Luke 22:1-6

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” …in the absence of the multitude. (v. 6) The NASB has …apart from the crowd. It’s something that I had written about a few days ago, when the Jewish leaders did not want to seize Jesus in the temple because they feared that the people might create an uproar. Luke makes this very clear.

Satan entered into Judas… (v. 3). Luke is the only synoptic writer who makes this point. I typically think of Luke as an historian, not a theologian. But here he is making a statement none of the others are making. John makes the same point in John 13:27, at the Last Supper as Judas departs.

What struck me most today was the following verse: He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. (v. 4) I was struck with “He went away…” because it shows Judas taking the initiative. The Jewish leaders gladly accepted. The next verse says, And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. (v. 5) So it seems that Judas sought out the Jewish leaders looking for a deal. Evidently greed had overwhelmed him! What a sad state of affairs. I’ve always wondered about Judas’ reversal. But I’m getting ahead of our reading. We’ll deal with that in a few weeks.

Slava Bohu!

Mark 14:1-11

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” I replied to Debbie’s post yesterday that she would enjoy today’s reading. Why? Back in my Master’s program I took a course entitled “The Economics of Poverty”. For that course I wrote a term paper that I titled “Him, His Word, His Church, and His Poor”. The paper centered on Jesus’ words from yesterday’s and today’s readings, arguing that people often quoted Matthew – that we would always have poor people – and not quoting Mark, that we could do them good. So I truly enjoyed Debbie’s comment – going back to Deuteronomy – and I am enjoying today’s reading!

There’s another strange thing about these words of Jesus, For you always have the poor with you … But you will not always have me. (v. 7, with the “doing good” section omitted). When we leave out that “doing good” section, we have Matthew’s words from yesterday. These are also John’s words when Mary anoints Him in Bethany (John 12:8). But you don’t find these words in Luke! Luke has an anointing back in chapter 7 (vv. 36-50), but it’s a sinner anointing Jesus and anointing His feet, not His head. So we find Jesus’ comments about the poor in two Synoptics and John, but not in Luke. Very unusual…! It’s even more unusual in that Luke has more to say about money than all the rest of the Gospels combined! (My own assertion, not based in factual research…)

Finally, And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest Him by stealth and kill Him, for they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar from the people.” (vv. 1-2) My Study Bible notes that the Jerusalem population was on the order of 50,000 people, but that during the Passover feast that number would rise to several hundred thousand. Many of these additional people were travelers from Galilee, where Jesus had a stronger following. So the Jewish leaders’ fears of an “uproar from the people” were well founded.

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 26:1-16

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Twice Jesus predicts His death in today’s reading – first in verse 2 when He says that …the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified…, then again in verse 12 when He said of the woman who had anointed His head with oil that …she has done it to prepare Me for burial. These are probably two different occasions, but I don’t recall any reading that we’ve had where He predicts His death twice in just a few verses. Interesting.

Also, twice in today’s reading we see different aspects of the Jewish leaders’ plot to kill Jesus, first in Mt. 26:3-4 where they are openly discussing taking Him by trickery (stealth) and killing Him and then later in Mt. 26:14-15 where they bargain with Judas for Judas’ betrayal of Jesus.

This betrayal thing is interesting. All this final week of Jesus’ life we have seen Him openly teaching in the temple with the Jewish leaders unwilling to take Him at that time because of His support among the people. So the bargain with Judas must have been for Judas to alert them as to where Jesus would be with no crowd around. Just a few days ago we learned that Jesus was spending his nights that week on the Mount of Olives with His disciples. After a few days Judas would have known that pattern. So it may have been that Judas was leading the Jewish leaders to Jesus’ evening/nighttime location and that he was fortunate to find Jesus praying alone in the Garden of Gethsemane, with only Peter, James, and John nearby and the rest of Jesus’ disciples (followers?) further away at their evening resting place. So Judas’ betrayal would have been some days in the making, in the end a well-thought, well-planned, well-executed activity. So sad…

Slava Bohu!

John 12:44-50

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Continuing in John 12… My Study Bible points out that today’s reading, the end of chapter 12, marks the end of Jesus’ public ministry. Chapter 13 in John begins the Last Supper.

If anyone hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. (v. 47) Jesus makes it plain here that His mission was to save the world. I like that He also makes clear that judgment comes at the end of the world, not at the end of His ministry.

For I have not spoken on My own authority, but the Father who sent Me has Himself given Me … what to say and what to speak. … What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told Me. (vv. 49-50) All of the Gospel writers have reported on Jesus withdrawing to a lonely (quiet) place to pray. It’s more clear to me now than ever before that these times in prayer were in part preparing Him for what He would be saying – as the Father had directed Him. We have a similar resource available to us, the Holy Spirit: …for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. (Luke 12:12) We have but to listen!

Slava Bohu!

John 12:37-43

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Continuing in John 12…

There’s a lot to see in the last two verses for today: Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God. (vv. 42-43) It’s good to see that many of the rulers were believing in Jesus, but sad that they would not confess Him. We suspect that some (many?) came around later – recall Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea at the end of Jesus’ life.

It’s also sad that the “approval of men” was more important to these rulers. Unfortunately, it’s understandable. Back in those days the Jews were “one nation under God” and their synagogue worship was the center of their lives (in addition to their three trips to Jerusalem every year). So someone put out of the synagogue effectively became an outcast to all their friends and neighbors – and maybe even family! I’ve seen so much “Pharisee” in me as we’ve read through the Gospels this year that I probably would have also been hard-pressed to be one of those who openly confessed Jesus had I lived back then.

