Epaggelia

Key Text: John 13:1-20

Just before the Passover feast Jesus wanted to practice what he was about to preach, in his saying, “Greater love has no one than this, that a person lay down their life for their friend”, Jn. 15:13.  Jesus was showing them that the only way to grow sacrificial divine love, was to humbly serve each other. In this way, we begin to obey God, and make sacrifices in a real way. His love grew so great, that he was able to show it towards his enemies and die for them too! Romans 5:8. The devil had already prompted the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus. Satan suggests and motivates evil deeds, Ac. 5:3-4. Jesus had already told them in Jn. 6:7 that one of them was a devil. He had also told Peter about Satan using him too, Lk. 4:8. But why would Judas take such a bad attitude and act upon it, after Jesus had even washed his feet? Because God knew his heart’s problem of unbelief and it was so evil, he decided to fulfil prophetic judgment with it, Acts 1:25 & Psa. 109:6-9. 

Jesus was very soon to demonstrate his humility, but he was at the same time fully aware of his power and deity. Yet in the face of the disciples concern for greatness and leadership, Jesus began to wash their feet, which is the attitude Paul instructs us all to have in Philippians 2:1-9. The shock from Peter while being approached by Jesus to wash his feet, stems from our inability to trust God’s principle of blessings from Him for the humble service we render.  But the insistence of Jesus teaches Peter and us that all honest work for Christ is honorable and honored! Jesus dignified the work of slaves by taking the towel and water into his own hands. This sacrificial love Jesus was offering would lead to the cleansing of Peter’s sinful soul. So we all need this enacted in our own life. How do we submit to the cleansing of Christ? It has everything to do with the circumcision of Christ in baptism, Col. 2:11-12.  

However, when Jesus stated that they were not all clean, he was thinking of Judas. When Jesus washed the feet of Judas, we may be sure, Jesus felt like he was wasting his time. But since Jesus was truly their Lord, he gave them the obligation of serving each other, and made it clear in his statement:  “If I, your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you should wash one another’s feet.” Jn. 13:14-15. Paul took this seriously and related it to the providing of help to needy widows in the early church, 1 Timothy 5:10. The promise of Jesus to bless us is real, John 13:17, If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. Do we take this seriously in the church today? Are we looking for dirty feet? Here is where Mat. 25:31-46 is fulfilled. Depending upon our faith or lack of it, this will judge us.This love of Jesus defeated any form of prejudice. Even when he knew Judas was evil, God is no respecter of  persons‑Ac 10:34‑35. 

This is true in Jesus by his wiping Judas’ feet.  Jesus’ divine love helped him not only show himself to be  better, but also to treat others better, we need the love of Jesus. To have this love, we must submit to His attitude of submission, that is humility, Mat. 18:3-4, a requirement for our salvation. 

Judas was a thief and he was angry with Jesus who accepted the anointing of his feet with costly ointment which he regarded as a waste.  Jesus rebuked Judas for his complaints against this anointing. Matthew 26:6-13.  This may have hurt his feelings.  Did he then set about to get even with Jesus? During this time frame, Jesus had completed some detailed and disappointing doctrine and prophecy about the Kingdom, which may have aggravated Judas, Mt. 25:1-46.

Judas Iscariot, is a peculiar name, which signifies (but doesn’t prove) that he may have been a ‘southerner’, when all the other apostles were ‘northerners’, it’s possible Judas felt like an outsider from the start.  For whatever reason or reasons, he went and communed (conferred) with the chief priests and captains. He initiated the betrayal before the paschal meal, Lk. 22:4.  Judas talked with the leaders in a personal way, the same verb is used of Jesus talking to Moses & Elijah during His transfiguration.  With one of the apostles on their payroll, the leaders of the Jews now revised their strategy and opted for a public trial and execution instead of an assassination. Judas did this because “Satan entered into Judas.” Judas devised a plan in consultation with the chief priests to deliver Jesus to them. What are you willing to give me for delivering Jesus to you? Did Judas take the chief priests’ first offer? It does not appear that Judas was a very good negotiator or he may have just been in a hurry. The chief priests weighed out for him thirty pieces of silver. They were glad to hear Judas’ offer and covenanted (promised) with him without delay,  Mk. 14:11.  This probably happened on the Wednesday, while Jesus was out of Jerusalem and in next door Bethany.  The KJV consistently translates the Greek word as “promised” and it is usually used in reference to God making a promise. Luke, Paul, John and the Hebrew writer all talk of God’s promise with the same word as what the Jewish leaders do when they make a promise to Judas, (Heb. 6:13). The significance of this, is to teach us that whether or not Judas was faithful, the Pharisees were faithful to pay Judas!

