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MATTHEW CHAPTERS 27 & 28 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel See previous page Mat 27-1,2 (65g) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Satan brings unity >> Satan unites the world for the cause of persecution -- These verses go with verses 17-31 (160da) Works of the devil >> Satan determines the world's direction >> Led by the devil to suppress the word of God >> Oppressing those who carry the gospel (241h) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the death >> Kill Jesus because of who He is -- These verses go with verses 22-35. Why did the religious establishment feel so threatened by Jesus? They are a microcosm of the world, meaning the whole world feels just as threatened by Jesus, making His believers the only people who don’t feel threatened by Him. Note also that there are many false brethren in the Church, who all feel the same way about Jesus, who was a profound offense to all that did not believe; He represents everything that is wrong with the world by being the opposite of all that is wrong and by testifying against the world. Mat 27-2 (53g) Paradox >> Opposites >> Definition of freedom is bondage -- Freedom is defined by the fences that protect us from bondage. Jesus was a free man, even while fettered by the religious establishment and dragged into a kangaroo court that wrongly sentenced Him to death. So long as He did the will of His Father He was free; no one could take that from Him. People in some countries have more freedom than others, but we are not talking about that kind of freedom. Jesus was free in other ways that are more important than that which can be conferred by a legal court; He was free to do the will of God. In this world we will always be in bondage to our freedom, for there are forces at work that want to place us in bondage and repress our mind from believing the word of God, and those forces work hardest within our own flesh. Once we harness the beast that dwells in our bodily form, the jealousies of others will seek to destroy Jesus who lives in us. Mat 27,3-10 (162e) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> A slave to unbelief >> Bondage to an inability to believe – All Judas hoped died with Jesus, suggesting that those who fall away from the faith, don’t believe in His resurrection, and nor do they believe in the life to come; they believe only in this life with their five senses, requiring no faith at all. They view Christianity as an advantage, as Paul said, “Who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.” He continued, “Godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment” (1Tim 6,3-8). If we live and walk in the Spirit, there is much to gain, but “if we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied” (1Cor 15-19). See also: Judas Iscariot; 186h (186h) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> Being unable to repent – Even while walking with Jesus, Judas assumed that secularism was the right way to look at the world, because it made the most sense to him, and no amount of miracles would ever change his mind. He must have assumed that a suitable explanation for what he was hearing and seeing would eventually surface, and that his secularism would be vindicated as the proper interpretation of all things. And so it turned out that the world crucified the Lord and they buried Him, and those who wanted to protect their secularist worldview made up a story that His disciples stole away His body, thus avoiding the need for faith. Therefore, we can say that secularism is enmeshed in the reprobate mindset. Instead of killing himself, Judas could have continued his life, believing the story that someone stole his body, but the fact is he knew the truth; he just refused to believe it. To know and not know the truth at the same time is spooky, but what is spookier is that his fellow disciples couldn’t detect that he was a fraud. Partitioning the truth in a separate place in his mind, he shoved it in a dark closet with all his other old skeletons. That is hardly where truth belongs. The disciples lived with Judas for almost three years, yet spiritually they knew nothing about him. That is how well he blended with them, or how detached they were from spiritual matters. We too need to know the traitors who walk among us; we need to pray and seek God for the gift of discernment before those who want to fool us do so. See also: Judas Iscariot; 190db / Discernment; Col 2-5; 6i (190db) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Masochism (Self-made martyr) >> Literal suicide – Judas committed spiritual suicide when he betrayed the Lord, and then he committed literal suicide. He was one of the twelve disciples. Potentially, he could have proceeded to great things like the other eleven. His name, Judas, translated means "Jehovah leads", indicating that his parents had high hopes for him, but as predestined, he was the son of perdition. He lost every semblance of faith in Jesus, so he hanged himself. Here was a man who couldn’t live with himself after what he did, which indicates that Judas actually loved the Lord in his own way, but nobody cares about that, because he gave up his faith and exemplified to everyone that this is not just a game. Judas lost not only his faith but also his soul. He was the treasurer and a lover of money, and believed that the more he had, the better. He was always looking for opportunities to pilfer the moneybox. There is a good chance that someone was helping him stash it, so after this Jesus-gig ended, he would retrieve his money and live extravagantly. In fact, Jesus did come to an abrupt end as Judas predicted, but he killed himself before he saw Him raised from the dead. Would he believed his own eyes had Jesus stood in front of him alive, and would touching Him to prove He wasn't a ghost helped his faith, if he couldn't believed in Him after witnessing so many miracles? See also: Judas Iscariot; Mat 27,3-6; 167b Mat 27,3-6 (167b) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind is set on the flesh >> Carnal mind cares only for itself – All the disciples acted spiritually brain-dead before the resurrection, but Judas’ theory about Jesus was fatal. They all had visions of entering the dispensation of Christ ruling and reigning with Him on the earth. This is still to come, but they thought it would happen in their lifetime. When it finally comes, we will all enjoy it in our resurrected bodies, a far greater vantage point than from this broken-down old body that is doomed to die. They all had wrong ideas about what Jesus planned to do, but Judas fallacy was different from the others; he was deceived by the unrighteous mammon that he accumulated through Christ's ministry. All the disciples wanted to fit into Jesus plan, except Judas who just used the Lord to obtain earthly riches. Jesus explained to them what was going to happen, but none of them heard what he said, except Judas. He knew the religious establishment would stop him, and his money making venture was about to end, and so he designed an exit strategy, but he didn't believe the statement that He would rise from the dead. The other disciples didn't believe it either; the difference is, they didn't want to believe it, until He was killed; even then they were too afraid to believe it, until they actually saw Him alive. It would be logical to think that is when everything changed, yet while sitting in the upper room waiting for Pentecost, they were still in the dark about almost everything. They had seen Jesus alive and they knew something was coming, but they had no specifics. Pentecost came, and then they became united in one plan and purpose, and finally realized what God was doing: the age of grace had begun. See also: Judas Iscariot; Mat 27-9,10; 141f Mat 27,3-5 (159e) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >> Counterfeit godliness >> Counterfeit repentance (214c) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> God’s timing transcends our comprehension >> God’s time line gives the wicked just enough rope to hang himself KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 27,4-44 (165i) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Hardship >> Circumstances caused by the devil Mat 27-9,10 (141f) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ death – Judas’ fate was sealed by prophecy; he didn’t have a chance; all but his name was mentioned in the ancient prophets who condemned him. Predestination had determined him a son of hell from his mother’s womb. From the very beginning he had no hope. He was one of the twelve, who stood for the greatest hope this world has ever known, but he traded it all for money. Paul said that sin has deceptive powers (Rom 7-11), and Heb 3-13 warns us not to be “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Greed tricked Judas Iscariot into loving the riches of this world instead of the riches of Christ. Jesus incessantly preached against the love of money, yet Judas couldn't hear the words coming from his mouth. Like the Christmas movie, Polar Express, he couldn’t hear the bell. See also: Judas Iscariot; Mat 27,3-10; 162e Mat 27,11-50 (99b) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Enduring the will of God >> Enduring the death of your flesh Mat 27,11-14 (62e) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Being clever >> Keep your mouth shut (192h) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by losing >> Gain God’s kingdom to lose the domain of darkness >> Gain integrity to lose the world’s respect -- These verses go with verses 27-35 Mat 27-11 (54a) Paradox >> Opposites >> Unbelief in the presence power of God – Jesus interpreted the governor in a way He wished Pilate had spoken. He rearranged two words, making the governor say that he believed in Him. He transposed the words, "Are you…?" to "'[You are]' the king of the Jews." Two switched words changed his comment from a question of interrogation to a statement of faith, making the difference between heaven and hell. Pilate publicly confessed as much when he ordered the sign hung above His cross that read, "Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews" (Jn 19-19). See also: Pilate; Mat 27,12-14; 89e (85a) Thy kingdom come >> Your words can lead to your own demise >> They will keep you out of heaven – When Pilate asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" Jesus said in effect, ‘You know that I AM.’ That is, ‘If you must ask, then I must be!’ That goes for everyone who doubts. Everybody in Jerusalem at the time knew He was the Son of God, but very few admitted it. Peter confessed Jesus to be the Son of God in Mat 16,13-17. We know that His mother also knew Him to be the Son of God, along with His disciples and many others of His close followers. Mat 27,12-14 (89eb) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Wisdom is sometimes best unspoken – Why didn’t Jesus defend Himself? He could have said many things that made good sense and exposed the motives of the Scribes and Pharisees and made the religious leaders look like fools, “For he [Pilate] knew that because of envy they had handed Him over” (v18). Instead of telling Pilate what he already knew and jeopardizing God’s plan for His life, and the fact that no one was listening anyway, he would have sounded like He was begging for His life, and Jesus was not about to grovel to them. The Pharisees delivered Jesus to Pilate because He was in the process of dismantling Judaism, but that was not the purpose of the Father sending the Son; He was born to give His life a ransom for many. Jesus was never put in a position that He could not resolve. If the cross were not the will of God, any plans of crucifying Him would have failed. Pilate had been a governor for many years and He had seen hundreds of people come to him begging for their lives. What amazed Pilate was that Jesus didn’t seem to care that He was about to die, and it was probably the first time Pilate had ever seen that, and it actually did more to convince him that Jesus was innocent than anything He could have said. See also: Pilate; Mat 27,17-24; 197j (222g) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Do not give what is holy to dogs >> God shares no intimacy with dogs >> God does not speak to dogs KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 27,17-35 (160j) Works of the devil >> Temptation to walk in unbelief >> Tempted to abandon your convictions -- After all the miracles Jesus performed for the people and after all the time He spent with them teaching them the ways of God, they listened to their religious leaders instead, who held them in bondage to an expensive and dead religion. The people knew it was wrong to condemn Jesus, because He never did anything wrong. It was not the chief priests or the Pharisees who had Jesus crucified but the people, influenced by the religious establishment whom they were used to obeying. They could relate to the Pharisees and had more in common with them than with Christ. A simple message pumped with emotion was it took to abandon their convictions regarding everything Jesus taught them about the truth, because they never believed in Him or in His message of faith and love. Mat 27,17-31 (65g) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Satan brings unity >> Satan unites the world for the cause of persecution -- These verses go with verses 1&2 Mat 27,17-24 (197j) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Man withers when he is in control >> Unfaithfulness >> Unfaithful to your own conscience – Did Pilate ever get saved? Some say absolutely not, while few consider the possibility, while still fewer are confident he did get saved. It all depends on his conscience. We know he was conscientious to a point, in that this case really bothered him, though he wasn’t conscientious enough to make the right decision, though in his favor that decision would have cost him his career as a governor under Cesar and possibly his life. That would be a lot to ask from a secular man of the world whose social upbringing was among pagans, not that he believed in their gods. He had only heard about Jesus until then. Those without a conscience would not have cared at all, such as Herod, but Pilate didn’t want to spill innocent blood. He may have gotten saved at some point in his life, perhaps after he heard the gospel. See also: Blood of Christ; Mat 27,22-35; 210c / Pilate; Mat 27-18; 164g Mat 27-18 (24j) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> World is envious of Jesus (76d) Thy kingdom come >> Wicked motives >> Motives based on envy -- Jealousy was the motivation that hung Jesus on a cross. There is a difference between "jealousy" and envy: envy is the fear of not obtaining, while jealousy is the fear of losing what we have gained, and both are based on fear. We know that jealousy is one of the elementary principles of the world, as is fear (Col 2-8). There aren’t many elementary principles, and none of them are complicated. Jealousy is something that animals understand; for example, squirrels get jealous over a peanut, and if animals exhibit these elementary principles, then we know that people who live by them have not risen above their animal nature. God is calling us to a higher purpose: love, which is seldom seen in nature. God has called us to love one another even as he has loved us. God has given us the ability to love through His Spirit that God has given us. (164g) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >> Satan’s system of authority >> His elementary principles of the world – Pilate was well aware of what motivated the Pharisees; they had no good reason for demanding Jesus' death. Pilate was never able to ascertain any charges against Him, and he was unmoved by Jewish concerns for their religion. If they tried to charge Him with confessing to be the Son of God, it fell on deaf ears, for Pilate refused to rule from a religious standpoint. However, when he learned that Jesus was actually being condemned for claiming to be their Christ, it disturbed him, because he considered Jesus to be innocent of any wrongdoing. In fact, the more adamant they demanded His death, the more Pilate disbelieved their accusations. He had no respect for the religious leaders of Israel; His contempt for them was complete; they continually pestered him about every little thing regarding miniscule issues about their religion, which incensed him. Roman rule stifled the Sanhedrin (Israel’s theocracy). Had it free reign to exercise its own justice, the Pharisees would have murdered Jesus in the streets long before this, and they would have killed off the apostles too. Instead, the gentiles martyred them, but not before the gospel went into all the known world. The religious leaders of Israel were zealots, not of the Law of Moses, nor of the truth but of their religion, a rendition of these things. They were zealots of the way they misconstrued the Law and misinterpreted the prophets, zealots for their manmade religion they enforced (Mat 15,7-9). Had they actually loved and obeyed God and His prophets, it would have led them to accept Jesus as their Messiah. See also: Pilate; Mat 27,22-26; 242h (243e) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Sources of persecution >> Persecution from jealousy Mat 27-19 (117ia) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Eyes of your spirit >> Having Dreams KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 27,20-25 (179d) Works of the devil >> Practicing witchcraft >> Wolves >> Stir up the crowd >> Stir up the crowd through jealousy -- The people were ultimately responsible for rejecting their own Messiah, but the chief priests and Pharisees stirred up the crowd to demand His blood (v25). Therefore, we can see though the example of Jesus' death that leadership has a very powerful influence on people, directing the world like the rudder of a ship. James put it this way, "Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires." In this case the ship represents the people, and the rudder represents politicians who use words to direct the people any direction they desire. Mat 27,22-35 (210c) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> God used sinners to sacrifice His Son – Pilate’s wife had a nightmare about Jesus that she related to her husband, probably regarding crucifying the Son of God. The Father sent Him to us for this very purpose, that mankind should murder Him for the purpose of showing us what our sins mean to Him, and at the same time, ironically, giving Him reason to forgive us. To us the sin of murdering the Son of God was no different than the sin of Adam in that we had nothing to do with either one of them. Adam's sin represents his willingness to murder the Son of God. Therefore, when we ask God to forgive our sin, He cleanses us with a level of forgiveness that He forgave the very men who brutalized and murdered His Son. Note that the word “sin” is singular, meaning everyone’s sin was involved in murdering the Son of God (See: Mk 3-29; Jn 1-29; Jn 9-41; Jn 16-8,9; Rom 4-8; Romans chapters 5-7; Rom 8-2,3; 1Cor 15-55; Heb 9-26; Jm 1-15; 1Jn 3-4,8; 1Jn 5-16). Everyone is guilty of shedding the blood of Christ, just as we are guilty of the sin of Adam, acting against our conscience and violating the commandments of God. We come to God with the blood of His Son on our hands, and He forgives us when we admit that we are evil enough to murder Him. Man’s sin is a nightmare, and people who walk in sin are living a nightmare. Although many sinners seem happy, yet after they die and once they realize they are still alive, they will discover the place of the dead. They will look back