it
turned out that the world crucified the Lord and they buried Him, and those
who wanted to protect their faith in secularism made up a story that His
disciples stole away His body, which essentially required no faith at all.
Therefore, we can say that secularism is enmeshed in the reprobate mindset.
Instead of killing himself, Judas could have just gone on with his life,
believing the story that someone stole his body, but the fact is he knew the
truth; he just wasn’t willing to let himself believe it, partitioning it in
a separate place in his mind, shoving the truth in a dark closet full of old
skeletons. That is hardly where truth belongs. To know and not know the truth
at the same time is spooky stuff, but the scariest part of all was that his
fellow disciples couldn’t detect that he was a fraud. They lived with him
for three years, and they got to know him very well, yet spiritually they knew nothing about
him. That is how well he blended into the others. We too need to know the traitors
who walk among us; we need to pray and seek God for the gift of discernment
before those who want to
fool us do so.
(190db) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >> Masochism
(Self-made martyr) >> Literal suicide –
Judas committed spiritual suicide when he betrayed the Lord, and then he
manifested it by committing literal suicide. Judas was one of the
twelve disciples; potentially, he could have proceeded to great things like
the other eleven. His name, Judas, translated means "Jehovah leads",
indicating that his parents had high hopes for him, but as predestined, he was the son of
perdition. He lost every semblance of faith in Jesus, so he hanged himself.
Here was a man who couldn’t live with himself after what he did, which
indicates that Judas actually loved the Lord in his own way, but nobody cares
about that, because he gave up his faith and exemplified to everyone that this
is not just a game, for Judas lost not only his faith but also his soul. He was the treasurer and a
lover of money, who believed that the more one had, the better.
He was always looking for opportunities to gain more money. There is a good
chance that someone was helping him stash it, so after his gig had ended with Jesus, he
would retrieve his money and live extravagantly. In fact, Jesus did
come to an abrupt end as he had predicted, but not for the other
disciples.
Mat 27,3-6
(167b)
Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism
(mindset of the world)
>> The carnal mind is set on the flesh >> Carnal mind cares only
for itself –
All the disciples acted spiritually brain-dead before the resurrection, but Judas’
theory about Jesus was fatal. They all had visions of
entering the dispensation of Christ ruling and reigning with Him on the earth.
This is still to come, but they thought it would happen in their lifetime.
When it finally comes, we will all enjoy it in our resurrected bodies, a far
greater vantage point than from this broken-down old body that is doomed to
decay. They may have all had wrong ideas about what Jesus planned to do, but
Judas fallacy was different from the rest. Everyone was mistaken, but Judas was deceived by the unrighteous mammon that accumulated through Christ's ministry.
All the disciples wanted to fit into Jesus plan, except Judas who just used
the Lord to obtain earthly riches. Jesus explained to them what was going to
happen, but none of them heard what he said, except Judas. He knew the
Pharisees were going to stop him, and his money making venture was about to
end, and so he was designing an exit strategy, but he didn't believe the
statement that He would rise from the dead. The other disciples, while in the upper
room waiting forty days for Pentecost, even then they were still mostly in the
dark about almost everything. They had seen Jesus alive and they knew
something was on the horizon, but didn’t have any specifics. Pentecost came,
and then they became united in one plan and purpose, and finally realized what
God was doing; the age of grace had
begun.
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4-16 saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." But they said, "What is that to us? See to that yourself!" 5 And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself. 6 The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, "It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood." 7 And they conferred together and with the money bought the Potter's Field as a burial place for strangers. 8 For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "AND THEY TOOK THE THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER, THE PRICE OF THE ONE WHOSE PRICE HAD BEEN SET by the sons of Israel; 10 AND THEY GAVE THEM FOR THE POTTER'S FIELD, AS THE LORD DIRECTED 11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, "Are You the King of the Jews?" And Jesus said to him, "It is as you say." 12 And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He did not answer. 13 Then Pilate said to Him, "Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?" 14 And He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge, so the governor was quite amazed. 15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the people any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16 At that time they were holding a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas.
Mat 27,4-44
(165i) Works of the devil >>
Manifestations of the devil >> Hardship >>
Circumstances caused by the devil
Mat 27-9,10
(141f) Witness >>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears
witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >>
Prophesy about Jesus’ death –
Judas’ fate was sealed by prophecy; he didn’t have a chance; all but his
name was mentioned in the ancient prophets who condemned him. Predestination
had already determined him to be a son of hell even from his mother’s womb.
From the very beginning the man had no hope. He once
stood as one of the twelve who were part of the greatest hope this world has ever
known, but he traded it all for money. Paul said in
Rom 7-11 that sin has deceptive powers, and Heb 3-13 warns us not to be
“hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” The love of money tricked Judas
Iscariot into loving the riches of this world instead of the riches of Christ.
While he stood in the presence of God's Son, who incessantly preached against
the love of money, he couldn't hear the words coming from his mouth, like
those in the book/movie, Polar Express, who
couldn’t hear the Christmas bell.
Mat 27,11-50
(99b) Thy kingdom come >>
Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Enduring the will of God >> Enduring
the death of your flesh
Mat 27,11-14
(62e) Paradox >>
Anomalies >> Being clever >>
Keep your mouth shut
(179a) Works of the devil >>
The religion of witchcraft >> Hypocrisy >>
Jesus rebukes the Pharisees >> Rebuked for
questioning His authority
-- Jesus rebuked the Pharisees by saying nothing at all. The truth was clear
enough anyway that nothing needed to be said. Everyone in that tribunal knew He was
the Son of God by the wisdom of His words and by the miracles He performed.
Had Jesus opened His mouth to defend Himself, they would have twisted
everything and believed nothing. His defense would have served as
evidence against Him, so He was guilty if He defended Himself and guilty if He
didn't. Jesus chose not to give them anything to work with
and so declared themselves guilty by condemning an innocent man without a
cause.
(192h) Die to self (Process of substitution) >>
Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by
losing >> Gain God’s kingdom to lose the
domain of darkness >> Gain integrity to lose the
world’s respect
-- These verses go with verses 27-35
Mat 27-11
(54a) Paradox >>
Opposites >> Unbelief in the presence of the
power of God –
Jesus refused to hear what the governor actually said and chose to rearrange
the sequence of words to make it sound as though the governor believed in Him,
transforming his question into a statement of faith by transposing two words, ‘Are you…?’ to “[You are] the king of the Jews.” Two simple words
switched from a question to a statement is the difference
between heaven and hell.
Jesus interpreted the governor in the way He wished Pilate had spoken. Had he made that confession and publicly confessed Jesus as king of the
Jews, everything would have changed in the governor’s favor and may have
changed the outcome of that day, hence the outcome for the Jews for the next 2000 years, all from two words. Since he was a man in authority, Pilate could
have influenced the mob to some degree, but as it was, the governor refused to
believe what he knew, that Jesus was indeed king of the Jews.
(85a) Thy kingdom come >>
Your words can lead to your own demise >> They
will keep you out of heaven –
When Pilate asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" Jesus said in
effect, ‘You know that I AM.’ That is,
‘If you must ask, then I must be!’ That goes for everyone who doubts. Everybody in Jerusalem at
the time knew He was the Son of God, but very few admitted it. Peter confessed Jesus
as the Son of God in Mat 16,13-17. We know that His mother also knew Him to be
the Son of God, along with His disciples and other close followers; if there
were others, the Bible didn’t record it.
