4 Oct (Matt 27:45-54)

The Gospels: Open Graves and the Veil Torn

Matthew 27:45-54

(v.45) This was in the morning hours, when there was normally daylight. Even if it was a cloudy and rainy day, there was light. This darkness was supernatural. As we saw in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was sweating blood because He knew He would be separated from the Father for the ONLY TIME in eternity! This was that time...three hours of hell for Jesus only because He and the Father love us so much!

(v.46) Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?...My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?

If we read Psalm 22:1 David says the same thing here...why? First of all, we can at least suggest that the Son was grieved to be without the Father for three hours. But there was more to this...what?

In Psalm 22, David writes as if he is on a cross being crucified...David was led by the Holy Spirit to write this for this very moment!

In those days, at the end of a teaching by the Rabbi, he would read aloud the upcoming lesson's first verse, and it was the people's jobs to read that for background for the next lesson.

So here is Jesus pointing us to Psalm 22...a book written hundreds of years prior, that perfectly describes what Jesus is going through on the cross! Coincidence? I think not!

(v.50) Man can't kill God...only God can give up His Spirit. Jesus gave it up for all of us! In the other gospels, Jesus says, It is finished! Jesus accomplished the task of taking our place and our sins for us...thank you Jesus!

(v.51) Once Jesus died on the cross, a great earthquake shook the land. If you saw the Passion of the Christ, it does a good job of depicting this. However, what it didn't do, was the most important thing...the veil was torn in two...from top to bottom! Why is that important?

When God instructed Moses to build the Tabernacle, there was a veil of linen and cloth that became the partition of the Holy of Holies...only the High Priest could go in there on behalf of the people. In this case, that was Moses.

The same thing happened with the Temple built by Solomon. Once a year, the High Priest would go into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle lamb's blood on the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat. The High Priest did this on behalf of all the people for forgiveness of sins. Heb 9:25

This veil of linen and cloth was 18 inches thick! For it to be torn would be impossible for anyone except for God! Also take notice that it was ripped from top to bottom...this is symbolic in that God was giving access to us. Before, man had to have an intercessor, a priest, go to God for us. But now, since Jesus died for our sins, those of us who are washed in His blood by our faith, we can directly pray to the Father!

(v.52) This must have been quite a show! People that were known to be dead for years are all of a sudden walking around! This is a prelude to the last days 1 Cor 15:22 when all will be raised from the dead for judgment...the faithful to the Bema Seat of Christ, and the unfaithful to the Great White Throne of Judgement. Rev 20:11

(v.53) Notice that they came out AFTER Christ's resurrection...Jesus was resurrected first, and then because of that, we are as well.

(v.54) Sometimes it takes an earthquake in our lives to bring us to believe in Jesus! That is one of the reasons there are evil and terrible things in this life...to draw us to Good...Jesus!

3 Oct (Matt 27:32-44)

The Gospels: The King on the Cross

Matthew 27:32-44; Psalm 22

(v.33) The hill where Jesus was crucified was called Golgatha in Hebrew, which means skull. In Greek, the word is Calvary.

The hill is aptly named for if you stand about 100 yards away, you can see a skull, where there are two indentions that look like eyes, and another in the mouth area.

Through my own Bible study, I came across something that clicked with me, and I'll share it here for your information, and perhaps, incentive to look for yourself.

In Genesis, God says this to Satan after he tricked Adam and Eve to sin:

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel. ~ Gen 3:15

We have already looked at the prophecy of her Seed, which is the first hint of the Immaculate Conception. But also take note of what happens between the seeds...the seed of Satan, the Antichrist, will trip up mankind. But the Seed of the woman will bruise the head of Satan's seed.

When Jesus took on our sins that day in history for all mankind, He conquered sin and death. He crushed the head of Satan! Do you see the connection?

(v.35) This was prophesied in Psalm 22:18, and if we read Psalm 22 while reading the accounts of the crucifixion, we will see that God had David write this to point us to the cross!

