Review 3

 After Jesus called his disciples and started his ministry, He performed many miracles for which the multitudes began to follow Him.  They were looking for an earthly leader who could meet their physical needs, as He did when He fed and healed them.  We need to look not for a Savior Who meets our physical needs and desires, but for One who meets our spiritual needs.  The only thing that Jesus ever promised us about physical or material things was that we are to take up our cross daily, or die to physical desires, and that He would meet all our needs.  Jesus never promised to give us everything that we saw and desired.  Jesus spent time alone to pray to His heavenly Father, and so must we if we are to be able to be successful in following the will of God.  Jesus taught us that we are not to worship simply for the praise of people.  No matter how much we give, if we are doing it so that we receive the praise instead of God receiving the praise, it is spiritually worthless.  Jesus had very little use for those who were supposed to be the religious leaders of the Jews, and they had no use for Him.  We need to be careful that we do not begin to follow the teachings of religious leaders today instead of following the will of God.  The disciples, who were the closest to Jesus physically still had ambitions based on physical results.  They wanted to be closest to Jesus in His kingdom, which they still thought would be an earthly kingdom then, but when the time came to prove their devotion, they could not even pray with Him for an hour and they abandoned Him after His trial.  Though Peter took up the sword to defend Jesus when He was being arrested, He did so for all the wrong reasons and denied even knowing Jesus after His arrest.  Some people throughout the ages have made strong professions of faith and followed after Jesus as long as everything was going their way, only to abandon Him when real times of trouble come.  We saw that given the choice between a bad sinner and Jesus that the world will often choose the bad sinner instead of Jesus.  Though there are many other things that the book of Matthew teaches us, the final thing that I will mention is the most important.  Jesus came to earth to live to show us how we are to live and He died to bring us salvation if we put our faith in Him as Savior and Lord.  Death could not defeat Him and the grave could not hold Him, and the same is true of us if we follow Jesus as our Savior and Lord.  We will next look at the book of Jeremiah.

Matthew Review Continued

As we continue to review, we see that Jesus began to call His disciples, which we are today if we are Christians.  Jesus called simple men from different walks of life to follow Him, and He still does today with the men and women He calls to salvation.  Then, Jesus went to John the Baptist to be baptized, setting the example for us.  John said that he needed to be baptized by Jesus, and not Jesus by him.  Like John, we may at times try to question Jesus, but like John we need to simply learn to listen to and obey Him.  We also saw God's endorsement of the baptism, and He will endorse ours today if we have put our faith in Jesus as our Savior and Lord.  Some of John's followers were jealous of Jesus, just as some religious leaders are jealous of Jesus today.  They were more interested in their own position than they were in Jesus.  We know that the Devil tempted Jesus after Jesus' forty days of fasting in the desert, when the Devil thought that Jesus would be at His weakest.  We can be certain that the Devil will tempt us with all kinds of things if we put our faith in Jesus and he will tempt us when we are at our weakest point of temptation.  Jesus answered the Devil by referring to scripture, which the Devil himself quoted out of context.  We need to answer the temptations of the world by referring to God's word, but we need to make sure that we aren't using God's word to accomplish our own objectives.  We also see that great multitudes of people began to follow Jesus, but most were following Him for the wrong reasons.  Many people today profess to follow Jesus as long as they are getting what they want from Him, but never really accept Him as their Savior and Lord.

