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MATTHEW CHAPTER 26 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel See previous page Mat 26-1 -- No Entries Mat 26,2-5 (241ib) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the death >> Kill Jesus by the predetermined plan of God >> The Jews had Jesus murdered -- These verses go with verses 14-16. The Pharisees chose to crucify Jesus in order to maintain their views and their business of religion that they used to make themselves wealthy and to maintain the world’s approval and prestige in society. They wouldn’t give up these things for anything, not even for God's truth or His Messiah. In contrast, Paul pounded the streets working for the cause of his beliefs (Act 9,1-8). Moreover, the Pharisees who persecuted Peter and John in earlier chapters of the book of Acts happened to be there when the blind beggar was healed (Act 4,1-21). They threw them in prison and God broke them out and sent them right back to preach the gospel of the kingdom in the same place they were arrested, showing that in no way could they stop this message from going forward. The fearlessness of the early apostles is why we can hold a Bible in our hand and believe in Jesus today. Mat 26-2 (210b) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> Jesus goes to the cross willingly Mat 26,6-13 (113i) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Anoint with oil (189a) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Holy sacrifice >> The smell of death >> Priestly anointing perfume of sacrifice – This woman invested a large sum of money in the perfume she poured over Jesus’ head, and it says that she did it in preparation for His burial, implying that she knew what would happen to Him, that as the Lamb of God He would give His life a ransom for the sins of the world. In old covenant temple worship they would anoint the high priest with a fragrant oil before he made the annual sacrifice for the sins of Israel, and this woman anointed Jesus by reason that He was the Great High Priest who was about to present the ultimate sacrifice of Himself to God. This is why He requested her honor in mention with the gospel that He prophesied would spread throughout the whole world. She understood more than His disciples about Jesus’ plan and purpose, though Jesus often reiterated to the twelve about His fate. They didn’t want to believe it and so they didn’t. This woman didn’t have a problem believing the cross was Jesus’ destiny, because she was not invested in the hope of being an important figurehead in His earthly kingdom as were the disciples, which they assumed He would establish in their lifetime. Although these things will happen, and the apostles will have high positions in His kingdom, along with great honor and nobility, yet 2000 years have passed, indicating how far off the mark they were in their estimation of God’s purpose. This woman was hoping for something better; she was open to whatever God had in mind. The Scriptures never recorded her saying anything, yet all four gospels gave the account of what she did, which makes this event and the woman special. She demonstrated understanding in the Father’s purpose for Christ and accepted that He needed to suffer, die and be buried for the sins of the world. Whatever He was doing she wanted to be part of it. If He was giving His life for the sake of the Church, then she wanted to be a member of it. She made sure that her faith in Jesus cost her something even as it cost the Lord. Had this been cheap perfume, Jesus may not have made a big deal of it, but the fact that she invested this highly valuable perfume demonstrated her faith all the more, and Jesus is one to honor faith. So if we show the Lord faith, it guarantees He will honor us, which is strong incentive to live and walk by faith and trust God in whatever He wants us to do. If we hear His voice, we should do what He says, for there is great reward in it. (239e) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Teachers >> Teachable students >> The teachable are taught by God – The objective of Christianity is to open our heart and mind to the will of God like this woman, in contrast to the disciples, who all twelve had closed their minds to the real purpose of Christ. They didn’t want Him to die; they wanted Him to show strength and power and beat up His enemies, and then they wanted Him to place them in positions of great authority. These sort of things appeal to the flesh, but there is a spiritual enemy we must overcome before we can make any attempts to overcome our physical enemies. A day will come when Jesus will overcome His physical enemies, and He will establish His physical kingdom on the earth and reign for a thousand years, and the apostles will be exalted to positions of great authority, but this was not the time. This was only days before His crucifixion. Shortly after this He was headed for Jerusalem, and there He would give His life. (252b) Trinity >> You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship Jesus (Because He is equal with God) >> Jesus is worthy of our worship >> Worship Jesus for who he is Mat 26,6-12 (234j) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Sold out >> Relinquishing your assets to Christ >> Investing every asset into Christ Mat 26,6-11 (23g) Sin >> Poverty (Oppression) >> Tending to the needs of the poor KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 26,14-16 (172aa) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the wheat >> Devils among the saints >> False brethren among the people of God >> Judas Iscariot among the disciples – If Jesus had so much discernment, why did He choose a traitor? Firstly, He did this on purpose. He needed a traitor to fulfill Old Testament prophecy, and He needed a traitor among His disciples to act as a microcosm for the class of people that would be present in our churches throughout the 2000-year age of grace. There will always be traitors within our congregations, acting as thorns in our side. Secondly, Jesus didn't technically choose him; rather, he invited himself (Jn 13-18), though Jesus once said, "Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?" (Jn 6-70). Judas thought that if he found a place in the group without being detected, he could stand to make a lot of money from Jesus' ministry. Judas Iscariot had a reprobate mind, despite the fact that he spent about two years with the Lord and witnessed countless miracles, yet for him this was not enough evidence to believe in Jesus. See also: Judas Iscariot; 186db (186db) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> The fool throws Jesus away for something better >> Judas betrayed the Lord – This woman breaking the vial of costly perfume over Jesus acted as a trigger that invoked Judas Iscariot to betray the Lord, in that this event made him feel that Jesus betrayed him by wasting the perfume, instead of receiving it as a gift, so that Judas could sell it supposedly for the the ministry, but for the real cause of confiscating the money and hiding it in an undisclosed location (or entrusting it to somebody outside the ministry), so that after this gig ran its course, which Judas saw better than the other disciples, he could retrieve his stash and live like a king at least for a while. Judas had a reprobate mind, defined as someone who cannot believe in God; he was a spiritual psychopath. There are many reprobates in the world today, as John said, "Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour" (1Jn 2,18-20). They wouldn't serve God in a million years, like the Pharisees who had Jesus martyred. They developed the reprobate mind by continually blaspheming the Holy Spirit, until they wore down their conscience to a nub. Truth is a pliable substance to them, and they shape it any way they want, instead of letting God's truth shape them. They made up their own rules about what was good and evil, exhibited by Judas hanging himself instead of repenting. For Jesus to say that it would be better if he had not been born means that he went to hell. See also: Conscience; Mat 26-24; 186j / Judas Iscariot; Mat 26,21-29; 37g (202b) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running from God >> Running to your sinful nature >> Run from God by running to the world (241ib) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the death >> Kill Jesus by the predetermined plan of G od >> The Jews had Jesus murdered -- These verses go with verses 47-50 Mat 26,17-20 -- No Entries Mat 26,21-29 (37g) Judgment >> Redemption of man >> His blood is the gift of His grace – Taking communion represents partaking of the body and blood of Christ; therefore, it was necessary for Judas to dip his morsel into the cup and eat it, communing with Jesus and symbolizing his contempt for the body and blood of Christ. Consequently, Jesus' sacrifice of Himself gave Him authority to judge Judas Iscariot at the White Throne Judgment. Judas represents the reprobate mind, and though he felt sorry for what he did later, he never repented, except by suicide, which is not true repentance but an unholy sacrifice. In contrast, Peter denied the Lord three times, but he repented, weeping bitterly. He couldn’t stop believing; he couldn’t give up the hope he cherished. See also: Communion; Mat 26-25; 181i / Judas Iscariot; Mat 26-24,25; 63h Mat 26,21-25 (190da) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Masochism (Self-made martyr) >> Spiritual suicide Mat 26-21 (110a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spirit speaks through you >> Word of knowledge >> knowing their thoughts by the mind of Christ Mat 26-22,23 -- No Entries KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 26-24,25 (63h) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Sarcasm >> Ignoring the truth to convey the truth -- Judas walked with Jesus for about 2 1/2 years and should have realized that Christ would have known what was in his heart. Jesus played hardball with the Pharisees and with all the religious leaders, while Judas played mind games with himself to block out his intension of betraying Christ. Jesus' words must have rung in his ears where truth should reside, instead of the futile, sarcastic gesture of denial. See also: Judas Iscariot; Mat 26-24; 141f (68k) Authority >> Discernment >> Judging truth and error >> Perceiving wicked plans Mat 26-24 (47k) Judgment >> God judges the world >> Eternal judgment against unbelief >> Rejecting Christ – There are billions of people all over the world who are willing to sacrifice heaven for the God-given right to exercise their sovereign will to reject Christ. Those