(v.44) We read in Luke 23:43 that the other two criminals being crucified next to Jesus had a discussion. One was hard of heart and showed his evil nature. But the other one came to see who Jesus was. He asked forgiveness and he acknowledged who Jesus was...that is the equivalent of the Sinner's Prayer!

One thing to point out...Jesus didn't say, "I wish I could save you, but you haven't been baptized." He didn't say, "Say five Hail Mary's and serve your fellow man."

No...all that was needed to be saved was FAITH!!!

5 Sep (John 10)

The Gospels: Jesus the True Shepherd

John 10

As we have seen already through the Old Testament, God used shepherds quite a bit to illustrate His points and also to use for His purposes. Moses and David were shepherds, and God used them for multiple reasons.

(v.1) When reading this chapter, I take time to illustrate the way shepherds take care of their sheep. For instance, at night, when the sheep are to sleep, they don't stand in the fields, where wolves can sneak up in darkness and take a sheep. What the shepherd does, is find a cave (or something like it) that only has ONE entrance. Matt 7:17 So the shepherd puts the sheep in the cave and sleeps in the doorway. That way, if a wolf comes up, it will awake the shepherd, and he can keep the wolf from taking his sheep!

(v.3) Sheep aren't the brightest animals in the kingdom, but they are loyal and keen to know their Master's voice...this is also a picture of us with God. For those of us who know what God did for us, and we are walking with Him, we hear His voice in His Word and in prayer. John 10:14

(v.4) Can't you hear Jesus saying "Follow Me" to His disciples, and to us, right here?

(v.9) Jesus explains the illustration He is telling them, and it also alludes to John 14:6 where He says that NO ONE comes to the Father, but through Him!

(v.10) I also share with my kids that being a follower of Christ doesn't mean we will live sinless and problem-free lives...we will have peace and joy, for we know who we belong to, and where we will ultimately be!

(v.11) Jesus again reminds the disciples that He will give His life for the believers.

(v.18) We shall see that Jesus was not a victim...He was a conqueror!!! He came for the sole purpose to die for our sins, then He will return to gather His own. We all are saddened to picture the pain that Jesus suffered for us, but we must look at His love for us with great gratitude, not shame.

(v.28) For those that try to say that we can lose our salvation, they need to read this part of the gospel of John again! If we are truly saved, then we can't fit through God's hands and be lost. We may rebel and sin, but we are still His. When we become saved, we don't become sinless, but we sin less.

(v.30) Here is another instance where Jesus proclaims Himself to be God.

30 Aug (John 8)

The Gospels: Jesus is the I AM

John 8

(v.3) One thing I point out to my kids, is that the Pharisees brought this woman (Mary Magdalene) to Jesus. They set her up, and now they are using her to try to set up Jesus!

Of course, Jesus wasn't fooled!!!

(v.8) Scholars believe that Jesus was righting the sins of the Pharisees, from the oldest to the youngest...once they saw that He knew their sins, they dropped their rocks!

(v.11) One thing to keep in mind...no one can go sinless the rest of their lives, but Jesus was talking about the lifestyle Mary Magdalene was in...prostitution. Like other lifestyles of sin (homosexuality, thievery, lying, etc) we must stop letting that be a habit, and let God deliver us from the slavery to sin.

(v.12) Jesus is the light of the world! Psalm 119:105

(v.18) Here again, Jesus declares Himself God!

(v.21) Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, who were not saved. Jesus was referring to the part of Hades or Sheol, called Abraham's Bosom. Luke 16

(v.28) Jesus is prophesying of His crucifixion and their eventual realization of who He is! You just know they remembered these words when Jesus was on the cross!

(v.32) Becoming a follower of Christ is great, but we do have added pressures and hardships because of it. However, we do have an inner peace that the lost can't understand...the Truth has set us free from the bondage of sin!!!

(v.51) Jesus is speaking of spiritual death here. There is a great saying about being born again:

Born twice, die once...Born once, die twice.

