April
6th Jesus servants
wont lack
35: And he said unto them, When I
sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they
said, Nothing. 36: Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let
him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell
his garment, and buy one. 37: For I say unto you, that this that is written
must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors:
for the things concerning me have an end. 38: And they said, Lord, behold, here
are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.
Prayer
in the Garden
39: And he came out, and went, as he
was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. 40: And
when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into
temptation. 41: And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and
kneeled down, and prayed, 42: Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this
cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 43: And there
appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. 44: And being in an
agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of
blood falling down to the ground. 45: And when he rose up from prayer, and was
come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, 46: And said unto
them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.
Betrayal
47: And while he yet spake, behold a
multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them,
and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. 48: But Jesus said unto him, Judas,
betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? 49: When they which were about him
saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?
50: And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right
ear. 51: And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his
ear, and healed him. 52: Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains
of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as
against a thief, with swords and staves? 53: When I was daily with you in the
temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the
power of darkness.
Peter
denies the Lord
54: Then took they him, and led him,
and brought him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off. 55:
And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down
together, Peter sat down among them. 56: But a certain maid beheld him as he
sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also
with him. 57: And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not. 58: And after a
little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said,
Man, I am not. 59: And about the space of one hour after another confidently
affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a
Galilaean. 60: And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And
immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. 61: And the Lord turned, and
looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said
unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. 62: And Peter went
out, and wept bitterly.
Mocking
and beating of Jesus
63: And the men that held Jesus
mocked him, and smote him. 64: And when they had blindfolded him, they struck
him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?
65: And many other things blasphemously spake they against him.
Jesus
before the Council
66: And as soon as it was day, the
elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and
led him into their council, saying, 67: Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he
said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe: 68: And if I also ask you,
ye will not answer me, nor let me go. 69: Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on
the right hand of the power of God. 70: Then said they all, Art thou then the
Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am. 71: And they said, What
need we any further witness? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth.
There are those who say that today
evangelists should go without money. However, while it is true that evangelists
can trust in Gods provision, we must remember that the apostolic mission during
the ministry of Christ was quite unique. The Apostles were sent out relying of
the hospitality of Israel.
Now that their mission is at an end Christ instructs the Apostles to resume
normal financial arrangements. He says, ‘When you went out without money, did
you have any lack? They answered, ‘Nothing’. So then, he says, ‘take your
purse, script and if you have no sword sell you coat and buy one’. (This is
exactly what Peter did, which is why he had a sword when Christ was betrayed) They
answered Lord here are two swords. The Disciples thought that Christ was
advocating armed resistance. However Christ ended this conversation by saying,
‘This is enough’. They went to the Mount of Olives,
a place often frequented by Christ as a place of prayer. Here Christ came face
to face with his destiny and he shrank back from it. It was not his will but he
was prepared to do the Fathers will. Angels strengthened unto him in his hour
of need. The agony of the garden was the struggle of his will and the fearful
prospect of the cross. Eventually Judas arrived with a crowd and soldiers.
Peter stepped forward to defend Christ and he swung at Malcus who ducked his
head but loosing his ear. Christ stopped this action and headed the man. Then
Christ questioned Judas’s betrayal with the sign of affection. Then Christ said
why have you come against me with swords and staves like a thief l was daily
teaching in the temple? Christ is asking to make then think about their
actions. Then he said, this is your hour and the power of darkness. This was
the time when Israel
would make a decision that would affect all their subsequent history. And this
was the hour in which the prince of this world would do his worst. Christ was
taken to the High Priests house but Peter followed a far off. While Peter
warmed himself outside by the fire a young maid said to those around, this man
was also with him. But Peter denied it. A while later, another man pinpointed
Peter, but he denied knowing Christ again. An hour passed another pointed out
Peter as a Galilean but Peter denied again and right then the cock crew. At
that moment the Lord turned and looked right into the heart of Peter. Peter
remembered what Christ had said and he went out a wept bitterly. He had denied
his Lord but his faith had remained. The men that held Christ made fun of him
and beat him up. Then they gave him a blindfold beating. A very fearful thing.
And they mocked his prophetic gift. They did many blasphemous things to the
King of Kings.
When dawn broke, they called the
Sanhedrin together. At this hearing they asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah?’ But
he replied, ‘If l told you would not believe me and if l asks questions of you,
you will not release me’. But he said this, ‘After this time you will see the
Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God’. This was not only a
prophetic statement it was a declaration of that one day Christ himself will he
exalted to the place of highest honour and authority. So they replied, ‘Are you
the Son of God’? And he said, ‘Yes’. At this they said, ‘We do not need any
witnesses because we have heard him blaspheme ourselves’ of course this was
blaspheme if he were not the Son of man. but the truth was this that he was the
Son of man. And one day they will bow the knee to him. And so this was the
reason for the crucifixion of Christ from a Jewish perspective. He claimed to
be their Messiah and they rejected him. For any Jew to be saved they must
change their mind concerning who Christ is and publically confess him as Lord.[1]
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