God’s promise of faithfulness is not dependent on what we do, His type of promise to Abraham was a one way street and good as done without any merit on Abraham’s part.  From that time on Judas, having consented, (agreed), Lk. 22:6, struck a deal with the high priests, and sought a convenient opportunity to deliver Jesus unto the chief priests, which turned out to be during the paschal meal. The word for “consented”, from the Greek, is usually translated CONFESSED. Why? Because, sometimes when we make a promise or agree to do something, we are really actually identifying our self as the kind of person, who by nature wants to fulfil the promise. In other words, Judas was publicly showing himself to truly be the kind of person that would want Jesus killed for money. Do we see the progression of a thief turning into a murderer? This is the nature of sin, it grows to destroy our desire for what is right. The chief priests were looking for an opportunity to arrest Jesus when the crowds were not around. Judas knew the place on the mount of Olives where Jesus spent his nights in essential solitude. Judas used his personal knowledge of Jesus against him. 

How did Jesus feel and react to what Judas was doing?  His own physical brothers labelled him as ‘insane’ Jn. 7:5-10, Mk. 3:21. Jesus wasn’t the first King to be betrayed. King David’s life was filled with betrayal, he started his reign wrestling with it, he warns those who had deserted him for Saul: “the God of our fathers look thereon and judge” (1 Ch 12:17). Later still, the pain of betrayal was to come personally to him by his own son Absalom.  To feel the inward piercing of treacherous lies was the deep consequence of deception God warns us about in the Proverbs 25:9-10, and that is what Jesus felt before he was beaten, scourged & crucified. It’s worse to be tortured when you know that even a ‘friend’ is against you. If we know the reasons for betrayal, we may avoid committing it ourselves. God pleads, do not grieve His Holy Spirit, Ephesians 4:30. In the betrayal, God’s Spirit in Jesus must have sunken to a depth unknown before. John 3:31-34.

 Elihu may not be a close friend in Job’s life, but he is an observer that is concerned about God’s relationship with Job. So far, we have encountered, Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar the Naamathite, and Eliphaz the Temanite.  These three friends of Job have left the observer Elihu frustrated. But since Elihu is the youngest of them all, he has patiently waited to see some wisdom from the elderly, and Elihu is disappointed to see that an answer to Job’s suffering is still missing.  Job is indeed viewing his position with God as righteous, but do not forget that Job has admitted to being a sinner, 7:20-21. Job refuses to link the cause of his suffering directly to whatever sin he has committed in the past. From our Christian perspective, we can realize that the consequences of sin affect us painfully in this life and we have an anchor of hope in Jesus, who suffered unjustly from the consequences of our sin.  So can we see that Job’s suffering is directly linked to sin in this world, and not necessarily sin in Job’s heart?  

The key insight Elihu offers is that no matter how much we hate suffering, it still can be used fairly or unfairly to teach us something about God, 33:14.  Back in 4:13, Eliphaz claimed that a revelation had come to him in a dream. Job declared that God had frightened him with dreams and visions, 7:14. The lesson that God the Teacher wants to get across through suffering is to turn us away from sin and to defeat arrogance in us, 33:17. God’s motivation for teaching this lesson is His mercy. God wants to rescue our souls from the Pit and our lives from violent ends, 33:18. Elihu says God is so merciful and desirous of our salvation that He is willing to do all of this twice and even three times to rescue a soul from the Pit of destruction and bless a person with the light of life, 33:29-30. We must never forget that Jesus is the Light of the world. John 8:12, Matthew 5:14 & 2Corinthians 4:4.  

