Reading for Today: Matthew 28:1-20

Matthew 28:1-10

Dawn was breaking on the first day of the week; the sabbath was over. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary had come to look at the tomb, when suddenly there was a great earthquake. An angel of the Lord came down from heaven. He came to the stone, rolled it away, and sat down on top of it. Looking at him was like looking at lightning, and his clothes were white, like snow. The guards trembled with terror at him, and became like corpses themselves.

“Don’t be afraid,” said the angel to the women. “I know you’re looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He’s been raised, as he said he would be! Come and see the place where he was lying – and then go at once, and tell his disciples that he’s been raised from the dead, and that he’s going on ahead of you to Galilee. That’s where you’ll see him. There: I’ve told you.”

The women scurried off quickly away from the tomb, in a mixture of terror and great delight, and went to tell his disciples. Suddenly, there was Jesus himself. He met them and said, “Greetings!” They came up to him and took hold of his feet, prostrating themselves in front of him.

“Don’t be afraid,” said Jesus to them. “Go and tell my brothers that they should go to Galilee. Tell them they’ll see me there.”

If you were making up a story to try to hoodwink someone, is this the kind of story you would tell? Earthquakes, angels, the walking dead? Even the fact that Jesus chose women to be the bearer of His resurrection was crazy talk at the time: women were not even considered to be legal witnesses in a court of law…they were counted as unreliable. Why would Matthew tell this story?

Do not be afraid! It’s topsy-turvy day! Everything has been turned on it’s head! Death has been defeated! The order of the world has been remade! The King has come! Rejoice!

Reading for Today: Matthew 27:57-66

Matthew 27:57-66

When evening came, a rich man from Arimathea arrived. He was called Joseph, and he too was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and requested the body of Jesus. Pilate gave the order that it should be given to him.

So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. He laid it in his own tomb, which he had carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a large stone across the doorway of the tomb and went away.

Mary Magdalene was there, and so was the other Mary. They were sitting opposite the tomb.

On the next day (that is, the day after Preparation Day), the chief priests and the Pharisees went as a group to Pilate.

“Sir,” they said, “when that deceiver was still alive, we recall that he said, ‘After three days, I’ll rise again.’ So please give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise his disciples might come and steal him away, and then tell the people, ‘He’s been raised from the dead!’ and so the last deception would be worst than the first.”

“You may have a guard,” said Pilate; “go and make it as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and putting a guard on watch.

Isn’t It interesting that the Pharisees are so concerned and afraid of Jesus even after he’s dead and buried? Why, if they don’t believe He is the Messiah and He is dead, do they even bother? Can you think of people like that today, who profess that belief in Jesus is a load of nonsense, yet they are so adamant about stamping Him out?

What are Jesus’ followers doing while the rulers are busy trying to lock up the body of Jesus? They are doing what needs to be done, and then they wait. As a follower of Jesus, can you think of a time when you had to just sit and wait on Him, wondering if all of your faith in Him will be justified?

Reading for Today: Matthew 27:33-56

Matthew 27:33-56

When they came to the place called Golgotha which means Skull Place, they gave him a drink of wine mixed with bitter herbs. When he tasted it, he refused to drink it.

They they crucified him. They divided up his clothes by casting lots, and they sat down and kept watch over him there. And they placed the written charge above his head: “This is Jesus, the king of the Jews.”

Then they crucified two brigands alongside him, one on his right and one on his left.

The people who were going by shouted blasphemies at Jesus. They shook their heads at him.

“So!” they said. “You were going to destroy the Temple and build it in three days, were you? Save yourself, if you’re God’s son! Come down from the cross!”

The chief priests, too, and the scribes and the elders, mocked him.

“He rescued others,” they said, “but he can’t rescue himself! All right, so he’s the king of Israel! – well, let him come down from they cross right now, and then we’ll really believe that he is! He trusted in God; let God deliver him now, if he’s that keen on him – after all, he did say he was God’s son!”

The brigands who were crucified alongside him heaped insults on him as well.

From noon until mid-afternoon there was darkness over the whole land. About the middle of the afternoon Jesus shouted out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachtani” – which means, “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”

Some of the people who were standing there heard it and said, “This fellow’s calling Elijah!”

One of them ran at once and got a sponge. He filled it with vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave him a drink.

The others said, “Wait a bit. Let’s see if Elijah is going to come and rescue him!”

But Jesus shouted out loudly one more time, and then breathed his last breath.

At that instant the Temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks were split, and the tombs burst open. Many bodies of the sleeping holy ones were raised. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’s resurrection, and went into the holy city, where they appeared to many people.

When the centurion and the others with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that happened, they were scared out of their wits.

“He really was God’s son!” they said.

There were several women there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee, helping to look after his needs. They included Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

Can you even begin to picture this scene? Mass chaos. People shouting, screaming, weeping. Bits of scripture you have known all your life starting to piece themselves together. And then it happens: the magnitude of every hope, every fear, every dream, every anguish, every laugh, every tear, every birth, every death, every victory, every defeat of every individual from the beginning to the end of time being wrapped up in one cataclysmic moment on a rough and dirty cross. The King has been named.

