When Judas tried to return the Priest's blood money the Priests said they couldn't put it back in the treasury - they actually had accounting rules for how to handle blood money. What does that tell you about the Priests?
The Romans, the enemy, didn't want to kill him but the Priests wanted him dead and incited the crowd to call for Christ's cruxifixction.
One of our members pointed out that the Priests, who were waiting for a great warrior to defeat the Romans, did not see Jesus, in spite of his miracles, as the messiah.
Note:
When Jesus was betrayed by Judas he said if he wanted to defend himself, 12 legions of angels could have been summoned. That tells us that there are 60,000 angels at least.
We continued to study Matthew 26 and confirmed that Jesus' suffering on the cross was real; in Matthew 26:39 we see that he knows what is coming and for all his Devine power, he is actually afraid and later, when we read in Matthew 27:46 that he prays: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" We know that he truly feared and suffered and paid for our sins.
In Matthew 26 we read about drinking wine in heaven. I have imagined that I would be a spirit in heaven (2 Corinthians 5:8-10), not a person eating and drinking but while you read the New Testament from beginning to end and discover the New Covenant; believe in Jesus and go to heaven and live forever, at the end of the New Testament John writes (Revelations 21:2)that God will create a New Jerusalem with streets of gold and pearl gates. I assumed it was an allegory as the reference to gold has no meaning for a spiritual being but some think it is a real place to which we will all go at the end of times. Then there is the issue of Paradise; the garden of Eden in Genesis, and referenced by Jesus in Luke when he tells the thief on the cross he will be "...with him in Paradise today" and in 2 Corinthians 12:4 when Paul is caught up in Paradise, and the promise of life in Paradise in Revelations 2:7. Are they specific places or allegories for the future God has planned for those who believe?
Many of the Chief Priests and Elders were evil. The High Priest, Caiaphas, called them together more than once to discuss how to kill Jesus; they were worse than Judas; they were the arbiters of morality yet when Judas came to them they jumped at the opportunity to kill Jesus. What is even worse is that after the crucifixion the guards of the tomb told them Jesus was missing and they bribed the guards to say Jesus' disciples had stolen the body. Alarming to note that 2000 years later they still won't accept Christ but they depend on a Christian country, the USA, to give them millions for defense. Our fates are still intertwined. American Jews represent only a little over 2% of America's population but hold 10% of the Senate seats, over 6% of the House of Representatives and are governors of five States including Illinois.
We studied the conspiracy of the High Priest, Caiaphas, to kill Christ. It is more than shocking to learn about the Jew's religious leaders, Chief Priests and Elders, coming together as a committee to discuss murder, and in later verses bribery, as a tool to retain their power. You can understand that they were afraid to lose their authority, which they viewed as important for the good of the Jewish people, but a group discussion about murder calls their religion into question.
We read in Matthew 25 that at the end of times those that helped others will go to heaven and those that didn't won't go to heaven. We also discussed local beggars and how some of us (including me) feel that, given their ability to get help from local missions, they don't need help from me. This made me realize that though I give to those missions, I give so little compared to my total assets, I am essentially a failure. So many need so much and I just check on my investments and pick a nice place for lunch. I need to give more but my heart isn't in it and I can't believe I know what to do (Matthew 19:16-22) and don't do it.
The parable of the 10 virgins tells us that you need to be ready for a long wait, be patient and don't let your faith wane and remember, as one of our members said, "You can't borrow someone else's faith and readiness."
The parable of the servants left in charge reveals that we need to do something with our faith, don't hide it, share it, We see that, in these turbulent times, the faith of those who believe is increasing and among those that it turns out don't really believe, the corruption seems to be getting worse which is causing our faith in many institution and organizations to decline while our faith in God increases and replaces worldly goals.
We continued to discuss the tribulation and while some people think, given all the terrible international news, that the tribulation has begun, the believers, who will be taken to heaven first, are still here, so the tribulation has not started yet. Two thousand years ago, believers were told the end was coming soon but remember 2 Peter 3:8 "with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day" so from the Lord's perspective, perhaps it has only been a couple of days since it was said the end of times is coming soon - be ready and, as one of our members said, "save as many people as you can while you are waiting."