(v.56) Jesus is telling the people that He is God, for Abraham rejoiced to see Jesus conquer sin and death!

(v.58) There is no sugar-coating this one...Jesus says that He was God, for He preceded Abraham!

Also, Jesus uses the words, I AM...that is the name of God...I AM WHO I AM...YHWH. Exo 3:14

28 Jul (Zechariah 13-14)

Zechariah 13

(v.2) After the Day of the LORD, Jesus will put an end to idol worship once and for all. He will reign for 1,000 years with His people, and they will worship Him!

(v.6) What are these wounds? They are the holes in His wrists that show of His crucifixion! His brothers, and His people betrayed Him, and it all started in the Temple where He was falsely arrested and accused!

(v.7) When Jesus was arrested and crucified, all His disciples (except John) scattered and fled for fear of their lives! It's so neat to see things click with our kids, when they see that Zechariah was writing about the crucifixion of God...hundreds of years before crucifixion was even invented!

Jesus is our Good Shepherd, and His wounds and death saved us from death to sin. John 10:11

(v.9) God will judge with fire...for the unbeliever, it will be eternal torment. For the believer, it will refine us and make us beautiful in the Father's eyes! All because of our faith in His Son!

Zechariah 14

(v.3) Jesus will make all the unbelievers fight against Israel, and He will personally fight the battle for them! Take time to stress to your kids that Jesus fights our battles for us every day...if we let Him!

(v.5) ...and the saints with Him...

This is another proof that the Rapture will happen BEFORE the Great Tribulation. We who are His will come with Jesus, but Jesus will do all the work...just like He did all the work for our salvation! 1 Cor 15:23

(v.7) When Jesus returns, the whole universe will be affected...night will seem like day. Many scholars believe this is what Adam and Eve enjoyed while basking in the glow of the LORD in the Garden of Eden.

(v.9) Again, the word for LORD is Elohim...which means one, in the plural...this is the Trinity!

(v.16) During the Millennium, Jesus will oversee the Feasts and the people will observe them with their whole hearts...like it should have been the first time He came. But, God knew that sin had to be vanquished first, so He sent His Son to die for us before He came to take us home! Rom 5:8

27 Jul (Zechariah 11-12)

Zechariah 11

(v.12) This is an amazing chapter! I make sure to spend quite some time on this chapter, because it gives me goosebumps when I see how prophecy was fulfilled in every detail!

We need to compare this chapter with Matthew 26 and 27...

The price of a slave was 30 pieces of silver. If we remember the significance of silver, it is associated with blood. This is critical because Jesus was betrayed by Judas for 30 pieces of silver in Matt 26:15

(v.13) I now go through methodically the events here in Zechariah:

~ 30 pieces of silver is the cost for the slave

~ The silver is to be cast down to the ground of the Temple

~ The potter who owns the field gets the money in the end

So if we go forward to the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, we see the prophecy fulfilled perfectly!

~ Judas receives 30 pieces of silver for telling the Pharisees where Jesus can be captured Matt 26:15

~ Judas later regrets his betrayal, and throws the money on the floor of the Temple Matt 27:5

~ As Judas says in Matt 27:4 it is is blood money, and the Pharisees can't put the money back into the treasury according to the Law.

~ But they can use the blood money for future expenses, and they buy a field nearby to bury strangers who die in town. The owner of the field is a potter!

This is another of many examples that the Bible MUST have been written outside of our time constraints, for God knows the beginning and the end at the same time!

(v.15) The Antichrist is the Foolish Shepherd...he will lead people away from Christ. If we don't know God's Word, then we will be easily fooled to follow counterfeits.

(v.17) In Rev 13 the Coming World Leader (the Antichrist) will do signs and wonders and fool many people. We also see that he will be wounded in the head and right arm. Is this why the people who worship him will have his mark on their foreheads and right arms?