who refuse to bow their knee to Him on earth will bow to Him under the earth in a place where people have no will to do anything. (141f) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ death -- This verse goes with verses 31&32. Psalm 41-9 says, "Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me." Judas could have gone with the rest of the disciples into hiding, except that it was written of him that one would betray Him, whose soul would not be spared. It was not God’s foreknowledge that destroyed Judas; rather, Judas destroyed himself. Biblical prophecy cannot be broken. God has already been to the future and seen what happens, and all that remains is for the prophecy to unfold. Nobody can stop it because God’s foreknowledge is as sure as His memory of the past. See also: Judas Iscariot; 186j / Predestination; 219i / Called and chosen; Lk 5-27,28; 234ab (186j) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> The reprobate >> God’s role in forming a reprobate >> Marked out for destruction – We could go on talking about Judas Iscariot, but there eventually comes a point when we find ourselves standing at the precipice of a black hole and finding it incomprehensible, yet the reprobate mind understands itself perfectly. We have stumbled on the mystery of lawlessness. He was a man incapable of maintaining a clear conscience, and for this reason he was incapable of salvation. He was impervious to God’s word and to the signs and wonders that Jesus performed. He blended with the other disciples yet had a heart of stone like the Pharisees who simply could not believe. People who are incapable of believing in God are a conundrum to the rest of us. They are scary people, yet there was a time before we were saved when we were just like them. The secular term for "reprobate" is psychopath; they have no conscience toward God. After Judas betrayed the Lord he regretted it, and so he killed himself, thinking this would best show his remorse, but God wanted remorse in his heart, not hanging from the end of a rope. What Judas did was not real repentance. His suicide was an unholy sacrifice that God did not accept as payment for his sin. He even gave the money back, throwing it into the temple in guilt, but this was not true repentance or he wouldn’t have hung himself. See also: Conscience; Mat 26-25; 181i / Judas Iscariot; 219i (219i) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> Predestined according to the word of God (Prophecy) -- The word of God in the Old Testament centuries earlier spoke of a man who would lift his heel against the messiah. Later a child was born and his mother named him Judas Iscariot, who became one of Jesus' twelve disciples, destined to betray the Lord and lose his sole for a few pieces of silver. It might as well have been written in stone everything that was to happen between Jesus and Judas. How much is written in stone about our own lives? Everything! That is why we pray for mercy and stay as far away from evil as possible, so what is written in stone about us is good and not evil. The disciples blamed themselves for Jesus’ fate because they ran, but had they stayed, the Romans would have killed them too. More importantly, it was prophesied that they should run, so they sinned but did no wrong. Abandoning the Lord was not a good thing, but according to Bible prophecy they were only following the course that was set for them. When we think of the spiritual war that Jesus fought that night in His flesh, assisted by angels to resist the temptation to run, the disciples were caught in the middle of the fray, and for them running was the best thing to do. See also: Judas Iscariot; Mat 26-25; 181i Mat 26-25 (54a) Paradox >> Opposites >> Unbelief in the presence and power of God -- This verse goes with verses 63&64 (84j) Thy kingdom come >> Your words can lead to your own demise >> Lying -- This verse goes with verses 49&50. Why did Judas say this? Perhaps he actually believed it! That is, maybe he had his secrets partitioned in a dark room in his mind that was accessible only under certain conditions and at certain times. The human mind is capable of manipulating itself in this manner; the greater the evil the more fortified the partitions, and the increased commitment to hide evil from ourselves, and so the sin grows from the propensity of the deed to the effort to cover it. (181i) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Self deception >> Imaginary perception of self >> Pretending to be someone you’re not -- This verse goes with verse 48. When Judas said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi,” he lied straight to Jesus' face, knowing that He knew about his intensions, and then taking communion with Him was the ultimate slap in the face, representing what was actually transpiring in the spiritual realm. Judas no doubt lied to himself and denied everything and made up stories that he believed, yet somewhere in his blackened heart the truth was lurking. We can’t destroy the truth; we can only bury it under our lies and self-deception, but we know what we're doing; we were there when we buried it. So when Judas said, ‘Lord, not I,’ he was speaking words of blasphemy, lying to God. He also lied to his conscience. Jesus gave Judas the first morsel, so he would leave the room, so Jesus and His disciples could enjoy communion in the absence of unbelief. The wine and the bread to the disciples represented grace and mercy, but to Judas it represented hell and eternal judgment. See also: Conscience; Mat 26,48-50; 16j / Communion; Mat 26,26-30; 130a / Judas Iscariot; Mat 26-47; 65g (182h) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >> Being deceptive with people >> Lying to others KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 26,26-32 (209jb) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> Jesus paid the price for us >> Jesus is the lamb of God >> We remember His sacrifice at communion Mat 26,26-30 (130a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Being in one accord >> Communion – It would behoove us to pursue unity, so when we take communion it would be apart from strife, jealousy and all other negative emotions. Communion wasn’t designed to fix anything but to remind us that Jesus gave His life for the Church; therefore, we should love one another and live as He did. God commanded us to die to self by the Spirit (Rom 8-13), so unity can grow among us, which cannot form around false doctrine or among a people who do not hate their own sin, because sin has an erosion effect on our faith, and faith is what we use to establish unity. We either do the will of God so unity can grow or the Church disintegrates. See also: Communion; Mat 26,26-29; 230a Mat 26,26-29 (230a) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking of Jesus >> Partaking of communion – Jesus said in Lk 22-15,16, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” we should strive to fulfill His desire, yet we crave other things, and too often these desires overrule the Lord’s will. That evening Passover meant a lot to the Lord, and it should mean something to us. If we dedicate our lives doing the Lord's will, we would be satisfied in our work more than seeking to fulfill our own interests. Holding our will over the Lord and giving our desires higher priority is a classic case of idolatry. See also: Communion; Mat 26-29; 224e Mat 26-29 (50j) Judgment >> Sequence of Revelations >> Second half of the tribulation >> The seventh trumpet >> Marriage Supper of the Lamb – Everything about God pertains to faith. Heb 11-3 says, “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” God exists and consists of faith. Those who are redeemed during the Millennium will be part of God’s Church, but they will not have been tried as we have been tried, and so in eternity their inheritance will be less than ours. They will still need faith to be saved, but not to the extent that we do, since they will see the Lord with their eyes and partake of His earthly kingdom. However, they will be tested; there will be an uprising at the end of the Millennium, similar to the angelic uprising led by Lucifer many eons ago, and just like the angels, they will need to make a choice to follow Christ or follow the rebellion (Rev 20,7-9). Therefore, believers during the Millennium will have an inheritance similar to the angels, in that the angels knew the presence of God, just like people in the Millennium knew Jesus as King of the earth. The millennial people will have a lower rank than us, because they required less faith. See also: Marriage supper of the lamb; 67c / Millennium; 224j / Those born in the Millennium will not have our authority; Mk 14-25; 224e (67c) Authority >> Jesus at the right hand of the father >> He is interceding for us there – This verse holds a message that is gaining in importance, since we are living in the last days and are closer to the return of Christ than ever. Jesus said that He would not touch the fruit of the vine until He drinks it new in the Kingdom of Heaven with all His people present. This means that Jesus has been in a state of fasting and prayer at the right-hand of the Father since His ascension, meaning that His suffering has not ended. He is not in a state of joy and celebration, but experiencing our pain and living our experiences. He can feel the sorrow of His people; He is not enjoying life in heaven while we are down here suffering, but is suffering with us, and He knows everything that is happening to each of us. That might sound far-fetched to some, but they are probably the same ones who look into the sky and cannot see God’s handiwork but stars that created themselves. God created an infinite universe but doesn’t know what’s happening to us? It is not far-fetched to believe God created the universe and knows everything about us. Jesus is at God’s right-hand, and He is suffering with us, not celebrating. See also: Marriage supper of the lamb; 208k (208k) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being married to God >> Emotional relationship – When Jesus said that He would not drink from the fruit of the vine until He drinks in new in His Father’s kingdom, He spoke about it with an emotion that transcended all other emotions. It drove Jesus to tears when He raised Lazarus from the dead, feeling the drama of the people He loved, but there was no mention of any tears during the Last Supper. His emotion went beyond tears, beyond His life in the flesh, beyond this realm, and beyond this age. There was a depth to Him that longed to be finished with suffering, even in heaven to finish His suffering, but He cannot