King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Monday, November 08, 2021
Chapters: Matthew 26
Message: Sowing Their Flesh
Hello My Friend,
There was something on my mind about what I had talked about yesterday concerning this passage, [Matthew 25:41-45 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.]
I had mentioned that those who are lost are no different than the unprofitable servant that hid the Gospel nor let anyone else learn how to get saved. While that is true, I should have specified that who Jesus was referring to here was the foolish virgins, and unprofitable servants, they are the ones who fully know the Gospel, yet never get saved or let anyone else know how to get saved. Perhaps they even come to church, are kind, and talk about how great God is, and reap all the blessings that come with it, but they are not members nor have once shown any compassion on anyone. They had the opportunity to get saved, but did absolutely nothing, and therefore, showed that they had no true faith in Christ, and that is why Jesus cast them out, [Galatians 6:6-8 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. 7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.]
Sometimes I believe that the guy that I dated for a year and a half was one of these unprofitable servants, he appeared to be so kind, it took me a year to figure out that his kindness always had an agenda behind it that would benefit him, even regarding church. I am not going to speculate as to whether or not he really is saved, Jesus knows that, and if he has been lying all this time, then he will answer to Jesus. Those who sow to their flesh will always reap corruption. Now, as we continue in the reading of the Gospels, we come to what takes place leading up to Jesus being captured, falsely convicted, and crucified. The Jews did not like one bit what Jesus had said to them in regards to their standing before Him at judgment, and plotted how they might be able to kill him without anyone finding out.
[Matthew 26:1-5 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, 2 Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified. 3 Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4 And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. 5 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.]
[lest there be an uproar among the people.] These people had absolutely no fear of God at all, what they feared was the people and how they would lose all the benefits they reaped from their deception if they found out. True believers do not serve God to see what they can get out of it, they serve Him solely to out of true fear, which is to love, honor, and respect everything about Him. On top of having no fear, they also knew that many of the people in Jerusalem for the Passover were believers of Christ having been cured by faith or someone they loved was cured. And should they attempt anything of this nature at this time, the people would rise, and rescue Him. However, their plot thickens as someone associated with Jesus would offer to bring Him to them. As Jesus and the disciples lodged in Bethany for the night, a woman having a very expensive bottle of perfume went up to Jesus and poured it on His head just as He sat down, and this actually caused an uproar among the disciples.
[Matthew 26:7-16 There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. 8 But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? 9 For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. 10 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. 11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. 12 For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. 13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her. 14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, 15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.]
[they had indignation,] Several of the disciples were actually angry as they watched this woman pour the perfume out onto Jesus’ head. Whether or not they were angry at her for wasting the perfume or Jesus for allowing her to pour it on His head, knowing the value if it, they attempted to justify their angry by asking what the purpose for wasting the very costly bottle of perfume. Well, come to find out, Judas did not spend the past three and a half years around Jesus because he had believed in Him, it appeared for his own benefit. Perhaps the reason he became so angry with the woman pouring out the perfume was because he could have taken it and sold it, (which by the way, was suggested when Mark gives his account of the betrayal). Nevertheless, that was the ammunition that Judas used to go to the chief priests when he heard that they were looking for any opportunity they could to capture Jesus. Those who sow to their flesh will always find something they can use to betray Jesus, and that still happens today, [Hebrews 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.]
Okay, so we are not always going to get everything we want from God, and life is not always going to be easy either. We cannot expect to accept Christ as our Saviour just so that He can take away every sorrow that we have or give us everything known to man. Those who sow to the flesh only want to worship Jesus when they get what they want out of it, and are quick to betray Him when they do not. Now, the next day was the Passover, Jesus arranged for a room for just Him and the disciples to eat the Passover meal, as He sits down with them, he flat out tells them that He knew that one of them was going to betray Him.
[Matthew 26:20-25 Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. 21 And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. 22 And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? 23 And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. 24 The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. 25 Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.]
[and began every one of them to say unto him,] Now, anyone with a conscience, when they hear from the mouth of Jesus that someone is going to betray Him, will start to wonder if they are capable of betraying Him. After all, Jesus knows all of us, and whether or not we are among the believers just to reap the benefits that come with it. However, while true believers do have our ups and downs in the quantity of our faith (we always have faith, it is just not always as strong), those who sow to their flesh have absolutely no faith whatsoever and as soon as they are not getting what they want they jump ship, [2 Peter 2:9-10,19 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: 10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.]
Of course, Judas already knew that Jesus was talking about him. Nevertheless, they continued their feast, then Jesus did something strange, He took a loaf of bread, blessed it, broke it into pieces and began to pass it down to each of them, then took the bottle of wine, which was juice, poured it in a cup, and then had each of them take a sip, [Matthew 26:26-29 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.]
[I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine,] Think about the purpose that Jesus had for doing this, first of all, He was that very flesh and blood that He said that we need in order to live, [John 6:53-54 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.] Of course, He did not mean literally, which is what He was referring to with this communion. While we look at the outward signs of Christ’s body being broken just as this bread, and His blood shed, just as the wine, for the remission of our sins, we recollect that the feast cost Him as much as though he had literally given His flesh to be eaten and His blood for us to drink. And dare we eat and drink of these things unworthily, it will literally be to our own death, [1 Corinthians 11:27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.]
Judas would find our rather quickly that he would be guilty of the body and blood of Jesus after he betrayed Him. Nevertheless, as soon as they finished eating, Judas ran off while Jesus and a few of the disciples went to Gethsemane, where Jesus became quiet sorrowful and began to pray, [Matthew 26:36-40 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. 37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. 39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. 40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?]
[and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.] Jesus, in His flesh, was no different than the rest of us, even though we know that God will work everything out for good, that does not stop us from having sorrowful and heavy hearts when we know that we are going to have to endure some pain. Jesus went to His Father two more times and asked Him if there were some other way to save mankind, even though He knew it was the only way. Nevertheless, He just said, “Thy will be done” and as soon as He finished praying, that was when He was taken.
[Matthew 26:42-47 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. 43 And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. 44 And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. 47 And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.]
[Judas, one of the twelve,] I find it interesting that the disciples make it a point to point out that Judas was among one of them several times. This goes to show you that we too can be deceived into believing that someone has the same faith as we do, nevertheless, while we will move on and continue in our faith, they will reap the same corruption that they had sown, [2 Peter 2:20-21 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.]
Let Us Pray:
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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