Zechariah 12

(v.2) Any time we see nations and people who go against Israel, we know that Satan is behind it. Conversely, God makes Israel to be such a sore spot with the ungodly, that they hate Israel and the Jews. This hatred will eventually lead up to the final battle, and God's judgment upon the world.

(v.4) In the Day of the LORD, God will bring great confusion upon the enemies of Israel, and they will kill each other and run around aimlessly.

(v.8) God is in control, and He will defend Jerusalem...not because they are holier than others, but because He promised Abraham and David that He would. There is at least one thing that God cannot do...LIE!

(v.10) ...and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced...

Again...crucifixion was not invented when this book was written...how did Zechariah know this? He did because God's Spirit told him to write this!

Jesus will return to His people when they recognize that their unbelief pierced their Messiah!

10 June (Isaiah 53)

Isaiah 53

This chapter is what was discovered, unblemished in the Dead Sea Scrolls, found in 1947. I find it interesting that only one year later, Israel became a nation again!

The traditional Rabbis have trouble with this chapter, since it clearly speaks of the Messiah being the Suffering Servant, who had to die for our sins. Jesus is described here as the Meshiach ben Joseph, which in English means the Messiah of Joseph. As we know, in Genesis, Joseph suffered much before he was finally exalted. Here are some similarities between Joseph and Jesus:

~ Betrayed by his brothers

~ Unjustly accused

~ In one day, went from sorrow to exaltation

~ Their suffering saved Israel and the world

(v.2) I point out to my kids that Jesus is described here as a tender plant. If we remember in the book of Jonah, God brings up a tender plant that provides comfort to Jonah, but dies. This is typology of Jesus.

If you've seen the Shroud of Turin, it seems that Jesus looked quite ordinary. His beauty was inside, and after His beatings, He looked repulsive to many. He was despised because His words made people face their fears and their sins. Some repented and followed Jesus, but others hated Him for pointing out their sins, and they conspired to kill Him.

(v.3) At Jesus' trial, he was despised and ridiculed...He was rejected by His own.

(v.5) By His suffering, we are given peace. Jesus knew He had to endure the crucifixion in order to pay for our sins. Take time to stress that with your kids...it means everything.

(v.6) All of our sins were put upon God...Jesus, the Son...part of the Holy Trinity, willingly died so that we could be reconciled back to God.

(v.7) Jesus didn't state His case and try to defend Himself...in fact, He orchestrated and directed the whole arrest and conviction! He had to fulfill prophecy and die for us. Matt 26:63

I remind my kids that John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God...He was our perfect Passover Lamb, and the holy sacrifice for our sins. John 1:29

(v.8) God stated hundreds of years before, that the Messiah had to die for our sins, and it was supported by the prophecy of Daniel. Dan 9:26

(v.10) Make sure you explain this verse...the Father didn't enjoy striking His Son, but it did please Him to have His Word fulfilled. Also, that meant that His creation could be reconciled back to Him, and enjoy fellowship with Him forever in heaven.

(v.11) Jesus purchased us on the cross...we are His. All we have to do is accept and embrace that, and love Him with all our heart!

9 June (Isaiah 51-52)

Isaiah 51

(v.1) The Rock...we are to look to our LORD for guidance, comfort and peace.

(v.6) This earth will burn and a new heaven and earth will be created. Rev 21:1

(v.7) I am trying to stress this to my kids...peer pressure is so powerful, and if our kids can learn to think for themselves and discern right and wrong, they will do well. Prov 22:6

(v.16) I remind my kids that the people of Israel witnessed God working in their lives, and yet they still walked away from Him! How much more likely can we do the same? The answer is our devotion. If we truly love God and want to serve Him, we will rely on Him to not only be our Savior, but the LORD of our life!

(v.23) It is wise to read Gen 12 to our kids here...Abraham is the Father of the Faithful, and all who bless Israel will be blessed, as those who curse Israel will be cursed. That promise by God is unconditional...that means it doesn't matter how much Israel messes up...God has chosen Israel to be His Holy Land, and His people. We need to pray for Israel and support them...warts and all.

