Matthew 26:47-75

Rain, rain! Go away! Anyone else feel like singing this?  It's Monday and I am anticipating all we are going to learn this week.  We have almost completed Matthew: The King and The Kingdom.  Think about some of your favorite things you've learned.  God's Word is absolutely amazing!  May the Lord give us such a passion and hunger for truth.  The Word is the church's weapon.  Without it, we are defenseless against the enemy.

If you are ready to begin, read through Matthew 26:47-75.  You can read it online HERE!!!  On your mark.  Get set.  GO!

The suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ is beginning.  He is betrayed by one of His disciples, forsaken by the others, and led away captive by His enemies.  We should be quick to remember as we read this passage that Jesus was "delivered for our offenses"(Rom.4:25). 

The simple fact that Judas Iscariot kissed Jesus showed how close and affectionate the disciples were to him.  In Eastern countries, it is customary that when friend meets friend they salute and kiss one another.  This is exactly what any disciple would have done after a long absence. 

Christians are not well acquainted with the weaknesses of their own heart until they are tried.  "Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled."  Had they forgotten their declaration of willingness to die for Him in the hours and days before?  What they saw before them was the danger they faced.  How many of us under excitement or extreme emotion have promised that we would never be ashamed of Christ?  Are we dependable, faithful, and steady people?  Or are we fervent one day and discouraged the next?  We better be alert, watchful, and prayerful!

We then see Jesus brought before Caiaphas the high priest and pronounced guilty.  Understand that the Jewish priests could trace their lineage back to Aaron, yet were the murderers of Christ.  We need to beware of regarding any minister as infallible.  Their teachings and conduct must be tried by the Word of God.  If it doesn't, you better not follow them! 

Jesus endured so much ridicule.  He was called a glutton, winebibber, and a friend of publicans and sinners.  Soldiers spit in His face and beat him.  How could someone willingly submit to such indignities?  Does it amaze you that everything that happened to Jesus was foretold some 700 years before it occurred?  Isaiah 50:6 says, "I hid not my face from shame and spitting."  We should never be surprised  if we have to endure mockery, ridicule, or even false reports, because we belong to HIM! 

I do want to talk about Peter for just a minute.  Here is something that we must grasp.  The best of saints are still only man.  The flesh is weak, and the devil is active. 

The first step to Peter's fall was pride.  He thought even if everyone else deserted Jesus, he never would.  Then, when asked to pray in the garden, he slept.  Instead of keeping close to Jesus, he forsook Him, and then "followed from afar off".  Here is a thought though....great falls seldom happen to minister without previous backsliding.  I heard a quote one time, I am unsure who the author was, that said, "Men fall in private a long time before they fall publicly."

With Peter, doubt could have easily set in long before this event.  Again, I believe this is a strong warning to urge Christians to keep their heart in check by watching and praying.  We see the immense sorrow Peter's sin brought upon him.  "He went out and wept bitterly."  Conviction and repentance show the difference between a true believer and a hypocrite.  

In our own lives, may we search our own hearts, repent, and seek mercy.  God's compassions fail not. (Lam.3:22)