on their lives in the flesh and realize that their sin led them to this awful place, and they will wish they had never been born. If we want a proper understanding on our rebellion against God, we only need look to the cross and its consequences for rejecting His blood sacrifice for the remission of sin. See also: Blood of Christ; 241h / Sin is increased by the law/by Christ; Rom 7-2,3; 134i (241h) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom to the death >> Kill Jesus because of who He is -- These verses go with verses 1&2. Many innocent people have died at the hands of sinners, but those innocent people who suffered a wrongful death were sinners themselves. They may not have deserved to be murdered, but they were by no means innocent, whereas Jesus was blameless in the eyes of His Father. Sinful man crucified all that was good and right; therefore, the cross represents how God views sin. If a person died in his sin and was brought to God in judgment, God would accuse Him of murdering His Son, even though it happened 2000 years ago. Every man and woman is guilty of shedding the blood of Christ. The cross also represents the epitome of God’s forgiveness, because we acknowledged our level of wickedness when we accepted His blood sacrifice through repentance. See also: Blood of Christ; Mat 27,24-26; 168d Mat 27,22-26 (242h) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> World pressures you to forsake your convictions – What should Pilate have done? He was warned in a dream by his wife to have nothing to do with Him, making Him further suspected Jesus was innocent, yet he allowed the people to have their way with Him. A riot was the worst thing that could happen to Pilate; inefficiency to manage people and quell rebellions reflected poorly on Roman officials, making them look inept in the eyes of Caesar. Pilate could have protected Jesus and allowed the riot to occur, but what would that have accomplished other than maintaining his convictions in refusing to crucify an innocent man? More people would have died in the riot, and he would have been blamed for it. He probably would have lost his job and been demoted; basically His career as governor would have ended. Had Pilate known that Jesus was actually the Son of God, he may have been willing to suffer these things, but all Pilate knew was that Jesus was forming a new religion, and the Pharisees didn’t like Him, and there had been many people like that come across his court. The fact that Pilate didn’t know what to think about Jesus lessened his sin. He nailed a board above His cross that read, “This is the king of the Jews,” partly from his convictions and partly to anger the Pharisees who forced his hand against the Lord. Had Pilate actually known that he was the Son of God, it would have dramatically increased his sin. There are many occasions in life that we must make a decision similar to the one Pilate made, requiring us to choose between our faith or our temporal lives; if we choose against our faith, we are doing it against our knowledge of the truth. See also: Pilate; Mat 27-24,25; 103e Mat 27-22,23 (242f) Worldly Pressure (Key verse) Mat 27,24-26 (168d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not conform to the world and meet God’s judgment – Jesus was crucified just before Passover outside Jerusalem, and many of the people in the surrounding areas made the annual trek to the Holy City, hence they were present at the controversy of Jesus’ trial. The chief priests and the Pharisees instigated the people to call for His death, and the people responded, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” and God answered them, “So be it,” and thus it has been ever since, until the curse is finally lifted and Israel is allowed to believe in their Messiah. At the end of the age it is prophesied. See also: Blood of Christ; Mat 27-24,25; 103e Mat 27-24,25 (27b) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Curse >> Deeds that return to the doer >> Blood of Jesus (103e) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> God’s cleansing power >> Cleansing of baptism -- Pilate showed conscience toward innocent blood when he washed his hands, but that water did not rinse away any of his guilt regarding the decision he made to hand over Jesus to the Jews. In Contrast, Paul said with respect to baptism, "Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name" (Act 22-16). The difference between Paul's statement and Pilate's attempt to wash away his sin is fundamental to God's requirement to submit to His plan of salvation through the blood of Christ, instead of making up our own method of cleansing. Accordingly, Exodus 25-40 says, "See to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain." See also: Judgment (The cross represents the height of man's rebellion); Act 3,11-15; 149a (199j) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Unwilling to receive Christ >> Rejecting Christ as the Messiah -- These verses go with verses 39-44 Mat 27-24 (181i) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Self deception >> Imaginary perception of self >> Pretending to be someone you’re not Mat 27-25 (54c) Paradox >> Opposites >> Requesting blood be on their own hands – In Act 5,27-32 the high priest and members of his council were becoming increasingly concerned that Peter and the other apostles would hold them accountable for killing Jesus. Peter concurred that the members of the Sanhedrin be made accountable for shedding the blood of Christ if they did not repent of their unbelief and embrace Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and receive the Holy Spirit whom God gives to those who obey Him. Some of those members were also members of the mock trial that sent Jesus to His death. The day they crucified Him the whole crowd unanimously cried, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” How did they not know they were killing an innocent man? They were so arrogant, they dared the powers of both the natural and spiritual realms to hold them accountable for shedding the blood of Christ. Now that Jesus had risen from the dead, He declared forgiveness of sins to all who believe in Him, and He commanded the gospel to be preached to all creation, starting in Jerusalem and surrounding districts “even to the remotest part of the earth” (Act 1-8). The apostles were in the process of doing this when the council apprehended them. See also: Blood of Christ; Mat 27-46; 45f KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 27,27-35 (192h) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by losing >> Gain God’s kingdom to lose the domain of darkness >> Gain integrity to lose the world’s respect -- These verses go with verses 11-14 Mat 27,27-31 (184k) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Abusing the grace of God >> Dragging God’s Grace Through The Mud >> Dishonoring the grace of God (243b) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Mocking Christ -- These verses go with verses 39-44 Mat 27,39-44 (17k) Sin >> Unrighteous judgment >> Ignorance >> Misinterpreting Jesus – The crowd hurling abuse at Him (spitting) was ignorant of God’s purpose for sending Christ and His eternal plan for redeeming people from their sins, just as the religious institution of Israel misinterpreted the statement He made about destroying the temple and rebuilding it in three days, referring to His body. They lied when they said they would believe in Jesus if He climbed off the cross after they personally hung Him there. If Christ were to have walked off the cross and they repented, it would have indicated a shred of decency in them. How did they not, after they nailed Jesus' body to a cross, represent the inner condition of all mankind? (199j) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Unwilling to receive Christ >> Rejecting Christ as the Messiah -- These verses go with verses 24&25 (200k) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Excuses for rejecting Christ >> Putting God in a no win situation -- They nailed Jesus to a cross from jealousy, partly because He performed many miracles and attracted a large audience, which emasculated the religious leaders; then they told Him to come off the cross and they would believe in Him. It would have been a miracle had He climbed off the cross; why would they believe in that miracle and not in the other miracles He performed? There was nothing Jesus could have done that would have persuaded them to believe in Him, which places their hatred squarely on the Father (Jn 15-23), which worsened their guilt, and proved whom they targeted when they hurled abuse at Jesus! (243b) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Mocking Christ -- These verses go with verses 27-31. How many times have we heard this: ‘If He did [blank] I will believe in Him,’ yet if we produced a bulleted list of reasons people should believe in Him, a very long list of all the Old Testament prophecies He fulfilled, people would ignore it. This is what the First century Church used to convince people to believe in Jesus, but today it means nothing, though the evidence is timeless. These were people who said they cared immensely about their ancient manuscripts containing the law and the prophets, but they said if He came off the cross, they would believe in Him, what a lie! They discounted their own belief system in order to preserve their conscience while they knowingly killed their own Messiah; then they created new parameters for their faith and expected Jesus to suddenly bounce off the cross. Jesus did eventually come off the cross alive and well, but the lying murderers still didn't believe in Him. Mat 27-39,40 (177i) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism) >> Misunderstanding the word of God Mat 27,40-43 (253ea) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the internal