Mat 27,12-14
(89e) Thy kingdom come >>
Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Wisdom
is sometimes best unspoken –
Why didn’t Jesus defend Himself? He could have said many things
that made good sense and exposed the motives of the Scribes and Pharisees and
made the religious leaders look like fools, “For he [Pilate] knew that because of envy they had handed Him over”
(v18). Instead of telling
Pilate what he already knew and jeopardizing God’s plan for His life, and
the fact that no one was listening anyway, he would have sounded like He was
begging for His life, and Jesus was not about to grovel to anybody. The Pharisees delivered Jesus to Pilate because He was in the process
of dismantling Judaism, and if allowed, He would have no
doubt succeeded. However, that is not why Jesus came; He
was born to give His life a ransom for many. Jesus was never put in a position that He could not
resolve. If the cross were not the will of God, any plans of crucifying Him
would have failed. Pilate had been a governor for many years and He had seen hundreds of people
come to him begging for their lives, guilty or innocent. What amazed Pilate was that Jesus’ life
meant nothing to Him.
He didn’t seem to care that He was about to lose His life, and it was
probably the first time Pilate had ever seen that, and it actually did more to
convince him that Jesus was innocent than anything He could have said.
(222g) Kingdom of God >>
The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Do not give
what is holy to dogs >> God shares no intimacy
with dogs >> God does not speak to dogs
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17-19 So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" 18 For he knew that because of envy they had handed Him over. 19 While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, "Have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him."
Mat 27,17-35
(160j) Works of the devil >>
Essential characteristics >> Satan’s attitude
determines our direction >> Temptation to walk
in unbelief >> Tempted to abandon your
convictions
--
After all the miracles Jesus performed for the people and after all the time
He spent with them teaching them the ways of God, they listened to their
religious leaders instead, who held them in bondage to an expensive, dead
religion. The people
knew it was wrong to condemn Jesus, because He never did anything wrong. It wasn't the chief priests or the Pharisees who had Jesus crucified,
but the people condemned Him, being influenced by their religious leaders whom they were used to obeying. They could relate to the Pharisees
and had more in common with them than with Christ. A simple
message pumped with emotion was all that was needed to abandon their
convictions regarding everything Jesus showed them about the truth, because
they never believed in Jesus or in His message about faith and love.
Mat 27,17-31
(65g) Paradox >>
Anomalies >> Satan brings unity >>
Satan unites the world for the cause of persecution -- These verses go
with verses 1&2
Mat 27,17-24
(197j) Denying Christ >>
Man exercises his will against God >> Man
withers when he is in control >> Unfaithfulness >>
Unfaithful to your own conscience –
Did Pilate ever get saved? Some people say absolutely not, while few say it was
possible, while still fewer are confident that he did get saved. It all depends on his
conscience. We know that he was conscientious to a point, in that this
case really bothered him, though he wasn’t conscientious enough to make
the right decision. Those without a
conscience wouldn’t have cared, such as Herod, but it was troubling to Pilate;
he didn’t want to be involved in spilling innocent blood. He may have gotten saved at some
point in his life, perhaps after he heard the gospel.
Mat 27-18
(24j) Sin >>
Poverty (Forms of fear) >> World is envious of
Jesus
(76d) Thy kingdom come >>
Wicked motives >> Motives based on envy
--
Jealousy was the motivation that
hung
Jesus on a cross. There
is a distinction between envy and jealousy: envy is the fear of not obtaining, whereas jealousy is the fear of losing what we have
gained; either way, they are based on fear. We know that jealousy is one of
the elementary principles of the world, as is fear (Col
2-8). There aren’t many elementary principles, and none of them are
complicated. Jealousy is something that animals understand; for example,
squirrels get jealous over a peanut, and if animals exhibit
these elementary principles, then we know that people who live by them have
not risen above their animal nature. God is calling us to a higher purpose:
love, which is seldom seen in nature. God has called us to love one another
even as he has loved us. God has given us the
ability to love through His Spirit that God has given us.
(164g) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >>
Satan’s system of authority >> His elementary
principles of the world – Pilate was
well aware of what motivated the Pharisees; they had no good reason for demanding
Jesus' death. Pilate was never able to
ascertain any charges against Him, and he was unmoved by Jewish concerns for
their religion. If they tried to charge Him with confessing to be the Son of
God, it would have meant nothing to Pilate, though Pilate learned that He was
actually being condemned for claiming to be the Christ, and it riled him,
because he considered Jesus to be innocent of any wrongdoing. In fact, the more adamant they demanded His death, the more Pilate
disbelieved their accusations. He had no respect for the religious leaders of
Israel; His contempt was character-based; they continually pestered him about every little thing, demanding justice.
Roman rule stifled the Sanhedrin (what remained of Israel’s theocracy),
which had it free reign to exercise their own justice, would have murdered Jesus long before this, and it would have led to the
immediate death of the apostles. Instead, the gentiles eventually murdered them. The religious
leaders of Israel were zealots, not for the Law of Moses or for the truth but
for their own rendition of these things. They were zealots for the way they
misconstrued the Law and interpreted the prophets, zealots for their manmade
religion that they enforced. Had they
actually loved and obeyed God’s Law and the prophets, it would have led them the
accept Jesus as their Messiah.
(243e) Kingdom of God >>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Sources of
persecution >> Persecution from jealousy
Mat 27-19
(117ia)
Thy kingdom come >>
Faith
>> Eyes of your spirit >> Having Dreams
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20-26 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death. 21 But the governor said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas." 22 Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" They all said, "Crucify Him!" 23 And he said, "Why, what evil has He done?" But they kept shouting all the more, saying, "Crucify Him!" 24 When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this Man's blood; see to that yourselves." 25 And all the people said, "His blood shall be on us and on our children!" 26 Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.
Mat 27,20-25
(179d) Works of the devil >>
Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >>
Stir up the crowd >> Stir up the crowd through
jealousy
--
The chief priests and the other religious leaders of Israel stirred up the crowd
to ask for the life of Barabbas, but it was the people of Israel collectively
who were ultimately responsible for rejecting their own Messiah. You cannot
accuse the Pharisees only.
Mat 27,22-35
(210c) Salvation >>
The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >>
God uses sinners to sacrifice His Son
–
Pilate’s wife didn’t just have a dream about Jesus; it was a nightmare.
Her nightmare was about sinful men crucifying the Son of God. The Father sent
Him to us for this very purpose, that we might murder Him and give God a
reason to forgive our sin. To us, the sin of murdering the Son of God was no
different from the sin of Adam in that we had nothing to do with either one of
them. Therefore, when we ask God to forgive our sin, He cleanses us through
the blood of Christ. However, notice that the word “sin” is singular, meaning
everyone’s sin was involved in murdering the Son of God (See: Mk 3-29;
Jn 1-29; Jn 9-41; Jn 16-8,9; Rom 4-8; Romans chapters 5-7; Rom 8-2,3; 1Cor
15-55; Heb 9-26; Jm 1-15; 1Jn 3-4,8; 1Jn 5-16). Everyone is guilty of shedding
the blood of Christ, just as we are guilty of the sin of Adam, that of acting against
our conscience. If we come to God with His blood on our hands and ask
forgiveness, He will forgive all our other sins too, but until we admit that
we are so evil that we are capable of murdering God’s Son, He can’t let us
into His heaven, anymore than He would allow Lucifer to return. Man’s sin is
a nightmare; people who walk in sin are living a nightmare. Although many
sinners seem happy, yet after this life, once they realize they are still
alive, they will discover the place of the dead. They will look back on their lives in the
flesh and realize that it led them to hell, and they will then realize that it
would be better for them had then not been born. If we want a proper understanding on
our rebellion against God, just look to the cross and then to the consequences
of hell.
