Matthew 26v1-25

In this passage we read of the some of the events prior to our Lord’s death. If we are not sure of what the Passover is then you can read about it in Exodus 12. Pharaoh refused to let the people of God leave his land. God had sent various plagues to make him change his mind but he stubbornly refused to do so. The final plague/judgment concerned the death of the firstborn. God told the Israelites that He was going to pass through the land and kill the firstborn of each family, but the Israelites would be spared if they obeyed Him. An animal was to be sacrificed, and its blood was painted on the door frame of each home where an Israelite family lived. During the night God struck the firstborn of each household in the land, but where he saw the blood He passed over that home. The firstborn was spared when God saw the blood. Hopefully we can understand Paul when he says ‘For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed’ [1 Cor 5:7 ESV]. We are spared the judgment of God because Christ’s blood was shed for us. He took our sin and the punishment for our sin upon Himself so that we might live and escape the judgment of God.

Judas Iscariot betrayed our Lord. He put the love of money before love for his Lord. I may not do exactly the same as him, but do I put other things, people etc before my Lord. Are they more important to me than He is?

verse 2 reminds me that Jesus knew all about the cross. It was no accident that He was put to death. If He knew about it, knew all about the suffering He was about to go through, why didn’t He stop it happening? The writer to the Hebrews gives us one reason – ‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God’ [Heb 12v1-2 ESV]. What joy was waiting for our Lord beyond the cross? Was it not to present His people faultless before His Father? [Col 1v22].

Please add any comments, thoughts or questions.

Tomorrow’s reading is Matthew 26v26-50.

Newsletter Reading Scheme

Each month I print the church’s Newsletter. In it there is a Daily Bible Reading Scheme and I try to encourage everyone to have a time each day where they read part of the Bible and spend a time in prayer. On this blog I hope to share some thoughts from each day’s readings. To help me do this I will be using the Meditation Aid which is found on the Online Bible and says

Meditation Aid

As you meditate on this passage of Scripture, is there:

• a sin I should keep away from?

• a promise I can call my own?

• a command for me to obey?

• a blessing I can enjoy?

• a failure from which I can learn?

• a victory for me to win?

• a new thought about God, the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Satan, man?

• a truth in this passage that has greatly affected me?

I shall just be commentating on the New Testament reading to begin with. Please feel free to add your own comments, questions etc.

Let me leave you with a quote from JC Ryle, a former Bishop of Liverpool. He said concerning reading the Bible “Begin reading your Bible this very day. The way to do a thing is to do it, and the way to read the Bible is actually to read it. It is not meaning, or wishing, or resolving, or intending, or thinking about it; that will not advance you one step. You must positively read. There is no royal road in this matter, any more than in the matter of prayer. If you cannot read yourself, you must persuade somebody else to read to you. But one way or another, through eyes or ears, the words of Scripture must actually pass before your mind.”