The 3 friends (miserable comforters) of Job were right in that God does punish evil. However, that is not an adequate explanation for all suffering. It is true that God chastens and teaches us through suffering. Hebrews is a treatise on this subject. The recipients of the letter to the Hebrews were suffering because of their faith because they were doing the right thing. As a result, they were tempted to give up on Jesus, Heb. 4:1-13. The writer reminds the Hebrew Christians that Jesus suffered and learned the meaning of obedience through out the experience, Heb. 5:8. God was dealing with them as a father disciplines his children. If we do not receive chastening, we have no real father (Heb. 12:3-8). The purpose of our suffering is to enable us to come at the end of our life to the heavenly Zion and to enjoy God’s presence in a greater way than we do now in Jesus, Heb. 12:22-24.  Any chastening we endure is worth this grand purpose.  C.S. Lewis observed that suffering we endure can be what he called, “severe mercy”. It seems severe, but the long-range impact is in fact merciful, for in fact that disappointment we endure now may save us from a worse fate later.   

Elihu said wisdom doesn’t always come from the aged, 32:9, God can give it to any of us at any age, Mat. 21:16. Share it when you have it, for we may not have it long!

It seems that once Jesus was back in the Temple complex, and upset the leaders with his rebuke towards the sellers, he was inundated with questions and a plot to take his life. If Jesus answered any of their questions wrongly, his critics (the leaders) would have good reason to turn the public against him. The Leaders don’t attempt to face Jesus down directly on these questions, instead they send their students to ask questions. This makes the deceitful plan look innocent, (Mt. 22:15-16).   The fact that “Herodians” were also sent by the Pharisees is an act of desperation to use any means necessary to pin a charge on Jesus. For quite a while they had been mindful of using the Herodians to kill him, Mk. 3:6.

1. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar or not? If Jesus answered simply, “yes”, then the Pharisees would have reason to turn the people against him.  If he said “no”, then the Herodians could charge him with insurrection and sentence him to death. The reason Jesus gave a two-fold answer is because of God’s wisdom in Romans 13:1-7. Without knowing the view of God (his wisdom), our life becomes confusing.

2. In the resurrection, whose wife will she be, for all seven had her as wife? The Sadducees were in the crowd of inquirers. They may not be investing in a plot to kill him, but they would love to confuse him, and prove to the public that He is not the Messiah (Christ). They faced resurrected people with only the bleak end of dying again to lay in peaceful rest with The Father.  They can not accept the resurrection into eternal life, because it poses too many unsolvable problems. They do not know about the power of God to surpass all our present problems. Jesus interjects with God’s authority, a new revelation. After the resurrection, there is no marriage! That is powerful. Our bodies described in 1Cor. 15:40-45,52, will be in no need of pro-creation, nor will we have sexual desires, we will be changed!  Without knowing the power of God, our life becomes sinful.

3. Which commandment is the greatest and first of all?  A Lawyer asked this one, he is also described as a Pharisee. Jesus gave noble motives to him for replying intelligently in Mk. 12:34. When we use logic to make conclusions or application from the words of Jesus, we are drawing nearer to His reign. The Beroeans had fair minds, because they applied them to the Scriptures, Acts 17:11.  Loving God is paramount to unity, happiness and eternal rewards. Without knowing the word of God our life becomes pointless. 

DAVID HIMSELF CALLS HIM (the Christ) “LORD”,   HOW THEN, CAN THE MESSIAH (Christ) BE HIS (David’s) SON? Jesus is quoting Psalm 110:1. Where David prophesies the Messiah to be the Lord Himself. In the Jews mindset, the Messiah (Christ) would be a physical son of David which the Lord would use to oust oppressing enemies and restore David’s Kingdom in Israel, Acts 1:6.  But Jesus wasn’t interested in a physical Kingdom, only a spiritual one, because he is God. Lk. 17:20-21. Jesus knew that to make himself God would truly light a fire in their hateful hearts and set their plot running to kill him. Jesus was in control of the timing of his own death. For this moment, they quit trying to find a just reason for killing him. These are guilty of the “greater sin”, Jn. 19:11.

The word Anointed means, uniquely appointed by God to rule. It is sometimes refers to a royal rule, sometimes a priestly rule, but basically it points to godly ‘speciality’. In the New Testament it is often translated Christ. Christians are members of the body of Christ, see Romans 12:5.  We are called Christians, a name which began in Antioch of Syria, not Jerusalem of Israel, see Acts 11:26.

