Holy Week: Wednesday, April 9, 32 A.D.
Posted By Joe on April 8, 2009
On Tuesday of Holy Week in 32 A.D., after Jesus was challenged by the chief priests, Jesus taught His disciples of the signs of the end of the age. We live in exciting times as they relate to prophecy and the Bible.
One of my favorite Bible teachers is Chuck Missler. One of Chuck's assertions--and one that I agree with wholeheartedly--is:
"we are being plunged into a period of time about which the Bible says more than it does about any other period of time in history, including the time that Jesus walked the shores of Galilee and climbed the mountains of Judea!" --Chuck Missler, Hidden Treasures. (Emphasis is Chuck's.)
Wednesday, April 9, 32 A.D. marks the beginning of a chain of events leading to the cross. But as we will see, Jesus remains in control of everything. We pick up the narrative in Matthew, right after Jesus finishes the parable of The Judgment of the Gentiles.
The Passion of the King: The Preparation
When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples, "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion." --Matthew 26:1-2.
Jesus had repeatedly told His disciples about His death and resurrection, but the they never seemed to understand it. They either passed it off, ignored it, or simply refused to believe it as in Peter's case.
Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest named Caiaphas; and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him. But they were saying, "Not during the festival, otherwise a riot might occur among the people." --Matthew 26:3-5.
The intent of the leaders was not to arrest Jesus during Passover. They wanted to do it after it was over so the pilgrims who had arrived for Passover would have left back to their homes. There would be less commotion then. Like we said previously, this is not God's will nor plan. Jesus has a timetable that will be fulfilled in spite of their plans.
Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, "Why this waste? For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor." But Jesus aware of this, said to them, "Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me. For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her." --Matthew 26:6-13.
The indignant question of "Why this waste?" is usually attributed to Judas. At first, the question appears to be righteous and caring of the poor. However, assuming it was Judas, it's completely hypocritical as Judas was in charge of the group's money. Furthermore, Judas was actually stealing money from the group's purse! (John 12:6)
We also see here again that the disciples still don't get that Jesus is approaching His final hours with them. But the woman--John identifies her as Mary, the sister of Martha (John 12:3)--clearly is anticipating the events in the next 24-48 hours.
Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?" And they weighed our thirty pieces of silver to him. From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus. --Matthew 26:14-16.
As we have said before, everything in the Bible has some significance if we dig a little. Since the chief priests--up this point--haven't been able to realize fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, it's doubtful--although conjecture on my part--that they realized the significance of the amount of silver they gave to Judas as payment.
"If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall give his or her master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned." --Exodus 21:32.
If you were just reading this verse in Exodus, you'd probably just think it's an arbitrary, Old Testament law. Not so! In God's perfect plan, and putting Jesus in the middle of this verse, we see the picture of Jesus being the slave. The thirty pieces of silver is the redemption price for a slave. There is another example in Zechariah, where Zechariah was acting in the role of the coming Messiah.
I said to them, "If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but if not, never mind!" So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. Then the Lord said to me, "Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them." So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord. --Zechariah 11:12-13.
Back to the passage in Matthew, Judas from this point was looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus. However, tomorrow we will see Jesus orchestrating the entire series of events. From the arrangements of the Passover meal, to the authority He exercises in the garden of Gethsemane, and through His trial by the Sanhedrin, we will see Jesus in command of His purpose and God's divine will.
May He Increase!
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Good stuff Joe!
Hello Demian,
Thanks for stopping by, my brother. Have a blessed week.
Joe.
"Back to the passage in Matthew, Judas from this point was looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus. However, tomorrow we will see Jesus orchestrating the entire series of events. "
In these two sentences you have struck on the old debate about the sovereignty of God and the free will of man.
Ike,
It's interesting that you made that observation today. I just finished tomorrow's post on the Passover and the Last Supper. I ran across a verse that, until now, I glossed over but speaks directly to this.
God knows the beginning from the end. Jesus knew that He was going to fulfill all that was written of Him. But Judas chose the path he did in betraying Jesus. God--from His vantage point--could see Judas making that choice because God is outside of our reality because He's eternal.
This can make your head hurt if you think about it too much. I believe man has free will but God knows what choices will we make in our time in earthen vessels.
Does that make sense?
[...] For reading and some serious study I would recommend MayHeIncrease and the articles on the HolyWeek. [...]
Thank you, brother Phil, for the "link love!"
[...] is part 8 of 8 in the series Holy Week: 32 A.D.Holy Week: 32 A.D.Holy Week: Monday, April 7, 32 A.D.Holy Week: Wednesday, April 9, 32 A.D.Holy Week: Friday, April 11, 32 A.D.Holy Week: Entr’acteHoly Week: Easter Sunday, April 13, 32 [...]