SHARING BREAD
17 Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the
twelve disciples aside and said to them, 18 “We are going up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of
the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be
mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
Matt
20:17-19 (NIV)
One would certainly be incorrect to state Jesus did not
prepare His guys ahead of time for His betrayal, beatings, death and
resurrection albeit they never seem to appear to really get it. Perhaps they simply did not want to believe His
warnings. We also find earlier in
Matthew our Lord’s Words to them regarding what was about to take place –
verifying once more that Jesus was not taken by surprise by any of the
happenings rather consistently and willingly gave of Himself to save our
scrawny necks:
40 For as Jonah was three days
and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matt 12:40 (NIV)
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his
disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of
the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed
and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never,
Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Matt 16:21-22 (NIV)
22 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of
men. 23 They
will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the
disciples were filled with grief. Matt
17:22-23 (NIV)
Surely, Jesus was in control of His life and no one took it
from Him – He willingly gave it. He was
sacrificially obedient to the will of God - His death being wholly voluntary
and on our behalf. He was not a helpless
pawn unable to save Himself. John
records our Lord’s Words proclaiming His Sovereign authority over His own
destiny:
17 “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay
down my life--only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down
of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up
again. This command I received from my Father.” John 10:17-18 (NIV)
Freedom is costly is it not?
The Lord Jesus paid the greatest price for our freedom – ransoming our
souls from the pit of Hell through His death on the cross. Christ – the Great Liberator – came to set the
captives free from the bondage of sin and death – liberating us from these chains
of decay and bringing us into the glorious freedom of the children of God. Paul therefore warns us in Galatians against
our being yoked again to slavery rather as believers we are to stand firm in
the freedom and liberty that Christ has fully and completely provided. We are not to choose to wallow again in the
laborious slavery of sin – jumping back into that stinking pig pen:
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand
firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of
slavery. Gal 5:1 (NIV)
“Costly
grace is the Gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must
be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to
follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life,
and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and
grace because it justifies the sinner.
Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son. ‘Ye were bought at a price,’ and what has
cost God much cannot be cheap for us.
Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a
price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the incarnation of God.” Dietrich
Bonheoffer “The Cost of Discipleship”
“If
there be ground for you to trust your own righteousness, then all that Christ
did to purchase salvation….is vain.” Jonathan Edwards
God’s
mighty strength sustains us, supports us and holds us steady lifting us high
above the fears and concerns that drag us down back in to the wallowing in the
mud. His hand has us firmly and lovingly
in its grasp. This is the hand of the
One who cherishes us, the One who died for us.
10 So
do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will
strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)
What I glean
from this:
· Jesus willingly laid down His life for me.
· My freedom from sin and death cost Christ dearly – I
am not my own, I have been bought at a price.
Paul states: 19 “Do
you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom
you have received from God? You are not
your own; 20 you
were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” 1 Cor 6:19-20
(NIV)
· Jesus upholds me with His righteous right hand.