do that as long as we are suffering. On that day, when He drinks from the cup anew, it will be an experience of joy that will spill on us all, and it will unite us in ways that are incomprehensible to the natural mind. Some people wonder if God loves them; they are not the only ones who can’t fully comprehend the love of God. No one can fully imbibe His love and joy for His people. See also: Marriage supper of the lamb; 224e (224e) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Description of heaven >> The joyful kingdom >> The marriage supper of the lamb -- Communion is a solemn moment to be taken seriously and thoughtfully, but we should also take it in celebration of Jesus victory over sin with our joyous, eternal future in mind. Jesus was able to see past His suffering the very night He was betrayed, and spoke of a time when He would continue in heaven that which He started in the upper room at the Lord's supper. Jesus is not partying in heaven; for the last 2000 years He has put the party on hold. Having lived a perfect life, was crucified, rose from the dead and ascended to the right-hand of the power of God is no cause for celebration, because the job is not finished. He did all that just so He could enter His heavenly ministry as the Great High Priest, which also happens to be the ministry of the Holy Spirit. His office as the Son of God is the person in charge of the Church, and He intercedes for the saints, guiding the Holy Spirit to bring about their salvation and ministry. Imagine the celebration when it finally comes! Jesus described the wine as new wine, which corresponds with the parable of the wineskins (Lk 5,37-39). The wine in the parable represented the Holy Spirit, and so it is in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. This event will happen immediately after the Rapture. What we need to understand about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb is that it is not constrained by time. 2Pet 3-8 states, “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.” God is outside of time, so He can condense a whole eon into just a few years. When the celebration is over they will return to the earth just in time for the Millennium. This means that people who live during the millennium will not be present at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and technically therefore, they are not members of the true Church. See also: Millennium; Mat 26,40-46; 21c / Communion; Mat 26,21-29; 37g / Marriage supper of the lamb; 50j Mat 26-30 (254a) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is subject to the Father >> Jesus worships the Father – Jesus was singing right along with His disciples. Who can say that singing a hymn is not a form of worship? Isn’t that why we sing hymns, to worship God? We go to church and open our hymnals and stand; the piano plays, and we all join in singing the song. That morning before we go to church, we say to our children, get dressed and comb your hair, because we’re going to church to worship God. Therefore, singing hymns is a form of worship as spoken by our own lips, and we see Jesus singing hymns with His disciples, worshipping God. If we say that Jesus is God, why then would God worship Himself? In another case Jesus raised His eyes and said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth…” (Mat 11-25), yet we maintain that Jesus is one of the members of the godhead. The explanation for this is simple: Jesus is subject to the Father, not just when He lived in the flesh, but throughout eternity past, and He will remain so forever in the future. He yields to His Father’s authority, so how is Jesus equal with His Father? If they were equal, wouldn’t they have equal authority? No! Can you imagine the mess it would make in heaven, three persons of the godhead arguing with each other about what to do? The Father has all authority, yet they are all equal in that the Son is a greater servant, and the Holy Spirit is a greater servant than Christ, and the least is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, ensuring equality within the godhead. See also: Greatest is least and the least greatest; Eph 5-23; 137a KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 26,31-35 (3a) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Get out of His way >> Do not seek your own righteousness – These verses go with verses 69-75. It was a necessary evil that the disciples all denied their Master that night. They had seen everything He said come to pass, so when He said this, they should have accepted it and apologized to Him beforehand, instead of searching for an inner strength apart from God that didn't exist. Peter fell hard on this test because perhaps he was trying to prove that his sinful flesh loved God, but he found it impossible. (203h) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Withdraw from obeying God >> Withdrawing from God – Peter was fighting against Old Testament prophecy that foretold he would deny the Lord, and it was written they would all do this. Peter made a valiant effort to thwart the prophecy, but it was inevitably fulfilled. He could not deny prophecy any more than Judas Iscariot could stop being the son of perdition. Later, all the apostles died for their faith, after God bestowed His anointing on them, and they established the Church in the world by the blood of the saints. Without the anointing we really cannot accomplish anymore than the disciples before Pentecost, who made grandiose claims and could not substantiate them. Mat 26-31,32 (141f) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ death -- These verses go with verses 54-56 Mat 26-31 (37b) Judgment >> The cross >> Father slays His son – Jesus prophesied that His disciples would abandon Him, according to the Old Testament (Zechariah 13-7). Whom does it say struck down the shepherd? We could say it was the devil or the Roman soldiers or the Jews, but it says God the Father was responsible for this! Although sinners laid their hands on Jesus, prompted by the devil, it was the Father who sent the Son to give His life's blood for the forgiveness of sin, and it was the Father who raised Him from the dead, and for this reason God could forgive even those who murdered Him (Rev 13-8 KJV). That is, God the Father struck down the Shepherd while the Roman soldiers committed the most grievous sin imaginable. It is not the things we do that are sinful, but our knowledge of sin that make our actions sinful. The Roman soldiers crucified Jesus in ignorance, not knowing He was the Son of God, but the religious establishment that put them up to it knew what they were doing, and by that fact they were blaspheming the Holy Spirit when they ordered His death. In other words, through their sin the Father crucified His Son for our sake that He might create a way to forgive our sins committed in ignorance (Heb 9-7). It was easier for God to forgive the centurion who realized Jesus was the Son of God at His death (Mat 27-54), than to forgive the chief priests and Pharisees who knew He was the Son of God. When Jesus said on the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk 23-34), He was referring to the soldiers who crucified Him and to all who sinned in ignorance. See also: Denying the truth we know is from God; 1Jn 5-16; 35k (65e) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Jesus brings division instead of peace (199e) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Throwing God away >> Renouncing your faith -- This verse goes with verse 35. People get this whole topic mixed up with blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which Jesus said is inexcusable. All Jesus' disciples tucked tail and ran, which was the right thing to do, since had they stayed by His side and been killed with Him, who would have carried the gospel into the world? Peter specifically denied Christ three times that he even knew the Lord and yet went on to do great things for God. Peter's poor example of a disciple was miles from blaspheming the Holy Spirit, in that blasphemy is about rejecting the truth in a state of unbelief. This Peter did not do. Try to imagine Peter one day no longer believing in Jesus, or try to imaging ourselves no longer believing in Jesus. It would be like no longer believing in gravity, though gravity reminds us every day of its existence, even as the Holy Spirit reminds us every day that Jesus is our Savior. (240a) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Pastor (Shepherd) >> Jesus is the chief shepherd Mat 26,33-35 (1m) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Carrying a false burden >> Making commitments that contradict Scripture – The moment he declared he would never fall away after Jesus told him he would, Peter placed himself in a no-win situation and placed a burden on his own back that he could never carry. Perhaps Peter should have started repenting right then and there, instead of calling Jesus a liar and making promises he could not keep. (2e) Responsibility >> Keep your commitments >> it is better not to vow at all – In those days making promises was a big deal, but today our word means almost nothing to a court a law, compared to a signed document. We lost something when we decided we could lie all we wanted but careful what we signed. There is something far nobler about entering a legal binding contract by our word, than depending on a piece of paper to prove our intensions. Isn't that the concept of marriage? Isn't it the crux of our faith (Rom 10-9)? Case in point, when Herod promised "up to half his kingdom" to the daughter of Herodias, he was acting foolishly, in affect signing a contract with her. What king in his right mind would give away half his kingdom to a dancer? Herod must have been very drunk. I suppose if she had asked him for half his kingdom, Herod would have quickly added the stipulation that she be his wife, so his kingdom would stay with him. (5h) Responsibility >> Discipleship tested >> God tests your loyalty >> Your commitment to follow Jesus -- These verses go with verses 69-75 (176f) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Zeal without knowledge (Spirit w/o the word) >> Fire without faithfulness Mat 26-34 (110a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spirit speaks through you >> Word of knowledge >> knowing their thoughts by the mind of Christ -- This verse goes with verse 21 (152f) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Prophets >> Jesus is a prophet >> Jesus prophesies to the Church Mat 26-35 (199e) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Throwing God away >> Renouncing your faith -- This