(241h) Kingdom of God >>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Persecuting the kingdom to the
death >>
Kill Jesus because of who He is
-- These verses go with verses 1&2. Many
innocent people have died at the hands of sinners, but those innocent people
who suffered a wrongful death were sinners themselves. They may not have
deserved to be murdered, but they were by no means innocent, whereas Jesus was
blameless in the eyes of His Father. Sinful man crucified all that was good
and right; therefore, the cross represents how God views sin. If a person died
in his sin and was brought to God in judgment, God would accuse Him of
murdering His Son, even though it happened 2000 years ago. Every man and woman
is guilty of shedding the blood of Christ. The cross also represents the
epitome of God’s forgiveness, because we acknowledged our level of
wickedness when we accepted His blood sacrifice for our sin through
repentance.
Mat 27,22-26
(242h) Kingdom of God >>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Persecuting the kingdom >>
World pressures you to forsake your convictions –
What should Pilate have done? He was warned in a dream by his wife to have
nothing to do with Him, so he further suspected Jesus was innocent, yet he
allowed the people to have their way with Him. A riot was the worst thing that
could happen to Pilate; inefficiency to manage people and quell rebellions
reflected poorly on Roman officials, making them look inept in the eyes of
Caesar. Pilate could have protected Jesus and allowed the riot to occur, but
what would that have accomplished other than maintaining his convictions in
refusing to crucify an innocent man? More people would have died in the riot,
and he would have been directly blamed for it. The negative side of this was that he
probably would have lost his job and been demoted; basically His career would
have been terminated. Had Pilate known that Jesus was actually the Son of God,
he may have been willing to suffer these things, but all Pilate knew was that
Jesus was forming a new religion, and the Pharisees didn’t like Him, and
there had been many people like that come across his court. The fact that
Pilate didn’t know what to think about Jesus lessened his sin. He nailed a
board above His cross that read, “This is the king of the Jews,” partly
from his convictions and partly to anger the Pharisees who forced his hand
against the Lord. Had Pilate actually known that he was the Son of God, it
would have dramatically increased his sin. There are many occasions in life that we must make a decision similar
to the one Pilate made, requiring us to choose between our faith or our
temporal lives; if we choose against our faith, we are doing it in full
knowledge of the truth, making our sin worse than Pilate’s.
Mat 27-22,23
(242f) Worldly
Pressure (Key verse)
Mat 27,24-26
(168d) Works of the devil >>
Manifestations of the devil >> Do not conform to the world and
meet God’s judgment –
Jesus was crucified at Passover just outside Jerusalem, and many of the people
in the surrounding areas made the annual trek to the Holy City, hence they
were present at the controversy of Jesus’ trial. The chief priests and the
Pharisees instigated the people to call for His death, and the people
responded, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” and God
answered them, “So be it,” and thus it has been ever since, until the
curse is finally lifted and Israel is allowed to believe in their Messiah, at
the end of the age it is prophesied.
Mat 27-24,25
(27b)
Sin >> Consequences of sin >>
Curse >> Deeds that return to the doer >>
Blood of Jesus
-- Pilate showed conscience toward innocent blood when he
washed his hands of Jesus' trial, but that water did not rinse away any of his
guilt regarding the decision he made to hand Him to the Jews. Moreover, these words are still reverberating in the ears of the Jewish nation;
after 2000 years they still have not reached the end of the curse
that those words placed on them, "His blood shall be on us and on our children!"
simply because they still have not repented
of their unbelief in Jesus as their Messiah. The moment they repent and
believe, God will happily accept them, since it was God's predetermined plan, that He should die for the sins of the
people, for Israel first, then also for the nations. The day
Israel repents of their unbelief, the curse will be lifted and God will
receive them.
(199j) Denying Christ >>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Unwilling to receive Christ >>
Rejecting Christ as the Messiah -- These verses go with verses 39-44
Mat 27-24
(181i) Works of the devil >>
The origin of lawlessness >>
Self deception >> Imaginary perception of self >>
Pretending to be someone you’re not
Mat 27-25
(54c) Paradox >>
Opposites >> Requesting blood be on their own
hands –
In Act 5,27-32 the high priest and members of his council were becoming
increasingly concerned that Peter and the other apostles would hold them
accountable for killing Jesus. Peter concurred that the members of the council
would be made accountable for shedding the blood of Christ if they did not
repent of their unbelief and embraced Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord,
and receive the Holy Spirit whom God gives to those who obey Him. Some of
those members were also members of the mock trial that sent Jesus to His
death. The day they crucified Him the whole crowd unanimously cried, “His
blood shall be on us and on our children!” How did they not know they were
killing an innocent man? They were so arrogant,
they even dared the powers of both the natural and spiritual realms to hold
them accountable for shedding the blood of Christ. Now that Jesus had risen from the
dead, He declared forgiveness of sins to all who believe in Him, and He
commanded the gospel to be preached to all creation, starting in Jerusalem and
surrounding districts “even to the remotest part of the earth” (Act 1-8).
The apostles were in the process of doing this when the council apprehended
them.
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27-45 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. 28 They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29 And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 30 They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head. 31 After they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him. 32 As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross. 33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, 34 they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink. 35 And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there. 37 And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS." 38 At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left. 39 And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross." 41 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, 42 "He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. 43 "HE TRUSTS IN GOD; LET GOD RESCUE Him now, IF HE DELIGHTS IN HIM; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.' " 44 The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words. 45 Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.
Mat 27,27-35
(192h) Die to self (Process of substitution) >>
Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by
losing >> Gain God’s kingdom to lose the
domain of darkness >> Gain integrity to lose the
world’s respect -- These verses go with verses 11-14
Mat 27,27-31
(184k) Works of the devil >>
The origin of lawlessness >> Abusing the grace
of God >> Dragging God’s Grace Through The Mud >> Dishonoring the grace of God
(243b) Kingdom of God >>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >>
Mocking Christ -- These verses go with verses 39-44
Mat 27,39-44
(17k) Sin >>
Unrighteous judgment >>
Ignorance >> Misinterpreting Jesus –
The crowd hurling abuse at Him (spitting) was ignorant of God’s purpose
for sending Christ and His eternal plan for redeeming man from their sin,
just as they misinterpreted the statement He made about destroying the
temple and rebuilding it in three days. He was talking about His body, not
the actual temple. What is more, they lied when they
said they would believe in Jesus if He climbed off the cross after they personally hung Him there. If Christ were
to have walked off the cross and they repented, it would have indicated a
shred of decency in them, but how could they after they nailed Jesus' body to
a cross? God used them to represent the inner condition of all mankind, of
which we are a part. We are better than they, only because we have trusted
Jesus as our savior.
(199j) Denying Christ >>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Unwilling to receive
Christ >> Rejecting Christ as the Messiah --
These verses go with verses 24&25
(200k) Denying Christ >>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >>
Excuses for rejecting Christ >> Putting God in
a no win situation
-- They nailed Jesus to a cross from jealousy, partly because He performed many miracles and
attracted a large audience, which emasculated all the religious leaders,
then they told Him to come off the cross and they would believe in
Him. It would have been a miracle had He climbed off the cross, so why would
they believe in that miracle and not in the other miracles He
performed? There
was nothing Jesus could have done that would
have persuaded them to believe in Him, which places their hatred squarely on
the Father, which worsens their guilt, and proves whom they were targeting when they
hurled abuse at Jesus!
(243b) Kingdom of God >>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Persecuting the kingdom >>
Mocking Christ -- These verses go with verses 27-31. How
many times have we heard it said, ‘If He does this I will believe in Him’ or ‘If He does that
I will believe in Him,’ yet if we produced list of reasons people
should believe in Him, a very long bulleted list of all the Old Testament
prophecies He fulfilled, people
would tear up the list and throw it in the trash. They would say I don’t care
about any of that, but if He comes off the cross, I will believe in
Him. That is a lie! They create the parameters of their own faith and expect
God to honor them, instead of assuming God’s design of faith in that Jesus
did eventually come off the cross and He is now alive.
