King James Bible Study – [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. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Wednesday, November 08, 2023
Chapters: MATTHEW 26
Message: Live Like Christ Saved You
Hello My Friend,
Well, I had a really nice birthday, apart from not seeing my brother and family on the other side of town, I got to spend some time with my husband, mom, and new friends. I can honestly say that I never had a true friend since I gave my life to Jesus. I have had acquaintances like friends at work and church, but no one that I could truly call a friend, except Jesus of course. This year has definitely been a year of events and shake ups in my life that I never knew I would even come close to. So, as I was reading the chapter for today, it got me thinking about this song, Live Like You Were Dying, this is the second verse and chorus.
[He said “I was finally the husband That most of the time I wasn’t. And I became a friend a friend would like to have, And all of a sudden going fishin’ Wasn’t such an imposition, And I went three times that year I lost my dad. Well I, I finally read the Good Book, and I Took a good, long, hard look, At what I’d do if I could do it all again, And then, I went skydiving, I went Rocky Mountain climbing, I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fumanchu. And I loved deeper, And I spoke sweeter, And I gave forgiveness I’d been denying”. And he said “Someday I hope you get the chance To live like you were dying, Like tomorrow was a gift, And you’ve got eternity To think about. What you’d do with it, What could you do with it, What did I do with it? What would I do with it?]
Do we need to be in near death situations before we get in God’s Word? Do we need to know that our lives are in danger before we call on Jesus? Do we need to live each day on a whim, as vagabonds, having to cares to worry about? Today is a gift, and there is no guarantee of tomorrow and yes, we do need to love deeper, to forgive, and to speak sweeter, but we do have eternity to think about. If we have never accepted Christ as our Saviour, that eternity will be in hell, so we need to never put off for tomorrow what needs to be done today, [James 4:13-15 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.]
As we continue in the reading of the Gospels, Matthew, begins his account of what took place prior to Christ’s passion. Two days before everything was to unfold, Jesus came right out and told the disciples that He was not only going to be betrayed, but crucified as well.
[Matthew 26:1-8 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. 6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, 7 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?]
[and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.] We all know that the day will come when we will see Jesus, albeit in heaven or the rapture, but to know the exact day and how you are going to die or be taken up, I am not sure I want to know that. I am glad that God gives us freewill and has not revealed everything to us, just like Job said, these are things too wonderful for me to understand, [Job 42:1-3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said, 2 I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. 3 Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.]
It would be nice if we could go the rest of our days on earth without pain or sorrow, especially after we learned of Christ, accepted Him as our Saviour, and gave our souls to Him for keeps, but sadly as long as sin is in this world that is not the case. There are many things that we with our limited reasoning skills are too wonderful for us to understand, but the one thing we can understand is that Jesus came here so that we do have eternity to look forward to. The woman was Mary, and Jesus knew the reason that some of the disciples were angry at seeing her pour this bottle of perfume on His head, which was probably at one point kept for her wedding day. Until Mary met Jesus she lived her life as any other Jewish woman would, but the day she met Jesus she knew her life would change and decided that He needed that precious ointment more than she did. This is why Jesus told them to leave her alone.
[Matthew 26:10-13 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.]
[Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached…there shall also this,] Remember when we read about the old widow woman who gave more to God with her penny? This was Mary’s gift to Jesus. She gave all that she had for Him and in return we are still talking about it her. Now, the person who instigated the disciples in the first place was Judah Iscariot. We learned from John that he was a thief, and that he was their treasurer, so when he saw that alabaster box, which was worth more than the perfume, he could have easily taken it. This was the drive that lead him to do the unthinkable, when he learned that there was a bounty on Jesus, he used this information to go to the chief priests.
[Matthew 26:14-19 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. 17 Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover? 18 And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.]