We discussed the Tribulation and visited the ongoing debate about Pre-Tribulation (wherein the faithful are taken up to heaven before the Tribulation), the Mid-Tribulation (wherein the faithful are taken up to heaven after three and a half years of the seven years of Tribulation), and Post-Tribulation (wherein the faith are taken up at the end of the Tribulations when Christ returns.) Evidence for the Post-Tribulation exists, for example, in Matthew 24:13 "But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved." The argument for Pre-Tribulation exists in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 "For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath..." and Revelations 3:10 "Because you have kept My command to preserver, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world..." Perhaps the verses could be combined to suggest that the faithful won't be called up until the end but they will be protected during the Tribulation. The discussion continues...
The group reviewed Matthew 24 and discussed the revelation that, near the end of times, Christians would be hated by all nations. Given the rapid expansion of Islam into Christian countries and dislike growing into hatred even in America's once gentile politics, it would seem the stage is being set. Those who hate, are not Christians.
We read Jesus' warning against hypocrisy and discussed why God would let his prophets be hurt; why not protect them? We considered that people go on sinning after they are saved and are perhaps suffering punishment for same but the counter argument was that God is protecting us from all kinds of problems about which we aren't even aware.
The conclusion is that we can't understand God's purpose and must worship him under any circumstance.
In Matthew 22, Jesus asked the Priests who they thought the Messiah was and they answered, "The Son of David," to which Jesus replied, "How is it that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him 'Lord?'"
It always confused me that Jesus challenged their answer until we looked at Psalm 110 wherein David wrote that Jesus was Lord sitting at the right hand of God. He would not have called his own son Lord. Jesus' body was of the House of David but Jesus was a Spirt from God.
We discussed this parable and how it points out that after 2000 years of the Jews being shepherded as the chosen people, they rejected Christ and so the Gentiles were included and allowed to be saved and now there are over two billion Christians in the world and only fifteen million Jews.
The Jews were the chosen people and yet we read how conniving the Jewish chief priests and elders were and, as demonstrated in the parable of the two sons, those who think they are automatically saved because of their birth, position, or status, are not, but anyone, regardless of their failings, who accepts Christ is saved.
We read in Matthew 21 that Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem thereby simultaneously fulfilling the prophecy of Zachariah (9.9) and demonstrating that he was not the conquering hero many Jews hoped for but instead, a humble servant of God.
As we read about Jesus curing the two blind men by the side of the road we wondered why he had to touch them to heal them given that had cured others from a distance. We thought about what we had learned from Matthew 9:22; when the woman who had been bleeding for ten years touched his cloak she was cured and Jesus said: "... your faith has healed you." Jesus touched the blind men to improve their belief, their faith, that something would happen. The message is: Believe and it will be so.
We read the parable in Matthew 20 which illustrates the Jews', who have struggled with the faith for over 4000 years, aggravation with the Gentiles being accepted along with them. God decides who gets what; we should not imagine that we are entitled to anything; we depend on God's mercy.
In Matthew 19 we read about a rich young man essentially telling Christ he had done everything right and wondered what other good thing he needed to do to have eternal life. Jesus said he needed to sell all he had and give it to the poor but the lesson is clear that even that wouldn't make him good; only God is good. The message we took from the exchange told us that you can't earn eternal life, it is a gift.
We discussed a fundamental Christian duty, converting people to Christianity. How long do you try; how hard do you pursue them? Matthew 10:14 shares Christ's advice to the apostles as they set out to spread the word, "If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet." In my experience, I ask people how they are doing until they finally reveal their concerns then I offer to pray for them. If they seem pleased, I pursue them, if their reaction is bland or puzzled, I move on.
In Matthew 18 we read how the church can help you deal with disagreements you may have with your brothers in Christ. It is important to settle those agreements and not to ignore a slight or something someone did or said that made you feel bad; tell them they hurt your feelings, you may be surprised to find out they didn't realize they had done so. We are urged to get along with one another and we also felt that it is import to recognize someone for doing something that made you feel good. In short, we need to support each other.
We discussed Jesus and Peter being asked to pay the Temple Tax when they went to Capernaum. Jesus agreed to pay the tax though he didn't feel it was appropriate. The lesson our group deduced from the event is that we shouldn't let unrelated minor problems interfere with our main mission to spread the word of God.