Mat 27-39,40
(177i) Works of the devil >>
The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism) >>
Misunderstanding the word of
God
Mat 27,40-43
(253ea) Trinity >>
Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is
equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the
internal qualities of the Father >> Jesus is the Son of God
>> Contested the Son of God by
sinners and demons
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46-49 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 And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, "This man is calling for Elijah." 48 Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. 49 But the rest of them said, "Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him."
Mat 27-46
(25j) Death
(Key
verse)
(26d)
Sin >> Consequences of sin
>>
Death is separation from God’s life
–
This passage proves the innate property of sin, that it has the power to
separate us from God. In fact, the word “death” according to the context
of the Bible means separation. When somebody dies, they are separated
from their bodies, and Paul said that death is the result of sin, so sin and
death have the same result; they both separate us from God. Sin spiritually separates
the unbeliever from God, so when he physically dies, he is eternally separated from God.
Eternal separation is called
death, and eternal death is called hell, which is final separation from God.
Everything that is separated from God is dead, and there are
various levels of separation, hence various levels of death, such as the
body, though it is living, suffers the effects of spiritual separation from God by the
sentence of physical death that hangs over it. So too, the earth itself has the
sentence of death hanging over it, slated to be destroyed one day and then
reborn. Currently the earth has the ability to sustain life, indicating its intermediate
stage of death. Galaxies
are entire systems of stars and planetary bodies that interact with each
other through gravity, as though there were some kind of life in them, but they are completely devoid of life. Without God there is no
life. Physical life is truly a miracle; earth is a place where God has
curtailed the curse of His absence by being present in
some mysterious way, so that life can exist, and yet that life is not fully
alive, only physically. It is not spiritually alive, but the believer does
enjoy this trait, only not in his body but in his soul, having been
fully reunited with God. When God destroys this present universe and
recreates a new heavens and a new earth, He will make it completely and
totally alive with his presence, not only capable of sustaining life, but matter
itself will be alive in His presence. An animal hit by a car alongside the road composed of organic matter, though
dead, its atoms are arranged in molecules that were somehow once alive. In contrast, the future universe
will be literally alive, in fact so
alive that it will be incapable of sustaining death! The people of God will be alive in ways
greater than that, connected to God in ways that are unfathomable. Peter
said that God
will create “a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness
dwells” (2Pet 3-13). Most people interpret that is devoid of sin and
sinners; while that holds true, still more God will inhabit the elements
themselves in the new creation, infusing Himself into matter. He will be present everywhere in ways that we
cannot even imagine, causing all things to be alive. In other words, He will do
away with the inertness of matter and animate it with Himself.
(37b) Judgment >>
The cross >> Father slays His son --
This verse goes with verse 50. Looking
forward to the cross throughout eternity past did not make Jesus anxious,
but it did give Him some anxiety in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus enjoyed intimacy
with God throughout all eternity, until He went to the cross
and died in our sin. It made Him cry, 'My God, why have You forsaken Me!'
saying
it to fulfill Old Testament prophecy (Psalm 22-1). He suffered spiritual
death; it was His greatest fear regarding the cross. The horrible,
tortuous whipping, consisting of 39 lashes by a cat-o-nine-tails conducted
by some of the most brutal men this world has ever known, literally pealed
the skin off His body, pulling chunks of flesh from Him, leaving Him
bleeding to death. Then He received the nails pounded into His hands and
feet, the cross being hoisted into the air and plunged into its base, giving
a terrible racking jolt. He took it all with His Father
present with Him, but none of these things held a candle to the horror of
Jesus being separated from His Father. He cried those words after His
Father heaped all the sins of the world on Him and then abandoned Him after literally
becoming sin. This was far more torturous and horrible
than anything man could do to Him. Jesus knew exactly why His Father
forsook Him, but He still just couldn’t believe it. The Father thinks
exclusively in terms of infinity; He knows eternity past to eternity future
as well as the present, having nothing escaped His notice, remembering
all things simultaneously. He knew every sin that man would commit, and He heaved them
all on His Son. He died like a sinner and went to
hell. When He got there, suddenly all the sins loosened from Him,
because none of them were His own, and it says that He preached the gospel
to those in hell (1Pet 3,18-20) and told them that they should have believed
in God, and then God raised Him from the dead after 3½ days.
(45f) Judgment >>
Believer’s sin >> Through His Son >>
Jesus absorbed the sin of the Church – This verse goes with verses
50&51. Jesus
absorbed the sin of the world and as Paul said, “especially of believers”
(1Tim 4-10). He took on the sins of the whole world, but only those who
believe in Him benefited from it. The rest, instead of benefiting from the
cross, they will be judged by it, though He went to the cross, not to judge the
world but
that the world might be saved through Him. Either way God intends to apply the blood of His
Son to every person. Those who receive His forgiveness become members of His
body, who suffered
on the cross; therefore, we shouldn’t be surprised if we too suffer as
Christians (1Pet 4,12-19).
(47i)
Judgment >> God Judges the world >>
Hell is the absence of God
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50-54 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. 54 Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"
Mat 27,50-53
(254g)
Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship
between Father and Son >> Jesus is the life of
the Spirit >> Jesus is the substance of
God’s life >> Jesus conquered death because
He is life
--
Note that it was at Jesus' death and not at His resurrection that the veil
of the temple was torn in half and that many saints were raised from the
dead in the surrounding tombs. It is safe to say that Jesus' victory over
death was in His death, not in His resurrection. 1Cor 15-45 says,
"So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being;" the last Adam, a life-giving spirit."
Jesus was full of life so much that it spilled over and raised the dead
within the tombs of the surrounding area the moment He died. Jesus emptied
Himself of His natural life, which interlaced with His
Spiritual life as the son of man and the Son of God in one body.
His resurrection was the capstone of His work on the cross and was the expected
conclusion of His deity as God almighty clothed in human flesh.
Mat 27-50,51
(45f) Judgment >>
Believer’s sin >> Through His Son >>
Jesus absorbed sin of the Church – These verses go with verse 46
(205h)
Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s
promises >> New covenant >>
The old one is obsolete
(221h) Kingdom of God
>>
The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom
hidden behind the veil from the world >> God
hides his divinity from man’s corruption >>
He hides behind the veil –
The veil was a simple drape to obscure the view into the Most Holy Place to
keep an onlooker from spying on God, who was not a spectacle though deserved
Israel's full attention. The Most Holy Place didn't have a locked door, suggesting that
nobody could stop a person from glancing behind the veil, though access was disallowed,
except once a year only by the high priest
on the annual Passover celebration. The implication of the
veil being ripped in half from top to bottom was that an angel of the Lord did
it, not the earthquake.
Mat 27-50
(37b)
Judgment >> The cross >> Father slays His son -- This verse goes
with verse 46
Mat 27,51-53
(147c) Witness >>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> God exercises authority
over His creation
Mat 27-52,53
(147g) Witness >>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Raising the dead – Jesus
is the first fruit of the First Resurrection; the others who were
also raised eventually died again, and at the First
Resurrection they will be raised this time to eternal
life with all the other saints. This episode of neighboring saints rising from
the dead gives an indication of the power of God’s life-force within Him. We
can’t understand it much beyond that, but we know that it was done by His
Spirit, as Paul said in Rom 8-11, “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from
the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give
life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” In that
sense the Spirit does all things, and He also gives life to His word. In the same
way that words are lifeless inkblots on a page and phonemes formed in the
mouth that become vibrations in the air that enter people’s ears, God gives
life to them, causing certain people to be born-again, whose names have been
written in the Lamb's Book of Life, the book with entries that were filled
before the foundation of the world.