verse goes with verses 69-75 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 26,36-46 (50d) Judgment >> Last Days >> Great Endtime Revival >> Jews lead the world into revival >> Leading the harvest at the end of the age – The Great Endtime Revival will be one long prayer meeting. God’s admonishment to His people of the Jewish endtime revival will be, “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." What is this temptation? Remember Peter’s denial! They were supposed to flee Jesus’ side at the sight of His enemies; they all scattered according to Rev 12-6, “Then the woman [the Jewish witnesses] fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days” (Rev 12-6). This Great Endtime Revival with a nucleus of a 144,000 Jews fled into the wilderness where it says they were nourished by God. They will flee in the same way that the disciples scattered in different directions from the presence of Jesus’ enemies and later rendezvoused in the upper room, and the same way the Church dispersed from Jerusalem at the persecution in AD 70. After the dispersion camps will form in third-world countries. Meanwhile, there will be a massive campaign of martyrdom against all Christians, Jew and gentile believers who refused to take part of this Jewish-led revival, and many thousands of Christians will lose their lives for Jesus’ sake. It will be a great winnowing of His people in those days, the faithful from the faithless; many will fall away, and many of those who remain will be killed. The apostate church will betray the true Church; these days are almost upon us. See also: Great endtime revival; 82a (81b) Thy kingdom come >> Prayer >> The priesthood >> Striving to please Christ -- Without prayer how can we have a relationship with God? We could study His word, but after we learned what He said, how could we apply what we know except through prayer? This suggests that the word of God and prayer is the very essence of our relationship with Christ. We could try to please God through obedience, but if we really loved Him, we would want to commune-icate with Him. Peter in His epistle speaks of the royal priesthood as the Church performs her priestly duties mainly through prayer. It was a merciful act to send His Son in swaddling clothes on Christmas night, and at the end of His life in the flesh His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane were His finest hour with His Father, but now the moment had come for which He was born and He had to go through it. The crucifixion was the ultimate act of obedience, but the garden is where Jesus determined in His heart to fully trust His Father and accept His fate. (82a) Thy kingdom come >> Three elements of prayer >> Direction (Attitude) >> What to pray for – The seven disciples represent the gentile Church in the outer court, praying for the return of Christ; His three closest disciples represent the Jewish Church in the Holy Place, and Jesus represents the Two Witnesses in the Most Holy Place. He prayed a third time, suggesting that there will be three tiers of anointing fraught with grief on the Two Witnesses, leading them through a transformation from benevolent leaders of the gospel to adjudicators of God's judgment. They will also disseminate an anointing on the Church to pray while they protect Jerusalem. It says in Lk 22-43 that an angel appeared to Jesus strengthening Him, and so God will strengthen the Two Witnesses with angels. There will be many angelic visitations in the last days, miracles of strength, anointing and power through prayer. They will demonstrate to the world through signs and wonders that those who obey Christ are the true children of God before the antichrist initiates genocide against the saints, so the world will be without excuse for persecuting them. In the end, the Two Witnesses will be killed, and 3½ days later they will be raised from the dead as first fruits of the Resurrection (Rev 14-4), even as Jesus was raised 3½ days later. See also: Three tiered temple / Great endtime revival; Mat 26,36-39; 140b (196j) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Replacing God’s standard of excellence with yours >> Sleeping in the spirit -- At the time an observer might have thought Jesus made a mistake picking those twelve men to be His disciples. Even John whom Jesus loved fell asleep. This kind of sleeping was iterated in the parable of the Ten Virgins (Mat 25,1-13), which is a stark reminder of the last days regarding the Church falling asleep prior to Jesus’ return, representing apostasy. It was only a chapter ago (Mat 25,1-13) Jesus told the parable about how both the wise and the foolish fell asleep and then awoke with a shout from their bridegroom. Now it is happening to the disciples just before Christ is to be apprehended by His assailants; He keeps finding them asleep and scolding them for not watching and praying with Him. These verses happen prior to Christ's departure from this life, while the parable of the Ten Virgins happens just prior to His return. In the case of the Garden of Gethsemane, it says they slept from sorrow, knowing (yet denying) their master’s imminent suffering. In contrast, the Ten Virgins references His return with the Church falling asleep again, for Satan will put on them a spirit of stupor (apostasy) just as he did the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, similar to the Wizard of Oz when the Wicked Witch of the West imposed a spell on Dorothy and the cowardly lion as they ran through the poppy field, trying to keep them from the Emerald City. Apostasy means falling away of the faith (2The 2,1-3), the five foolish virgins did not just fall asleep but fell away from God when they should have been gathering oil for their lamps. Jesus told his disciples to pray that they might not enter into temptation and fall asleep, for this was their great opportunity to minister to Jesus and pray with Him during His darkest hour. Satan placed on them a spirit of slumber in effort to thwart any help from above, because Satan wanted Jesus to himself to torture and kill Him through the hands of Roman sinners. When we look at this in terms of endtime prophecy through the parable of the Ten Virgins, we see that Satan was behind the apostasy of the wise and foolish virgins for the same reason, that he might effect a great slaughter accruing many martyrs. As the Ten Virgins woke and the five foolish virgins ran away under pretense of seeking more oil at a time when God called them to be prepared, the five wise virgins will enter the glory of their Master with lamps burning brightly. Since the title “Christ” means anointed one, “Christians” means anointed ones. Having an anointing is a requirement of entering through the door into heaven that is shut after the five foolish virgins returned with no oil. See also: Last days (Ten Virgins); Lk 22-45,46; 196j Mat 26,36-42 (216d) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> Compelled by the Spirit >> God takes advantage of your love for Him >> Being addicted to the Holy Spirit (253l) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is subject to the Father >> Jesus is subject to the will of God -- Many people have a hard time with the trinity because they perceive the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as unequal to each other, but what they are seeing is each one occupying their roles in varying positions within the Godhead. The Father is head of both the Son and the Spirit; the Son is head of the Spirit; and the Spirit is subject to both Father and Son. These varying positions of authority are not a detraction of their equality, since their varying levels of service make up for their less authority. Remember, Jesus said in Lk 9-48, "For he who is least among you all-he is the greatest." That is, The Holy Spirit has least authority of the three but is the greater servant, which hikes-up His overall position within the trinity as equal with the Father. Therefore, the level of their positions within the trinity can be seen as the sum of their authority plus their servanthood. Perhaps some people have a problem with the trinity because they don't understand the glory of servanthood. If they don't understand this simple concept, it proves they are not servants at heart, and for this reason they don't understand God, because servanthood is integral to His identity. Mat 26,36-39 (140b) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >> Worshipping God in His temple – Jesus took with Him Peter, James and John to a separate place in the garden to pray before His suffering. Jesus became deeply grieved, so he went a little beyond them and prayed alone. When we compare this configuration with the Jewish old covenant temple of worship, it is arranged with the seven disciples representing the outer court, His three closest disciples representing the Holy Place and Jesus representing the Holy of Holies. There in the Holy of Holies He prayed for strength to endure His suffering, offering Himself to the Father as the Lamb of God. A configuration similar to this will occur again in the last days as the antichrist begins to set up his evil empire, establishing his mark in the New World Order. The Church will panic and do whatever it can to initiate a revival. A little later, God will orchestrate His own revival, using a 144,000 Jews. Among the Jewish witnesses there will be Two Witnesses who will stand in the gap, who will defend the Church and help protect them from the antichrist. These represent the outer court, the holy place and the Most Holy Place respectively. Those who can hear the Holy Spirit tell them that this Great Endtime Revival is a divine work of God will join the revival, entering the Camp of the Saints, which will be places spotted throughout the earth, located in third world countries in wilderness regions, representing the outer court. See also: Great endtime revival; Mat 26-41; 187i / Three tiered temple; Mat 26,36-46; 82a / Golden Altar of Incense represents prayer; Rev 8,2-6; 104f KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 26,38-42 (37a) Judgment >> The cross >> God judged the sin of the world through Christ – Jesus almost died from grief right there in the Garden of Gethsemane before His enemies could kill Him. Jesus wasn’t grieving about His physical suffering but was grieving over the fact that His Father was about to place on Him the sins of the whole world and then abandon Him. He cried, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” in Mat 27-46. It also says in 2Cor 5-21 that Jesus became sin, which is how we would define Satan. He became a million times worse than the thousand worst sinners. In becoming like Satan, God was able to judge Satan through Christ, pointing at Him and saying to the devil, ‘Look at His ugliness; that is you.’ As the Father raised His Son from the dead, Jesus deposited the sin of all mankind in Hades, so that those who reject His blood sacrifice, their sins are waiting for them in hell. Jesus returned from the grave, having accomplished the will of His Father to become the Savior of all who would believe in Him for the forgiveness of sin. (209g) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Righteous saved with difficulty >> Righteous saved with casualties – Jesus was a martyr, so there will be martyrs in the last days among Christians, but as the disciples survived the night that Jesus was betrayed, so God’s people will survive Satan’s onslaught even as Lazarus survived his sickness. Jesus delayed in coming to him, saying, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it” (Jn 11-4). Jesus does not consider the martyrdom of the saints to be terminal, but for the glory of the resurrection from the dead. Jesus also said in Lk 21,17-19, “You will be hated by all because of My name. Yet not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.” At the end of Jesus’ suffering, 3½ days later He was raised from the dead. Likewise, after 3½ years of the Trumpet judgments the First Resurrection will occur. See also: Resurrection (Spiritual body); Jn 10,27-30; 244d Mat 26-38,39 (70d) Authority >> Righteous judgment (outcome of discernment) >> Being sensitive to the Spirit >> Spirit grieves over the flesh Mat 26-39 (114e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Obeying the Holy Spirit >> Obeying the revelation from heaven by putting away the flesh -- This verse goes with verse 42. The cross is the emblem of what it means to die to self. Essentially, dying to self means to trade our hopes and dreams for His. Jesus in these verses was ordering His life after the will of God. He had come from His mother's womb to that present day with one intension: to save all mankind from their sins, but His flesh had a different will that didn't want to die. When we submit to the will of the Spirit, it always comes with the sacrifice of our flesh, making our bodies take the last place to give preference to Christ. This is just the first step in fulfilling the will of God, for we must also learn what God wants us to do. We learn about the general will of God by reading the Bible, and we take the Scriptures into prayer with us to discover God's specific will, but if we don't put away the sinful passions of our flesh, none of this will begin to happen. (187a) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> The ministry of dying to self >> Die to self to minister to God >> Jesus died to self and ministered to God (247k) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> We play our part in the will of God >> Doing the will of God -- This verse goes with verse 42. Jesus’ attitude throughout His life revolved around this statement: “Not as I will, but as You will.” He also said, “If it is possible.” Aren’t “All things possible with God”? Why then didn’t the Father answer Jesus’ prayer and devise a new plan? When we say, “All things are possible with God,” there are limits. God was happy to answer virtually every prayer Jesus prayed, except this one, though Jesus made a provision, saying, “Yet not as I will, but as You will.” Jesus was saying, ‘Not as My flesh wills but as Your Spirit wills,’ 'Not mine but Yours,' 'Not me by You,' as John the Baptist also said, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (Jn 3-30). In His heart Jesus was in agreement with God that the cross should happen, but His flesh disagreed, and Jesus was importuning His Father on behalf of His flesh. Jesus understands how we feel about our lives; He wanted His Father to care as much about His temporal existence as His flesh did, but His Father would not. In the same way, God cares more about His eternal purpose for us in Christ than He does about our temporal concerns in the flesh. He didn’t want to be insulted, mistreated, flogged and nailed to a cross, but what really bothered Him was to be separated from His Father and made to become sin. We are all called to die to self, and we are happy to do it, but our flesh is not. There is nothing God would call us to do that would not conflict with the interests of the flesh. Mat 26,40-46 (21c) Sin >> Disobedience >> Unfaithful – As we know, the story ends with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Satan is trying to destroy the Church and all semblances of what is true and good, and he will fail to accomplish a single objective. Although this may be his hour and the power of darkness (Lk 22-53), yet the prophecies are written for a Millennium reign of peace that will come after this age of grace that we are now living, when Christ will teach mankind the ways of God that could have worked throughout these thousands of years, had man only tried. Christ will use the same principles to promote peace during His Millennium that He expected the Church to implement. He will show us where we all went wrong soon after the apostles fell asleep. The first thing Satan did was dispense with the anointing, which is the engine that runs the Kingdom of God. See also: Millennium; Mat 26-29; 50j Mat 26-40 (196h) Spiritual Laziness (Key verse) Mat 26-41 (187i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> Spirit versus the flesh >> Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak – Far as spiritually understanding God’s plan of establishing His kingdom, it never entered the mind of anybody what God had planned. Since this spiritual kingdom is so intangible, the disciples were not particularly interested in it, nor is the Church today for that matter. This is the problem that man has with the grace of God: its intangibility. People love their senses stimulated; they don’t want to experience God by faith, yet God says for the next two millennia this is the agenda. The Jews never saw the 2000-year age of Grace in their Old Testament prophecies, though it was there. Part of the reason they didn’t see it is that they were not looking for it, and in the same way the contemporary Church will not see the purpose of God in the last days, because they are not looking for it. That is, just as the Jews were blindsided by Jesus, so the contemporary Church will be blindsided by the Great Endtime Revival. See also: Great endtime revival; Mat 26,36-46; 50d Mat 26-42 (114e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Obeying the Holy Spirit >> Obeying the revelation from heaven by putting away the flesh -- This verse goes with verse 39. Jesus spent eternity past with His Father. They had both agreed that this should happen long before Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb. Throughout eternity Jesus was in perfect agreement with the Father about the cross, but once He took on human flesh and the moment came for Him to give His life, it was no longer a vision but a reality. Jesus emptied Himself of His heavenly glory so that what He understood about Himself and about the will of His Father was revealed to Him by the Spirit, starting as a boy and growing into manhood. The fact that He was destined for the cross was a revelation in itself. Jesus was striving for the same frame of mind that He had with God in heaven and achieved it when He fully accepted His fate there in the Garden of Gethsemane, and this only to lose His Father's love and acceptance on the cross as He took on the sins of the whole world. Jesus had to subject His flesh to His Father’s will in order to be in agreement with Him, and the same is true with us. (247k) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> We play our part in the will of God >> Doing the will of God -- This verse goes with verse 39. Jesus knew His Father’s will would not change about the cross, yet He begged His Father to think of another way to forgive mankind and allow the elect into His heaven. Man had no capacity to know God, and there was no solution for their sin, except that Jesus should go to the cross and die for our sins, requiring a simple faith in His blood sacrifice to atone for all sins committed in ignorance. A simple faith would be reason enough to accept us into His heaven and bestow on us every spiritual blessing imaginable and unimaginable. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 26,47-50 (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 -- These verses go with verses 57-63 (241ib) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the death >> Kill Jesus by the predetermined plan of God >> The Jews had Jesus murdered -- These verses go with verses 57-68 Mat 26-47 (65g) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Satan brings unity >> Satan unites the world for the cause of persecution -- This verse goes with verse 57. We can’t be sure if someone is demon possessed when he does something that are unimaginably evil, but we can be sure that Judas Iscariot was demon possessed, because Scripture plainly states this fact. After Judas took the morsel, Satan then entered him (Jn 13-27). Later Judas regretted betraying the Lord, after he realized that what he did led to His death, and we know that Satan did not lead Judas into remorse, so this shows that Satan comes and goes from certain people during acts of intense wickedness, not because people need satanic assistance in doing evil, but because Satan enjoys wickedness and wants to participate in it, partly so he can take credit for it. Of course when he gets thrown into the lake of fire with all his sins strapped to him, and they pull him into the liquid-hot magma where he will remain forever and ever, he will then remorse over his sins, but until then he remains in denial. How many people did he convince to sacrifice their future for the present? It is only natural that he would do the same! See also: Judas Iscariot; Mat 26,48-50; 16j Mat 26,48-50 (16j) Sin >> Continuing in sin to avoid the light >> Having hidden motives – This was a superficial attempt on Judas' part to hide His real motives; virtually everybody knew what he was doing; he was only hiding it from himself. People like Judas are adept at hiding the truth from themselves. It is very twisted and bizarre, yet it is how they think. Judas knew exactly what he was doing, though he denied it, attempting to protect his conscience. These are scary people, capable of anything; we need to avoid them if possible, but their numbers are exponentially increasing, who trample on their conscience, who teach that feelings of guilt are deception. They say Christianity has had a negative impact on the world, blaming Christians for their guilt, being the first step in overriding their conscience. Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth (Mat 5-13); we are the conscience of the world, at least in part, is what he meant. See also: Conscience; Mat 26,59-63; 142g / Judas Iscariot; Mat 26-48; 181i (178j) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Hypocrisy of the Church is rebuked >> Jesus rebuked His disciples Mat 26-48 (181i) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Self deception >> Imaginary perception of self >> Pretending to be someone you’re not -- This verse goes with verse 25. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, because the holy kiss was customary with Jesus and among the disciples, and because he had been pretending to love Jesus for the last 2 1/2 years. None of the other eleven disciples knew Judas would betray their Master, indicating that Judas was very cunning in hiding his unbelief, which should give us a heads-up that some of our friends and even family members whom we know very well are not what they seem. It takes a keen sense of discernment to pick out these imposters who reside among us, but we must be very careful how we judge them; otherwise, God could find us participating in their sins (Rom 2-1). Jesus never judged Judas; He simply protected the sheep from his influence. See also: Judas Iscariot; Mat 26-49,50; 84j Mat 26-49,50 (84j) Thy kingdom come >> Your words can lead to your own demise >> Lying -- These verses go with verses 69-75. Judas greeted Jesus the way all the disciples did, with a kiss; it was the manner of greeting they used. The Bible talks about the holy kiss; Jesus was the one who started it, and eventually they had to terminate it, because it was misused (pretty, young girls were getting kissed in second and third helpings with evil intent). Jesus didn’t want Judas lying to Him while he was betraying Him. He would have rather Judas was honest with Him, since everyone knew what he was doing at this point. Satan entered Judas in order to do these things, so if Judas had any ideas about discontinuing his plan, the devil would have prodded him along. It is interesting what people can do while demon possessed. What comes to mind first is jumping into a fire or foaming at the mouth, but Judas kissed the Lord and acted like a regular disciple, pretending like nothing was wrong. Judas knew exactly what he was doing, though he may not have admitted his real motives. When a person is demon possessed, their actions become mechanical, and there is very little process-maintenance involved. Judas had developed a plan, since a person who is demon possessed is not good at solving problems, because he is not in total control of his mind to think what he is doing. Satan is not interested in solving problems; he is only interested in stealing, killing and destroying. Rather, the devil considers problem solving to be our job in the process of doing his will. Judas didn’t betray the Lord from bitterness or spite or hatred toward the Lord, but for the hope of making a little cash. Judas saw the end of the road. This Jesus gig was nearly concluded, and Judas needed an exit strategy, and he didn’t want it to end without monetarily profiting from it. The Scribes and Pharisees and the religious rulers of Israel were slowly making inroads to Jesus, and it was only a matter of time before they would lay hands on Him and bring his ministry to a close, and Judas figured that if he didn’t make any money before it ended, he would feel a bigger fool than his naïve fellow disciples. See also: Judas Iscariot; Mat 26-50; 124i Mat 26-50 (124i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love your enemies >> Loving your enemies leaves room for God to Work >> Leave room for the wrath of God -- Judas' name unfortunately is not written in the Book of Life. He betrayed the Lord with a kiss, which is the height of hypocrisy, but it didn't bother Jesus because it was written in the ancient manuscripts that these things must happen. Although the footsteps of our lives cannot be found inscribed in the Holy Bible, yet it may be inscribed in another book residing in heaven. There will be some things we have done that will not be written in God's Book that He will compare with our deeds, and He will reward us for fashioning our lives after its contents. See also: Judas Iscariot; Mat 26,14-16; 172aa Mat 26-51 -- No Entries Mat 26-52 (126d) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Peace >> Peacemakers avoid violence – This is a verse for all doomsday preppers who are stocking guns and ammunition in the last days. Jesus warned them that however they defend themselves is how they themselves must be killed (Rev 13-10). Jesus would call them murderers, and, “the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Rev 21-8). Christ calls us to repentance before we committed murder. He would rather we were mistreated and killed than to kill in our own defense. If we must become martyrs of the antichrist, our death will have high standing with the King of heaven, which holds more promise than conforming to the world. There are plenty of people who don’t care to be honored by God, who are in favor of defending themselves against their enemies, but this is the attitude of godless people, who have no inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven, and the confession of those who don’t know God, unless they repent of their unbelief and get saved. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 26-53 (62n) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Righteous deception >> Jesus deceives the lost -- Jesus was predestined for the cross. Although He had power and authority from God (Mat 11-27), He only used it to do His Father's will, which at the time was to submit to the cross. He never once used the power of God for His own purposes (Mat 4,1-11; Jn 8-29). Satan's objective was to make Jesus operate independently of His Father, so for Jesus to tell His enemies that He had the power to call twelve legions of angels was a bit deceptive, since it would have required Him to terminate God's plan of the cross. Therefore, there was no way He would have made that call, and so it was an empty threat. Jesus essentially lied about being able to rally angles to defend Himself in this case; what He meant was that those thugs were messing with someone who had that kind of power before being born of human flesh and would regain that power after He ascended back to the Father and sat at the right hand of the Father, but for now this hour and the power of darkness were theirs (Lk 22-53). (66e) Authority >> Jesus’ authority >> His position with the Father >> Jesus is under His authority – This is an interesting statement, full of irony. It was the Father's will that He should give His life for the sins of the world, but for Jesus to call on angels to protect Him would have defeated that purpose. Had Jesus called on His Father under other circumstances, He would have saved Him with as many angels as necessary, but no angels were coming in this case. Jesus answered His own question when He said, “How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?” (v54). (215h) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> Suddenly >> The judgments of God come suddenly >> Without delay Mat 26,54-56 (141f) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ death -- These verses go with verse 24. So Many things were written of Jesus in the Old Testament centuries before His birth, that if a person had any doubt whether His death and resurrection could forgive sin, he would only need to page through the Old Testament and observe the hundreds of prophecies about Him that He fulfilled. This is to add confidence to our faith and credence to His Word. So many prophecies were written of Him, more than any man. It is no wonder He is called the Word of God. Mat 26,57-68 (186da) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> Man’s role in becoming a reprobate >> The fool throws Jesus away for something better >> Israel betrayed the Lord (241ib) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the death >> Kill Jesus by the predetermined plan of God >> The Jews had Jesus murdered -- These verses go with verses 2-5 Mat 26,57-63 (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 -- These verses go with verses 47-50. Those who don't understand the Scriptures persecute those who do, and they suppress their message. Jesus is the word of God, and His enemies willfully misinterpreted Him. They recalled what Jesus said that if the temple were destroyed, He could rebuild it in three days, but He was referring to the temple of His body and His Father's plan to resurrect Him from the dead after three days in the tomb. Jesus knew they would take what He said to mean the Jewish temple and not His own body, but God still held them responsible for misinterpreting His words, because they could have asked Him and He would have told them what He meant. God holds us responsible for misinterpreting the Scriptures, because we should have let the Holy Spirit lead us into all the truth as He promised if we would just submit to Him. However, we don't understand the Scriptures because we have dedicated our lives to other things that we consider more important. See also: Misinterpreting the Bible; Lk 15-1,2; 223a Mat 26-57,58 (122k) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Boldness in adverse circumstances >> Go in places of adversity -- The disciples got a bad rap for fleeing from Jesus' during His arrest. Had they not, they certainly would have died with Christ. Peter wasn't called to die with Christ at that time, for what would have happened to the gospel without the disciples? Peter went above and beyond the call of duty when he sought Jesus during His time of affliction. It showed how much he loved his Master and how sorrowful he was that this was happening to Him, but his pride was also involved. The disciples had an ongoing debate about who was greatest, and Peter was trying to prove that he held that office, just below Christ. This battle between them did not include Jesus' approval; rather, He rebuked them whenever they argued about it in His presence, telling them that if they wanted to be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, they would have to be servant of all. Mat 26-57 (65g) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Satan brings unity >> Satan unites the world for the cause of persecution -- This verse goes with verse 47 