Table of Contents

[Intro: The Rest of Matthew](#Intro: The Rest of Matthew)

[Day 1 (Sabbath) - Matt 21](#Day 1 (Sabbath) - Matt 21)

[The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem](#The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem)

[The Cleansing of the Temple](#The Cleansing of the Temple)

Matt 21-28?

Questions

[Day 2 (Sunday) - Matt 21-22](#Day 2 (Sunday) - Matt 21-22)

[Cursing of the Fig Tree](#Cursing of the Fig Tree)

[The Authority of Jesus Questioned](#The Authority of Jesus Questioned)

[The Parable of Two Sons](#The Parable of Two Sons)

[The Parable of the Vineyard and the Tenants](#The Parable of the Vineyard and the Tenants)

[The Parable of the Marriage Feast](#The Parable of the Marriage Feast)

[The End of the Questioning](#The End of the Questioning)

[Paying Taxes to Ceasar](#Paying Taxes to Ceasar)

[Question about Resurrection](#Question about Resurrection)

[The Greatest Commandment](#The Greatest Commandment)

[Day 3 (Monday) - Matt 22-25](#Day 3 (Monday) - Matt 22-25)

[At the Temple](#At the Temple)

[The Question about David’s Son (Ch 22)](#The Question about David’s Son (Ch 22))

[Denouncing the Scribes and Pharisees (Ch 23)](#Denouncing the Scribes and Pharisees (Ch 23))

[The Lament over Jerusalem](#The Lament over Jerusalem)

[After Leaving (Ch24)](#After Leaving (Ch24))

[The Destruction of the Temple Foretold](#The Destruction of the Temple Foretold)

[The Beginning of Woes](#The Beginning of Woes)

[The Great Tribulation](#The Great Tribulation)

[The Coming of the Son of Man](#The Coming of the Son of Man)

[The Lesson of the](#The Lesson of the ) Matt 21-28

[The Day and the Hour Unknown](#The Day and the Hour Unknown)

[The Faithful Servant](#The Faithful Servant)

[Ch 25: The Parable of the Ten Virgins](#Ch 25: The Parable of the Ten Virgins)

[The Parable of the Talents](#The Parable of the Talents)

[The Judgement of the Multitudes](#The Judgement of the Multitudes)

[The Plot to Kill Jesus](#The Plot to Kill Jesus)

Parenthetical (Likely day 1)

[The Annointing at Bethany](#The Annointing at Bethany)

[Judas Gives over Jesus to the High Priests](#Judas Gives over Jesus to the High Priests)

[Day 4 (Tuesday/early Wednesday;](#Day 4 (Tuesday/early Wednesday; ) Matt 21-28 to Passover’s coming)

[Preparation for the Passover — likely parenthetical](#Preparation for the Passover — likely parenthetical)

[The Last Supper](#The Last Supper)

[Peter’s Denial Foretold](#Peter’s Denial Foretold)

[The Prayer at Gethsemane](#The Prayer at Gethsemane)

[The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus](#The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus)

[Day 5 (Wednesday;](#Day 5 (Wednesday; ) Matt 21-28 to Passover’s coming = Passover starts at sunset)

[Jesus Before the Council](#Jesus Before the Council)

[Peter Denies Jesus](#Peter Denies Jesus)

[Jesus brought before Pilot (Matt 27)](#Jesus brought before Pilot (Matt 27))

[Parenthetical: The Death of Judas](#Parenthetical: The Death of Judas)

[Jesus Questioned by Pilate](#Jesus Questioned by Pilate)

[The Crowd Chooses Barabbas](#The Crowd Chooses Barabbas)

[Jesus Sentanced to Die](#Jesus Sentanced to Die)

[The Soldiers Mock Jesus](#The Soldiers Mock Jesus)

[The Crucifixion of Jesus](#The Crucifixion of Jesus)

[The Death of Jesus](#The Death of Jesus)

[What All Was Happening on the Cross](#What All Was Happening on the Cross)

[Hold up now, Zombies??](#Hold up now, Zombies??)

[The Burial of Jesus](#The Burial of Jesus)

[Day 6 (Thursday; Passover; 1 night/1st day)](#Day 6 (Thursday; Passover; 1 night/1st day))

[The Guard at the Tomb](#The Guard at the Tomb)

[Day 7 (Friday; 2 nights/2nd day)](#Day 7 (Friday; 2 nights/2nd day))

[Day 8 (Saturday, weekly Sabbath; 3 nights/3rd day)](#Day 8 (Saturday, weekly Sabbath; 3 nights/3rd day))

[Day 9 (Sunday; Day of First Fruits; Easter/Ressurection Day)](#Day 9 (Sunday; Day of First Fruits; Easter/Ressurection Day))

Intro: The Rest of Matthew

While Matthew is not a book that’s written chronologically, this rest of the book largely is written in sequence. Matthew is the main gospel that goes into the week leading up to Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection and spends the least amount of time discussing events after that.

As such, the next few weeks will focus on one day of the crazy week leading up to the Passion, starting with the triumphal entry and culminating in his resurrection one week later.

I contend that Jesus spent three full days and three full nights buried in the earth. Some contend that the Hebrew word “yom” meaning “a set amount of time” can be loosely translated to mean just about anything. Others, rightly, point out that a “day” in this time and place in history could mean a partial day; that is an afternoon could be called “a day”.

However, Jesus is very clear in Matthew 12:38-40 that he would spend three days and three nights in the earth. Even counting partial days, it is impossible to get three days and three nights from a Friday night burial to a Sunday morning ressurection. Friday night, Saturday, Saturday night, Sunday (but only the part up until dawn per Matt 28:1) is two nights and two days - three partial “days,” at best, and by no means meets the description of being “in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.”

With that out of the way, I went through the remainder of the book of Matthew and searched for any indiations of “the next day” or “then he left and went to … for the night” to best deliniate between days, using scripture alone. Again, Matthew alone is not enough to get the full chronology, but it gets you 90% of the way. Given this is a study of Matthew, I left things in order of the book but may call out the fact that another gospel disagrees with the timing or makes a parenthetical clause more apparent.

Day 1 (Sabbath) - Matt 21

Just a heads up: this is going to be a head-knowledge heavy week but I’ll try to tie it back to get some application from it.

The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

Laying out a quick timeline: we know that Passover happens on the 14th day of the first month (Lev 23:5, Num 28:16, 2 Chron 35:1). According to John 12:1 and v12, the triumphal entry occurred five days before Passover - the tenth day of the first month.
- Ok… so? Well, let’s look at Exodus12:1-6
  
  The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “==This month is to be your beginning of months; it will be your first month of the year==. Tell the whole community of Israel, ‘==In the tenth day of this month they each must take a lamb== for themselves according to their families – a lamb for each household. If any household is too small for a lamb, the man and his next-door neighbor are to take a lamb according to the number of people – you will make your count for the lamb according to how much each one can eat. ==Your lamb must be perfect, a male, one year old==; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ==You must care for it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then the whole community of Israel will kill it around sundown.==
- Paul points out that feasts are a “shadow picture of good things to come” (Heb 10:1, Col 2:16-17)
- Remeber when Jesus and John the Baptist met? John 1:29: ‘On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”’> [!important]
  
  It seems to me that John the Baptist, having the spirit of Elijah (Matt 17:10-13) was tapping into God’s wisdom, seeing Jesus for who He was. 1 Cor 2:7-8 tells us that had others known this, Jesus would have never been crucified so we know this knowledge came from God alone
- Paul also displays this teaching in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 literally calling Jesus our Passover lamb
  
  Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast affects the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough – you are, in fact, without yeast. ==For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed==. So then, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of vice and evil, but with the bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
Cool, we get it, Jesus was our Passover lamb and brought new light to what happened way back in Egypt. What does that have to do with the triumphal entry?
- Similar to how Jesus fulfills Passover, as the Son of David, he also fulfills some of the guidelines that God gave to David:
  - Jewish historians record that the Passover lambs were brought into Jerusalem from the fields of Bethlehem to the south, then through the north-east gate of the city, by the pool of Bethesda, called “Sheep’s Gate.” This was the gate for the sheep and lambs that were to be used for temple sacrifice entered (Neh 3:1)
  - Some teach that the high preist would select a lamb from Bethleham (did you catch it?) and that a procession would await his arrival through this “sheep gate.” Some would come out ahead of the high priest and announce his arrival, calling people into the street to essentially parade “the” lamb of God (everyone also had “their” lamb)
  - The procession would proceed all the way up to the temple, where “the” lamb would be inspected by the religious leaders for any blemish. After four days, it would be killed according to the Law
  - If this is true, verse 9 speaks of imposters to the high preist’s crowd that proclaimed Jesus. Announcing him with the cry of Psalm 118:25-26 but specifically pointed to him (by adding Son of David). Moreso, it follows that Jesus would make a beeline to the temple, to fulfill the shadow picture put forth by David
Questions

That was a lot. How does ANY of this tie back to us?Well, first I hope it sheds new light on palm Sunday and how everything Jesus did during this last week was very itentional and very important.Furthermore, especially the last bit raises some questions:1) What do you think of the Feasts? To me they all point toward Jesus just as Passover does. Is it something you'd be interested in remembering? Remeber: we're not keeping these or even trying to - no dead sheep, just remembering and meditating upon them2) In light of all the shadow pictures here, I feel that the mundane may actually mean a little more. If we believe the historians that the procession was an annual thing, it gives me pause on what traditions I have. Which are God honoring and which can be made to be more God honoring. A procession through town isn't a bible study - heck it's basically a parade, yet it points toward God. What are some traditions yall have and how can you better point it toward God?
Before even getting to Jerusalem, Jesus had a plan for what needed to happen. None of it surprised him
- He exhibitted good leadership in having a plan
- He exhibited courage in not faultering
- He exhibited his deity in the knowledge of things far away (go find a donkey ) and in the future
- He shows that he knew exactly what he was doing: he knew he was fulfilling prophesy with each step
- Quotes Psalm 118:25-26: “Please LORD, deliver [“hosanna” in Greek]! Please LORD, grant us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.” which is a chapter praying and giving praise of God’s goodness and delighting in each day that God has brought us (this is the day that the lord has made, v24)
- In Matt 23, Jesus recalls back to this saying he would not return until he hears those words again

The Cleansing of the Temple

Possiblely Sunday, per Mark 11:12
- Upon arriving at the temple, Jesus sees people exchanging coins for the temple coin - something that was actually based on scripture (Ex 30:13). The exchange rate was, however, tilted in favor of those exchanging - breaking the law (Lev 19:36, Deut 23:20-21, Prov 11:1).
  - Verses
    
    “Everyone who crosses over to those who are numbered is to pay this: a half shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel weighs twenty gerahs). The half shekel is to be an offering to the Lord.” -Ex 30:13
    
    “You must have honest balances, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt.” -Lev 19:36
    
    “You may lend with interest to a foreigner, but not to your fellow Israelite; if you keep this command the Lord your God will bless you in all you undertake in the land you are about to enter to possess.” -Deut 23:20
    
    “The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but an accurate weight is his delight.” -Prov 11:1
- Jesus, seeing this in His Father’s house doesn’t just politely ask them to stop but overturns tables and prevents people from doing business (Mark 11:16). Funnily enough, this seems to be a step down from what he had done in previous years (John 2:13-16). I picture Jesus standing over a table, there looking like a Karen, daring people to exchange coins, the disciples half hiding their faces and half holding him back - saying to each other “Oh boy, here we go. I forgot he does this every year”
- That said, he really was fulfilling scripture, showing zeal for the temple, clearing it of the robbers, and restoring it as a place for prayer
  _Certainly zeal for your house consumes me; I endure the insults of those who insult you.
  - Ps 69:9
    _
  Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own is to be a hideout for robbers? You had better take note! I have seen for myself what you have done! says the Lord - Jer 7:11
  
  I will bring them to my holy mountain; I will make them happy in the temple where people pray to me. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my temple will be known as a temple where all nations may pray.” - Isaiah 56:7
- After people gave up for the day, we see that people came in asking for dilverance and healing

Matt 21-28?

Questions

Important

Jesus tells us in Matt 23 that he’s waiting for us to proclaim Ps 118 which is a prayer for our daily lives. Let’s pray that this week. “Lord, blessed are you and all who you send out. You gave me this day as a gift. Let me be a good reflection of you in it. Deliver me (hosanna) from sin and allow me to see others the way you see then. Blessed are those that come in your name”Why am I not as bothered as Jesus was to see injustice? There are plenty of “charities” that don’t honor God but I have never spent time to actively sabotage their business in the name of God. If Jesus takes it so seriously, should we?

Day 2 (Sunday) - Matt 21-22

Cursing of the Fig Tree

Random tid-bit that gets you nothing: the name Bethphage is the Greek spelling of Hebrew Beit-Pag, meaining “place of unripe Matt 21-28” - near Bethany. It’s interesting, if not coincidental, that Jesus curses a fig tree in a town named for having unripe figs
Some argue that, based on the account in Mark, that this even actually occured the day before. Then, on the way to the temple, the disciples noticed that the tree had withered overnight. Either way, the miracle stands.

Important

What an odd miracle to prove that faith is power. Was Jesus really just upset about the temple still and took it out on an upripe tree in a place literally named for not having ripe figs? Some contend that this is a teaching tool about the importanct of the spiritual fruits in our lives. What do you think?

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

Jesus poses a question that puts the elders exactly in the trap that they hoped to place him in. The context is specifically in the context of teaching (not miracles). At the time, the thought would have been that Jesus’s teaching authority options were: another rabbi or himself (self-taught), devine inspiration from heaven, or the opposite, from hell. Jesus turns this around and asks a question with nearly the same potential answers and they are afraid to answer.

Important

We know that Jesus recieves authority over forgiveness of sins from heaven (Matt 9:6-8, Matt 28:18): But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” – then he said to the paralytic – “Stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” And he stood up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were afraid and honored God who had given such authority to men.Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.He is also under the authority of God (Matt 8:9): For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to this one, ‘Go’ and he goes, and to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found such faith in anyone in Israel!but is given the right to give authority (Matt 10:1, Rev 20:4): Jesus called his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits so they could cast them out and heal every kind of disease and sicknessThen I saw thrones and seated on them were those who had been given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. These had not worshiped the beast or his image and had refused to receive his mark on their forehead or hand. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.Jesus could have easily answered that His authority came from heaven. Why do you think he withheld?

The Parable of Two Sons

What a chilling passage! A father asks his two children to go out and work for him: one first said “no” but then repented and later said “yes,” and showed up; and another that first said “yes” but then never showed up
He goes on to explain that John the Baptist was the one that asked the children to come. He then points out that the religious elites had been screaming “YES” but never actually seem to do the will of the Father yet the tax collectors, prostitutes, sick, etc listened to John and followed after Jesus - learning how to live out God’s will

Important

This is a great reminder to me to not just increase head knowledge or know about God but rather to know God. What are some areas that you struggle with following through on - areas where you say “yes” but don’t show up?