Mat 27-54
(88i) Thy kingdom come >>
Fearing the power of God is the beginning of wisdom
–
The centurion guarded over those who were being crucified, kept the peace
and made sure nobody tampered with the events in violation of Roman law. He
had probably been stationed there many times and seen many crucifixions. It
was just another day for him; he was about to clock-out and go home when this
occurred, and it made him realize that Jesus really was the Son of God. This
indicates that everybody knew why he was being crucified, and the way He died
made the centurion believe it was true. It must have been profound; an
earthquake occurred and a dark cloud appeared; those things regularly happen,
but it was just the way it happened that showed the connection with Jesus. It
was undeniable, so much that even a jaded centurion standing guard on death row had to
admit that the man hanging dead on the cross was in fact the Son of God. It
would take a lot for someone like him to admit this, because he was partly
responsible for his death; he was part of the system that him killed.
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55-66 Many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while ministering to Him. 56 Among them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. 57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. 58 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave. 62 Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, 63 and said, "Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I am to rise again.' 64 "Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last deception will be worse than the first." 65 Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how." 66 And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.
Mat 27-55,56
(3i) Responsibility
>> To the Family >>
God addresses both genders >> Women leaders –
Mary returned the next day with fragrances that she would use to decorate the
gravesite of her Lord, and she showed the others where He was buried, so on the
third day when they heard that he had risen from the dead, they knew where to
look for Him. Jesus was very popular with women. Before this, women were hardly involved in anything, but Jesus
treated women as viable members of the faith, and those who wanted to get
involved in His mission would have a place equal to men. Socially, they were
subservient to men in almost every way, but spiritually Jesus gave them equal status, and
this was very attractive to women. Some have claimed that Jesus had illicit
relationships with women, but they are only saying what they would have done had
they been in Jesus’ position, though they wouldn’t have done anything Jesus
did, including the way He treated women. Jesus was all about love and so are
women in relation to their children; He spoke their language in many ways. Men
are more into their occupations and careers, whereas women are more
about raising their children and trying to maintain a mentally and emotionally healthy
and safe home environment. Jesus spoke the language of women when He spoke about love, for a
mother’s love is similar to the love of Christ. There are some men who
understand Jesus too; His mission is relevant to them, because they see a lot of
wrongs in the world, and the things that Jesus spoke addressed those wrongs and
attempted to right them.
Mat 27,57-61
(14e) Servant >>
Ministry of helps >> Being in charge of the
details
– These linen wrappings are now considered the
Shroud of Turin. When we think of how important Joseph's job was
in the scheme of God’s infinite plan, he gave Jesus a proper burial in the
course of fulfilling His unchangeable purpose for man. It is important to
fulfill our ministry in whatever capacity we are called to help. In most
cases a ministry of helps is doing something for someone else’s ministry. This kind of work, helping
someone else with his ministry, is extremely important, since God often
assigns tasks to people that are too great for one person to accomplish
without help, e.g. Jesus could not have buried Himself. It is also an
opportunity to learn how to get along with others and build unity in the Church.
Mat 27,57-60
(189d) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>> Separation from the old man >>
Holy sacrifice >> Costly sacrifice
(249e) Priorities >>
God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >>
True perception of wealth >> Do not trust the
carnal perception of wealth >> Do not depend on
wealth –
Joseph was an example of a wealthy man who was a believer in Jesus. Wealth does not
necessarily prohibit a person from being a Christian. The difference
between Joseph and the rich young ruler, whom Jesus advised to sell all his
possessions and give to the poor, is that he derived his self-worth from his money, whereas Joseph did not.
Most people who are committed to a cause tend to hit up wealthy people for a
contribution, but Jesus never asked money from anybody, and so Joseph donated
his tomb, an expensive tomb hewn from solid rock, where they laid the body of
Jesus. As a result of his faith in Jesus, the tomb where they laid Joseph’s
body will be vacated one day at the First Resurrection.
Mat 27,62-66
(182d) Works of the devil >>
The origin of lawlessness >>
Self deception >> Trying to hide from God
(196f) Denying Christ
>>
Man exercises his will against God >> Immaturity >> Not mature enough to seek God
>>
Unable to know the mind of Christ – Neither
the enemies of Christ nor His own disciples understood Him. The chief priests and
Pharisees had heard that He said He would rise from the dead after three
days; He must have said it loud enough and often enough that even His enemies
knew about it, essentially becoming common knowledge to all except His
closest disciples. They didn’t want to believe
their Master would be killed, plus they had other notions about Jesus’ plan
that they preferred over the truth. The disciples lived in denial of His
impending crucifixion and therefore would not have been talking about it, so Jesus must have mentioned
it many times to many people for this information to leak to the chief priests
and Pharisees. Had the disciples believed it, they would have gathered around
the tomb waiting for Him to emerge, but they were in the upper room, not so
much praying as crouching in fear, trying to hatch a plan what to do
next, and they were at a complete loss. They were probably considering their
old life as fishermen, Matthew as a tax collector; in their minds they
were probably reconsidering their old jobs, or else thinking where they could run
and hide, or even sojourn to another country and lose their identity as Jews.
(201c) Denying Christ >>
Whoever is not with Jesus is against him >> You
are against Christ when your unbelief materializes >>
If your heart is not with Him your deeds are against Him
– At this point, Jesus’ enemies
believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ more than His disciples. They
were converting their belief that Jesus would rise from the dead into actions
by stationing a guard and sealing the tomb, putting their faith into
practice more than the disciples. However, after Jesus had risen from the
dead and met their Lord alive and were able to touch
Him, see Him and talk with Him, then they carried the gospel to
every creature in the known world. After Pentecost His timid disciples became
His mighty apostles, and then we see them believing in Jesus and converting their
beliefs into actions and performing exploits for God in ways the world
hasn’t seen again.
_________________________________
Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible ® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission.
www.Lockman.org
MATTHEW
CHAPTER 28
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1-4 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. 2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. 3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.
Mat 28-1 -- No Entries
Mat 28,2-7
(23l) Sin >>
Poverty (Oppression) >> Fear of the unknown >>
Fear of miracles – The angle said to the women who believed in
Jesus, “Do not be afraid,” not addressing the soldiers at all, meaning
they should be afraid. They were close in proximity to the guards, but were
distant in their unbelief. People who do not believe in Jesus are afraid of Him,
and they should be, until they repent of their unbelief and commit their lives
to Him, and then God will speak to them with kind words without cause of
fear.
(147g) Witness >>
Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear
witness of Himself >> Raising the dead
Mat 28,2-4
(15i)
Servant >> Angels execute Judgment >> For the sake of the Church – The angel never
executed judgment against the guards, yet rolling away the stone was a type
of judgment in that being far superior to them in wisdom and might, they
represented the God of heaven and advocated for Christ that crucifying Him was the height of wickedness. The
angel’s very appearance in the sight of the guards was a type of judgment
against their conscience, demonstrating that they did not possess a shred of
truth that remotely corresponded with the angel. His presence
denoted their utterly lost condition, lost in ways they could not imagine. Essentially,
the angel
destroyed their lives that day; they would either become Christians or they
would have to trample their own conscience, a type of spiritual
suicide, their lives afterward becoming worthless to them. They could not
continue the way they were going; a massive paradigm shift like an
earthquake occurred in their hearts, and they were required to
accommodate the experience. They lied to themselves and denied the whole
thing with the consequence of developing a reprobate mind, which hardened their
hearts to the point of forfeiting any hope of being saved.
(38g) Judgment >>
Jesus defeated death >> Resurrection of
freedom – Note that when the angel rolled away the
stone Jesus didn’t come walking out of the tomb; He was already gone.