qualities of the Father >> Jesus is the Son of God >> Contested the Son of God by sinners and demons KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 27-46 (25j) Death (Key verse) (26d) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Death is separation from God’s life – This passage proves one of the innate properties of sin is that it has the ability to separate us from God. In fact, the word “death” according to the context of the Bible means separation. When somebody dies, he is separated from his body, and Paul said that death is the result of sin (Rom 5-12), so both sin and death result in separating us from God. Sin spiritually separates its victim, and if he doesn't repent of his unbelief before he physically dies, he is eternally separated from God in hell. Everything that is separated from God is dead, and there are various levels of separation, hence various levels of death, such as the body, though it is living, suffers the effects of spiritual separation from God by the sentence of physical death that hangs over it. So too, the earth has the sentence of death hanging over it; it is slated for destruction only to be reborn. Galaxies are entire systems of stars and planetary bodies that interact with each other through gravity, as though they had some kind of life to them, yet they are completely devoid of life. The earth has the ability to sustain life, and without God there is no life. Physical life is truly a miracle; earth is a place where God has curtailed the curse of His absence by being present in some mysterious way so life can exist, yet that life is only physically alive, not spiritually alive, except for the disciple of Jesus, who enjoys the presence of God in his spirit, being reunited with God in his heart. When God destroys this present universe and recreates a new heavens and a new earth, He will make it completely and totally alive with his presence, not only capable of sustaining life, but matter itself will be alive. Our body is composed of organic matter, atoms are arranged in molecules that are somehow alive. The future universe will be so alive that it will be incapable of sustaining death, and the people of God will be alive in ways greater than that, connected to God in ways that are unfathomable. Peter said that God will create “a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2Pet 3-13). Most people interpret that as devoid of sin and sinners; while that holds true, God will inhabit the elements themselves in the new creation, infusing Himself into the particles of matter. He will be present everywhere in ways we cannot even imagine, causing all things to be alive. In other words, He will do away with the inertness of matter, animating it with Himself. Inertness, then, defines the curse. See also: New heavens and a new earth (Pantheism is a reality of the new creation); Rom 6,4-10; 224a (37b) Judgment >> The cross >> Father slays His son -- This verse goes with verse 50. Looking forward to the cross throughout eternity past did not make Jesus anxious, but it did in the Garden of Gethsemane, because the time had come, and it meant the difference between theory and practice. Jesus enjoyed intimacy with God throughout all eternity, until He went to the cross and died in our sin. There, He suffered spiritual death; it was His greatest fear regarding the cross. The tortuous whipping, consisting of 39 lashes by a cat-o-nine-tails flayed the skin off His back, leaving Him slowly bleeding to death. Then they pounded nails into His hands and feet, the cross being hoisted into the air and plunged into its base, giving a terribly racking jolt, but none of these things held a candle to the horror of Jesus being separated from His Father. He cried those words after His Father heaped all the sins of the world on Him and then abandoned Him, literally becoming sin (2Cor 5-21). This was far more horrible than anything man could do to Him. Jesus knew exactly why His Father forsook Him, but He still couldn’t believe it. Our heavenly Father thinks exclusively in terms of infinity, and He knows eternity past and eternity future like the present, having nothing escaped His notice; He knows all things. He remembered every sin that man committed or would ever commit, and He heaped them all on His Son. He died like a sinner and went to hell. When He got there, all the sins loosened from Him, being none of His own, and it says that He preached the gospel to those in hell (1Pet 3,18-20). He told them they should have believed in God, and He would one day be their judge, and then God raised Him from the dead after 3½ days. See also: Cross (Jesus was separated from the Father); Rom 3-24,25; 37g (45f) Judgment >> Believer’s sin >> Through His Son >> Jesus absorbed the sin of the Church -- This verse goes with verses 50&51. Jesus absorbed the sins of the whole world, as Paul said, “especially of believers” (1Tim 4-10), but only those who believe in Him will benefited from His sacrifice. The rest, instead of benefiting from the cross, they will be judged by it, though He went to the cross, not to judge the world but that the world might be saved through Him. Either way God intends to apply the blood of His Son to every person. Those who reject Him God will see His blood on their hands and judge them according to their sins, but those who receive His forgiveness become members of His body, who suffered on the cross. Therefore, we should not be surprised if we too suffer as Christians (1Pet 4,12-19). See also: Blood of Christ; Mat 27,17-24; 197j (47i) Judgment >> God Judges the world >> Hell is the absence of God KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 27,50-53 (254g) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is the life of the Spirit >> Jesus is the substance of God’s life >> Jesus conquered death because He is life -- Note that it was at Jesus' death and not at His resurrection that the veil of the temple was torn in half and that many saints were raised from the dead in the surrounding tombs. Therefore, it is safe to say that Jesus' victory over death was at His death and not at His resurrection. 1Cor 15-45 says, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul.' the last Adam became a life-giving spirit." Jesus was so full of life that it spilled over and raised the dead within the tombs of the surrounding area as His life drained from His body. Jesus emptied Himself of His natural life as the son of man and was raised the Son of God, who now rules over death. His resurrection was the capstone of His work on the cross and was the expected conclusion of His deity as God Almighty clothed in human flesh. Mat 27-50,51 (45f) Judgment >> Believer’s sin >> Through His Son >> Jesus absorbed sin of the Church – These verses go with verse 46 (205h) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> New covenant >> The old one is obsolete (221h) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides his divinity from man’s corruption >> He hides behind the veil – The veil was a simple drape to obscure the view into the Most Holy Place to keep any onlooker from spying on God. He did not want to become a spectacle to the sons of Israel, though He deserved Israel's full attention. The Most Holy Place didn't have a locked door, meaning anybody could step behind the veil, though access was disallowed, except once a year only by the high priest on the annual Passover celebration. The implication of the veil being ripped in half from top to bottom was that an angel of the Lord did it, not the earthquake, and now that Christ has been sacrificed, the obfuscation of the veil in front of the holy place has been removed, giving us full access. Mat 27-50 (37b) Judgment >> The cross >> Father slays His son -- This verse goes with verse 46 Mat 27,51-53 (147c) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> God exercises authority over His creation Mat 27-52,53 (147g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Raising the dead – Jesus is the first fruit of the First Resurrection, but those who were raised at His death eventually died again, and at the First Resurrection they will be raised to eternal life with all the saints. This episode of neighboring saints rising from the dead gives an indication of the power of God’s life within Him. We can’t understand it much beyond that, but we know that it was done by His Spirit, as Paul said in Rom 8-11, “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” In that sense the Spirit does all things. This includes giving life to mere inkblots on a page and phonemes formed in the mouth that become vibrations in the air that enter people’s ears. God gives life to them, causing certain people to be born-again, whose names have been written in the Lamb's Book of Life, the book of entries that were filled before the foundation of the world. Mat 27-54 (88i) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God >> Fearing the power of God is the beginning of wisdom – The centurion guarded over those who were crucified, and he kept the peace and made sure nobody tampered with the events. He had probably been stationed there many times and seen many crucifixions. It was just another day for him; he was about to clock-out and go home when this occurred, and it made him realize that Jesus really was the Son of God. This indicates that everybody knew why he was being crucified, even though Jesus throughout His ministry never claimed to be God's Son, except to His friends and His enemies, making the general public figure it out on their own. It was not difficult to come to this conclusion after seeing His confidence and personally witnessing Him perform miracles and hearing the word of God graciously falling from His lips. Even the way He died made the centurion believe in Him, much more the way He lived. His death was so profound, a jaded centurion standing guard on death row had to admit that the man hanging dead on the cross was in fact the Son of God. It would take a lot for someone like him to admit this, for he was part of the system that had him killed. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 27-55,56 (3i) Responsibility >> To the Family >> God addresses both genders >> Women leaders – Mary returned the next day with fragrances that she would use to decorate the gravesite of her Lord, and she showed the others where He was buried, so on the third day when they heard that he had risen from the dead, they knew where to look for Him. Jesus was very popular with women; He treated them as viable members of the faith, and those who wanted to get involved in His mission would have a place equal to men. Socially, they were subservient to men, but spiritually Jesus gave them equal status, and this was very attractive to women. Some have claimed that Jesus had illicit relationships with women, but they are only saying what they would have done had they been in Jesus’ position, though they wouldn’t have treated women the way Jesus did. He was all about love and so are nurturing women in relation to their children, suggesting that a mother’s tender care is similar to the love of Christ. He spoke their language in many ways. Men are more into their occupations and careers, whereas women are more into raising their children and trying to maintain a mentally and emotionally healthy and safe home environment. Some men understand Jesus too; His mission is relevant to them, because they see a lot of wrongs in the world, and the things that Jesus taught addressed those wrongs and attempted to right them in a peaceable manner. Mat 27,57-61 (14e) Servant >> Ministry of helps >> Being in charge of the details – These linen wrappings are now considered the Shroud of Turin. When we think how important Joseph's job was in the scheme of God’s infinite plan, he gave Jesus a proper burial in the course of fulfilling His unchangeable purpose for man. It is important to fulfill our ministry in whatever capacity we are called to help. In most cases a ministry of helps is doing something for someone else’s ministry. This kind of work is crucial; for example, Jesus could not have buried Himself. God often assigns tasks to people that are too great for one person to accomplish, giving opportunities to delegate authority and receive authority to fulfill their calling. For another example, Joseph couldn't have rolled that large stone over the entrance of the grave by himself; he needed help. The ministry of helps is an opportunity to learn how to get along with others and build unity in the Church. Mat 27,57-60 (189d) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Holy sacrifice >> Costly sacrifice (249e) Priorities >> God’ s preeminence >> Wealth >> True perception of wealth >> Do not trust the carnal perception of wealth >> Do not depend on wealth – Joseph was an example of a wealthy man who was a believer in Jesus. Wealth does not prohibit a person from being a Christian. The difference between Joseph and the rich young ruler, whom Jesus advised to sell all his possessions and give to the poor, is that he derived his self-worth from his money, whereas Joseph did not. Joseph donated his expensive tomb hewn from solid rock, where they laid the body of Jesus. As a result of his faith in Jesus, and the tomb where they laid Joseph’s body will be vacated one day at the First Resurrection. Mat 27,62-66 (182d) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Self deception >> Trying to hide from God – It is ironic that the Pharisees knew more about Jesus than the disciples; and it is also ironic that their request to make the tomb secure worked against them after He rose from the dead, because it removed all other explanations except the resurrection. Had they not secured the tomb, we 2000 years later could not have as much confidence in the resurrection. We could not have proven that the disciples didn’t come and steal His body, but now we know they didn’t, because they secured the tomb. Thank you Scribes and Pharisees and all you unbelievers for doing just as much to prove the gospel as the Church. They were under the persuasion that nothing Jesus said would ever come true, though they were aware of the miracles He performed, calling Him a deceiver, meaning they thought He was a magician of the black arts and not the Son of God. Many of Jesus’ miracles were unexplainable, such as healing the man born blind (Jn 9) and raising Lazarus (Jn 11) but they dismissed them anyway, under the guise: ‘We don’t know how He did it; we only know that He didn’t perform any miracles.’ Their unbelief proved it to them; that is, the power of unbelief is the ability to dismiss the truth in order for any lie to come fill the void, and now they believe in lies because they refused to believe the truth. The seriousness of the problem is that the Scribes and Pharisees had no excuse for disregarding Jesus, because they didn’t have an answer for His miracles. They could have looked into it a little further and discovered that He really did perform miracles; then maybe they would have believed in Him. There is a problem with that theory: they didn’t have a heart that was capable of believing the truth. (196f) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Immaturity >> Not mature enough to seek God >> Unable to know the mind of Christ – Neither His enemies nor His disciples understood Jesus. The chief priests and Pharisees had heard that He said He would rise from the dead after three days, but they didn't believe it. In contrast, His disciples believed in Him but refused to hear anything about His death, and therefore also missed the word of His resurrection. He must have said it loud enough and often enough for even His enemies hear it, becoming common knowledge except to His closest disciples. They didn’t want to believe their Master would be killed. The disciples lived in denial of His impending crucifixion and therefore would not have talked about it, so Jesus must have mentioned it so many times that the information leaked even to His enemies. Had the disciples believed it, they may have thrown a three-day party waiting for Him to emerge from the grave; instead, they crouched in fear, probably thinking about returning to their old life as fishermen, Matthew a tax collector, or else sojourning to another country and losing their identity as Jews. (201c) Denying Christ >> Whoever is not with Jesus is against him >> You are against Christ when your unbelief materializes >> If your heart is not with Him your deeds are against Him – At this point, Jesus’ enemies believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ more than His disciples. Believing that Jesus would rise from the dead, they stationed a guard and sealed the tomb, putting their faith into practice more than the disciples. However, after Jesus rose from the dead and the disciples met their Lord and saw Him physically alive again, after touching Him and talking with Him, the rolls were reversed. His enemies disbelieved, though they saw and heard first that He had risen from the dead. The disciples believed and carried the gospel to every creature in the known world. After Pentecost they became mighty apostles, performing exploits for God in ways the world hasn’t seen again. _________________________________ MATTHEW CHAPTER 28 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 28-1 -- No Entries Mat 28,2-7 (23l) Sin >> Poverty (Oppression) >> Fear of the unknown >> Fear of miracles – The angle said to the women who believed in Jesus, “Do not be afraid,” not addressing the soldiers, for they had reason to be afraid. The women were close in proximity to the empty tomb, but the guards were distant in their unbelief. People who do not believe in Jesus are afraid of Him, and they should be, unless they repent and commit their lives to Him, and then God will speak to them with kind words without cause of fear. (147g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Raising the dead Mat 28,2-4 (15i) Servant >> Angels execute Judgment >> For the sake of the Church – The angel never executed judgment against the guards, yet rolling away the stone was in fact a type of judgment in that the angel contradicted the guards' objective. Moreover, the angel’s appearance to the guards was a type of judgment, proving they did not possess a shred of spiritual reality or truth. His presence denoted their utterly lost condition, lost in ways they could not even imagine. The angel destroyed their lives that day by the decision they were required to make, either becoming Christians or trampling on their own conscience, which is spiritual suicide, their lives afterward becoming worthless to them. They could not continue in their current trajectory, for a massive paradigm shift had occurred in their hearts like the earthquake they felt under their feet, and they were ill-prepared to accommodate the experience. They probably all lied to themselves and denied the whole thing with the consequence of developing reprobate minds, which hardened their hearts to the point of forfeiting any hope of salvation. (38g) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Resurrection of freedom – Note that when the angel rolled away the stone, Jesus didn’t come walking out of the tomb; He was already gone. Therefore, the angel’s purpose was not to free his Master, but to bring the message that He was never a prisoner. Jesus was able to pass through physical objects; He entered a house without opening the door and suddenly appeared to His disciples, so He was able to step from the tomb without assistance. Some say this was because He had a resurrected body, but He walked on water prior to His death, and He performed many other miraculous signs before His