Isaiah 52

(v.4) Scholars take notice that instead of saying Assyria, the text says the Assyrian. It is personalized and singular. This is a hint at the devil and his servant, the eventual Antichrist. As we see throughout the Word, God uses pattern to make His points. All the dramatic events that will happen in the last days are shown to us throughout the Bible in a smaller scale.

(v.13) This is a verse describing Jesus on the cross. If we read Num 21:8 and John 3:14 then our kids will understand that God had planned the cross from the very beginning.

(v.14) We have no full understanding of what Jesus went through on our behalf. We see here that He was so beaten and torn up, that He hardly looked human. The miracle is that He stayed alive long enough to be crucified and to fulfill scores of prophecies!

(v.15) When Jesus died on the cross and the guard pierced His heart with a spear, blood and water came showering out. At that moment, Jesus was creating His Church, for shortly thereafter, Pentecost ignited the Church.

Mar 23 (Psalm 22)

Psalm 22

This psalm was written by David, but we see that it's written as if by Jesus on the cross:

(v.1) This has many meanings for us. First, David himself felt abandoned, and because Jesus became sin for us Gal 3:13 on the cross, He was separated from the Father. This is why Jesus literally had blood come out of Him like sweat in the Garden the night before the crucifixion...He knew He would be separated from the Father for the only time in eternity.

Another thing to teach our kids, is in those days, Rabbi's would say a verse of Scripture, and it would be the people's job to look it up and study it. This would be God's way of showing the people that Jesus was fulfilling David's psalm in front of their very eyes! Our Rabbi is pointing us to Him on the cross by this psalm!

(v.6) The Hebrew word for worm is toliath, which was a worm that secreted a red substance used for dying clothes and linens. The toliath worm would go up on a tree and hatch its eggs by exploding, and showering the eggs to the ground below. The worm would leave a red stain on the tree, and amazingly, the stain would turn white in three days!

This is why Jesus compared Himself to this worm...He was birthing His Church, by leaving a blood-red stain on a tree (cross), and when His side was pierced, blood and water came out...like human childbirth!

(v.14) Notice that Jesus says His bones are out of joint, but not broken. Jesus was severely tortured and abused before the cross, and on the cross. However, to fulfill Scripture, He didn't have a bone broken Exodus 12:46 so He could be our perfect Passover Lamb!

The phrase where His heart was like wax, confirms to scholars and medical experts that Jesus was experiencing a fateful condition called hypovolemia. This condition occurs by severe loss of blood, and the heart doesn't have enough blood to pump in the body...it starts to harden and fail.

Depending upon the age and maturity of your kids, the part where it says that Jesus was "poured out like water" is very disturbing. The Hebrew wording used here is the same as in Daniel 5:6 where the king soiled himself out of fear. It may be that Jesus lost control of his bowels on the cross. Imagine the Creator of the universe, soiling Himself in front of all the people watching...we have no idea what shame and humiliation Jesus willingly took on for us!

(v.16) The reference to dogs is typical of that time, to allude to evil surrounding Jesus on the cross. Think about it...Satan was just as interested in these things as you and I. However, as Satan thought that he was defeating God by killing His chosen Messiah for mankind, what he didn't know, was that the Messiah had to die for man, in order that man could be reconciled back to God!

They pierced My hands and My feet is amazing! Crucifixion wasn't invented by the Persians until 700 years after David lived! The Romans took that method, and made it even more lethal a few hundred years later. How could David possibly know of this method of death, unless God had him write it, to point us to the cross?

This also makes me think of the verse in Zech 12:10

(v.17) We don't see a time in David's life, where he is examining his bones and body in front of his enemies...this is a graphic picture of Jesus on the cross, unbroken but suffering, in front of a great assembly of people.

(v.18) There is no record of David's enemies casting lots John 19:24 for his clothing, but there is an exact instance where the Roman guards did this when they crucified Jesus.