The Parable of the Vineyard and the Tenants

This one is spooky as well and is bold of Jesus
What does the parable mean?
- God sent prophet after prophet and his children turned away
  - Amos 2 — ~750BC
    
    “Is this not so, O sons of Israel?” declares the Lord. “But you made the Nazirites drink wine, And you commanded the prophets saying, ‘You shall not prophesy!’” - Amos 2:11-12
  - Hosiah — ~750BC
    
    The prophet says, “Israel, learn this: The time of punishment has come. The time has come for you to pay for the evil things you did.” But the people of Israel say, “The prophet is a fool. This man with God’s Spirit is crazy.” The prophet says, “You will be punished for your terrible sins. You will be punished for your hate.” - Hosiah 9:7
  - Even Jeremiah, who was actually a priest (Jer 1:1), was ignored — ~625BC
    
    “But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself,” declares the Lord, “that this house will become a desolation.” - Jer 22:5
    
    Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction. - Jer 13:11
  - Zechariah — ~500BC
    
    But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. - Zech 7:11
- After all of this, he sent his son, Jesus
- “He will utterly distroy”
Jesus is in the temple teaching and gives a parable literally condeming the “workers of the field” the preists. The end of the section tells us that it was at this point that the religious elites wanted nothing more than to arrest him
Note that the parable doesn’t say that the leaders weren’t doing good work but they rejected the ones who God sent, ultimately resutling in the death of his own son
The quote comes straight from Ps 118, a Psalm that praises God’s deliverance. In the midst of the praise, the praise shifts to God’s right hand - we know this to be Jesus - and extols Him, thanking him saying “I shall praise You, for You have answered me and have become my salvation” then he talks about how the stone that gets rejected is the Headstone and praises God for it
This is the same passage from which the Israelites just proclaimed: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD”
It’s also the passage where you hear the quote: “this is the day that the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it” and “give thanks to the LORD for he his good; his Love endures forever”. In fact, the context of those exact verses are speaking of the day that Jesus became our salvation, the day of his death, burial, and resurrection

Important

I think it’s easy to relate to the workers of the field. They took pride in what they had made and were likely looking ONLY for the master to return. When he sent messengers they were skeptical to the point of disobedience.In my own life, I can tend to put up walls, thinking I know enough about God to know the right answers. Yet sometimes God speaks most powerfully through something you would never expect. It is important to remember to take the back seat, that we’re not in charge of our lives or what God has given us - only stewards. This passage is clear that God expects good fruit from us (sure, we can tie that back to the fig tree if you really want to 🤣)These two sections are all about just doing the work that we’re called to do. What are some ways that we as a group can do the work we’re called to do?

The Parable of the Marriage Feast

Context from the first verse tells us that this chapter is a straight continuation of the previous one, no time has elapsed at all so, recap: the last two parables where about “doing the work” all while realizing that the reward for your labor is not your own - it belongs to God. The prior sections clarified that Jesus has been given the authority to command us in this way
This passage is kind of all over the place. Let’s break it down a bit:
1. A king’s son is getting married and the king sends out invites
2. The invites are ignored
3. The king sends servants directly to the invitees but are ignored and ultimately killed by the invitees that hadn’t already left
4. The king sends armies to kill those that rejected him
5. The king sends invites to anyone that would listen
6. Those who accepted, came and reclined as free men, regardless of social or monetary status
7. Those who did not come dressed for the occassion were bound and cast out
So what does this mean? Let’s parallel this with the entire story of the bible:
1. God rescues the children of Israel from Egypt, their oppressors and enters a covenant with them at Sinai. Jesus, being the embodiment of that covenant (John 1)
  - Ex 20:18-21, Deut 5:22-28
    
    All the people were seeing the thundering and the lightning, and heard the sound of the horn, and saw the mountain smoking – and when the people saw it they trembled with fear and kept their distance. They said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you so that you do not sin.” The people kept their distance, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.
    
    The Lord said these things to your entire assembly at the mountain from the middle of the fire, the cloud, and the darkness with a loud voice […] when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness while the mountain was ablaze [… y]ou said, “The Lord our God has shown us his great glory and we have heard him speak from the middle of the fire. It is now clear to us that God can speak to human beings and they can keep on living. But now, [… y]ou go near so that you can hear everything the Lord our God is saying and then you can tell us whatever he says to you; then we will pay attention and do it.” 28 When the Lord heard you speaking to me, he said to me, “I have heard what these people have said to you – they have spoken well.
2. Jesus calls his new bride to draw close to him by living out their faith to God but most ignore him
3. God sends prophets but most ignore them and the elites smother their warnings or kill them
  - Among others: grumblings against God, the desire for an earthly king over God, seeking after Babylonian gods, worshiping idols, breaking the Sabbath
4. God divorces himself from his people
  - Jer 3:8–10
    
    “I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries…Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense”
  - Hos 1:2-8
    
    Go, take a prostitute as your wife and have children of adultery, because this land is flagrantly prostituting itself by departing from the LORD.” So Hosea went and married […] she conceived and bore him a son. [… She] again conceived and gave birth to a daughter, and the LORD said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-ruhamah (she has not recieved mercy), for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them.
    After she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, Gomer conceived and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi,d for you are not My people, and I am not your God.
5. God sends out an invitation, a call for those to come back
  - Jer 3:12, 14
    
    “‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will frown on you no longer, for I am faithful,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will not be angry forever’ Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the Lord. ‘Return, faithless people,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I am your husband. I will choose you … and bring you to Zion”
  - Hos 3:1, Hos 2:23
    
    Then the LORD said to me, “Go show Love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods.”
    
    And I will sow her as My own in the land, and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’ ‘You are My people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’ ”
6. Those that accept him are welcome, no matter their background, and are treated as free
  - John 3:16
    
    For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
  - Gal 3:28
    
    There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
7. Those that do not come dressed for the occasion are tossed out
  - Matt 7:21-23
    
    Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
  - Matt 8:10-12
    
    Now when Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who were following, ‘Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. I say to you that many will come from east and west and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth
Jesus is presenting a full history and prophesy of The Good News all in one parable!

Important

To me, this is a bit of a recap of the previous two sections. We should always keep in mind our place in history.Earlier this week, I heard a podcast talking about the Hero’s Journey (a literary tactic to tell a good story) where the podcaster reframed it saying “you are not the hero of the story” and went on to show how Jesus is and how our role is simply to be present with people. We cannot allow ourselves to be bogged down or shamed for not being the hero - not doing enough or impacting enough people for Christ - if we were never the hero to begin with.That is not to say that our lives don’t matter but THE work is done. OUR work is now to answer His call and show up when and where He asks, prepared for the occasion, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. He equips us for all things; in the metaphore of the passage: all we have to do is not attack His message and show up in the right clothing!This week, my prayer is to be more present for those around me, that I can point them toward Christ, and to constantly remind myself that this story isn’t about me, I’m only a small part of the bigger picture of God’s plan for the world.

The End of the Questioning

Paying Taxes to Ceasar

This one is pretty cut and dry
Money is man-made and, therefore belongs to men
- While God can use all tools, and money can make a large impact on the world for good, it’s just a tool
Similarly, we should give to God what is God’s
- Our lives
- Our time
- All creation

Question about Resurrection

Deut 25:5-6

If brothers live together and one of them dies without having a son, the dead man’s wife must not remarry someone outside the family. Instead, her late husband’s brother must go to her, marry her, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law. Then the first son she bears will continue the name of the dead brother, thus preventing his name from being blotted out of Israel.

Side note: The latter half of this section is illustrated in Ruth 2-3! This custom is what lead to the birth of King David
This is a great example of heavenly principles versus earthly laws. If I were presented with the above passage, I’d honestly probably have a similar question - though hopefully not with the same intent. Jesus responds by setting straight the fact that earthly marriage is, in the scheme of all eternity, unimportant
While it’s not the focus of the section, the bible explains that that woman was a gift for man that he may, through marriage to her, be more complete. Marriage is a shadow picture of our relationship with God, a way for two humans to grow both as individuals and together, and to make a larger impact in the world through influence and children
Back to the topic, there’s some intense theology here with “not the God of the dead but of the living”
- Even later in Matthew (27:51-53), we see that, at Jesus’s death, graves are opened and, on Saturday night, the dead were raised and visited with the town
  
  At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
- Rev 20:6
  
  Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

This section ends with “No man was able to answer him a word, neither dared any man to ask him any more questions from that day forth.” The religious elites had inspected Jesus but could find no fault (a lamb without blemish). Matt 21-28 but Matt 21-28

The Greatest Commandment

Now when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled together. Normally somewhat of political and ideological rivals (think Catholic vs Protestant) but united in taking down Jesus
Love the Lord your God = Deut 6:5
Love your neighbor as yourself = Lev 19:18

Important

It’s interesting to see Jesus working through these questions. This entire section, as well as the beginning of the next, is about Jesus needing to prove himself to be without blemish - perfect.The main theme, if you were to peg down only one, is to keep a heavenly focus. The last section here does that perfectly: we are to Love God by giving him what is his while recognizing our place in his world and we are to Love others by giving them the same attention as we’d give to ourselves - caring for their ambitions, concerns, struggles, and victories as you would your own