A verse from yesterday that I had meant to comment on, but forgot: These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them. (v. 36) I had wondered at His “hiding Himself”. So often He made Himself available even when He was tired. So I was wondering if maybe He simply went off to pray, to be with His Father. Or maybe He just hid Himself…? Interesting!

Slava Bohu!

John 12:27-36

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Continuing in John 12… Now is My soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. (v. 27) Jesus is still a day or two away from His crucifixion, but He is essentially saying the same thing He will say at Gethsemane, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) It’s striking to me that He could see His future and still soldier on! Even to know that crucifixion awaited Him… Why not negotiate with His Father for a more “tolerable” death, like stoning or beheading? Would not the same outcome have prevailed – His redemption of the world? My soul is troubled, along with His.

In today’s Daily Devotional Archbishop Beach reminds us that “The enemy is always at work, and he never sleeps.” So Satan was watching Jesus speaking to the people and predicting His death. What was Satan thinking? That he could see his victory approaching, that Jesus would be an innocent lamb, willingly led off to His slaughter…? Or did Satan sense in any way that Jesus would achieve His victory through His death? Jesus had predicted that He would rise on the third day, so Satan must have known of the Father’s plan. He had even heard Jesus’ confident assertion that …now will the ruler of this world be cast out. (v. 31b) My guess is that Satan was powerless to stop it, even though he knew what was coming.

What does all that say to us in this life? We have the same Holy Spirit living within us that Jesus had. We can also be overcomers if we are as confident of the outcome as Jesus was. Lord, increase our faith!

Slava Bohu!

John 12:20-26

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Back to John’s Gospel… An item on the “primacy” of Andrew… I have commented before on Andrew being left behind at the Transfiguration, but then being included as one of the four who were speaking with Jesus at the Mount of Olives. And that list of four – Peter, Andrew, James, and John – so easily rolls off the tongue! So here we again see Andrew seemingly in a position of leadership. Some Greeks contact Philip (also a Greek name) wanting to see Jesus. But Philip does not go directly to Jesus – he first goes to Andrew, then they go together to Jesus. Interesting…

These Greeks came “to worship at the feast”. My Study Bible seemed to discount their “faith”, that they were “attracted to Judaism by its monotheism and morality”, but that they did not want to fully convert – likely they were not interested in being circumcised! Still, I find it interesting that these Greeks came to Jerusalem for the feast and wanted to see Jesus. Had they come all the way from Greece, or were they residents of one of the many Greek cities in the Roman Empire, or did they live in Jerusalem? It matters not – what’s important is the spread of Jesus reputation and their desire to meet Him. I have no doubt but that this kind of interest was important in the spread of the Gospel after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Slava Bohu!

Luke 21:34-38

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Luke offers some very different thoughts on these End Times than the other two Synoptic writers. He gives us, in my mind, a delightful reading today, for a couple of reasons… First, And early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him. (v. 38, ESV) The NASB said that the people …would get up early… That’s a nice item to have recorded. I guess the people wanted to get good seats?! This verse gives a good sense of Jesus’ standing with the people, probably frustrating the Pharisees all the more!

Second, … at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet. (v. 37) Nothing big here, except that I had been wondering if Jesus returned to Bethany every evening after He was …every day… teaching in the temple. (v. 37) So I guess He was “camping out” with His disciples? Jesus had said earlier that …the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. (Luke 9:58, NLT)

Third, another encouragement verse: But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man. (v. 36) Escaping and standing… I think that’s what we all want. Jesus is offering an “out” to His followers. All the more reason why we want to “stay awake”!

Finally, verse 34: But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life. (NKJV) I doubt that many of us are carousers or drunkards, so I’m glad that He included the “cares of this life” (or “worries of life”, NASB) – a good reminder to us to “not be afraid” of anything that befalls us (thank you, Debbie, for yesterday’s reminder). He is in control – if we let Him. How can we not…???!!!!

Slava Bohu!

Mark 13:32-37

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Debbie mentioned a few days ago that Jesus was holding these “Last Days” discussions with his twelve apostles (or a few of them). I hadn’t thought about that until she mentioned it, but today’s last verse confirms that – And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake. (v. 37) Interesting.

In verse 34 Jesus distinguishes between the servants and the doorkeeper. I wonder if that’s significant. The servants were assigned …each to his work…, while the doorkeeper’s charge was …to stay awake. But then He charges them all (and us, too) to Stay awake! (v. 37) But I do wonder at that distinction.

Much of our discussion last Sunday, in so many words, focused on this “stay awake” charge. Jesus uses this phrase three times in these six verses. I think He means it!

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 25:31-46

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” The Final Judgment… These details of the Final Judgment occur only in Matthew. Jesus leaves little doubt as to the existence of heaven and hell: Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (and) Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (vv. 34, 41) These verses are the most vivid portrayals of heaven and hell that we find in the Gospels, especially “the eternal fire”. Jesus confirms these words in today’s final verse: And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. (v. 46) We seldom begin our non-believer sharing time with questions of heaven and hell, but there are occasions when that reality is a reasonable question to ask. Carol and I experienced that very situation not long ago when we were on a short vacation and the question of heaven or hell was appropriate to a young man with whom we were speaking. But typically we don’t lead with “hellfire and damnation”! Still it’s a real fear that we have for those we love.

Slava Bohu!