Matthew 27:62-66 NASB
Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ “Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.

History is replete with plans that backfire. In fact, every one of us can think of plans that we’ve made only to see them set aside and forgotten or completely backfire on us. Last year a bank in South Africa had a great idea to detour people from breaking into their ATM machines. They installed an automatic pepper spray system equipped with cameras and censors. During the pilot phase of the project three technicians had to be taken to the paramedics after inhaling the irritant. Of course the accidents made the news, and now the crafty minded criminals they hoped to outwit are aware of their scheme.

Today’s reading has a similar twist. First off, the chief priests and Pharisees wanted to make sure that the tomb of Jesus was carefully guarded. Pilate fulfilled their request and instructed the guards to “seal” the stone. The “seal” here was an official security device, so it is more likely an apparatus such as a cord attached to both the stone that blocks the entrance and to the rock face of the tomb, with wax imprinted with the Roman seal anchoring both ends, so that any tampering could be detected (cf. Daniel 6:17). Second, the very fact that so much effort was put into making sure that Jesus’ disciples were not able to steal His body, gives stronger support for the fact that He did indeed resurrect from the tomb. Their plan backfired. It only adds to the cumulative evidence that supports the historical event of Jesus’ resurrection.

“The site of Jesus’ tomb was known to Christians, Jews, and Romans, so it could have been checked by skeptics. In fact, nobody—not even the Roman authorities or Jewish leaders—ever claimed that the tomb still contained Jesus’ body. Instead, they were forced to invent the absurd story that the disciples, despite having no motive or opportunity, had stolen the body.”
(from The Case For Faith by Lee Strobel)

Despite the story that the religious leaders invented, Jesus’ movement continued. After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, the Holy Spirit came to the church on the Day of Pentecost, and His followers went everywhere proclaiming His death and resurrection. As we gather together tomorrow morning to celebrate these most foundational truths of our faith, let us do the same.

May we ever remember that man’s plans may backfire, but God’s plan to build His church, expand His kingdom, and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords is marching triumphantly onward!

Today’s reading is Luke 23 Here’s an excerpt…
Luke 23:39-43
One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Take another glance at verses 39 through 43 in today’s reading. A theologian once said that the thief on the cross is one of the best examples of faith in the entire Bible. Notice that he called Jesus “Lord” (v.42). What was it about Jesus that made him think this?  Jesus was stripped of His own clothes. His “crown” was made of thorns and all but a few of His followers had completely deserted Him. The other criminal mocked Him saying, “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us” (v.39).

We must be honest and admit that, if someone claims to be the Savior of mankind at least He should be able to save himself. Yet, this thief saw in Jesus both lordship and a kingdom. He was looking with eyes of faith. The Bible teaches that there is both a visible and an invisible world. The invisible or spiritual realm is really the one that makes sense of and gives meaning to the visible world. Read what the author of Hebrews says about Moses, “It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible” (Heb 11:27). This is strikingly similar to what the two men walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus experienced as they strolled along with the risen Christ, but were not aware of who He was until, “their eyes were opened” (Luke 24:31).

It takes a movement of God’s Spirit to open the eyes of our understanding to see Jesus for who He is and to be impacted by the reality of His suffering as a sacrifice on our behalf. Things appeared upside down on what we call “Good Friday”. What could be good about a day when the very people God created put His Son on an instrument designed to torture and execute Him? Throughout history and across cultures, we read of worshippers bringing sacrifices to their gods. Sometimes we come across such extreme cases of devotion that the worshipper will even die for the god he worships. Yet, the Gospel tells an “upside down” story.  God came into our world and took upon Himself human flesh. He stooped even lower and became a humble servant, and just when we thought that was too much to believe, He sacrificed Himself in our place. Instead of having man bring his sacrifice to God, we have at the cross a picture of the eternal God giving His greatest possession—His only begotten Son—to the worshippers.

As the sky grew dark on that pivotal moment in history, a light began to shine in the heart of a dying thief.

When you and I look at the cross, what do we see?

Today’s reading is Luke 22:7–71 Here’s an excerpt…
Luke 22:15
And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer…

Yesterday’s reading came from Psalms 113 through 118. These psalms were traditionally sung during the celebration of the Jewish Passover. A large portion of today’s reading is an account of Jesus celebrating this most significant meal with His disciples. The Passover pointed God’s people back to a time when they were slaves in Egypt and God freed them from their bondage with His “mighty hand and outstretched arm” (Psalm 136:11-12). You can read about these events in the book of Exodus and see how the Egyptian Pharaoh resisted the message God sent to Him through His servant Moses.

“After this presentation to Israel’s leaders, Moses and Aaron went and spoke to Pharaoh. They told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the wilderness.” Exodus 5:1

The death of the firstborn was the final plague that moved the Hebrews to freedom and broke Pharaoh’s unwillingness to cooperate with God’s plan. The children of Israel were protected by the plague because God instructed each household to sacrifice a lamb and then apply its blood on the sides and top of the doorframes of their homes.