Day 3 (Monday) - Matt 22-25

At the Temple

The Question about David’s Son (Ch 22)

This section ends with “No one was able to answer him a word, and no one had the courage from that day to ask Him anything.” The religious elites inspected Jesus but could find no fault (a lamb without blemish). From here everything is either Jesus teaching freely or answering an honest question but Jesus would be declared blameless one more time, by Pilot, before he dies - so he was declared both legally and religiously perfect

Denouncing the Scribes and Pharisees (Ch 23)

Now that both the Pharisees and Saducees (aka sribes) had thrown in the towel, Jesus shifts from answering questions - proving himself to be a lamb without blemish (Exodus 12:5-6) - to laying down the law, putting them in their places and calling them out in their hypocracy. Enter in, the seven woes

“The seven woes” refers to a section of scripture in which Jesus repeats “Woe to you scribes and pharisees, hypocrites!”. It starts off with a warning: “Do as they say but not as they do”
- There’s actually a tiny bit of debate around the exact words here. There is an entire book dedicated to this subject: The Greek Jesus versus the Hebrew Yeshua, by Nehemiah Gordon, an American Jew that is now a professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel and also one of the few men to study thousands of ancient orignal texts. In the book, the Nehemiah lays out a case that there is strong evidence that the gospel of Matthew was originally written in Hebrew and only translated to Greek. The earliest manuscripts of Hebrew Matthew come from the 11th century and, therefore, lack credibility in most circles; however, this verse has an interesting change. Instead of reading “The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. Therefore pay attention to what they tell you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach.” it reads ”…The expers in the law and the Pharisees sit on Monses’ seat. Therefore pay attention to what he tells you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what he teaches.” The overall meaning is unchanged - hypocrites are still hypocrites - but it is an interesting side note that this is a possibility. The seat of Moses was and is still a very real thing in synogogues and is supposed to be where the leader of a congregation sits to teach - similar to the Pope’s throne. In my opinion, it shifts the filter from new → old to old → new; that is, filtering out new teaching based on its alignment with scripture, not forcing scripture to fit new teachings.
- The heck? “for they make their phylacteries wide and their tassels long.” What’s this mean?
  - Have you ever seen how an Orthodox Jew dresses? You may have noticed their hair or the weird tassels at their side. If you’ve seen some very observent Jews, you may have even seen a box on their forehead or wrist. These are practices found in scripture (Lev 19:27, Num 15:37-40, and Deut 6:8, respectively) and they have been practiced for centuries.
  - Phylacteries were boxes of scripture that were literally worn to the forehead or arm and tassels are a little easier to understand, being the tassels worn on the corners of garments
  - What Jesus is saying here is “STOP WEARING NEON, FLASHING WWJD BRACELETS IF YOU DON’T MEAN ANY OF IT”
- Call no man “Teacher” or “Father”
  - Teacher, in Hebrew, is Moreh (as in the mountain, Moriah = Moreh-ya = God is our teacher). Rabbi means “great one”
  - Popa in Latin means “Father” and is where we get the English word “Pope”. I’m not a fan of the title because of this exact scripture
- Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted

You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.
1. Omitted 8th woe: [v14] Woe to you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour didows houses and for a pretesnse you make long prayers; therefor you will receive the greater condemnation
You cross land and sea to make one convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves!
Blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.’
- Whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it
You give a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! The Weightier Matters You should have done these things without neglecting the others. You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel!
You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
- First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may become clean too!
You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean
- In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

For this reason (because of the last 7 “woes”) I send prophets, wise men, and lawyers some of whome you will kill and crucify […] I tell you the truth, this generation will be held responsible for all these things!

Important

That was a lot of words to basically say: “These guys are hypocrites that don’t know at all what it means to have God’s heart. In fact, they actively try to silence God’s voice all the while claiming that the sins of their fathers could never be the very sins they also face”Which of the woes stood out to you the most and why?Do any of these humble you or point out an area of your life that you could grow in this next week?———————————For me, number 6 and 7 are both things I’ve identified with for several years. I need to do better at living my faith and not just knowing stuff.

The Lament over Jerusalem

Here Jesus continues what he was just saying and cries over the entire city. The place where his Father placed his name and choose to put His people had become the same place the killed their prophets and stoned wise men
What’s beautiful is that you see Jesus’s heart: How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it!
Verse 39: “For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
- This is exactly what the Israelites were saying in chapter 21 (triumphal entry)
- Psalm 18:26: Blessed [is] he who is coming In the name of Jehovah, We blessed you from the house of Jehovah
  - Interestingly this is the same chapter where you find “the stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”

After Leaving (Ch24)

The Destruction of the Temple Foretold

The picture I have in my head is this:

Jesus spends the whole day in the temple and finally convinces all the religious elites that he’s faultless
He turns the tables on them, getting in the last word on how hypocritical they are
Jesus storms out of the temple, all while his heart breaks for his children, Israel, to return. He’s tried and tried and they will not listen
As they walk out of the temple - drenched in the awkward silence that follows a tyrade - the disciples point out features of the temple in a last ditch effort to distract Jesus and get things back to casual conversation. Jesus responds with “Yep. Oh, soo cool. Neat. You know that’s going to all be destroyed?!”
A short while later, somewhere between 68 and 70AD, the temple was destroyed and left in rubble. Many considered the Jerusalem seige to be the start of the end of times and indeed did follow after false prophets claiming to be a reincarnation of Jesus. A lot of what Jesus foretold came true in the time immediately following the destruction of the temple and some argue that the bible ends there
No one else seems to speak until they reach the Mount of Olives where He goes into a long discussion of the end of times

The Beginning of Woes

After Jesus’s outburst, it seems that the disciples let him cool down and then followed up with “ok, so it’s all going to be rubble. When? Is this the time that we take back the Kingdom, politically?”
Jesus responds saying that many will be lead astray, wars, famines, and earthquates will come and go, but the end is not near. After all that, you’ll be hated and kill for knowing me. As a result, many people will turn away or nark others out. Many false prophets will arise and lead even the elite astray. Because of the increase in lawlessness, the Love of many will grow cold. But those that remain to the end will be saved. Then this Gospel will be proclaimed to the ends of the earth. AFTER ALL THAT, THEN THE END WILL COME.> [!important]

Prior to this, the word “gospel” appears four times. Here, Jesus mentions “this gospel” in reference to the fact that those that persevere through hardship, resisting false prophets and continuing to Love their neighbor, will be saved. Is this an implication that we continue to live out/work out our faith day by day and are only saved at the end after having run a good race?

The Great Tribulation

Therefore, [because we know that the end will only come after persecution, many being led astray, and the whole world hearing the gospel,] when you see the abomination of desolation placed in a holy place that was fortold by Daniel (the one who reads ust faithfully consider) then you in Judea must flee to the mountains immediately

Challenge accepted.
- What is the abomination that causes desolation? Literally its something hateful, wicked, vile, or something that causes disgust that produces distruction of inhabitants or a state of ruin. If this is something placed in “a holy place” most would understand this to be the inner sanctuary (not necessarily the Holy of Holys, or the “Most Holy Place”) that only the Aaronic priests (decendents of Moses’s brother, Aaron) were allowed to enter. This room contained several objects so this could be:
  - An act of putting pig or another unclean animal or it’s blood on the lampstand, table of showbread, or the incense
  - Worshipping God in a way that the heathens do (Lev 18:24-30; Deut 12:29-32)
  - The act of child sacrifice:
    - Lev 20:1-5
      
      The Lord spoke to Moses: “You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man from the Israelites or from the foreigners who reside in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones. I myself will set my face against that man and cut him off from the midst of his people, because he has given some of his children to Molech and thereby defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. If, however, the people of the land shut their eyes to that man when he gives some of his children to Molech so that they do not put him to death, I myself will set my face against that man and his clan. I will cut off from the midst of their people both him and all who follow after him in spiritual prostitution, to commit prostitution by worshiping Molech.
    - 2 Kings 23:16
      
      When Josiah turned around, he saw the tombs there on the hill. So he ordered the bones from the tombs to be brought; he burned them on the altar and defiled it. This fulfilled the Lord’s announcement made by the prophet while Jeroboam stood by the altar during a festival. King Josiah turned and saw the grave of the prophet who had foretold this.
- Dan 11:31-32
  
  His forces will rise up and profane the fortified sanctuary, stopping the daily sacrifice. In its place they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. Then with smooth words he will defile those who have rejected the covenant but the people who are loyal to their God will act vaiantly
- Dan 9:27
  
  He will confirm a covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of that week he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt. On the wing of abominations will come one who destroys, until the decreed end is poured out on the one who destroys.”
  