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 26,59-75 (16k) Sin >> Continuing in sin to avoid the light >> Suppressing the truth they cannot deny (120c) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Forgiveness >> God forgives us when we become accountable to Him >> As we confess our sin – Peter’s denial of Christ during Jesus’ mock trial shows the similarities between the two acts of rejection, the religious leaders versus Peter. Not to pick on Peter, but even the high priest could have been forgiven for having Jesus crucified. The level of God’s forgiveness goes far beyond what most of us think is unforgivable, but repentance must be present. It is because of guilt that we cannot fathom God’s forgiveness for some of the things we have done, but we know that God forgave Peter and the high priest. What He did not forgive about the high priest was his lack of repentance. Therefore, the question is not whether God can forgive, but whether we are willing to repent of our unbelief. Mat 26,59-68 (242f) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting God >> Persecuting Jesus Mat 26,59-63 (17j) Sin >> Unrighteous judgment >> Ignorance >> Distorting the facts -- Jesus rebuked the Pharisees by saying nothing at all. The truth was clear enough that nothing needed to be said, anyway. Everyone in that tribunal knew He was the Son of God by the wisdom of His words and by the miracles He had performed throughout His ministry. Had Jesus opened His mouth to defend Himself, they would have twisted everything and believed nothing. They would have used His defense as evidence against Him, so He was guilty if He defended Himself and guilty if He didn't. Jesus chose not to give them anything to work with and so declared them guilty by condemning a man without a cause. (142g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> Reputation exposed to slander >> Your reputation under attack – The accusers of Jesus struggled to find something they could use against Him. The only thing they could find to convince the authorities to crucify Him was the statement He made that He was the Son of God. This was the evidence brought forward at His mock trial: if the temple were destroyed He could rebuild it in three days. This did not get Him crucified, since there was nothing particularly believable about rebuilding Herod's temple in three days. His good confession, however, as the Son of God is what condemned Him. This shows that His enemies never entertained the possibility that Jesus may have been their long awaited Messiah, yet in fact they knew He was the Son of God. They knew the Old Testament Scriptures backward and forward, and they were familiar with Him as a miracle worker, which acted as His credentials. They simply refused to believe what they knew was true. Whenever we see people doing this, we know their conscience is defiled and therefore know there is a great deal of satanic influence in their lives. Their darkness ran very deep and their hope of repentance and salvation, nil. See also: Conscience; Mat 26-59; 155e Mat 26,59-61 (58j) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> The temple building / The temple of His body (177a) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >> Distorting Scripture from a lack of understanding -- This passage shows how false doctrine originates and thus how false religions start. Jesus' accusers had motives that led them in the opposite direction of the truth with Jesus infringing on their business of religion. They were trying to silence Him, looking for justification to kill the truth. By no means did they have Jesus in a court of law to ascertain the facts. Rather, this was a breeding ground for the doctrines of demons and their subsequent religions. First, they distorted the statement Jesus made about rebuilding the temple in three days; then they rejected Jesus' claim that He was the Son of God. These kind of people are not capable of correctly interpreting the Bible because of pride, jealousy and greed. We tend to overuse the word “cult” to mean anybody who doesn’t worship God as we do, but it would be better to reserve the word “cult” to mean those who don’t believe in the deity of Christ. If a denomination believes in Jesus as God in human flesh though misses the mark on many other points, we should not call them a cult; rather, we should consider some of their minor beliefs to be heretical. We should reserve the one false doctrine of denying Jesus Christ coming in the flesh strictly for the cults. Then there is the occult that attempts to dabble in the supernatural, such as the many eastern religions and the New Age movement that acts as a grab-bag (or dumpster) for novel forms of worship and deities that don't fit any one description, traversing the spectrum of white magic to black magic, even into Satanism; in short, they worship a god other than the God of the Bible. Then there is Hinduism and the religion of Islam, both claiming to believe in Jesus, though He is demoted to a mere prophet. There is faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God in human flesh, then there are heresies of Christianity, cults, the occult, agnosticism and atheism, and everyone falls into one of these six categories. It might sound difficult to believe the truth when there are so many alternate views, but God has given us His Spirit, making it easy to believe the truth if we just submit to Him, thus removing any excuses for not believing the truth. Nevertheless, Truth is one of the rarest beliefs, though Christianity is one of the most popular religions in the world. See also: Misinterpreting the Bible; Mat 26,57-63; 160da / All cults follow the same pattern; 3Jn-9,10; 6l Mat 26-59 (155e) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Witness of the believer >> Conscience >> An evil conscience keeps us from believing God >> Knowledge of evil testifies against our motives – The Pharisees never made up a lie about Jesus but refused to violate what they considered a conscience; instead, they set up a set of rules they invented as boundaries by which they lived. The Pharisees brought Jesus to the governor without leveling any charges against Him, instead railroaded Pilate to make a decision, while he asked them the very embarrassing question of why they wanted Him dead. Pilate put the problem into words, “I find no guilt in Him” (Jn 18-38). These were fighting words to the religious establishment, who intended to cause a riot if they perceived Pilate leaning toward releasing Him. Figuratively, this was Pilate’s worst nightmare, but it was literally his wife's worst nightmare (Mat 27-19). Once they threatened a riot, Pilate submitted to their will, but no charges were ever brought against Jesus. This was the result of all the people involved throwing their conscience into the trash bucket. The more people live against their conscience, the more the world becomes a breeding ground for the traits of narcissism and psychopathy, who replace their conscience with a set of invented rules that don't get in the way of their preferred lifestyle. Biblical roots of Christianity are disappearing from society at an alarming rate, making the narcissist feel more comfortable in this world as more people adopt their views. Jesus gave the world a conscience when they crucified Him by sending the Holy Spirit to live in every person who would receive Him. The Holy Spirit is essentially God’s conscience (God-consciousness), which is even more important than our own conscience. The Holy Spirit given in the heart of man acts as a second tier to his conscience, so if he tries to manipulate his mind, the Holy Spirit is there to expose his true motives. It is when we try to override Him that we get into serious spiritual trouble. See also: Conscience; Mat 26-62,63; 222g (183j) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Spirit of Error (Anti-Christ / Anti-Semitism) >> Truth is the enemy of the spirit of error >> Spirit of error interrogates the truth -- The truth was never an issue in the minds of Jesus' enemies. It was an insignificant matter to them, a malleable substance like clay that they molded into whatever shape they thought would give them an advantage. They didn't treat the Truth as a discrete, unalterable reality that if they violated it would destroy them. The fact that Jesus won every argument they had with Him, the fact that He healed the sick and even raised the dead, was unrelated to the matter at hand in the mind of the religious establishment at His mock trial. Their objective was to kill Him, because He was getting in the way of their business of religion and exposing their total lack of understanding of the Scriptures (though they knew the Old Testament backward and forward). These religious hypocrites were too evil not to have had help from demonic influences to carry out their wicked plans to destroy the epitome of righteousness and truth. Just as God works with people to establish His purpose on the earth, so Satan works with his people to destroy the truth of God in the world. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 26,61-64 (89eb) Thy kingdom come >> Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom >> Wisdom is sometimes best unspoken Mat 26-61 (140e) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >> The entrance exam (177h) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism) >> Misunderstanding Jesus Mat 26-62,63 (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 -- The high priest asked Jesus if He was the Son of God. What made Him ask that question? Maybe it was his conscience! Jesus didn’t go around claiming to be the Son of God, except to His disciples, so why did the high priest suspect Jesus was the Son of God? Maybe it was the many reliable reports he heard about Him, such as raising Lazarus from the dead, or the multitudes He healed, or the multitudes He fed with a picnic basket of food, or the incontrovertible wisdom He had that they personally experienced, or maybe it was the Spirit He emulated. They knew He was the Son of God because everyone who met Jesus or even came near Him suspected He was the Son of God. Jesus in verse 64 told the high priest, “You have said it yourself….” By asking the question the High priest admitted He knew He was the Son of God. See also: Jesus' accusers knew He was the Son of God; Mat 26,63-66; 18ca / Conscience; Mat 26,14-16; 186db Mat 26,63-68 (199j) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Unwilling to receive Christ >> Rejecting Christ as the Messiah -- Israel's fate for the last 2000 years rests on this one meeting they had in the middle of the night to destroy their own Messiah that God personally sent to them. Had they believed in Jesus' faithful confession, nothing would have been the same to this day, but of course God knew they would reject Him, because any generation and any nation would have done the same. Mat 26,63-66 (18ca) Sin >> False Judgment lacks evidence >> Charges not defined as crimes >> Persecuting the body of Christ – It is ironic that the high priest needed a confession from Christ, since they had already made up their minds that He was the Son of God. Although He never confessed it publicly, Jesus performed the signs that one would do if he were the Son of God, and at His mock trial He made the good confession, and then they accused Him of being Himself. To be fair, Jesus didn’t perform many miracles in Jerusalem but in the surrounding districts, and so many of the signs and wonders He performed they understood by hearsay and not by personal witness. See also: Jesus' accusers knew He was the Son of God; Mat 26-63,64; 85a Mat 26-63,64 (54a) Paradox >> Opposites >> Unbelief in the presence and power of God -- These verses go with verse 25 (85a) Thy kingdom come >> Your words can lead to your own demise >> They will keep you out of heaven – Instead of asking Jesus whether He was the Son of God, the high priest accused Him of it. Not even the disciples pushed Jesus into a corner and demanded that He told them the truth about His true identity. When this wicked man demanded an answer from Him for the purpose of condemning Him to death, Jesus heard the high priest confess that He was the Son of God, according to the saying, 'If he must ask, then it must be true.' The high priest was so convinced that Jesus was the Son of God that he ordered a mock trial just to prove it. See also: Jesus' accusers knew He was the Son of God; Mat 26-62,63; 222g (148c) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Jesus solemnly testified (150e) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness of Jesus >> Confessing Jesus >> Making the good confession (Son of God) – Jesus' enemies criticized Him with all manner of accusations, and then Jesus mocked them, saying in Jn 8-54, “It is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, He is our God.” This is another confession that Jesus made to the Jews being the Son of God. It was His good confession to His enemies that He was the Christ, and ironically it is what they used to condemn Him. Here lies the difference between Jesus and all the counterfeit christs that have come and gone throughout the centuries: many people have claimed to be the Messiah, and people worshipped them, and in the end nothing happened to them that they didn’t deserve. Jesus came and they almost had to beat the confession out of Him that He was the Son of God, and then they used His testimony against Him and hung Him on a cross. They were looking for a man who was strong and powerful, and could subdue His enemies. Those of the religious establishment were His enemies and He did not subdue them, but where are they now, and where is He? These are the ways of God; He subdues His enemies without lifting a finger but lets their own wickedness subdue them. (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 religious establishment never saw the suffering servant in their Old Testament prophecies; they didn’t want to see their Messiah that way. They only understood heavy-handedness, power and coercion. They no doubt read the passages that spoke about the meek and mild Christ, but they glossed over them, emphasizing other passages that spoke about Him as a great conqueror that makes Israel a world empire, and all power and authority disseminates through them. Had Jesus promised these things, they would have immediately fallen on their faces and worshipped Him. That is what they would have us believe, but the fact is, their heart was not with Him, and even if He promised them the world, eventually they would have taken the same path. This is why God had to deal with sin before He established His kingdom on the earth. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Mat 26-63 (54b) Paradox >> Opposites >> Godly vindication (192f) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Result of putting off the old man >> Gain by losing >> Waiting for God to do it His way >> Lose your rights to gain His vindication Mat 26-64 (67d) Authority >> Jesus at the right hand of the father >> He delegates authority Mat 26,65-68 (169d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world is blind to God >> Blinded by Satan’s thoughts >> Blinded by false judgments – They were all in agreement against Christ, having previously made up their minds to condemn Him, because He exposed them to the world as hypocrites, and for this reason He was in the way of their massive egos and in the way of their business of religion. Had the Romans not been in control of Israel, the religious leaders would have killed Jesus long ago, but being under Roman rule they did not have authority to kill anybody. So they had to do things their way, which made for a much more torturous death than stoning. Jesus leaned on Roman authority throughout His ministry to stay alive long enough to accomplish the will of His Father, including fulfill all Old Testament prophecy about Him, train His disciples for the purpose He had in mind for them after He was gone and prepare the soil of man's heart to receive the gospel preached through His apostles. (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 – God in human flesh endured the mocking of His own creation. The things that God has been willing to endure for mankind after Adam fell into sin, God has put up with us ever since, sending His only Son to absorb the due penalty of our sins. Some try to explain God’s love in terms of mankind being so cute and lovable that He cannot resist us; nothing could be further from the truth. Is God so egotistical that we could flatter Him with our charms, or that after He made us in His image, He cannot help but love us? No, rather, God has a vision of us and a plan and a purpose in eternity. He plans to use us after He creates another people, and He will have us rule over them. That is, He went through all this trouble with us for the sake of another race of people. Does that not flatter our ego? He did the same with the angels, making them go through their testing ordeal for our sake! This next race of man will be so special to God that He was willing to put up with us for their sakes to the point of mistreating His Son, lashing His body with whips that literally flayed Him alive, then nailed Him to a cross to die. God endured all these things for the sake of another species of man, yet Jesus is our brother. The next creation of man will not be able to make that claim. See also: New heavens and a new earth (New Jerusalem); Citizens of heavenly Israel; Jn 8,33-40; 33c Mat 26,69-75 (3a) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Get out of His way >> Do not seek your own righteousness -- These verses go with verses 31-35. After abandoning Jesus with the other disciples, Peter doubled back and followed Him from a distance, but then denied ever knowing Him, decorating his earnestness with abusive speech to further distinguish himself from the Lord. The rest of the disciples were too afraid even to do this. Peter’s motive was a mixture of conceit and pride, having a reputation of thinking too highly of himself and being in competition with the other disciples, his love for Jesus lost in a morass of fleshly impetus. Peter did this without any real hope of benefit, risking his life in a self-deceived effort to somehow honor the Lord. (5h) Responsibility >> Discipleship tested >> God tests your loyalty >> Your commitment to follow Jesus -- These verses go with verses 33-35. Peter was never called by God to follow Jesus to the courtyard on that infamous night. He volunteered to go there, but got nothing from it but heartache. If we plan to go above and beyond God's calling, we may get nothing for it, and it may benefit no one. It is much better to stick with the plan and just do what God calls us to do. Let Jesus do His part and we'll do ours; He doesn't need our help. Peter may have meant well not to leave his Master in the lurch, but Peter risked His life for nothing. There is enough of God's will to take three lifetimes to finish, and most of it never gets done. That is why the world is (and has always been) in a mess. (21g) Sin >> Disobedience is backsliding (84j) Thy kingdom come >> Your words can lead to your own demise >> Lying -- These verses go with verse 25 (143c) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Witnesses of Jesus >> The public >> The disciples ministered publicly (163e) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> Being slaves of men >> Slaves of fear (168a) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not conform to the world >> Do not let the world’s approval shape you to itself (199e) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Throwing God away >> Renouncing your faith -- These verses go with verse 31 (202d) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Running to your sinful nature >> Run from God through a lack of character – After Peter fell to temptation, he remembered the love he had for Jesus. While he was under the influence of sin, the devil was working on him, telling him that his faith was just a lot of nonsense. He remembered he saw and heard and touched the Lord, and he felt his heart burning with the words of truth from his Master, though the devil was telling him none of it was real, a mere figment of his imagination, leading him to wonder with Pilate what is truth. He committed a grievous sin, but it didn’t detract from his faith in the Son of God. While Peter was coming to his conclusions, Jesus lay in a grave. He clawed himself from the pit of doubt and despair after Jesus rose from the dead and met Him with his faith restored. When he heard that he was alive, he quickly ran to the tomb to see for himself; had he been still sulking, he would not have done that. Spiritual warfare had befallen Peter while Jesus was in the grave, and they were all going through it and Peter the most, because he denied the Lord three times before he saw Him torn, brutalized and crucified. (203d) Denying Christ >> Dishonor God >> Lying to God (232e) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Count the cost >> Assess the property before you buy it Mat 26-75 (188h) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Sorrow >> Grieving over your own loss >> Grieving over your sinful nature See next page