In Chapter 18, Jesus tells us that the more humble we are the better our position will be in heaven - Matthew 18:4 "Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven;" and again in Matthew 11:11 "... among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." - The use of the terms "greatest" and "least" suggests that there is a hierarchy in heaven but, given our inability to imagine what heaven is like, we were unable to even guess at a possible hierarchy.
We discussed Jesus taking only three Apostles to the mountain top to see Moses and Elijah and to hear God confirm Christ as his son (Matthew 17:1) and wondered why those three were chosen. Peter was clearly the leader and James and John, referred to by Jesus as the Sons of Thunder because of their bold personalities, were also aggressive and the three had been with him the longest (Luke 5:4-11) and were present when he raised Jairus' daughter (Luke 8:49-56) and with him when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mathew 26:36-38); all of which shows their special place among the eleven.
We also talked about Jesus telling the Apostles that, as it was prophesied, Elijah had essentially returned in the person of John the Baptist (Matthew 17:12). While we didn't see this as reincarnation, we saw that prophecy can be fulfilled in different ways by people we do not recognize and who may be with us now.
We discussed the controversial statement by Jesus to his disciples (Matthew 16:27-28) wherein he told them that some of them would not die before seeing him coming in his Father's glory with his angels. Some felt he was referring to his transfiguration six days later (Matthew 17:1-2, Mark 9:2-8, and Luke 9:28-36) when Peter, James, and John saw Jesus' metamorphosis on the mountain but others thought he was referring to his resurrection (Matthew 28:9) or his ascension (Acts 1:9) and some even felt it could mean some of the disciples would not die until the second coming. This last view, while it best fits what Jesus said, is hard to imagine especially, as one member pointed out, when all the disciples appear to have died; however, the bible only describes the death of Judas and John's brother, James. Other sources claim the deaths of all the rest of the Apostles.
The Pharisees added their own rules and ideas to worship and resisted the basic truth that Jesus revealed and now, over 2000 years later, we still face the same danger of our faith being corrupted. It is easy for people to be carried away and misguided by artful speakers; the most outstanding example is Jim Jones and his People's Temple. He was charismatic and attracted over 900 men, women, and children which he poisoned to death with cyanide-laced Kool-Aid in 1978. Jesus warned of this danger in Matthew 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves." or 2 Peter 2:1 "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies..." or perhaps one that fits current times: 2 Timothy 4:3 "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.
Today we read about Jesus healing the Canaanite woman's daughter (Note: In Mark 7:26 she is described as a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia) even though, as Jesus points out, he sent only to the Jews, but because of her faith her daughter is healed demonstrating perhaps that all who have faith in Christ will receive the blessings of God.
Today in Matthew 15 we read about the Pharisees and the teachings they enforced sometimes being nothing more than rules made by men and used to avoid doing what God has instructed us to do. Being jealous of Christ's success, the Pharisees constantly looked for ways to criticize him. Even today some famous religious leaders have lead many people astray; stick to the fundamentals.
Over the years I read about all the people Jesus had healed and marveled at the gifts he had but when he walked on water I was stunned, just as the Disciples were stunned. As a Physics major in college I was in a class one day when the professor was explaining electrical fields and how they related to current flow. One of the students asked, "Why does it do that?" and the somewhat exasperated professor started to repeat himself; the student stopped him and said, "I know what happens but WHY does it happen that way?" He and the professor went back and forth until the professor loudly announced, "Because God wants it to.!" At that moment I realized I can never really know anything and I (and I think the professor) realized the truth. Jesus walking on water confirms the truth that while humans are bound by the rules of physics, God is not. The earth, and probably this galaxy are limited and contained by these rules of physics, but God is not and I realized he is bigger than the galaxy and Christ was bigger than the Galaxy. Further, as Peter tried to go beyond earthly laws, his faith faltered and Christ reached out and saved him - just as he has reached out and saved
We discussed the significant role John played for God and some of us were therefore puzzled about his violent end but Matt Sommer pointed out that it demonstrates how much John sacrificed for God compared to the little that most of us risk. John knew that attacking Herod would cost him his life but he did it anyway; what are we willing to do for God?
We discussed the parable of the seeds and the message it contained for us; spread the word. Interesting to note that in todays political climate, which seeks to identify and separate people into groups, that Jesus made no reference to race or nationality - some individuals are good and some are bad; some will believe and some won't. Spread the word gracefully and if they aren't interested, move on. The evil will be dealt with at the end of times.
