Wednesday, May 8, 2024

PT-4 "Intro to Matt. 26:31-35"

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/8/2024 10:03 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Intro to Matthew 26:31-35”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 26:31-35

 

            Message of the verses:  31Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED.’ 32 "But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee." 33 But Peter said to Him, "Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away." 34 Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." 35 Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You." All the disciples said the same thing too.”

 

            Once again I think it best to quote a paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary as I begin this SD:  “Bu Matthew reveals how, in the purpose of God, the disciples’ failure actually enhances and intensifies the grandeur of the Lord’s achievement.  By way of contrast, their impotence served to magnify His power, their unfaithfulness served to magnify His faithfulness, and their dishonor served to magnify His majesty.”

 

            It seems to me that the Lord is reminding me of the truth that He is in control even though from a human point of view there are times when it seems like He is nowhere to be found.  In my preparation for this week’s Sunday school lesson from Zechariah 12 I am learning once again that God is in control, in control of what will happen at the time just before the Lord returns to planet earth when from what I have studied before that if He did not come back at the time He comes back that the world would be destroyed because of all the powerful weapons that man possesses.   Make no mistake about it God is in control and things will happen just like He designed them to happen including having His Son go to the cross in order to pay for the sins of the world. 

 

            We have already looked at the first two elements of Jesus’ preparation for His sacrificial death while He and His disciples were in the Upper Room.  First was experiencing the final Passover found in verses 17-25, and then establishing the Lord’s Supper found in verses 26-30.  After his account of Jesus’ leaving Jerusalem and going to the Mount of Olives seen in verse 30, as He left with eleven of His disciples, the ones who remained, Matthew presents this third element:  helping the impotent disciples seen in verses 31-35.

 

            It was in this lesson found in verses 31-35 that Jesus taught His disciples, which was a profound lesson for these men who despite their imminent display of frailty, would become the principal human instruments in establishing His church.  This is something that only God can do.

 

            It is in John’s gospel that we learn that after the Lord’s Supper Jesus gave the eleven an extensive message that traditionally has been called the Upper Room discourse which is seen in John 14-17.  In this discussion with His disciples Jesus’ teaching about believers’ being with Him in heaven and serving Him on earth the coming of the Holy Spirit; the meaning of true peace, faithfulness, joy, love and fruitfulness; the opposition believers can expect in the world; and His second coming.  He concluded by offering a beautiful and profound intercessory prayer on their behalf and in their presence.  We know that this is only seen in the gospel of John, but since it is there we can see where it fits in to where we are in studying Matthew’s gospel, or in the other two gospels of Mark and Luke as they go from the Upper Room to the Mount of Olives.

 

            While going to the Mount of Olives they would probably have run into people celebrating the Passover, and we have already gone over that there were two times when the Passover was celebrated.

 

            “Before they reached the garden, Jesus stopped and warned the disciples of their forthcoming desertion.  The teaching of the Upper Room discourse had consisted largely of positive promises, but now it was time for a negative message, a warning that the self-assured disciples could not bring themselves to believe.  We witness a vivid demonstration both of Jesus’ omniscience and of the disciples’ ignorance.”

 

            The following are the names of the sections that we will be looking at as we move through these verses, 31-35:  “Jesus’ Omniscience” (31-32); “The Disciples’ Ignorance” (33-35).

 

5/8/2024 10:46 AM

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