Matthew Review

We will review some of the things that we learned from the book of Matthew.  We learned that Jesus was of the lineage of David, just as the word of God had said He would be.  God's people had been looking toward the birth of the Messiah for years.  Jesus was born of a virgin, Mary, just as had been foretold.  This was not some scientific act, but a miracle from God.  We might claim that it is scientifically possible for a virgin to have a child today, but it can never be done without the involvement of a man in any way.  For a child to be created, it requires a man and a woman.  Then, we see that God leads wise men to Jesus, and that if they are truly wise they will come to Him.  Everyone is called, or led, to Jesus, but only those who are wise will come to Him.  We are also taught that we are not going to be able to find Jesus by going to government officials or worldly leaders.  As a matter of a fact, we may often find our that the governmental officials are more out to destroy the gospel than they are to promote it, just as it was with the wise men.  Wise men will not be deceived, though, and will listen to God in every situation.  Also, wise men will bring gifts to Jesus, not to salvation but to show their reverence for Him.  We also learned that God will warn us when we are in danger spiritually if not necessarily physically, and will always protect us.  Mary and Joseph had to leave where they were physically to be safe, and we may have to today, but only if God tells us to. We are not always led out of harm's way as we know from the lives of the disciples.  We then learned of the forerunner of Jesus, John the Baptist, who came to tell the people of Israel to prepare for the coming of the Messiah.  John knew that he was not the Messiah, even though some people would have made him to be.  We today as followers of Christ are the forerunners of the second coming of Christ and must call on people to prepare for His second coming.  We will never be the Messiah, the Savior of the world, and we can only call for people to accept the One Who is, Jesus Christ.  Like John the Baptist, we must be willing to lay down our life in order to do so.

Matthew 28:11

Matthew 28:11 says, Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.  While the women were on there way to tell the disciples what had happened, the guards went to the chief priests to tell them what had happened. For them, this was not good news.  Many people today on hearing the gospel refuse to believe it, and for them it is not good news.  Verse twelve declares, And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,  The chief priests and elders assembled together and decided to pay the guards a large sum of money.   The religious leaders of God's chosen people were willing to do anything to discredit Jesus.  Verse thirteen adds, Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.  The guards were paid to tell everyone that Jesus' disciples came and stole His body while they slept.  Now, it had better have been a large sum of money, since sleeping on guard duty was not a good thing for a soldier to admit to.  Verse fourteen continues, And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.  The religious leaders told the guards that if this report got back to the governor that they would protect them.  I am not sure how they thought they would be able to do this, since they were not in power over the governor, but it just shows how far they were willing to go to discredit Jesus.  People today may tell us that we are safe if we don't believe in Jesus as our Savior and Lord, but if they do it will be based on a lie.  Just as the religious leaders were not in charge of what happened at the resurrection, neither is anyone today.  The resurrection is real, and no amount of money or lies will change that fact.  Verse fifteen states, So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.  The guards took the money, and the Jews, God's chosen people, believed the lie, and I guess they still do today as a group of people.  Verse sixteen declares, Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.  While the chief priests and elders were attempting to discredit Jesus, the eleven remaining disciples went where He told them to go through the angel speaking to the women.  We, as followers of Christ, can only go where Jesus tells us to go, or else we will be buying into the lies of the world.  We can never afford to allow money or the teachings of religious leaders that are not in accordance with God's word to come between God and us.  Verse seventeen adds, And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.  This is still talking about the eleven disciples, and it says when they saw Jesus, they worshipped Him, but some of them still doubted.  We cannot be an effective Christian if we have doubt about Who Jesus really is.  Verse eighteen declares, And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  Jesus spoke to the disciples, and that would include those of us today who have accepted Him as our Savior and Lord though His written word, and told them that all power in heaven and earth was given to Him.  Jesus had not and never will be defeated.  Verse nineteen adds, Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  That was the commission for the eleven disciples then and for us today as followers of Christ.  We are to go everywhere and share the gospel and baptize those who accept it in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, the One God Who is manifested in three different ways.  This does not mean that there are three different Gods, but only One.  Verse twenty-nine concludes, Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.  Once someone has accepted Jesus as his or her Savior and Lord, his or her  work in sharing the gospel has not ended.  We are then to teach those who accept Him to observe all that Jesus has taught.  Then there was a promise made that Jesus will be with us until the end of the world.  Nothing will ever separate those who put their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord from Him.