  One week = seven days. Most ascribe that the seven “days” are representative of a year, each, so 7 days = 7 years. In the middle of that week means after 3.5 years
- Dan 12:11
  
  From the time that the daily sacrifice is removed and the abomination that causes desolation is set in place, there are 1,290 days.
  
  After the sacrifice is removed there will be 1290 days = 3.5318 years

The Coming of the Son of Man

Immediately after the affliction of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heavens will be shaken

“Immediately after the suffering of those days …” we see Jesus return with an army of angels and the sound of a great trump

The Lesson of the Matt 21-28

This generation? But, broh, that didn’t happen!
- The word for “this” here is οὗτος (houtos) which IS generally translated as “this” but can mean “these”, “he”, or “they” or “the same” and is used to point to a noun. Regardless of how it was translated, it’s fairly apparent that this doesnt mean the current generation
- While some argue that this is speaking of the destruction of the temple, we know several events that Jesus explains (namely his coming with angels) didn’t happen. Rather, this is meant to be “the same generation that sees all these precursors will also see my second coming”. That is, it won’t be long after seeing the abomination of desolation and “the tribulation of those days” that Jesus returns
This is where I tend to deviate from my Baptist upbringing:
- This verse (and Matt 21-28) points to the fact that only AFTER the affliction Jesus returns. That is, we live through the tribulation and the rapture occurs after all the suffering of 3.5 years
  - The others:
    
    [15] For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep. [16] For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; [17] then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. - 1 Thes 4:15-17
    
    [18] These things saith the Son of God, … [25] Nevertheless that which ye have, hold fast till I come. [26] And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations … [29] He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. - Rev 2:18a,25-26, 29
    
    [10] Because thou didst keep the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. [11] I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown. [12] He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and mine own new name. -Rev 3:10-12
- For the first 3.5 years of the 7, things will seem great. A messiah figure will arise and many will follow after him. His smooth words will even trick solid believers into thinking it’s ok that he overtly disgusts God in his home on earth
- For those that aren’t ok with it, the next 3.5 years will be a living hell on earth. At the end, “those that endure to the end will be saved” (v16)

The Day and the Hour Unknown

But as for that day and hour no one knows it – not even the angels in heaven – except the Father alone

Some point to this as a point wherein Jesus is clearly not God, leading to questions of his devinity.
Rather, this is akin to a traditional engagement in Jesus’s day. At the time, a bride would become engaged to a man; he would leave to prepare a home with his father. Once his father approved of the home, he would give the go ahead to his son that it was time to have the wedding. Meanwhile, the bride would be in a constant state, waiting for that moment to arrive. When it was ready, the groom would send out his friends, ahead of him, to proclaim in the streets that he was coming - that she might get ready. Once he arrived, the two would be married and he would carry her into their new home, where they’d stay for seven days, consumating the marriage.
Think about the parallels:
- The engagement (promise of a relationship): I will make my covenant between me and thee
  
  [1] And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be thou perfect. [2] And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. [3] And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, [4] As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations. [5] Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee. [6] And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. [7] And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. [8] And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. — Gen 17:1-8
- The building of a home: I am going there to prepare a place … I will come back to take you to be with me
  
  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. — John 14:2-3
- The Father approves and sends the son: that day and hour knoweth no one … but the father
  
  But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only. — Matt 24:36
- The messengers proclaim his arrival: the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout, … the voice of the archangel, … the trump of god
  
  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;
  
  Archangel (αρχαγγελου) = arch+angel = above/lead + messenger
- The wedding, feast, and honeymoon
  
  Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. … [9] And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb — Rev 19:7,9a
  
  Right after the wedding feast, you have the typial “Revelation 19” description (riding a white horse, named faithful and true, eye’s of flaming fire, garments dipped in blood, named The Word of God) and the slaughter of all who followed after the beast. After the wedding, Jesus goes on the offensive just long enough to have some peace and quiet with his bride for 1000 years
  
  Then I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon … and bound him for a thousand years — Rev 20:1-2

The Faithful Servant

Keeping all of that in mind, who is wise and faithful? The one waiting eagerly for the groom to return! The one with oil ready for the lamp, just in case it’s dark when he returns. The one who is prepared
What does it look like to be prepared? These verses point to our behaviors and attitudes:
- The one who turns against brothers will be cast aside
- The one who God entrusts to hand out food, and is doing just that when Jesus returns, that’s the one Jesus is coming for

Ch 25: The Parable of the Ten Virgins

Conext: the coming of the end of the age; be vigilent! Keep the faith and remember our calling!

The kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins which took their lamps to meet the bridegroom

Remember that lats week we discussed the way weddings in Jesus’s day worked? The groom would leave to prepare a place for his future wife and would only come get her when the father deemed the house “ready.” As he came, his friends would proclaim his arrival and she was expected to be ready. In this passage, he comes at night and the brides had to take their lamps to meet him
This is a parallel showing that Jesus’s arrival may very well catch us “at night” or a time that’s less than convenient. We are to be prepared, at the ready. We saw last week that part of that is that we guard our hearts and continue to Love those around us

Five of them were wise and five were foollish

This hearkens back to the previous chapter: Matt 24:40-41

Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
The foolish take no oil. No fuel. They may try to reach Jesus but they have no source of power. The passage indicates that they went when it was still light, but they weren’t prepared for the darkness
The wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. They didn’t know what was coming but were prepared regardless

Important

What’s this all about? Preparedness? Becoming a prepper? Weddings?This is about guarding what is ours in our pursuit of God. We are to be prepared to meet him, which requires sacrifice and Love towards others, but we are also to guard the promise we were given. We are to run the good race without much regard for whether another is running their race the best way. We should encourage one another but we shouldn’t feel obligated to “bend over” on our beliefs in order to allow someone else to feel dignified, lest neither of you make it to the groom

The Parable of the Talents

A man travels and gives his servants talents: 5 to one, 2 to second, and one to another.
The two with more than one returned with double the money; yet, the one that had one buried it
After a long time, the master came back for his money
The one that was entrusted with 5 returns 10, turning over not what was owed but also the fruits of his own labors that he would not have had the ability to produce alone
So too the second
The one with the signle talent returned his money and the master calls him “wicked” and “slothful” saying even doing the “easy thing’ (banking) would have made more money than that
The talent is taken and given to the one with the most. The servant who returned what was the masters with no interest, is cast away

Important

One thing that kind of stands out is the end of verse 15 “each according to his ability.” This is not saying God is unfair it’s showing that he recognizes our talents and our weaknesses and gives to us according to them. He entrusts what is important to those that show up and that which is less important to those that may only do the bare minimum - just like we all would in our workplaces.The master still ultimately is the one that empowered the servants to go out and make money - without the initial capital, none of the servants would have even tried. Likewise, God equips us for any challenge he asks us to face in our lives. However, as a result, we are held responsible and accountable for what we do with the gifts God gives us. It’s on us to make something of them and to not is to undervalue God’s blessing

The Judgement of the Multitudes

The separation of the sheep and goats

The nations will be separated:
1. The sheep
  - Right hand
  - Come, blessed, inherit the kingdom. You guys showed up
  - When did we show up?
2. The goats
  - Left hand
  - Depart, accursed, into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels (messengers). You didn’t do a thing
  - When did we ever see you in need?
I think this passage really displays what it looks like to live our faith authentically
We are to be people that are so transformed by God that we don’t even realize we’re doing good deeds, it’s just what we do by default
By contrast, the response from “the goats” is almost a selfish one. That is, they don’t ask about how they missed him, they point out that if they HAD seen Jesus in need, surely they would have helped. If I didnt show up, it must just be that you never needed help. A subtle, yet key difference in attitude

The Plot to Kill Jesus

When Jesus finished all these statements, He said to his disciples “You know that after two days Passover is coming and the Son of Man is to be betrayed and crucified”
“Not during the feast day! There’d be an uproar!”