resurrection. (44a) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Complete >> It is finished >> Fulfill God’s will – The angel didn’t do anything except roll away the stone and then sat on it. The act of sitting was symbolic of being finished with his works, meaning this was all he came to do and his appearance did the rest, effectively conveying the message to the guards that Jesus had all power and authority in heaven and on earth. In the same way, when Jesus finished His work on the cross, He sat down at the right hand of the Father (Heb 1-3). (190da) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Masochism (Self-made martyr) >> Spiritual suicide Mat 28,5-10 (39d) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection -- These verses go with verses 16-20 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 28,5-9 (228b) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> God comforts you in times of adversity >> He comforts you in your grief Mat 28,5-7 (15f) Servant >> Angels are messengers from God >> They are sent to change our perspective -- The women who went to look after Jesus' grave believed what the angel told them after they saw that the large stone had been moved and that the guards were absent. So, when the angel spoke to them, it was an official confirmation that Jesus Himself had risen. Usually, it is the Holy Spirit who speaks to us about the things of God, but angels appear to people to strengthen their faith. One example is during Jesus' distress in the garden of Gethsemane when the angel came alongside and strengthened Him prior to His crucifixion. Angels also appear between ages; they come alongside to help successfully make the transition. (210a) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> Jesus paid the price for us >> Jesus saved from death by submitting to the cross -- Jesus had no choice but go to the cross since it was the only way back to the Father. In going to the cross He maintained integrity that existed eternally with the trinity. Although it is theoretically impossible to interrupt the trinity since He is God, yet from a practical standpoint that was the risk He took and Satan's reward if he succeeded. Satan risked everything to interrupt their divine unity and lost it all for the chance of destroying God. Mat 28-5 (23m) Sin >> Poverty (Oppression) >> Fear of the unknown >> Fear the appearance of angels – The angel that spoke with the women was not the angel that rolled away the stone but one of two other angels that met them inside the tomb. These women had gone to decorate Jesus' grave with flowers and fragrances when they met the angel, who told them to go and report to His disciples that He had risen from the dead. It says they left in fear and great joy, fear that they had seen an angel, and joy of the message he told them. Fear is always associated with encountering angels. This suggests that they may appear human, but there is something about them that is alien; they are as it were another race of man. God will create yet another race of man in the future, and each time He does, He tweaks the formula by the authority He gives them. With angels God gave them the universe as their possession, withholding only His throne from them. Then God created Adam and Eve, and He gave them the earth only, which was nothing compared to what He had given the angels, but then man sinned like Lucifer and God ejected the man and his wife from the garden and made them live in Satan's curse, where they would eat by the sweat of their brow, and they died in hardship and sorrow, but when Jesus died and broke the curse of sin, we have come to share the inheritance of our brother, Jesus. Now those who believe in Christ will partake of the First Resurrection that is devoid of the curse. Then God will create a new heavens and a new earth and give it to a new race of man, and we will reign over them. He will even invite man to sit on His Father's throne at His right-hand, something He never offered the angels. See also: New heavens and a new earth (God will create another race of man and put us in charge of them); Mk 10,28-31; 224c Mat 28-8 (88i) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God >> Fearing the power of God is the beginning of wisdom – The disciples were more than excited; they were filled with fear, thinking the Romans would hunt them down and hang them on a cross. Then when they began to hear that Jesus was alive, they feared He was a ghost. Later after Jesus revealed Himself to His disciples and showed them that He was not a ghost, being bodily raised from the dead, their fear of Him remained. The kind of fear the disciples had after they began to believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead was a mixture of emotions. The severity of their despair over the crucifixion of their Master went far beyond words, but once they began to hear that Jesus was alive, their fear of punishment transformed to the fear of God, which is actually a complex emotion. When we think of heaven, there is no indication that anybody fears God there, and so our fear of God has to do with living in a body of sin, fearing how temptation might lead us to contradict our knowledge of God, afraid we will contradict our hope through actions of unbelief. We could almost say the disciples were afraid of their own flesh, what they might do after coming to the knowledge of His resurrection. The fear of God is like a running saw blade that is turning at 1500 rpms that would tear into flesh and bone just as easily as it cuts wood. We are always mindful of our hands to keep them away from the blade. This is the kind of fear the disciples had; God was doing something marvelous and they wanted to stay out of His way and at the same time be a part of it. This kind of fear is the beginning of wisdom. It is beyond the Wisdom of Solomon, who wrote about the fear of God in Old Testament terms, and now at the resurrection of Jesus Christ there has come a transition between the old and new covenants, and in that a transition the disciples were caught in the middle. They knew something extraordinary was happening; so when the new covenant fully emerged on the day of Pentecost, the wisdom of the Spirit was born. Now we understand things from God that no one understood in the old covenant, because it was not revealed to them. Unbelievers in the new covenant age cannot understand the wisdom of God, what we understand who are faithful and obedient to Him, who have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, the works of God coming to fruition in our lives. (125e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Joy is the result of partaking of the Holy Spirit >> Joy of the revelation of Jesus Christ Mat 28-9 (252e) Trinity >> You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship Jesus (Because He is equal with God) >> Worship the Father through Christ -- This verse goes with verse 17. The women worshipped Jesus and Jesus did not stop them, contrary to John’s experience in the book of Revelation when He tried to worship an angel, but he stopped John saying, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God” (Rev 19-10). Remember the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before Me… You shall not worship them or serve them” (Exodus 20,3-5). For Jesus to allow the women to worship Him was breaking the first commandment, unless Jesus is God. He is the only representation of God we have, and to worship anything else that represents God is idolatry. If we set up a statue and worship it, or paint an image on canvas and worship God through the painting, that is idolatry, because we are using it to represent God, and any representation of God is idolatry. Jesus Christ is the only exception to this, because He is God. Mat 28-10 (23n) Sin >> Poverty (Oppression) >> Fear of the unknown >> Fear the appearance of Jesus – “Do not be afraid,” is the first words spoken in an angelic visitation, or in this case Jesus visiting His disciples after rising from the dead. It would have accomplished nothing for the disciples to be afraid of Jesus, but the demonic world doesn't believe the same way; they want us to be afraid of them, for fear is their environment of preference. This simple statement, “Do not be afraid,” disarmed their fears. It seems we have certain instincts about angelic visitations that when an angel tells us not to be afraid, we stop fearing them. Therefore, if we are greeted with an angelic visitation, and he does not attempt to abate our fears, that angel wants us to remain afraid and is therefore not from God, for He does not want us living and walking in fear. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 28,11-15 (16k) Sin >> Continuing in sin to avoid the light >> Suppressing the truth they cannot deny – Had it become common knowledge that Jesus rose from the dead, the religious establishment would have lost their place, because they never supported Christ; in fact, they were most responsible for His death. We could say that spreading this rumor was a terrible injustice to the gospel, but many people would have sought Jesus with ulterior motives if the truth of His resurrection had prevailed, even as they seek Him today with ulterior motives (Jn 6-26). The ones who get saved are the ones who would have gotten saved regardless of false messages swirling in the air. To lie about the resurrection really didn’t hurt the gospel, for God works in the hearts of people to convince them of His truth, regardless of what the world says about Him. This is how the gospel has always worked throughout the centuries to save people. (18g) Twisted Thinking (Key verse) – Disobedience and unbelief are opposites of faith and love, where unbelief is the spiritual equivalent of disobedience, and disobedience is the tangible equivalent of unbelief. (19i) Sin >> Hardened heart will twist your mind – The fabricated story was not very convincing after they allowed the soldiers to remain alive, but the general population believed it anyway, apparently because this is what they wanted to believe. It was to their advantage to believe that Jesus rose from the dead, because that meant they had hope, yet they traded hope for an unconvincing lie. If the people of Israel were so depraved as to believe a poorly contrived lie, then how hardened were the chief priests who knew the truth about Jesus’ resurrection after the soldiers reported to them what happened? They gave their account to the religious authorities, and instead of being amazed at the works of God, they didn’t even bat an eye but immediately began spinning an alternate account of the events. The people of Israel, their religious leaders and the soldiers were all corrupt, so the only people who were being saved were those whom God had prepared beforehand for eternal life, who worshipped God with a clear conscience. God was willing to do anything for them, including send His Son to die on a cross to release them from their sins. See also: Deception; 162b (21h) Sin >> Premeditated sin >> Having no intensions of doing the will of God (76c) Thy kingdom come >> Motives >> Seeking authority for security >> Motives based on greed (162b) Works of the devil >> Carried away bodily – When the chief priests told the guards about the rumor they fashioned, that Jesus’ disciples disposed the body of Jesus, the religious establishment became the culprits in disposing the truth. It turns out they were guilty of the very sin they accused the disciples. This rumor was so widely spread and commonly believed that it became a fact to the people living in the area, and among those motivated to believe a lie to this day. Believability is all it takes to create an effective lie, but is this story believable? When the guards reached Pilate, they told the same story to him, confirming the guards’ account. Pilate didn’t have the same motives of the religious establishment or of the guards to believe that the disciples stole the body of Jesus; he wanted proof, so he went to the place where they buried Him and found conflicting evidence, yet because the rumor was so popular, he believed it over the evidence. This is the way of the world, which is run by money and lies, believing rumors over evidence, while the truth takes a backseat to bribery and extortion. Had the people honestly believed the disciples stole the body, they would have hunted them to the ends of the earth; instead, less than two months later they were found publicly preaching the gospel about a resurrected savior and the authorities could not stop them. See also: Deception; 163g / Pilate; 182h (163g) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Used by Satan to destroy the word of God >> Used to Suppress the truth – The religious establishment knew that Jesus’ resurrection was a fact. They knew everything that happened; they were not in the dark about anything, yet they denied it all. They heard from eye-witnesses that Jesus had risen from the dead, and saw the evidence for themselves; many of them went to the site and examined the sepulcher for themselves. The soldiers told the highest religious authorities that Jesus was not in His grave, that they had seen a bright light and that an angel had filled them with dread, and they became like dead men. Nevertheless, the chief priests told the soldiers to spread the deception that the disciples stole the body right under their noses, which is unbelievable. After weaving this lie, the religious establishment believed it over the facts presented to them. See also: Deception; 166g (166g) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Wisdom of the world >> Man’s wisdom contradicts itself -- There is no way anybody came and took Jesus' body in the presence of armed guards. The Romans in Jesus' day had a hard and fast rule that any guard derelict in his duties were immediately killed. In this case, however, they gave the guards a large sum of money to start a rumor. Why were the Roman guards still alive, and why didn't they pursue the disciples to make them return the body? The whole reason for Pilate placing guards at the tomb was to ensure that no one took the body, and the chief priests wanted the body as proof that He did not rise from the dead. Finally, how did the disciples roll away the stone? They were physically incapable of such a feat, especially without waking the guards? On the contrary, the chief priests had every reason to believe Jesus rose from the dead. The religious establishment's sin was multiplied against them through yet another opportunity to believe in Jesus but hardened their hearts instead and buried the truth in lies. See also: Deception; 182h (182h) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Being deceptive with people >> Lying to others – This financial transaction exemplifies the way of the world. The soldiers wanted to stay out of trouble, and the chief priests wanted to spread the lie about what happened to Jesus’ body, and of course between the priests and the soldiers was money, being always at the center of all corruption. It was interesting that the soldiers first reported to the chief priests instead of Pilate, who was their commanding officer. They must have surmised that the chief priests had an interest in keeping word of the resurrection quiet, but that Pilate had no interest in covering the facts. Pilate would have wanted the unadulterated account of what happened, so before the guards reported to him, they visited the religious authority, who pressed a fat wad of sweaty money into their hands and told them to start a rumor that the disciples stole the body of Jesus. The chief priests’ motive was to keep people from believing the truth about Jesus so they could maintain their place in society, whereas the guard’s motive was to avoid the punishment of execution. The chief priests had more at stake than the guards; they had their pride. See also: Deception; 186c / Pilate; Mat 27-11; 54a (186c) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> Blasphemy >> Cursing the Holy Spirit >> Lying to the Holy Spirit – Demons know their ultimate destiny is hell, and there is nothing they can do to change that, whereas man can repent, most of us anyway. However, there are some who have crossed the line and become like the demons, who have a reprobate mind and are incapable of repentance. What kind of sin do they commit to develop a reprobate mind? Lying to the Holy Spirit is like lying to their own conscience and vice versa, but there is a level of denying the truth that is so offensive to God that the person is no longer capable of salvation. Denying the truth after God Himself has revealed it to him is the way to a reprobate mind. The chief priests and many of the Pharisees were guilty of this; they would not repent of their unbelief no matter what miracles Jesus performed. They were spiritual leaders of Israel and never gave believing in God a thought, so when Jesus came, they never gave a thought to believing in Him. The concept of truth didn’t exist for them. They were businessmen, coming across as spiritual leaders, as though they had something going with God, but they were spiritual liars; they lied to themselves; they lied to the people, and they lied to God. Their whole lives consisted of lies and deception. What would have happened had the disciples actually come and stolen the body of Jesus from the tomb? The authorities would have killed the soldiers (Act 12-18,19) and hunted the disciples to the ends of the earth. They didn’t spend days working on their story; rather, minutes. These people were so trained in greed and deception that knowing what to do came to them by instinct, or maybe they fabricated the story over three days that Jesus was in the tomb, knowing He would rise from the dead. The Pharisees and chief priests were in fact religious psychopaths. People such as these develop a personalized code of ethics to give themselves a semblance of normalcy to help them blend in society, but in fact they're monsters, while designing society to enable them to live among the people undetected. See also: Deception; 19i (202f) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from the word of God >> Running from the truth (251c) Priorities >> God’s prerequisites >> Making evil plans KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 28,16-20 (39d) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection -- These verses go with verses 5-10 Mat 28-16,17 (237h) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> The Church is transferred to the kingdom >> Jesus’ ascension – The eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee to the designated mountain, along with many other witnesses (1Cor 15-5), and it says that some were doubtful. What was it they doubted? Some who may not have seen Him prior to this may have doubted, but those who personally knew Him didn’t doubt that Jesus was standing in front of them. They recognized His voice, His face and His demeanor. Everything about Him was the person they knew before He was crucified. Some may have doubted that Jesus was raised in the same body or that Jesus was human, something the Gnostic believe to this day. They must have thought He was a manifested spirit, or that instead of God raising Jesus from the dead He must have given Him a new body that looked like the original. Jesus didn’t have a reputation of fooling His disciples or playing mind games with them, and that is what this would have been had the circumstances been anything other than the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Anything less would have been deception. Moreover, it doesn’t say anywhere in Scripture that His disciples doubted after Pentecost. They were all in the upper room waiting for the promise of the Spirit, and