Therefore, the angel’s purpose was not to free his Master, but to bring
the message that He was never a prisoner. Jesus was able to pass through
physical objects; He entered a house without opening the door and suddenly
appeared to His disciples, so He was able to step from the tomb
without assistance. Some say this was because He had a resurrected body, but
He walked on water prior to His death, and He performed many other miraculous
signs before His resurrection. Jesus was not restrained in any way
to this physical realm.
(44a) Judgment
>>
Satan destroyed >> Complete >>
It is finished >> Fulfill God’s will – The angel didn’t do anything except
roll
away the stone and then sat on it. The act of sitting was symbolic of being
finished with his works, meaning this was all he came to do, and his
appearance expressed that it was all he needed to do to effectively
conveying the message to the guards that Jesus had all power and authority
in heaven and on earth. In the same way, when Jesus finished His work on the
cross, He sat down at the right hand of God (Heb 1-3).
(190da) Die to self (Process of substitution)
>>
Separation from the old man >> Masochism
(Self-made martyr) >> Spiritual suicide
5-10 The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 "He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. 7 "Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you." 8 And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me."
Mat
28,5-10
(39d)
Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Witnesses of Jesus’
resurrection -- These verses go with verses 16-20
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Mat 28,5-9
(228b) Kingdom of God >>
God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God
working in you >>
God comforts you in times of adversity >> He
comforts you in your grief
Mat 28,5-7
(15f) Servant >>
Angels are messengers from God >> They are sent to change our perspective
--
The women who went to look after Jesus' grave believed what the angel told
them after they saw that the large stone had been moved and that the guards
were absent. So, when the
angel spoke to them, it was an official confirmation that Jesus Himself had
risen. Usually, it is the Holy Spirit who speaks to us about the things of
God, but angels appear to people to strengthen their faith. One example is during Jesus' distress in the
garden of Gethsemane when the angel came alongside and strengthened Him
prior to His crucifixion. Angels also appear during times of transition
between ages, angels come
alongside to help successfully make the turn.
(210a) Salvation >>
The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> Jesus paid the price for us >>
Jesus saved from death by submitting to the cross
--
Jesus had no choice but to go to the cross since it was the only way back to
the Father, and it was the only way to avoid
variance with Him. In going to the cross He maintained integrity that
existed eternally with the trinity and avoided permanent
separation through disobedience. Although it is theoretically impossible to interrupt the trinity since
it is God, yet from
a practical standpoint that was the risk He took and Satan's reward if he
succeeded. Satan risked everything but lost it all for the
chance of destroying God.
Mat 28-5
(23m) Sin >>
Poverty (Oppression) >> Fear of the unknown >>
Fear the appearance of angels –
These women had gone to decorate Jesus' grave with flowers and fragrances when
they met the angel, who told them to go and report to His
disciples that He had risen from the dead. It says they left in fear and great
joy, fear that they had seen an angel, and joy that Jesus had risen from
the dead. Fear is always associated with seeing an angel. This suggests that they may appear human, but there is something about
them that is alien; they are from as it were another race of man. God will create yet
another race of man in the future, and each time He does, He tweaks the
formula by the authority He gives them. With angels God gave them the universe
as their possession, withholding only His throne to them. Then God created
Adam and Eve, and He gave them the earth only, which was nothing compared to
what He had given the angels, but then man sinned like Lucifer and
God ejected the man and his wife from the garden and made them live in Satan's
curse, where they would eat by the sweat of their brow, and they died in
hardship and sorrow, but when
Jesus died and broke the curse of sin, we received an inheritance. Now those who believe in
Jesus will partake of the First Resurrection that is devoid of the curse. Then God
will create a new heavens and a new earth and give it to a new race of man,
and we will reign over them. He will even invite man to sit on
the throne of His Father next to Christ at His right-hand, something He never
offered the angels.
Mat 28-8
(88i) Thy kingdom come >>
Fearing the power of God is the beginning of wisdom
(125e) Thy kingdom come >>
Manifestations of faith >>
Joy is the result of partaking of the Holy Spirit >>
Joy of the revelation of Jesus Christ
Mat 28-9
(252e) Trinity >>
You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship
Jesus (Because He is equal with God) >> Worship the Father through Christ
-- This verse goes with
verse 17. The
women worshipped Jesus and Jesus did not stop them, contrary to John’s
experience in the book of Revelation when He tried to worship an angel but stopped
John saying, “Do not
do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the
testimony of Jesus; worship God” (Rev 19-10). Remember the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before Me… You shall not worship them
or serve them” (Exodus 20,3-5). For Jesus to allow the women to worship Him
was breaking the first commandment, unless Jesus is God. Jesus represents the
Father as the only representation of God we have, for any other
representation is idolatry. For example, if
we set up a statue and worship it, or paint an image on canvas and worship God through the painting, that
is idolatry,
because we are using it to represent God, and any representation of God is idolatry. Jesus Christ is the only exception to
this, because He is God.
Worshipping Jesus is like a child obeying His Father through his mother. We
believe in the Father through Christ, though we should remember what Jesus
also said, “In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you
that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves
you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the
Father” (Jn 16-26,27). We can directly relate to the Father because we
believe that He sent His Son to save us from our sins.
Mat 28-10
(23n) Sin >>
Poverty (Oppression) >> Fear of the unknown >>
Fear the appearance of Jesus – “Do not be
afraid,” is the first thing spoken in an angelic visitation, or in this case Jesus
who had risen from the dead. It accomplishes nothing
for the disciples to be afraid of Jesus, but that is not true with demonic
visitations; they want us to be afraid of them; fear is their environment of
preference. It is interesting that this simple statement, “Do not be afraid,”
actually disarmed their fears. It seems we have certain instincts about
angelic visitations that when an angel tells us not to be afraid, we stop
fearing them. Therefore, if we are greeted with an angelic visitation, and he
does not attempt to abate our fears, that angel is not from God, for it is a
sign that the angle wants us to remain afraid. No angel of God would want us
to be afraid of him or of anything. God does not want us living and walking in
fear.
KJV NAS
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11-15 Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 and said, "You are to say, 'His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.' 14 "And if this should come to the governor's ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble." 15 And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.
Mat 28,11-15
(16k) Sin >>
Continuing in sin to avoid the light >>
Suppressing the truth they cannot deny –
Had it become common knowledge that Jesus rose from the dead, the religious
leaders of Israel would have
lost their place, because they never supported Christ; in
fact, they were most responsible for His death. We could say that spreading
this rumor was a terrible injustice to the gospel, but many people would have sought Jesus
with ulterior motives if the
truth of His resurrection had prevailed,
even as they seek Him in the flesh today with ulterior motives (Jn 6-26). The
ones who get saved are the ones who would have gotten saved regardless of
false messages swirling in the air. To lie about the resurrection really didn’t hurt the
gospel, for God works in the hearts of people to convince them of His truth,
regardless of what the world is saying. This is basically how
the gospel has always worked throughout the centuries to save people.
(18g) Twisted Thinking
(Key
verse) –
Disobedience and unbelief are opposites of faith and love, and are like
gold and paper currency; we can exchange them for one another. We can take
our paper currency to the dealers and exchange it for gold. Later, we can take
the gold back to the dealers and exchange for paper currency; so one
literally equals the other.
Unbelief is the spiritual equivalent of disobedience, and disobedience is the
tangible equivalent of unbelief.