Parenthetical (Likely day 1)

The events of Matthew 26:6-16 appear to have been on the evening of Matt 21-28: Matt 21:17, John 12:2, Mark 14:3)
The purpose of thie next two sessions seems to be providing context for what happens the next day, the day of the Last Supper and Jesus’s betrayal

The Annointing at Bethany

This section could have occurred at any point after the triumphal entry and before the crucifixion. I believe it was added hear context into bring proximity to the next events
We covered this at Highlands a few weeks back and I’m not sure I can do it much more justice. The main points of this would be:
- The alabaster box would have been something that a woman gave to her husband as a part of their marriage betrothal
- Her use here shows that she recognizes that the purpose of the gift is twofold:
  1. To express Love and gratitude
  2. To exhault and bless the receiver
- She did both of these things by doing what she did
- Moreso, she washed Jesus’s feet with it and her hair - when hair was something that was held in esteem - exhaulting him further and showing humility

Important

We should strive to live by this example. We are called to live our lives as a living sacrifice. God isn’t asking that we throw away our lives for him but he IS asking that we use what we have to glorify him and, insodoing, display our Love for God

Judas Gives over Jesus to the High Priests

“what will you give me”
There’s disagreement about exactly what “thirty peices” would have meant but, in today’s terms, this would almost certainly be worth less than five hundred dollars
Let’s frame this a bit: $500 is today’s buying power, so this is what it sounds like. However, during Jesus’s ministry, recall that they had no home (Matt 8:20 … foxes have holes… but the Son of man hath no where to lay his head). We really don’t know much about Judas beyond that he kept the money and betrayed Jesus
We see in a few places that Jesus knew exactly, and from early on, that Jesus knew Judas would betray him:
- John 6:71
  
  Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him
We see that Judas does actually seem to completely loose himself, Satan entering him
- Luke 22:3
  
  Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.
- John 13:27
  
  Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.
  And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
- John 6:70–71
  
  And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
And after everything happens:
- Matt 27:3-4
  
  Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
  
  Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.

Important

What does this mean for us? Are we just chess pieces to God that serve our purpose? If he spent years with Jesus and wasn’t saved… is there such a thing as “too far gone”?

Day 4 (Tuesday/early Wednesday; Matt 21-28 to Passover’s coming)

Preparation for the Passover — likely parenthetical

Historically, preparation for Passover started on the 9th day of the first month (March/April timeframe), which was the day before the triumphal entry to Jerusalem - which was sabbath and they day that they likely stayed with Mary, Martha, and Lazurus
- Ex 12:2-3,6
  
  … on the tenth day of [the first] month they will take for themselves a lamb … and you will keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month … [and] will kill it at twilight
The “first day” referenced here was likely NOT the first day of unleaved bread - which starts on Passover, the day Jesus died - but rather the first day of preparation for the feast. These couple of verses likely took place as they were first entering Jerusalem, to allow time to find a space to rent and to prepare the elements of the Passover dinner (v19)

The Last Supper

Regardless of the exact timing of preparation, we see in John that the last supper took place the day before _actual P_assover:
- John 13:1-4, Jesus washes the desciples feet
  
  Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world […] During supper […] Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper.
Jesus then plainly calls out Judas as his betrayer in the setting of the meal and, per John, after having esteemed him by washing his feet
Jesus blesses the food and drink
- We get the concept of praying before eating from this example
- The bread and wine was likely blessed with the same blessing that was prayed going back to Abram (Gen 14:18-20) as we see that Jesus is called the high priest after the order of Melchizedek, the one who introduced the prayer (Ps. 110:4, Heb 6:20)
  - Blessed are you, YHVH, LORD, king of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth
  - Blessed are you, YHVH, LORD, king of the universe, the creator of the fruit of the vine
- Jesus gave new meaning to these blessings by paralleling them to his own body and blood and the coming sacrifice he was about to give
- In the Passover, there are several cups of wine drank. Some contend that this was actually the third cup, the cup of Redeption (Exod 6:6) and that “poured out” was given in the present tense “is being poured out on behalf of many”
- After drinking this cup, Jesus swears not to drink wine until He is united with us in Heaven
- Aside: the hymn they sang was likely Hallel, a quotation of Psalsm 113 thru 118, which is still sung at the end of a Passover Seder
Note: the bread that Jesus broke and blessed was artos in Greek, meaning leavened bread. Per the Temple Institute, in Jesus’ day, all leavened bread was prohibited by the morning of Passover, further showing that this last supper was held the night before Passover itself

Peter’s Denial Foretold

This is slightly chilling. I think it’s easy to jump into Peter’s shoes and believe that we’d never sell out; however, just like Peter, we often do. Maybe not in such a blunt or apparent way as literally denouncing Jesus from outside the very chamber he’s being put on trial, but in more subtle ways: not speaking up for the oppressed, being partial in judgement, or denying that something worldly bothers your spirit

Between the denial and the prayer falls John 15-17, all on the way to the Mt of Olives and then Gethsemane. In these chapters,

He assures them that he is the vine, and we are the branches
That His commandment is to Love one another and that the best sign of Love is to lay down your own life
Answers the unspoken questions “None of you asks me ‘where are you going’” (John 16:6) and assures them of his return and the coming Hoy Spirit, the Comfortor, that will be there when he is not
The deciples are left with no doubt: “No you speak plainly, and not in th a proverb. Now we are sure that you know all things, and need not that any man should ask you anything. By this we believe that you came forth from YHVH.

The Prayer at Gethsemane

After the last supper and wandering over to the mount of Olives, the groups makes way for Gethsemane (Gat Sh’monim’ meaning “Olive Press”)

James, John, and Peter go on with him, leaving the others behind
As they go, Jesus becomes “sad and distressed” such that he asks them, too, to stay behind while he prays; asking them to watch out for him
- Ps 42:5,11, 43:5 (all three verses say the same thing)
  
  Why are you depressed, O my soul?
  Why are you upset?
  Wait for God! For I will again give thanks
  to my God for his saving intervention
“My Father, if it is possible, this cup must pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I desire but what you desire”
He then finds the desciples sleeping and asks that the incessantly watch and pray, that they not be tempted: the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak
“Father, if it is not possible to pass this unless I would drink it, your will must now be done”
And he finds them sleeping again, prays one more time, then comes back
“You must sleep and from now on take your rest; but see the hour has come near and the Son of Man is being given over into the hands of sinners. You must get up so we could go: behold the one who is giving me over has come near”
- The word rest is the word for something like a coffee break

The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

“And while he was still speaking…”

Day 5 (Wednesday; Matt 21-28 to Passover’s coming = Passover starts at sunset)

Jesus Before the Council

Peter follows at a distance
Seeking false witnesses but did not find many
Later two came forward talking about when Jesus mentioned destroying the sanctuary of God and rebuilding it
Jesus remained silent except to answer “Are you the Messiah” with a “You said it” which was deemed blasphemy in the eyes of those present
- God takes oaths really seriously. They’re not “banned” but are not recommended - for our own good
  - Matt 5:33-37: let your yes be yes and your no be no
  - Num 30:2: If a man makes a voew to the LORD, or swearsan oath to bind himself with a bond, he will not break his word. He will do according to all that proceeds from his mouth
  - Deut 6:13: You will revear the LORD your God and serve him and will swear by His name alone
  - Deut 10:20: You will revere the Lord your god. You will serve Him and you will cleave to Him and swear by His name
  - James 5:12: But above all things, my brothers, do not swear either by heaven or by earth or any other oath. But with you it must be a “definitely yes”or a “definitely no” that you would not fall under judgement
“You must prophesy to us, Messiah: who is the one who is hitting You?”