they were curious about their future as they continued following Jesus. The Spirit came and there was never another word of doubt among them again. The Holy Spirit persuaded them about the circumstances that occurred, convincing them that Jesus bodily rose from the dead, and now they have their faith supercharged by an anointing from heaven, all doubts removed. Mat 28-17 (20i) Sin >> Doubting miracles (252e) Trinity >> You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship Jesus (Because He is equal with God) >> Worship the Father through Christ -- This verse goes with verse 9 Mat 28,18-20 (44k) Judgment >> Transformation process >> Fulfill your ministry in evangelism >> Complete your mission – Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” This is a tremendous comfort to the evangelist preaching Jesus in a world that hates God. While God’s evangelists are being tortured in prison cells, it is good to know that Jesus is not only with them but has even led them there, who promises grace to endure their hardships, and just as importantly to the evangelist, He promises human souls as the fruit of their labor won to Christ through their faith. (66g) Authority >> Jesus’ authority >> He owns everything from the father (67n) Authority >> Doing God’s work under His authority >> Ministry of helps >> Help God – Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Then He said, “Go therefore…,” associating His authority with evangelism, which is the one ministry of five (listed in Eph 4-11,12) that God is most willing to manifest Himself in power and authority, acting as the seal of the Gospel. Telling people to believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin is not very appealing to most; often they're not even aware they are sinners, but when miracles are associated with the gospel, it tells people that this is not just another message, but one they had better heed, giving them reason to commit their lives to it. Even the hardened sinner is willing to give his heart to Jesus because he sees there is something real about the gospel. Without miracles, the gospel is just set of doctrines people have chosen to believe among a sea of ideas about God. We have the creation, the Bible and the nation of Israel as proof of God, but when signs and wonders are present in the proclamation of the gospel, it turns people’s heads and convinces many who would not have otherwise believed in Jesus. Ironically though, witnessing miracles does not have a lasting impact; twenty years later it becomes a distant memory that no longer has a bearing on their lives, except that it gave them reason to believe in Jesus, and their faith twenty years later is still vibrant. Those who witness miracles see it as an external proof of God, but those who are born of the Spirit have the witness in themselves, which is far more convincing than miracles. (71ab) Authority >> Believer’s authority >> We have authority from God to evangelize the world >> We have authority to propel the gospel into all the world (84cb) Thy kingdom come >> Be on the alert >> Be faithful till Jesus comes >> Prepare others for His return – Jesus charged His disciples with preaching the gospel, who were Jewish. He told them to make disciples of all nations. The Jews were originally charged with carrying the gospel to the world; it was Jesus’ original plan for the Jews to manage His gospel and not the gentiles. Instead, they rejected God’s purpose for themselves, and so God circumvented them and entrusted the gospel to the gentiles, according to Act 13-46, “Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, ‘It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.’” Paul did this to make the Jews jealous, and so it made them furious. Jesus said to His evangelists, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” The wording of this is significant in the fact that He mentioned “the end of the age,” suggests there will be a Great Endtime Revival conducted by the Jews, and this will be a time when possibly more people will find faith in Jesus than all of Christianity throughout the age of grace. See also: Great Endtime Revival (Jews will manage the gospel at the end of the age); Mk 12,9-11; 49d (191b) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Baptism >> Baptism symbolizes death, burial and resurrection >> Baptism is a sign of obedience – Some say we must baptize people in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, others say we must baptize in the name of Jesus only. If we baptize someone in the name of Jesus or in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we baptize believers for the sake of faith in Jesus Christ, and if we also want to name the Father and the Holy Spirit over them, that is fine. If a person is baptized one way, and later makes friends with a crowd that believes differently, he doesn't need to be re-baptized, but if he does get baptized again, he has not sinned. Baptism is a public display of our faith in Jesus Christ, a one time ceremony like a wedding. Baptism is in deed a wedding ceremony, and the individual's ceremony being married to Christ should occur at or near the day of his salvation. There is also a group ceremony that is still to come and will occur in heaven as the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Just like the wedding ceremony represents unity between the man and his wife, so the heavenly ceremony will represent unity between Christ and the Church and between the members of the Church, so that all become one. See also: Marriage Supper of the Lamb; 2The 2-3; 207a KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 28-18 (67b) Authority >> Jesus is at the right hand of the father >> He is above all other authorities – We all belong to a certain family. When we think of someone born into a wealthy family, though he be an infant he is privileged and is destined for greatness. That is the case with those of us who are born into the family of God; our heavenly Father is extremely rich, and we are now under His authority (Gal 4,1-7). God the Father has given Jesus all His authority, and Jesus in turn has delegated to the Church all His authority. Collectively, therefore, we represent the authority of Christ. For this reason Paul called us the body of Christ, the physical embodiment of our Lord on earth. The second coming of Christ will mark the beginning of His eternal kingdom, whose coming will have the likeness of King David, who destroyed his enemies before he established his throne in Jerusalem. In the same way, once the thousand years are complete, God will destroy this present universe and create a new heavens and a new earth, and then Christ will relinquish His authority to the Father, who will gently rule His people in eternity (1Cor 15,25-28). (214a) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >> God owns everything – Jesus has received all authority from the Father; that is a lot of authority. God is infinite and He owns everything; Jesus is God, and He owns us. The Father didn’t give His Son a portion of His authority but all of it. That doesn’t mean the Father no longer has authority; rather, the Father has authority over all things through Christ. The difference between the military and the business world is how they view authority. When the military delegates authority, the one who delegates maintains his authority in the person who received it, whereas the business world tends to view authority as giving it away, and is therefore stingy with it. The person who understood faith was the centurion, who said in Mat 8,5-10, “I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and 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.” The centurion understood that when he delegated authority, he didn’t lose it but invested it in the person, who will accomplish his task and further establish his authority, suggesting that faith is the authority of God. Mat 28-20 (83e) Thy kingdom come >> Intercession >> Jesus stands in the gap >> He prays for us (224f) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of heaven >> The joyful kingdom >> We shall always be with the Lord (238g) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Transferring the kingdom >> The kingdom is transferred to the Church >> Jesus will never leave us – Jesus will never leave us; we will never be apart. ‘Where He is, there we will be also’ (Jn 12-26). Jesus being the essence of God’s Kingdom means that to be with Him is to be citizens of His Kingdom, and to dwell in His Kingdom is for Him to dwell in us. For Jesus to say that He is with us is to confess that He and the Holy Spirit are one. Jesus ascended to heaven 2000 years ago and sent the Holy Spirit in His place, which was to send Himself, for He is not similar but equivalent to the Holy Spirit coming to us in person. See also: Trinity; 254i (254i) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Holy Spirit >> Holy Spirit is life >> Spirit of Jesus – The Holy Spirit is the exact representation of Christ, even as Christ is the exact representation of the Father. For this reason Jesus was able to say, “I am with you always.” Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one. We serve a God who exists in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and all the members are equal to each other. The Father has all authority, yet Jesus is a greater servant, and the least is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, establishing equality within the godhead. The same is true with the Holy Spirit, who has less authority than Christ but is a greater servant, making Him equal with the Father and the Son. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are in perfect agreement, as Jesus and the Father are in perfect agreement. The Father’s plan, the Son's obedience and the Spirit's power fulfills the vision. See also: Trinity; 238g