As we continue examining the subject of the bones of the righteous, we begin to understand THE MESSAGE HOPE— LIFE— RESURRECTION—ULTIMATLY— ETERNAL LIFE. God delivers all the Righteous—Look now to Jesus. He died—He is now going to be taken down from the cross—and buried in a tomb. We are reading about a time of Hope, reading about the Deliverance of the people of God. You already know what is going to happen, Jesus is…
When the Jews asked Pilate’s permission for the legs of the three on the cross to be broken, naturally we believe it was because it was the preparation day for the Passover. But, that is not the only reason, for after they broke the legs of the two on either side of Jesus, they came to the Lord and His bones they did not break because He was already dead and they did not break His legs, which was to fulfill prophecy. Psalm 34 and verse 20, “He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.” So much more is to be learned as John directs us to the Lamb of God Who died for you…
Jesus is on His cross, not mine, not yours, His. It is now moments away from the darkest hour in the history of mankind yet, is it really the darkest hour? In these final moments we see that while on His cross Jesus isn’t thinking about Himself–He is concerned for others. We also will see that after we come to understand through the word of God what this event is all about, we’ll understand that cross must not be looked upon as horror, and an end, but rather as hope of what is soon to take place. All these things are God’s plan, all are done to fulfill scripture, and all was done that we may be reconciled to God.
Remember that everything that happens to Jesus was in the mind of God before the foundation of the world, before the earth, before the words let there be light. His birth, His ministry, all the miracles, everything was planned, purposed, and that included the cross. You will remember the Bible account of Abraham and Isaac, how that Isaac was to be the sacrifice and how his father raised the knife with all intention of completing the thrust down into his only son Isaac–but he was stopped by the voice of the angel of the LORD. We will make some comparison to Jesus with one profound exception. Jesus was the Lamb of God, and no voice from heaven stopped the only Son of the Father in heaven from being the perfect sacrifice. No power stopped the nails, no power stopped the lifting up of the Son of God, and no power stopped His suffering the shame and the agony.
John 19 verses 9-16 we see a frustrated governor, Pilate who isn’t getting answers to a series of questions he asked Jesus. Are You the king of the Jews, what have You done, are You a king, and what is truth. Pilate exacerbated says to Jesus, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have [a]power to crucify You, and power to release You?” (John 19:10). to which Jesus did finally answer saying, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin” (v.11). What happens next is truly amazing…
John in chapters 18 and 19 records three times Pilate declared Jesus to be innocent. Pilate, “went out again to the Jews, and said to them, I find no fault in Him at all” (18:38), “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him” (v.4), “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him” (v.6). Jesus, perfectly innocent, was scourged, beaten, bloodied, spit on, mocked, humiliated. They pressed a crown of thorns into His head, put a purple robe on Him and put Him on display to the Jews. Pilate wanted the people to know that Jesus was no threat, powerless and therefore they should let Him go. But the people wanted only one thing, they wanted…
I want to talk with you about “Habitual Religion”. In our lives we form habits. Some good, some bad, and we all form habits because we are by nature human beings, habitual creatures. And as Christians we want to be habitual about some things. We want to form habits that will allow us to “form” that knowledge and understanding, the ability to follow through with the will of the Lord every day of our lives. James wrote, “But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:25 NASB). We need again look at the scriptures to know what are those things we need to do on a regular basis, what are those things…
Once you stop growing you start to die. We all grow in many ways, personally, professionally, physically. I have been in school studying and have grown in my knowledge of the medical sciences. Our family has grown by the addition of one new child. But one area where growth is necessary but often hindered, is in our spiritual growth, that is growth that brings us…
In the last lesson we saw the awesome authority and power of God and mans total lack of authority and power. With two words, “I AM” Jesus caused 600 plus men to fall to the ground. Jesus let the world know that He was divine, the Son of the Living God with power. That authority and power of the Lord included His power to lay down His life and take it up. The question for us today is “Where is your kingdom?” Are you in the kingdom of the Lord now, or are you waiting for another? Is Jesus your King, or are you hoping He will be King?
The scene has shifted as Jesus now goes “out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden”. The two sides are about to meet. One side Jesus, though His disciples are with Him, He is ONE MAN. On the other side you have Judas with a “detachment of troops”, more than 600 plus soldiers, and add to that the officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, coming with lanterns, torches, and weapons, against the ONE MAN. What will happen is truly amazing.