(19i) Sin >>
Hardened heart will twist your mind –
The fabricated
story was not very convincing after they allowed the soldiers
to remain alive, but the general population believed it anyway,
apparently because this is what they wanted to believe. It was to their
advantage to believe that Jesus rose from the dead, because that meant they
had hope, yet they traded hope for an unconvincing lie. If the
people of Israel were so depraved as to believe a poorly contrived lie, then how
hardened were the chief priests who knew the truth about Jesus’ resurrection
after the soldiers reported to them what happened? They gave
their account to the religious authorities, and instead of being amazed at the
works of God, they didn’t even bat an eye, but began immediately spinning
an alternate account of the events. The people
of Israel, their religious leaders and the soldiers were all corrupt, so that
the only people who were being saved were those whom God had prepared
beforehand for eternal life, who worshipped God with a clear conscience. God was
willing to do anything for them, including send His Son to die on a cross to
release them from their sins.
(21h) Sin >> Premeditated sin >>
Having no intensions of doing the will of God
(76c) Thy kingdom come >>
Motives >> Seeking authority for security >>
Motives based on greed
(162b) Works of the devil >>
Essential characteristics >> Satan’s attitude
determines our direction >> Carried Away >>
Carried away bodily –
When the chief priests told the guards about the rumor they fashioned, that Jesus’ disciples carried away the body of Jesus, they became the culprits in carrying away
and disposing the truth. It turns out they were guilty of the very sin that
they accused the disciples. This rumor was so commonly believed that it became a
fact to the people living in the area, believed to this day among those
who are motivated to believe a lie. Believability is all it takes to
create an effective lie, and a willingness to believe it. When the guards
reached Pilate, they told the same story to him, confirming the guards’ account.
Pilate didn’t have the motives of the religious priests or the guards to
believe that the disciples stole the body of Jesus; he wanted proof, so he went to
the place where they buried Him and found conflicting evidence, yet because
the rumor was so popular, he believed it over the evidence. This is the way of
the world, which is run by money and lies, people believing rumors over
evidence, while the truth takes a backseat to bribery and fabrication. Had the
people honestly believed the disciples stole the body, they would have
hunted them to the ends of the earth; instead, less than two months later they
were found publicly preaching the gospel of a resurrected savior and no
authorities apprehended them, except the religious dignitaries from the same
group that made up the story of a stolen body.
(163g) Works of the devil >>
Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Used
by Satan to destroy the word of God >> Used to
Suppress the truth –
The religious establishment knew that Jesus’ resurrection was a fact. They knew everything that happened; they were not in the dark
about anything, yet they denied everything. They heard from eye-witnesses that Jesus had risen from the dead, and
saw the evidence for themselves; many of them went to the site and examined
the sepulcher for themselves. Coupled with all the miracles that Jesus
performed prior to His death, being one of the reasons they had Him crucified,
His resurrection was totally believable, yet they invented a story and
told the soldiers to tell everyone that His disciples came and stole the body,
which is unbelievable, since the grave site was heavily guarded. The soldiers
told the highest religious authorities that Jesus was not in His grave and that they had seen
a bright light and an angel filled them with dread, and they became like dead men.
Nevertheless, the chief priests told the soldiers to spread the false story about the disciples stealing the body right under
their noses. The religious establishment believed their own lies over
the facts presented to them.
(166g) Works of the devil >>
Manifestations of the devil >> Wisdom of the
world >>
Man’s wisdom contradicts itself
-- There is no way anybody came and took Jesus' body in the presence of
armed guards. The Romans in Jesus' day had a hard
and fast rule that any guard caught sleeping or otherwise neglecting his duties
would be
killed. In
this case, however, they gave the guards a large sum of money to start a rumor.
Why were the Roman guards still alive, and why didn't they pursue the disciples to
make them return the body? The whole reason for placing guards at
the tomb was to ensure that no one took the body, for the chief priests wanted the body as proof that He did not rise from
the dead. Finally, how did the
disciples roll away the stone? They were physically incapable of such a feat,
especially without waking the guards? On the contrary, the chief priests had every
reason to believe Jesus rose from the dead, since
these guards' lives were on the line. The chief priests' sin was multiplied
against them through yet another opportunity to believe in Jesus but
hardened their hearts instead and buried the truth.
(182h) Works of the devil >>
The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >>
Being deceptive with people >> Lying to others –
This financial transaction is a perfect example of the way the world works; it
was a win-win situation for everybody. The soldiers wanted to stay out of
trouble, and the chief priests wanted to spread the lie about what happened to
Jesus’ body, and of course between the priests and the soldiers was money,
being always at the center of every form of corruption. It was
interesting that the soldiers first reported to the chief priests instead of
Pilate, who was their commanding officer. They must have
surmised that the chief priests had an interest in keeping word of the
resurrection quiet, but that Pilate had no interest in covering up the facts.
Pilate would have wanted the unadulterated account of what happened, so before
the guards reported to him, they visited the religious authority, who pressed a fat wad of sweaty money
into their hands and told them to start a rumor that
the disciples stole the body of Jesus. The chief priests’ motive was to keep people
from believing the truth about Jesus so they could maintain their place in society, whereas the guard’s motive was to avoid the punishment
of execution. The chief priests had more at
stake than the guards; they had their pride.
(186c) Works of the devil >>
The result of lawlessness >> Blasphemy >>
Cursing the Holy Spirit >> Lying to the Holy
Spirit – Demons know their ultimate destiny is hell,
and there is nothing they can do to change that, whereas man can repent, most
of us anyway. There are some who have crossed the line and become like the
demons, who have a reprobate mind and are incapable of repentance. What does a
person have to do to develop a reprobate mind? What kind of sin must he
commit? Lying to the Holy Spirit is like lying to our own conscience, but
there is a level of denying the truth that is so offensive to God that the
person is no longer capable of salvation. Denying the truth after God
Himself has revealed it to you is the way to a reprobate mind. The chief
priests and many of the Pharisees
were guilty of this; they would not repent of their unbelief no matter what
miracles Jesus performed. They were spiritual leaders of Israel and never even gave
believing in God a thought, so when Jesus came along, they never gave a
thought to believing in Him. The concept of truth didn’t exist for them. They were
businessmen; they came across as religious and spiritual as though they had
something going with God, but none of it was real. They were spiritual liars; they lied
to themselves; they lied to the people; they lied to God; it was all the same
to them. Their whole lives consisted of lies and deception. What
would have really happened had the disciples actually come and
stolen the body of Jesus from the tomb? The authorities would have
killed the soldiers (Act 12-18,19). They didn’t spend days working on their
story; rather, these people were so trained in greed and deception that
knowing what to do came to them by instinct, or maybe they fabricated the
story over the three days that Jesus was in the tomb, knowing He would
rise from the dead. The Pharisees and chief priests were in fact religious psychopaths. People such as these develop a personalized code of ethics to
give themselves a semblance of normalcy to help them blend into society, and
at the same time design society to allow them to live among the people
undetected in the fact that they are monsters.
(202f) Denying Christ >>
Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from the word of God >> Running from the truth
(251c) Priorities >>
God’s prerequisites >>
Making evil plans
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16-20 But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Mat
28,16-20
(39d)
Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Witnesses of Jesus’
resurrection -- These verses go with verses 5-10
Mat 28-16,17
(237h) Kingdom of God >>
Pursuing the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> Jesus’ ascension
–
The eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee to the designated mountain; it
didn’t say any others were went with them, and it says that some were doubtful. What
was it the disciples doubted? They didn’t doubt that Jesus was standing
in front of them. They recognized His voice, His
face, His demeanor; everything about Him was the person they knew before He
was crucified. They probably doubted that Jesus was raised in the same body, doubted that Jesus
was still human. They must have thought He
was a manifested spirit, or that instead of God raising Jesus from the dead He
must have given Him a new body that looked like the original. They couldn't
believe it, but Jesus didn’t have a reputation of fooling His
disciples or playing mind games with them, and that is what this would have
been had the circumstances been anything other than the bodily resurrection of
Jesus Christ. Anything less would have been deception. Moreover, it doesn’t
say anywhere in Scripture that His disciples doubted after Pentecost.