“But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.” Exodus 12:13

One must understand the fundamentals of the Passover story in order to grasp the significance of the Last Supper. The sun has now set and Jesus is eating the Passover meal with His disciples, but will be hanging on a Roman cross before it sets again. There in the upper room He takes the bread and wine and offers communion with God through His own life, which is about to be given for the world. While we know that the cup was a symbol of His death, we must bear in mind that the blood also speaks of life, biblically and biologically speaking (Lev. 17:11). The freedom that the Israelites received from slavery in the Exodus, Christians have received through the death and resurrection of Jesus. The human condition is one of spiritual bondage on account of sin, but “Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).

God did not bring the children of Israel out of Egypt simply to leave them in the wilderness to care for themselves. He brought them out because He loved them and wanted to be in a relationship with them as their God (Deuteronomy 6:23; 7:8). As “Christ, our Passover Lamb” holds out the bread and the cup, He is saying that it points to something beyond His death and is deeper than mere forgiveness of sins; it is about LIFE being lived in and through Him, the Giver of life and the God of our salvation.

This Sunday we will be taking the Lord’s Supper together as a church to remember the death and resurrection of Christ. Prepare your hearts in such a way that this will be so much more than a religious act.  May it be an experience of actually sharing in the life of the Spirit of God’s Son.

We do not have a clear record of the events that occurred on the Wednesday that preceded Jesus’ crucifixion.  Tomorrow’s reading centers on the Last Supper.  This meal was part of the Jewish Passover festival.  During Passover Psalms 113 through 118 were sung.  These Psalms collectively are called the Hallel.  At the Passover, Psalms 113-114 were sung before the feast and Psalms 115-118 after drinking the last cup. The song used by our Lord and the disciples on the night of the betrayal (Matthew 26:30), just before the departure for the Mount of Olives, probably included Psalms 115-118.

Take a few moments and read some, if not all of these Psalms.  Try to visualize thousands of pilgrims filling the streets of Jerusalem, preparing for the most important festival of the year while singing these songs.  They are packed with wonderful expressions of worship and some interesting spiritual insight.  Take this section of Psalm 118 for an example:

“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. This is the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”   Psalms 118:22-24

Bear in mind that Jesus probably sang this song during the Last Supper.  The New Testament clearly reveals that verses 22 & 23 are referring to Him (Acts 4:11; Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet 2:7).  He is the chief corner stone and His people are about to reject Him and nail Him to a cross.  Yet, through that cross God is going to do something unspeakably marvelous for mankind!  Even though Jesus knew beforehand the pain that this rejection would cause on His body and soul, He still had the grace to sing, “This is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Ask the Lord to teach you how to praise His name through reading these Psalms.  Praise Him as the chief corner stone of your life.  Praise Him because “His loving-kindness is everlasting” (Ps. 118:1).  Praise Him who is the first and the last, who was dead, but is ALIVE forevermore (Rev. 1:17-18).

Today’s reading is Luke 20:1–22:6 Here’s an excerpt…

Luke 20:19-26
The scribes and the chief priests atried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and they feared the people; for they understood that He spoke this parable against them. So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order bthat they might catch Him in some statement, so that they could deliver Him to the rule and the authority of cthe governor. They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You 1are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. “Is it lawful for us ato pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But He detected their trickery and said to them, “Show Me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Then arender to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were unable to catch Him in a saying in the presence of the people; and being amazed at His answer, they became silent.

If you have already read today’s portion of Scripture you may feel a bit overwhelmed with the amount of information contained therein.  Realize that you are not alone. Packed within these chapters are several encounters between Jesus and the religious leaders of His day and a record of Jesus’ response to their questions and accusations. When you look at the content within chapter twenty it becomes apparent that these encounters revolve around the question of Jesus’ authority.

Yesterday we looked at the boldness of Jesus as He drove from the temple those who were making it a place of selfish gain. With His triumphal entry on Palm Sunday & temple cleansing on Monday, Jesus caused quite a stir in the holy city and made bold claims as to who He actually was. Sandwiched between the account of the money falling to the floor of the temple and Judas Iscariot’s later betrayal of Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, is yet another story where money is mentioned.

The fact that money is a part of these events should not surprise us because the word of God reveals truth to us in the midst of our day to day experiences. Whether we like it or not, we simply have to deal with the subject.  But Jesus’ response to the religious leaders’ question about paying taxes to Caesar points to a much deeper truth than the ethical question of whether it is right or wrong to do so (see Luke 20:20-26). Look again at verses 23 to 25 of chapter 20. The Jewish authorities are trying to trap Jesus in His words so that they will have something to bring against him to the Roman officials. They are thinking that if He is so faithful to God’s kingdom and passionate about the sanctity of their nation’s faith, surely He will not endorse the paying of taxes to the Romans!  Then they could denounce him as a traitor to the Romans. On the other hand, if He answered yes, He would be considered a disloyal Jew and may lose favor with the people. Yet, the master teacher takes a coin and literally “flips” it in such a way that they are trapped by their own inability to return an answer.