Matthew 28:1

Matthew 28:1 says, In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.  Toward dawn on the day after the Sabbath Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus came to the tomb.  Even though Jesus had continually told His disciples that he would rise again, they were not there.  We may hear about the resurrection of Jesus, but until we come by faith to see if it is true or not, we will never find salvation.  Even though the two Marys came for the wrong reason, they still came to where they thought Jesus would be.  Verse two declares, And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.  While they were there, a great earthquake occurred, but this was not what open the tomb.  An angel of the Lord rolled back the stone sealing it and sat on the stone.  The stone was not rolled away to let Jesus out, but to let the women see in.  Jesus was no longer constrained by physical limitations, and today, when we accept Him as our Savior and Lord, we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit Who is likewise not constrained by physical limitations.  Verse three adds, His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:  I believe that we can simply say that the angel was an awesome sight.  Verse four says, And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.  The guards who had been assigned to guard the tomb basically fell down in fear.  Verse five declares, And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.  The angel told the two women to not be afraid, that he knew they were there seeking Jesus.  When we come seeking Jesus today, we do not need to be afraid.  Jesus did not come to punish us but to offer us forgiveness and salvation.  Verse six adds, He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.  The angel proclaimed the good news to the women- He is not here, for He has risen.  This is the message that we share with the world today.  Jesus died for our sins, but He rose again to bring everlasting life to those who put their faith in Him.  Verse seven declares, And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.  The angel told the women to go quickly and tell the disciples that Jesus had risen and would meet them in Galilee.  They then had to decide whether to believe the angel or not, just as every person must choose whether or not to believe in the resurrected Jesus today.  Verse eight states, And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.  The two women left the tomb with joy and went quickly to tell the disciples what had happened.  We should be just as anxious to go and tell others about Jesus when we accept Him as our Savior and Lord.  Verse nine declares, And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.  On the way to tell the disciples the good news, the women met the resurrected Jesus and fell at His feet and worshipped Him.  They did not question if it was Jesus or not, but recognized Him and worshipped Him.  This is what each individual must do in order to be saved.  We must first recognize Jesus as the resurrected Lord and then worship Him.  Verse ten states, Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.  Jesus told the women to not be afraid but to go and do what the angel had told them to do.  We may not have an angel come to us and tell us what to do today, but we have the Bible, God's written word, that tells us that we are to go and tell everyone about Jesus.

Matthew 27:54

Matthew 27:54 says, Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.  When the soldiers watching Jesus saw the earthquake, were afraid and said that Jesus was truly the Son of God.  We may not feel an earthquake, but until we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord we better be afraid, because He truly is the Son of God and the only way to salvation.  Verse fifty-five states,  And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him:  Verse fifty-six adds, Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children.  Many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee, including Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, and the mother of James and John were watching from afar off.  Still, even if they were afar off, they still cared what happened to Jesus.  Verse fifty-seven says, When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple:  Verse fifty-eight adds, He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.  When evening came a rich man from Atimethaea named Joseph came to Pilate and begged him for the body of Jesus.  Evidently the eleven remaining disciples who were closest to Jesus were not concerned with what happened to His body.  We should never allow events to keep us from being close to Jesus, but we never have to worry about anything happening to Him physically.  Verse fifty-nine continues, And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,  Joseph took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth.  We need to remember all that had happened to Jesus right before and during His crucifixion and realize that His body was a mess, but Joseph still took charge and prepared the body for burial.  Verse sixty concludes, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.  Joseph then laid the body of Jesus in his own tomb, which he had carved out of rock, and rolled a stone in front of it.  When we hear someone say that God has promised them certain things in this world as followers of Christ because He wants them to be happy, we need to remember that Jesus had neither a home or even His own tomb here, and that He was beaten and crucified.  Verse sixty-one states, And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.  Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus were sitting against the tomb.  They still had not abandoned Jesus, even though they really did not understand what had really happened at this time.  We should never abandon Jesus even when we do not fully understand what is happening in our life at all times.  Verse sixty-two declares, Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate,  That morning, the chief priests and Pharisees came to Pilate, still concerned with insuring that Jesus remained in the tomb.  Verse sixty-three declares, Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.  The chief priests and Pharisees remembered what Jesus said about rising again the third day.  These religious leaders called Jesus a deceiver.  We better hope that as followers of Christ that we never begin to view Jesus as a deceiver, because if we do, then we have never truly accepted Him for Who He is, the Savior of all who put their faith in Him.  Verse sixty-four adds, Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.  The chief priests and Pharisees asked Pilate to make sure that he tomb was secure for three days so that the disciples could not come and steal Jesus' body and claim that He had risen.  They did not know it, but their actions would offer further proof that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead by insuring that when His body was gone that no one truthfully could claim that the disciples had stolen it.  The best laid plans of those who attempt to discredit Jesus will always ultimately fail.  Verse sixty-five declares, Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.  Pilate told them that they had their watch, or troops to guard the tomb and then told them to go and make the tomb as secure as they could.  Verse sixty-six adds, So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.  The tomb was sealed and the guard was set, which insured that no one would get in, but did nothing to keep Jesus there.  People of the world may take all kinds of actions to discredit Jesus, but they will never keep Him in the tomb.  He has risen, and is the only way for anyone to become a part of the everlasting family of God.