Important

What does that mean? For context, check Luke 22:63-65: Now the men who were holding Jesus under guard began to mock him and beat him. They blindfolded him and asked him repeatedly, “Prophesy! Who hit you” They also said many other things against him, reviling him.That helps. So this is like when you have a friend take their glasses off and you hold up some fingers to poke fun at how blind they are, but on the next level. They’re asking Jesus to tell them who struck with him being blindfolded, to mock his claim to deity

Peter Denies Jesus

Peter denies being with Jesus in the Galilee to a maid with “I don’t understand you”
Later, Peter denies “knowing Jesus of Nazareth”, with an outh, to another maid, now outside the courtyard
Peter curses and swears an oath that he does not know Jesus

Important

Note the progression here. How easy is it to say “I don’t understand what you mean”? From this scripture, that is seen as a denial! The next two are clearly more impactful and recall back to Matt 10:32-33> So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Jesus brought before Pilot (Matt 27)

“When it was early morning” (in Luke 22:66: As soon as it was dawn)
Jesus is bound and lead away

Parenthetical: The Death of Judas

When he saw he was condemned, he changed his mind
Judas tries to return the “blood money” but it is not accepted
The “Spill[ing of] innocent blood” was something not taken lightly. Those that spilled innocent blood were “legally” allowed to be killed by an avenging party as well as were called accursed

Deu 27:25 - “‘Cursed be anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Deu 19:11-13 - “But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, so that it may be well with you.
The money was used to buy a plot of land for gentiles to be buried (it was too unclean for the temple but not for the gentiles)

Jesus Questioned by Pilate

“Are you the king of the Jews?” “You said it”
Accusations arise and he remains silent
“Don’t you hear the charges?” and he again remains silent

The Crowd Chooses Barabbas

At the feast (which one is that again? Passover)
He offered a “notorious prisoner”, Barabbas (meaning “Son of a father” or “Sone of a master”) so that they had a chance to realize they’re folly and end things
The crowd was hyped into asking for Barabbas, they were asked again, and still rejected Jesus
“What shall I do with Jesus who is called ‘Messiah’” and they said “Let him be crucified” “Why??”

Important

It’s interesting that Pilot honestly doesn’t seem to get why this would be. He clearly understood their motives and extended every chance to them to back up; yet the leadership pushed and, at risk of a riot - which was fairlly common as Rome was seen as the dragon talked about in Revelation - he agreed to let them have their way.Luke makes it even clearer: Luke 23:13-16> Then Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined Him here in your presence and found Him not guilty of your charges against Him. Neither has Herod, for he sent Him back to us. As you can see, He has done nothing deserving of death. Therefore I will punish Him and release Him.”

Jesus Sentanced to Die

When he saw that he was gaining nothing but that a riot was beginning, he washed his hands before the crowd saying “I am innocent of this man’s blood” “His blood be on us and our children”

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

“After he was flogged” - shards of metal, bone, glass, and sharpened stones are tied to leather thongs
Stripped him and put a scarlet robe around him, braided a crown of thorns, put a staff in his hand, and called him “King of the Jews”
Spat on him and then beat his head with the staff
Stripped him again and put his clothes back on, then lead him away

The Crucifixion of Jesus

Cyrene (Simon) carries Jesus’s cross — John 19:16 indicates that the soldiers took Jesus’s cross, as he was badly mangled. Whether or not he was holding the cross is inconsequential but it does show that the Romans didn’t care about the average citizen or the laws of the Jews as this act would have made Simon ceremonially unclean (tamei) to the point that he could no longer participate in Passover
Golgotha, “place of the skull”
Offered Jesus wine mixed with gall as a painkiller but he wouldn’t drink it (I will not have another drop) - drink 1
When the crucified him, the divided his clothes by throwing dice (he’s now naked on the cross)
Bystandars quote back to the “destroy the temple in three days” lie that he was being crucified for - that is, they stated his made-up crime and then mocked him for it. “If he comes down now from the cross, we will believe in him”
- Luke 23 shows that they again offered wine and myrrh - drink 2
- Psalm 22
  
  “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” I groan in prayer, but help seems far away.
  
  The psalm proceeds to with how the people of Israel have leaned on God and how God has come through yet the psalmist is a worm, whom people insult and dispise
  
  “Let the LORD rescue him. Let the LORD deilver him for he delights in him”
  
  “The divide up my clothes among themselves; they are rolling dice for my garments”
  
  In usual fashion, the psalm then turns to praise God, the one who answers the cry of the afflicted
“Two outlaws/robbers who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him”

Important

This feels like straight demonic temptation. How hard would it have been to just sit there and take all of this? Just knowing that you’re in the right yet being mocked. Having full authority and ability to be as theatrical about coming down as you’d like, and yet keeping the kingdom perspective and choosing to die instead. Humbling

There are tons of quotes coming directly from Isa 53, which is known among Christians to be one of the great messianic prophecies in the Old Testament

He has born our sickness, our pains. He carried them yet we esteemed him striket, smitten of God

He was wounded because of our transgressions […] and by his wounds, we are healed

We, like sheep, have gone astray and the LORD has caused our iniquity to fall on Him

He was oppressed and afflicted yet did not open his mouth

He was cut off out of the land of the living […] He was stricken because of the transgressions of My people

He made His grave among the wicked and His tomb among the rich

He had done no violence nor was there deceit in His mouth

But be pleased! By His knowledge my Servant will justify the righteous before many and He will bear their iniquities

I shall divide Him a portion with the great and He will divide the spoil with the strong beause He has laid open His life to death and was nubered with the transgressors, took the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors

The Death of Jesus

From noon until three, darkness came over the land (still not Passover, that starts at sunset)
- Based on it being the 14th day of the lunar month, this phsyically could not have been a solar eclipse, it was supernatural
- Reference
  
  A solar eclipse occurs when a portion of the Earth is engulfed in a shadow cast by the Moon which fully or partially blocks sunlight. This occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth are aligned. Such alignment coincides with a new moon (syzygy) indicating the Moon is closest to the ecliptic plane.[1]
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse
“About three o’clock” Jesus shouted “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (intro to Ps 22) and those around thought he was calling for Elijah and offered sour wine
- Straightaway one of them ran, took a sponge, and filled it with venegar to give a drink. The rest scoff
- This was in response to Psalm 22: my strength is dried up and my tongue cleaves to my jaws
Then Jesus cried out again and gave up his spirit
- From John 19:28-30, Knowing that all things were now fulfilled, Jesus cried, “I THIRST”, so that the scripture would be fulfilled (Ps 69:21, “in my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink”). There was a particular vessel full of vinegar and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it on a hissop branch to put it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, he cried “IT IS FINISHED” and bowed his head and gave up his spirit
- The daily sacrifices were to take place from 9-3. We see that Jesus is on the cross at 9 and dies at 3, as the final sacrifice ever required for our sins
The temple curtain was torn in two, top to bottom
The earth shook and rocks were split apart
Tombs were opened and the bodies of many saints who had died were raised - but didn’t come out until after his resurrection
The centurion and the guards, “Truly this was God’s son”

What All Was Happening on the Cross

I won’t pretend to fully grasp the gravity of what occurred but here’s what I’ve come across:

Jesus acted as our high priest AND sin offering, covering the sin of the guilty, permenantly
- Heb 8-10:
  - But the main thing fot those who are being address is that we have such a High Priest [ that is, one who is holy, blameless, undefinied, and separate from sinners; one who does not need to offer sacrifices on behalf of his own sins ]
  - The first covenant has regulations about service and the temple, laying out how it should appear and behave
  - In that temple. the first room contained a few holy objects, the second required atoning blood for both the priest and the people and could only be entered once a year
  - Jesus, a High Priest of a higher temple - that in heaven - brought his own blood as an eternal redemption for us
  - As such, He pays the ransom of the first covenant and is mediator of a new covenant - that which was a shadow of good things, is now made perfect (Heb 10:1)
    - καινὸν - appears exactly twice in the LXX, = חָדָשׁ - new, fresh; root word (חָדַשׁ) meaning to renew or repair
      - Eze 11:19 - And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
      - Eze 36:26 - A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
  - This covenent enacts God’s original “will”, to see all men saved (Heb 10:8-10)
    - That is, a will and testiment is valid only after death
  - His death brought blood to the “true” Holy of Holies, once for all and those that eagerly wait for him, will see him again
Jesus lifted the curse of separation that we set in place through idolotry, leading to God’s divorce from His People. We see this all over the place! God calls back those that push themselves away. If we see their adultry in the sense of a marriage, God has the write to divorce her. We see indications that he may have, and that he didnt but was close to it. In either case, his death paved the way to allowing a re-marriage that would not violate His law
- Deut 24:1-4
  
  When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
  
  And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife****.
  