Jesus was anointed by three different women in 3 different places.

In Lk. 7:11-50, by a woman who was a sinner of the city, near Nain in Galilee.

In Jn. 12:1-8, by Mary the sister of Lazarus near Bethany in Mary & Martha’s house.

In Matthew 26:6-16 & Mark 14:1-9 by an unknown woman in Bethany at Simon the Leper’s house. Women then and now, seem (in general) to have a talent for perceiving inner character. When Jesus walked the earth, women were the ones which saw His inner identity most clearly. it was the Apostles (men) who were still asking teh dumb questinos about, “when the restoration of Israel would take place”, Acts 1:6. Even after Peter & Thomas declared Jesus as the Christ and Son of God, they still didn’t understand the Anointed Kingship of Jesus.  Later Jews asked Him if he was the Christ and Jesus agreed, Mt. 26:62-64.  Pilate then asked Jesus if he was a King and Jesus agreed, Lk. 23:3.  On the cross the thief proclaimed the coming of Christ’s Kingdom and Jesus agreed, pronouncing, “TODAY you will be with me”, not tomorrow or centuries from then or now, Lk. 23:42-43.

John introduces Jesus to the 7 churches of Asia as the RULER of the kings of the earth, Rev. 1:5-6. The old King James version wrongly uses the word, “prince” of kings, because it often loves the Latin (princeps regum terrae) moreso than the Greek, which literally means “First Chief”. This agrees with the title twice given to Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords, Rev. 17:14 & 19:16. How was Jesus seen by God to be the anointed King of Israel?  By people like the women who sacrified their own reputation and possessions to show Jesus as divinely royal.

Do not forget what was written above His cross. “The King of the Jews”, Mt. 27:37, Mk. 15:26, Lk. 23:38 & Jn. 19:19. Paul later proclaimed that Christians are the true circumcision (Jews), see Php 3:3. John says we have an “anointing”, 1st John 2:20. These truths help us endure problems in our life and faith, seeing God making us special in Christ.

Jn. 2:13-22, Mat. 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19:45-48 

The first time Jesus cleansed the Temple, He made a whip of cords, it is described in the Greek, as vegetation, not leather, Jn. 2:15. It probably was simply long strands of bedding from the oxen & sheep stables. The whip was pieces of plants weaved together to make a cord strong enough to wave around and get attention, it wasn’t used to hurt anyone. Once he had their attention and was frightening animals with it, he gave them a saying which stuck in their minds, “in 3 days I’ll raise it up again”.  His enemies didn’t understand that he was using the physical Temple as an analogy of His body, which we are now members of.  The second Temple of Zerubbabel which Herod enlarged took 46 years to build. The Jews thought it was preposterous for Jesus to claim it’s demise and reconstruction in just 3 days.  As Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Passover, he meant to clean the Temple again, which he had done once before, recorded in Jn. 2:13-22. This must have been discouraging to see the greed of priests cover the Temple all over again.  He proclaimed that the Temple is His Father’s house of prayer, not a den of robbers, Mt. 21:12-13.  This teaches us one of many reasons, God comes to live with us in our bodies as a Temple, 1 Cor. 6:19-20. Prayer is an essential ingredient, making up our health, both spiritually and physically.The anger of Jesus is seen clearly by overturning tables and sending their money flying. There isn’t any mention of him harming the sellers, but financially, they must have taken a loss, because doves were let loose. Perhaps the most amazing feature of his action, is that the sellers were actually DRIVEN out of the Temple complex. This is an obvious miracle in forcing your enemies to retreat. It is prophesied in Malachi 3:1-2, “Who can stand when He appears?”. On more than one occasion Jesus displayed this power, it happened again in the Garden of Gethsemane during his arrest, John 18:3-6. God’s power within His wrath is amazing and it had the attention of is disciples too, Jn. 2:17. The zeal Jesus had for God’s house, consumed him and when people insulted him for his actions, they led to his death, this was prophesied in Psalm 69:9.  His Father’s house, the Temple was to become a house of prayer for ALL NATIONS, not just Jews, see Isaiah 56:7. But, instead of encouraging Gentiles to pray in the courtyard of the Temple, they made it difficult and expensive for Gentile proselytes to buy their sacrifices, and stole their money in the currency exchange.  The Lord was watching their greedy actions in the Temple, and Jeremiah wanted them to know it, Jer 7:11.  His wrath was seen again in the body of Ananias and Sapphira’s greedy lies as the church was being born, Acts 4:32-5:11.The even connected to his final cleansing of the Temple is the cursing of the fig tree, which was an attempt for Jesus to engrave on his disciples heart, the power of God’s wrath against hypocrisy. Mark 11:12-14, later after the image of the withered tree was in their mind, he told them a parable about the fig tree leaves giving them a sign of God’s presence they would experience powerfully, Mk. 13:28-31 & 9:1.  This world did change at Pentecost and Judaism fell, it has never and never will be restored. God’s Temple is in our hearts, not Jerusalem. These lessons of His Temple must remain as warnings to us. His holiness in our heart should be protected. Therefore guard your heart, Prv. 4:23. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Mt. 5:8

