Group Bible Study

We are continuing our meditation of the last Passover meal that Jesus and His disciples had 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 22:14-23).   It is John who 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 ...

We are continuing to meditate on the drama of the Passover meal (scroll down for previous meditations) that 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” (L...

We are continuing to meditate on the last supper of Jesus and His disciples the day before Christ's crucifixion. The Jews of Galilee 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 three 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 enters,  11 ...

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 plant 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 protection of the city of Jerusalem. In th...

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 on the Day of Pentecost before thousands of people, he told them:    “This man was handed over to you  by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge ;   and you, with the help o...

We are finishing off our meditation on Judas—why did he betray Christ? (Scroll down for earlier reflections). Some suggest that Judas was seeking to force Jesus' hand to revolt against the Romans so that a confrontation would take place and Jesus would use His power to overcome Roman rule. Who knows what was in the mind of Judas as he walked to visit with the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard? (Luke 22:4). What we do know is that he watched for a convenient time and place to betray his master with a kiss on the cheek and that he had already received the thirty silver coins in payment for betraying Christ before the Last Supper:   14 Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests  15 and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" So  they counted out for him thirty silver coins.  16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over (Matthew 26:14-16).   Th...

Over the last few days we have been thinking through what it might have been that influenced Judas to betray Christ. We are concluding that Satan had made inroads in Judas’ life by his habit of stealing (Scroll down for previous meditations). In the normal course of things, there is a natural barrier in the human soul that prevents a spiritual attack. Long ago, even before Abraham, Satan had a hard time with a righteous man named Job. He couldn’t do anything against Job without God’s taking down the “hedge” that protected him. 8 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."   9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied.  10 " Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land” (Job 1:8-10). I...