They were all in the upper room waiting for the promise of the Spirit, and they were curious about their future as they continued
following Jesus. The Spirit came and there was never another word of doubt
among them again. The Holy Spirit persuaded them about the
circumstances that occurred, convincing them that Jesus bodily rose from the
dead, and now they have their
faith supercharged by an anointing from heaven, all doubts removed.
Mat 28-17
(20i) Sin >>
Doubting miracles
(252e) Trinity >>
You shall put no other gods before Me >>
Worship Jesus (Because He is equal with God) >> Worship the Father through
Christ -- This verse goes
with verse 9
Mat 28,18-20
(44k) Judgment >>
Transformation process >> Fulfill your ministry
in evangelism >> Complete your mission –
Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” This
is a tremendous comfort to the evangelist preaching Jesus in a world that
hates God. While
God’s evangelists are being tortured in prison cells, it is good to know
that Jesus is not only with them but has even led them to there,
who promises grace to endure their hardships, and just as importantly to the
evangelist, He promises fruit in the form of human souls won to Christ through
their faith. He told us to observe all His commandments,
integrating the gospel of Christ into our lives.
(66g)
Authority >> Jesus’ authority >>
He owns everything from the father
(67n) Authority >>
Doing God’s work under His authority >>
Ministry of helps >> Help God –
Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
Then He said, “Go therefore…,” associating His authority with
evangelism. Evangelism is the one ministry of the five (listed in Eph
4-11,12) that God is most willing to demonstrate His power and authority,
which is the seal on the Gospel. Telling somebody to believe in Jesus
for the forgiveness of sin isn’t very appealing to most people; often they
were not even aware they were sinners, but when miracles are associated with the
gospel, it tells people that this is not just another message, but one
they had better heed, and gives them reason to commit their lives to it. Even
the hardened sinner is willing to give his heart to Jesus because he sees
there is something real about the gospel. Without miracles, the gospel of
Christ is just set of doctrines people have chosen to believe among a sea of
ideas about God. We have the Bible and the nation of Israel as proof of God,
but when signs and wonders are present in the proclamation of the gospel, it
turns people’s heads and convinces many who would not have otherwise
believed in Jesus. Ironically, witnessing miracles has no lasting impact; twenty years later it becomes a distant
memory that has no real bearing on anyone, except that it gave them
reason to believe in Jesus at the time, and now their faith twenty years later
is still vibrant and powerful. Those who witness miracles see it as an
external proof of God, but those who are born of the Spirit have the
witness in themselves, which is far more convincing than any miracle.
(71ab) Authority >>
Believer’s authority >> We have authority from God to evangelize the world >> We
have authority to propel the gospel into all the world
(84cb) Thy kingdom come >>
Be on the alert >> Be faithful until Jesus comes >> Prepare others for His return –
Jesus charged His disciples with the responsibility of preaching the gospel,
who were Jewish. He told them to
make disciples of all nations. The Jews were originally charged with carrying
the gospel to the world; it was Jesus’ original plan for the Jews to manage
His gospel and not the gentiles. Instead, they rejected God’s purpose
for themselves, and so God circumvented them and gave the gospel to the
gentiles, according to Act 13-46, “Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and
said, ‘It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since
you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are
turning to the Gentiles.’” Paul did this to make the Jews jealous, and so
it made them furious. Jesus said to the evangelist, “Lo, I am with
you always, even to the end of the age;” the wording of this is significant,
the fact that He mentioned “the end of the age,” suggests there will be a
Great Endtime Revival conducted by the Jews, and this will be a time when
possibly more people will find faith in Jesus than all of Christianity
throughout the age of grace.
(191b)
Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man
>> Baptism >> Baptism symbolizes death, burial and resurrection
>> Baptism is a sign of obedience –
Some say we must baptize people in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, others say
we must baptize in Jesus name only, otherwise it doesn’t work. If we baptize
somebody in the name of Jesus Christ or in the name of Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, it just doesn’t matter. What matters is that we baptize believers
for the sake of faith in Jesus, and if we also want to name the Father and the
Holy Spirit over them, that is fine. If a person is spoken-over while he is
being baptized in the name of Jesus-only, it doesn’t mean he must be
re-baptized if he later makes friends with a crowd that believes differently.
Baptism is a public display of our
faith in Jesus Christ, which is all that really matters. Essentially, baptism
represents a wedding ceremony to God at or near the day of our salvation.
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Mat 28-18
(67b)
Authority >> Jesus is at the right hand of the father >> He is above
all other authorities –
We all belong to a certain family. Nobody else is part of our family. When we think of someone born into a wealthy family, this can mean
a lot. That is the case with those of us who are born into the family of God; our heavenly Father is
extremely rich, and we are now under His authority and are also in authority.
God the Father has given Jesus all His authority, and Jesus has in turn given
the True Church all His authority. No person in the Church has all
authority, but collectively we represent the authority of Christ. For this
reason Paul called us the body of Christ, the physical embodiment of our Lord on earth. The second coming of Christ will mark the beginning of His eternal
kingdom, who will rule the earth with a rod of iron. Once Christ had defeated His enemies, He will relinquish
His authority to the Father, who will gently rule His people (1Cor 15,25-28).
(214a) Sovereignty >>
God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >>
God owns everything –
Jesus has received all the authority of the Father; that is a lot of
authority. God is infinite and He owns everything; Jesus is God; He owns us,
and we belong to Him. The Father didn’t give His Son a portion of His
authority; He gave it all to Him. That doesn’t mean the Father no longer has
authority; rather, it means the Father has authority over all things through Christ. The difference between the military and the business
world is how they view authority. When the military delegates authority, the
one who delegates maintains his authority through the person who received it,
whereas the business world tends to view authority as giving it away, and is
therefore they are stingy with it. The person who understood faith was the centurion, who said in Mat 8,5-10, “I also am a man
under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he
goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he
does it.” The centurion understood that when he delegated authority, he
didn’t lose it but invested it in the person, who will accomplish his task
and further establish his authority. Jesus said that this is the way faith
works too, equating faith with authority, suggesting that faith is the
authority of God.
Mat 28-20
(83e) Thy kingdom come >>
Intercession >> Jesus stands in the gap >>
He prays for us
(224f) Kingdom of God >>
Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of
heaven >> The joyful kingdom >>
We shall always be with the Lord
(238g) Kingdom of God >>
Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The kingdom is transferred to
the Church >>
Jesus will never leave us –
Jesus will never leave us; therefore, we will never be apart from Him.
‘Where He is, there we will be also’ (Jn 12-26). The fact that Jesus is
the essence of God’s Kingdom means that to be with Him is to be citizens of His
Kingdom, and to dwell in His Kingdom is for Him to dwell in us. For Jesus to say
that He is with us always is to confess that He and the Holy Spirit are one.
Jesus ascended to heaven 2000 years ago and sent the
Holy Spirit in His place, which was to send Himself, for He is not similar but
equivalent to Jesus coming to us in person.
(254i)
Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >>
Jesus is equal with the Holy Spirit >> Holy Spirit is life >>
Spirit of Jesus –
The Holy Spirit is the exact representation of Christ, even as Christ is the
exact representation of the Father.
For Jesus to say, “I am with you always,” is to say that Jesus and the Holy
Spirit are identical. We serve a God who exists in three phases:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and all the members are equal within Godhead. Although the Father has the most authority, Jesus is a greater
servant, and the least is greatest in the Kingdom of God, and the net result
is equality. The same is true with the Holy Spirit, who also has less authority but
is a greater
servant, making Him equal with Father and Son. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are in perfect agreement, as Jesus
and the Father are in perfect agreement. It is always the Father’s plan, the Son obeys
Him and the Spirit
fulfills the vision.
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