 Key Text: Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:29-44, John 12-36

The way Jesus entered Jerusalem was provocative and made a clear statement to his enemies. Sometimes Christians must take a stand for the truth in the face of sin, disregarding the consequences. Peter, John, Stephen, Paul, Silas & Jason, all displayed this attitude when faced with sin opposing truth, (Acts 4:5-5:18, 7:1-60, 16:16-24, 17:6).Zechariah 9:9 was known to Jesus, and fulfilling this prophecy meant he must instruct his disciples to acquire the foal of a donkey, through miraculous foreknowledge, it was accomplished. This unbroken new donkey was ridden by Jesus with miraculous control. Jesus was demonstrating the nature of his reign as a King over anyone or anything that was in submission to him. Even something as stubborn as a mule! Normally, Kings and royalty rode on well-trained donkeys, if and only if they were on a mission of peace & diplomacy, but if a King journeyed on a mission of confrontation & war, they would ride on a horse, here Jesus made a miraculous statement on a lowly donkey to state that his reign would produce friendship between humanity and God. It is no coincidence that the triumphal entry into Jerusalem was on a Sunday, 1 week prior to his resurrection. His reign is introduced and established on the 1st day of the week. Every Sunday we should remind our self of His Kingship as Lord of our life and the entire universe, Col. 1:13-17.His journey from Mt. Olives to Jerusalem is prophesied in Zechariah 14:4-9. The very graphic and physical language of Mt. Olives separating is apocryphal language used to describe the separation of heaven and earth when Jesus began this journey. In Heaven, he was offering peace, on earth a war began. The thief on the cross was the first to cross over the wide gap opened up from Mt. Olives, entering into peace. Today, we can enjoy the security of the new Jerusalem, as our spiritual inheritance is a reality today in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 1:3. The crowds that praised Him in his entry, were not shouting, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus”, instead they were quoting Psalm 118:25-26, they believed that God’s Davidic Messiah had arrived and that a new government would be established, never to be shaken. Many Jews understood Psalm 118 to be a Psalm of dedication for the new 2nd Temple, if this is true, we can appreciate the statement God is making to announce the dedication of his Son’s body as becoming our new Temple, Col. 1:18, 1st Cor. 6:19-20. The Pharisees, Sanhedrin and chief priest were outraged at the public’s praise. When tell Jesus to silence the crowd, his reply shows them that God is in control of their praise, and even the rocks would break out in praise if needed. See Hab.2:9-11, where evil coveters who give bad counsel, are rebuked by stones and a reply is made from beams. This alludes to their physical Temple testifying their demise.The statements of Jesus after His entry are themes established forever. Firstly, If humanity’s spirit doesn’t praise His Kingship, then nature will praise Him – God is in control, not us. Secondly since the Jewish Leaders reject His Kingship, then Jerusalem will fall, (Lk. 19:40-44). Thirdly, God will honor anyone who serves Jesus, and that service is to be based on denying our self, in imitating Jesus, (Jn.12:23-27). Fourthly, God’s voice is heard to establish the name of Jesus as a standard for judgment, (Jn. 12:30-32).  His presence as the Son of Man is synonymous with the Christ, and while He is in the world, He is a light. Our faith in Him as Christ, reflects that light in a dark world, Jn. 12:34-36.