[And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.] Did you ever notice that people will betray you over the most ridiculous things? And at for what cost? Their soul! This man was not angry over some perfume that he could have stolen, this was something that festered in him from the day that Jesus came into his life and I believe it was that he did not believe in Jesus. Those who have no faith have no problem waiting for just the right opportunity to betray you. We may think that the devil is impatient, but he is quite patient and will work on someone as long as it takes to get them to turn on God. Of course, we know that the devil needs to get permission from God to tempt anyone, [James 1:14-16 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.]
Now, if I knew that my time left on earth was limited due to some condition that came upon me I think I could handle it better than being told by Jesus that one of you is going to betray me. This is exactly what He told the disciples as they sat there at the Passover meal.
[Matthew 26:21-28 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. 26 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.]
[And they were exceeding sorrowful,] I know where they are coming from, any time that my boss posts something about breaking rules I am, the first to think, “Was it me.” even if I know I did not do it. Sometimes we can be guilty just by association. Years ago when I was a little girl my dad drove a cab, one night he had a fare that asked him to take him to a gas station and wait for him. Well, the man robbed the gas station without my dad knowing anything about it. Then he proceeded to take the man where he wanted to go only to be pulled over and arrested as being his accomplice and he was actually put on probation for a while. Now, can you get a little bit more of an understanding as to why ignorance does not save us? []
[Drink ye all of it;] Think about what Jesus is referring to, He was about to die for them, His blood would be shed for the remission of their sins. This was not to be, what so many foolish religions do, drink wine as though they were actually drinking His blood, rather to be a remembrance of what He had done. They were to drink all of it, meaning we must believe in the entire Gospel, and that His sinless death is all that is needed for the remission of our sins. We are to drink the entire Gospel, take it all in, and continue to observe what Jesus has done for us, [1 Corinthians 11:26-29 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 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. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.]
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. Of course, Judas already knew that Jesus was talking about him. Nevertheless, they ended their feast and headed to Mount Olives.
[Matthew 26:30-34,36-38 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. 31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. 32 But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. 33 Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. 34 Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. 36 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.]
[shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.] By choice, we choose Christ, as we grow closer to Him we do become more like Him, this is not fate, rather our allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us, and that is when we start to see our own fate unfold. It does not matter how strong our faith, we are all capable of hiding our faith out of fear. Nevertheless, Jesus knows the difference. Now, 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 26:40-46 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 42 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.]
[except I drink it, thy will be done.] 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 26:47-52 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. 48 Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. 49 And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. 50 And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. 51 And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear. 52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.]
[Friend, wherefore art thou come?] Wow! Talk about words that cut like a knife. I know that Judas must have been wishing that he was never born after hearing those words. No one knows the impact of denying Christ until they face Him, [Matthew 10:32-34 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. 34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.]
[Put up again thy sword into his place:] You see, God, may only appoint you to one thing in your lifetime, until it is fulfilled He will not bring you home. Jesus was appointed to be the sinless sacrifice that would bring salvation to man once and for all, that is, to all who would believe on Him.
[Matthew 26:57-60,63-64 And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 58 But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end. 59 Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; 60 But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, 63 But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. 64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.]
[Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power,] Jesus, was telling them that when He has finished the work that He came here to do, all of his enemies will be subdued under His footstool as David had written, [Psalms 110:1-2 A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. 2 The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.]
Today’s Prayer: God, There are many things in this world that I do not understand, many times I see my life and wonder if it is really in Your will for me or just me trying to alter Your plan. Nevertheless, I know one thing is for sure, You have a purpose for me and You will keep me here until I fulfill that purpose. Thank You for watching over us and protecting us as we walk this journey with You. It is not always easy as there are many willing to sell us out for their own selfish greed. Lord, Lead us and guide us, give us wisdom to know how to speak to everyone, discernment to know who is true, Your mercy and grace to see us through, Your strength that pierces through our weakness, and the courage to always proclaim You Son as our Saviour. With You by my side, I know I can do and endure all things. I pray this in Your name Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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