Group Bible Study

We are continuing to meditate on the cup that Jesus had to drink in the Garden of Gethsemane (See yesterday's thoughts below). The second thing symbolized as a cup that Christ had to drink was more than humiliation at the hands of evil men and more than being crucified, it was to put on and be fully clothed in our sin as God’s sacrificial lamb. We struggle to be holy when our natural tendency, our default nature, is toward sin. It was entirely different, though, for our Lord Jesus. He had never known sin. He has always been Holy. He was born of a virgin and by the Holy Spirit. Christ was not conceived in the usual way, and, therefore, did not have a sinful flesh nature. He remained free from sin all His life so that he would die as an innocent Lamb for us and as us. The apostle Peter had been around Him for more than three years, yet he said about Christ:  “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth”  (1 Peter 2:22). As a Holy being, Christ's struggle tha...

We are continuing our meditation of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Just a few hours before His crucifixion, Christ said something very intriguing:  Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father,  if it is possible,   may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:39). It is believed that Jesus was speaking of the cup of wrath given to Him to drink by the Father. A cup of wrath deserved by all of us for our sins. Isaiah the prophet spoke about such a cup that had to be drunk by the citizens of Jerusalem just after her destruction: Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the  cup of his wrath,   you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes men stagger (Isaiah 51:17; also read Jeremiah 25:15-17). We deserved spiritual death because of the sins and choices that we have made in our lives. In the Garden of Eden, God warned Ada...

When Jesus and the disciples arrived in Gethsemane, Christ went from them a stone’s throw distance and Luke tells us that He fell to His knees to pray (v. 41). Matthew tells us that at times His posture was one of lying down with His face to the ground in impassioned prayer:  37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  38 Then he said to them, "My soul is  overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death . Stay here and keep watch with me."  39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father,  if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:37-39). The phrase, “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” is quite a descriptive phrase and leaves us wondering what was going on inside His soul. Whatever it was that He was going through, Jesus described it as being so overwhelming as to bring Him close to death (v. ...

It was late in the evening when the disciples left the Upper Room where they had eaten the Last Supper together. Tradition tells us that the room was to the west of the Old City of Jerusalem. They walked eastwards together to the Mount of Olives situated to the eastern side of the Temple Mount, crossing the Kidron valley that separated Herod’s temple from the Mount of Olives. Luke tells us that this was His usual place to stay the night, sleeping under the stars. Even though Jesus knew that Judas was about to bring the temple guards there to arrest Him, He still went to the place Judas knew of.  The arrest was no surprise to Jesus; He knew how much time He had to pray and had no thought of escape or avoiding what was coming. Matthew and Mark both tell us the place was called Gethsemane, whereas John calls it an olive grove. Luke just says the place was the Mount of Olives. Passover always coincided with the full moon, the light of which enabled the disciples to see what took...

We are continuing our meditation of the conversation at the Last Passover supper of Jesus and His disciples the night before Christ was crucified (Scroll down for previous meditations). Jesus gave a shocking prophetic word to Simon, also called Peter: 31 "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.  32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.  And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."  33 But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."  34 Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me" (Luke 22:31-34). We suggested yesterday that Peter might have been the one that caused the dispute at the table about who was the greatest among them. It is possible this was caused by Judas seating himself in the place of honor beside Jesus. The Lord calls Peter by the name that he used to be known as—Simon. Peter was behaving ...

We are continuing our meditation on the last Passover meal that Jesus had with His disciples before His crucifixion. They were all reclining around the table when an argument began among the disciples:  24 Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest .  25 Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors.  26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves .  27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.  28 You are those who have stood by me in my trials.  29 And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me,  30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tri...

We are continuing our meditation of the last Passover meal that Jesus and His disciples ate together the night before He was crucified (Scroll down for yesterday’s thoughts). As they were all reclining around the table, the Lord spoke about the one who would betray Him: 21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table.  22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him."  23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this (Luke 22:21-23). The apostle John gives us more information on this part of the conversation: 21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me."  22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant.  23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him.  24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, "Ask h...

We are continuing to meditate on Jesus’ words at the last Passover meal (scroll down for previous meditations) Jesus ate with His disciples the night before His crucifixion, and the giving of His life as an atonement for sin:  14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table.  15 And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.  16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God."  17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, "Take this and divide it among you.  18 For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."  19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."  20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, " This cup is the new covenant in my blood , which is poured out for you” (Luke ...

We are continuing to meditate on the last supper of Jesus and His disciples the day before Christ's crucifixion. Jews from the Galilee region had a different time-keeping system to the Jews in the south. The Galilean Jews counted the day as starting at the time when the sun came up; whereas, the Jews of Judah and Jerusalem counted a new day as starting as soon as two stars could be seen in the sky. This difference in timing was beneficial when it came to the sacrifices going on in the temple. Jesus could eat the Passover on a Thursday night and deliver Himself in Jerusalem as the Passover Lamb slain before the foundation of the world on the Friday we remember as "Good Friday." 8 Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover."   9 "Where do you want us to prepare for it?" they asked.  10 He replied, "As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he e...

We are continuing to meditate on the Passover celebration meal that Jesus had with His disciples the night before His crucifixion (Scroll down to see yesterday's meditation). What happened during the first Passover? God required faith in the blood of the Passover lamb. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). The Israelites took a bunch of hyssop plants and dipped the hyssop into a bowl of some of the blood from the sacrificial lamb. The bowl containing the blood was placed at the doorstep, and the hyssop dipped into the blood. The lintel and each side of the door frame was then struck with the blood, forming an image of a cross over the door. The Lord describes what is happening in Isaiah 31:5: Like birds hovering overhead, the LORD Almighty will shield Jerusalem; he will shield it and deliver it, he will  'pass over'  it and will rescue it" (Isaiah 31:5). The context of this passage above is one of the protection of the city of Jeru...

We are meditating on the last days before the crucifixion of Christ, so now we come to the day before when Jesus reclined at the table for one last Passover meal with His disciples. Before we talk about it, we have to explain what needed to happen for each of us to have a place in heaven. To break the hold of Satan's enslavement of the human race, an innocent substitutionary sacrifice was required. The sentence for rebellion against the moral law of God is death (Ezekiel 18:4), i.e., separation from God. In His love for all men, God planned before the foundation of the world that He would come as a Substitute and pay the price to repurchase us by His blood, i.e., a life for a life. Without the shedding of blood, there is no redemption (Hebrews 9:22). When Peter the Apostle preached to thousands of people on the Day of Pentecost, he told them: T his man was handed over to you  by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge ;   and you, with the help of wicked men,   pu...