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.
In our last lesson we learned Jesus prayed to the Father on behalf of His Apostles. That the Father keep them—from evil, that they may be one as Jesus and the Father are One, and that the Father would sanctify them by His word of truth. These three requests were made at a time when Jesus was just hours away from death. Just imagine what your concern might have been if you were in His place, facing a horrifying death just hours away. I would be shifting into Macgyver mode and thinking of ways to get out, my focus would be on how to save myself from that hour. Not so with the Lord as we saw He was concerned for His own apostles, but now we see Jesus was also concerned for us today—for all who will believe through the words of the apostles. Their words like the Lord’s have one common source—the source is God. Now God’s word will be delivered by His apostles first in Jerusalem—then to the whole world—to all who will believe. What does that mean for us today?
In this, the actual prayer of the Lord—we hear the words of Jesus offered up to the Father. Now it is just hours before the trials and beatings and crucifixion. What is His Jesus praying about? In the first 5 verses Jesus’ concern was for two things, the glory of God, and His concern for His disciples welfare. By His sacrifice Jesus will glorify the Father—being nailed to a cross and lifted up off the earth. Jesus by giving His life—shows us the ultimate sacrifice to glorify the Father—and by that sacrifice He would be able to give eternal life to all who belong to Him. Today we continue our lesson at verse 6 with the word of the Lord as He prays for UNITY of the believers. I want you to notice something that is very important in verse 6, “I have [a]manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world…” So, the big question is, who are these men and why does it…
From Solomon, who invested a great deal of time learning and imparting wisdom. Solomon in the opening chapter says, “12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be [e]exercised. 14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.” (Eccl. 1:12-14). Solomon probably as much as anyone in human history, was positioned to be able to look at human pursuit and evaluate all of the things that men chase after. Brother Cosner opens the scripture and teaches a simple but powerful message that has its roots in the closing words of the wise man. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. 14 For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Eccl. 12:13-14).