Jesus looks upon the coin and asks, “Whose portrait and inscription are on it?” (v.24). Their reply is that it is Caesar’s. Stop for a moment and think about what exactly was on that coin. The coin was the smallest silver coin at that time called a denarius. A denarius was worth about a day’s wage for an agricultural worker. On one side was the profile of the Roman emperor Tiberius Caesar with this inscription, “Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus”. On the reverse side was the seated Pax, the Roman goddess of peace, with the inscription, “High Priest”. The implicit message written on that coin would have been a challenge to anyone in the empire claiming to have extraordinary power and authority, especially someone like Jesus, the acclaimed Son of David and Prince of Peace. Yet, Jesus’ authority was not threatened by the reality that the Jewish people were burdened by the heavy taxation of the Romans.  He was fully aware that paying the tax did not mean one had to compromise his or her faith or affirm Caesar’s divinity. Jesus, the divine Creator of life, knew precisely whose image He was stamped with and exactly whose image God’s people were created in.  He knew that God, above all others, has a prior claim to our complete allegiance.

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (Lk 20:25).  In a nutshell Jesus is telling them to pay the tax, but to remember what belongs to God.  We may wonder then, what is God’s? Our whole lives. “The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). Caesar’s rule was temporary and limited.  Jesus’ reign is sovereign and eternal.  The book of Hebrews has this to say about Him, “He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word” (Heb 1:3). The term exact imprint relates to the process of the inscription of a coin. Just as a rubber stamp makes an exact reproduction of the words or image on it, so the Son of God is the exact representation of God’s essential being!  Imagine Jesus standing there holding a coin with the inscription, “Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus”.

In Monday’s reading we saw Jesus, the presence of God standing in the symbolic temple. Today, the exact imprint of God is holding a coin that can only symbolize an earthly ruler’s temporary reign. Jesus is saying that the coin should be returned to the emperor whose image it bore, but that you and I should place our entire lives into God’s hands because we are made in His image. Have you come to terms with the divinity and lordship of Jesus Christ?  Scripture reveals that to see Christ is to see God (John 14:7). Are you placing your entire life into His sovereign hands and allowing Him to transform you into His image (2 Cor. 3:18)?

Luke 19:45–48
Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, saying to them, “It is written, ‘AND MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER,’ but you have made it a ROBBERS’ DEN.” And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him, and they could not find 1anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said. [NASB]

Today’s reading immediately follows a very significant prophecy made by Jesus.  As He approached Jerusalem on Palm Sunday He wept over it because He knew that those living in its quarters were spiritually blind and that this blindness would eventually result in the destruction of the city and the leveling of the Temple (Luke 19:41-44).  We know from historians that the Romans lay siege to Jerusalem in 70 AD and destroyed the Temple.  Ironically, the next detail Luke gives us about Jesus’ last few days takes place in the outer courts of that very temple.

We must keep in mind just how significant the temple was to the Jewish people and to Jesus Himself.  The temple was their most sacred sight and symbolized the dwelling place of God.  It was the spiritual center of their nation and was a representation of all that they cherished concerning their faith and heritage. What is fascinating to ponder is the fact that Scripture reveals this about Jesus, “God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in him” (Colossians 1:19). Throughout the New Testament we see a comprehensive case for the divinity of Christ.  So, before us is a scene of Jesus, the purest expression of God’s presence and dwelling with man that the world has ever seen, and an extravagant building that could only function as a symbol of that holy presence.  But the intensity of this passage is unavoidable because, when God made a personal visit to His own “house”, He found it out of order and filled with people who were using it for self-serving purposes. When Jesus drove these people out He quoted verses from the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, “It is written, ‘and My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a robbers’ den” (Luke 19:46; Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11).  By making such a statement and acting with the authority that He did, Jesus was giving them yet another indicator that He was the divine King of Israel or in other words, the King of that house.

We are steadily moving toward Resurrection Sunday, a time when the church gathers together to worship and confess our belief in Jesus’ death and resurrection.  During His ministry Jesus slowly began to unfold the truth that His body was the real temple of God, and now we as Christ-followers are called the Body of Christ (see John 2:19-22 and 1 Corinthians 3:16-17).  It is the Church, not a beautiful building, but the followers of the living Christ that make up His house.  From this passage it seems very clear what kind of house He wants us to be…“A HOUSE OF PRAYER”.  Are we allowing the Holy Spirit to so live in us that we can honestly say that our lives, even our bodies, are looking more and more like houses of prayer and less and less like places where selfish desires are the preoccupation. May we each allow Him to “turn over” the things in our lives that hinder us from being the dwelling place He created us to be.