  And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife;
  
  Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
- Jer 3:6-14
  
  Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
  
  And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
  
  And I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement, yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not; but she also went and played the harlot.
  
  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion
- Jer 31:30-31, Heb 8:7-13
  
  Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will cut a renewed covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah, not according to the covenant I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out fo the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, although I am a husband to them [Masoridic text, Hebrews has: “and I neglected them” = LXX], says the LORD. But this covenant I shall make with the House of Israel, after those days, says the LORD, I will put my law on their inward parts and write it in their hears and I will be their God and they will be my people
  
  Masoretic – בעלתי – “I was a husband to them”
  
  Septuagint – געלתי – “I did not care for them”
- Heb 1, 2:22-23
  
  Take for yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has commit greate harlotry, departing from the LORD
  
  Call him Jezreel “God Seeded” … for I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel
  
  Call her LoRuhamah “No Mercy” for I shall no longer have compassion on the House of Israel
  
  Call his name LoAmi “Not My People” for you are not my people and I will not be yours
  
  … I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to those who were not My people, ‘Thou art My people’; and they shall say, ‘Thou art my God.’”
Jesus fulfills the first Passover by “passing over” those that choose to follow him
- 1 Cor 5:7
  
  You must immediately cleanse the old leaven [that is, the sin of boasting], so that you would be a new lump, just as you are unleavened: for also our Passover, Jesus Christ was sacrificied. Thus we should celebrate not with the old leaven, that of wickedness and evil, but in unleavened purity and truth
Jesus fulfills the first picture of Moses and the rock
1. Ex 17:1-7 - the children of Israel complain that God took them to the wilderness to die, begging for water. Moses prays and is told to take his staff and strike a rock, that it would bring forth water
  1. Jesus, our rock that brings forth the living water. That which we drink and never thirst again
- The second picture
  - Numbers 20:2-12
    
    the children if Israel again complain that there is no water. Moses prays and is told to take his rod and speak to the rock, that it bring forth water. However, Moses smites the rock, twice, and water comes forth. And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, you shall not bring the assembly into the land which I have given them”
  - Deuteronomy 32:51-52
    
    because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh (renewed), in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there
  Jesus, our rock that is declared for all to see as holy: Rev 19 - After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting … And again they shouted … The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried … Then a voice came from the throne … Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting … and I saw heaven open, and before me a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True, which justice he judges and wages war … On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS
Jesus serves as the last sacrifice, ever. It is finished.

Hold up now, Zombies??

At Jesus’s death, the graves were opened, essentially “marked,” for the harvest that Jesus would present to God, his Father, after his resurrection, as a First Fruits offering
- Matt 27:52-53
  
  “The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.”

The Burial of Jesus

“When it was late” or “Now, when it was evening”
If there were any question on which day this is, it’s John tells us it’s still the same day - about nine hours after he was hung on the cross
- John 19:31
  
  “Then, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies should not stay on the crosses on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was an especially important one), the Jewish leaders asked Pilate to have the victims’ legs broken and the bodies taken down.”
  
  Breaking the legs would prevent a victim from pushing up for air, leading to suffocation
After Joseph went to Pilate, Pilate ordered the body to be given to him. He wrapped the body in clean linen, placed it in his new grave, which he cut in rock, then rolled a great stone in the door and left. And Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there sitting opposite the tomb
- “Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days.” - Numbers 19:11
- By choosing to honor Jesus’s body, Joseph of Arimathea chose to sit out one of the feasts (Lev 23), the week of unleavened bread
  - Exodus 23:14-17
    
    Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me. You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Breada as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abibb you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed. You are also to keep the Feast of Harvestc with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingatheringd at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field. Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.

Day 6 (Thursday; Passover; 1 night/1st day)

The Guard at the Tomb

The next day, which was after the preparation (this would take place on the day of Passover itself)
The cheif priests and pharisees gathered to request a guard be placed at the tomb until after 3 days, and the tomb is sealed
Historically, after the Passover lambs were cooked, the High Priest and entourage brought 10 shocks of ripe barley to the Kidron Valley

Day 7 (Friday; 2 nights/2nd day)

Day 8 (Saturday, weekly Sabbath; 3 nights/3rd day)

Day 9 (Sunday; Day of First Fruits; Easter/Ressurection Day)

After Sabbaths, on the first day of the week at dawn
Now late on the Sabbath day, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week
A great earthquake and an angel came and rolled away the stone
The High Priest then remained secluded until the First Fruits were harvested, processed, and presented at the temple, as twilight faded to night time at the end of the weekly sabbath
- Lev 23:10-11
  
  “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.
This same time is when the saints arose and walked amongst the people. Similarly, no one is allowed to touch Jesus until after he presents his offering
- John 20:27
  
  Jesus said to her “Do not touch me! I have not yet ascended to my Father. Go to my brothers and tell them that I will now ascend to my Father and their Father, and to my God and their God”
- Matthew 28:9
  
  As the women wen tto tell his disciples, Jesus met them and said “The LORD saves you!” They came and held him by the feet and worshipped him
  
  Some translate as “Peace unto you” or “All hail.” Partial Hebrew manuscripts of Matthew have this rendered as “The LORD saves you,” whereas Greek excludes the name
The Guards accept a bribe
The great commission

Bible Brad

Explorer

Matt 21-28

Intro: The Rest of Matthew

Day 1 (Sabbath) - Matt 21

The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

Questions

The Cleansing of the Temple

Matt 21-28?

Questions

Day 2 (Sunday) - Matt 21-22

Cursing of the Fig Tree

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

The Parable of Two Sons

The Parable of the Vineyard and the Tenants

The Parable of the Marriage Feast

The End of the Questioning

Paying Taxes to Ceasar

Question about Resurrection

The Greatest Commandment

Day 3 (Monday) - Matt 22-25

At the Temple

The Question about David’s Son (Ch 22)

Denouncing the Scribes and Pharisees (Ch 23)

The Lament over Jerusalem

After Leaving (Ch24)

The Destruction of the Temple Foretold

The Beginning of Woes

The Great Tribulation

The Coming of the Son of Man

The Lesson of the Matt 21-28

The Day and the Hour Unknown

The Faithful Servant

Ch 25: The Parable of the Ten Virgins

The Parable of the Talents

The Judgement of the Multitudes

The Plot to Kill Jesus

Parenthetical (Likely day 1)

The Annointing at Bethany

Judas Gives over Jesus to the High Priests

Day 4 (Tuesday/early Wednesday; Matt 21-28 to Passover’s coming)

Preparation for the Passover — likely parenthetical

The Last Supper

Peter’s Denial Foretold

The Prayer at Gethsemane

The Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

Day 5 (Wednesday; Matt 21-28 to Passover’s coming = Passover starts at sunset)

Jesus Before the Council

Peter Denies Jesus

Jesus brought before Pilot (Matt 27)

Parenthetical: The Death of Judas

Jesus Questioned by Pilate

The Crowd Chooses Barabbas

Jesus Sentanced to Die

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

The Crucifixion of Jesus

The Death of Jesus

What All Was Happening on the Cross

Hold up now, Zombies??

The Burial of Jesus

Day 6 (Thursday; Passover; 1 night/1st day)

The Guard at the Tomb

Day 7 (Friday; 2 nights/2nd day)

Day 8 (Saturday, weekly Sabbath; 3 nights/3rd day)

Day 9 (Sunday; Day of First Fruits; Easter/Ressurection Day)

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