Matthew 27:38

Matthew 27:38 says, Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.  Two thieves were crucified along with Jesus, one on each side. Though they were suffering the same fate, there was a difference.  They were guilty.  Verse thirty-nine states, And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,  People passing by reviled Jesus and shook there heads at Him in judgment.  People continue to do the same thing today, literally if not physically.  Verse forty adds, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.  The people still failed to understand what Jesus meant when He said that He could destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days and didn't realize that He was in the process of doing just that.  Jesus did not need to come down from the cross to prove that He was the Son of God, but needed to remain there to prove that He was by His obedience to His Father.  Verse forty-one declares, Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, Verse forty-two adds, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.  It was bad enough that other people mocked and reviled Jesus, but so did the chief priests and elders.  They said if Jesus could save others, let Him save Himself and come down off the cross and they would believe in Him.  What they failed to realize was that Jesus was on the cross to sacrifice Himself for the sins of everyone, making salvation possible.  Had Jesus come down from the cross, we would all be without hope.  Verse forty-three continues, He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.  These religious leaders then attempted to tell God how to act.  They said in effect if Jesus was the Son of God then God would save Him.  We should never attempt to tell God what to do, no matter the situation, but must simply put our faith in Him.  Verse forty-four says, The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.  We are told that at one time both thieves were mocking Jesus, but we know that one accepted Him before he died.  As long as we draw breath, there is hope of redemption.  Verse forty-five states, Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.  For three hours, there was darkness in the daytime.  There has never been a darker period in the history of the world spiritually than when Jesus was on the cross, because He was taking on the sins of all the world, past, present and future at that time.  Verse forty-six declares, And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?  At the ninth hour Jesus called out asking why His God had forsaken Him.  I don't believe that we can even imagine how Jesus felt at this time.  Verse forty-seven says, Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.  The people still did not understand what Jesus was saying, with some believing that He was calling on Elijah.  Verse forty-eight states, And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.  Someone put a sponge filled with vinegar on a stick and offered it to Jesus to drink.  I am not sure if this was an act of compassion or simply an attempt to prolong the suffering of Jesus, but I believe it was probably the latter.  Verse forty-nine says, The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.  The rest of those gathered there told the one who was offering Jesus the sponge filled with vinegar to let Jesus be and see if Elijah would save Him.  Verse fifty declares, Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.  Jesus then cried in a loud voice and gave up the ghost.  I believe that in this case, that was a very accurate statement.  Until Jesus willing died, or gave up the ghost, His mission was not complete.  We need to be thankful that Jesus was willing to die for our sins and did not come down from the cross.  Verse fifty-one declares, And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;  The veil of the temple which separated man from God was torn from the top down, the earth quaked, and the rocks were spilt.  I believe that this was God showing that He was indeed still in charge and that what Jesus died changed everything.  People would now have access to God not behind the veil the in the temple, but everywhere through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  Verse fifty-two declares, And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,  The graves were open, and the bodies of the saints arose.  One day, the graves will open and we will all be resurrected to everlasting life.  Verse fifty-three adds, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.  These saints who arose from the dead went into the city and were seen by many, so we know it was not the same as the resurrection at the second coming of Christ, because those who have accepted Jesus Christ and Savior and Lord will no longer be seen on the earth.