Reading for Today: Matthew 27:1-32

Matthew 27:1-32

When dawn broke, all the chief priests and elders of the people held a council meeting about Jesus, in order to have him put to death. They tied him up, took him off, and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

Meanwhile Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned, and was filled with remorse. he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the high priests and elders.

“I’ve sinned!” he said. “I betrayed an innocent man, and now I’ve got his blood on my hands!”

“See if we care!” they replied. “Deal with it yourself.”

And he threw down the money in the Temple, and left, and went and hanged himself.

“Well now,” said the chief priests, picking up the money. “According to the law, we can’t put it into the Temple treasury. It’s the price of someone’s blood.”

So they had a discussion, and used it to buy the Potter’s Field, as a burial place for foreigners. (That’s why that field is called Blood Field, to this day.) Then the word that was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet came true:

They took the thirty pieces of silver,
The price of the one who was valued,
Valued by the children of Israel;
And they gave them for the potter’s field,
As the Lord instructed me.

So Jesus stood in front of the governor.

“Are you the king of the Jews?” the governor asked him.

“If you say so,” replied Jesus.

The chief priests and elders poured out their accusations against him, but he made no answer.

Then Pilate said to him, “Don’t you hear all this evidence they’re bringing against you?’

He gave him no answer, not even a word, which quite astonished the governor.

Now the governor had a custom. At festival-time he used to release one prisoner for the crowd, whoever they chose. Just then they had a famous prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. So when the people were all gathered there, Pilate said to them, “Who do you want me to release for you? Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus the so-called Messiah?” (He knew that they’d handed him over out of sheer envy.)

While he was presiding in the court, his wife sent a message to him.

“Don’t have anything to do with that man,” she said. “He’s innocent! I’ve had a really bad time today in a dream, all because of him.”

The high priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas, and to have Jesus killed. So when the governor came back to them again, and asked, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” they said, “Barabbas!”

“So what shall I do with Jesus the so-called Messiah?” asked Pilate.

“Let him be crucified!” they all said.

“Why?” asked Pilate. “What’s he done wrong?”

But they shouted all the louder, “Let him be crucified!”

Pilate saw that it was no good. In fact, there was a riot brewing. So he took some water and washed his hands in front of the crowd.

“I’m not guilty of this man’s blood,” he said. “It’s your problem.”

“Let his blood be on us!” answered all the people, “and on our children!”

Then Pilate released Barabbas for them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the barracks and gathered the whole regiment together. They took off his clothes and dressed him up in a scarlet military cloak. They wove a crown out of thorns and stuck it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. Then they knelt down in front of him.

“Greetings, king of the Jews!” they said, making fun of him.

They spat on him. They they took the reed and beat him about the head. When they had finished mocking him, they took of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes again, and led him off to crucify him.

As they were going out they found a man from Cyrene, called Simon. They forced him to carry Jesus’s cross.

Bystander Effect: a psycho-social phenomenon that occurs in groups of people where the more people that are present, the less likely an individual is to step-up in an emergency situation.

Herd (or mob) Mentality: an increased likelihood of being swept into a certain behavior by the group around one out of fear of being ostracized.
In the scripture above, very few individuals stepped up to aid an innocent man. Most of the people described engaged in the blood frenzy, crazed in the desire to so death handed out. We all like to think that we would be brave, courageous, righteous: that we would not be a part of the screaming crowd. And yet, we have all been guilty of this…going along with what is “accepted” without stopping to think, to pray, and to submit. Take time to talk with Jesus today: ask Him to reveal to you the times you have betrayed Him by letting yourself just be a part of the crowd.

Reading for Today: Matthew 26:57-75

Matthew 26:57-75

The people who had arrested Jesus took him off to Caiaphas the high priest. The scribes and elders had already gathered at his house. Peter, however, followed him at some distance, all the way to the high priest’s residence. He went in and sat with the servants, to see how things would work out.

The high priest and the whole council tried to produce false evidence against Jesus, to frame a capital charge and have him killed. But even though they brought in plenty of lying witnesses, they couldn’t find the evidence they wanted. Finally, two people came forward and declared: “This fellow said, ‘I can destroy God’s Temple and build it again in three days!’”

Then the high priest stood up.

“Aren’t you going to answer?” he said to him. “What are these people accusing your of?”

But Jesus remained silent.

Then the high priest said to him, “I put you on oath before the living God: tell us if you are the Messiah, God’s son!”

“You have said the words,” replied Jesus. “But let me tell you this: from now on you will see ‘the son of man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.’”

Then the high priest tore his robes.

“He’s blasphemed!” he said. “Why do we need any more witnesses? Look – you’ve heard this blasphemy, here and now! What’s your verdict?”

“He deserves to die,” they answered.

Then they spat in his face and hit him. Some of them slapped him, and said, “Prophecy for us, Mr. Messiah! Who was it who hit you?”

Meanwhile, Peter sat outside in the courtyard.

One of the servant-girls came up to him. “You were with Jesus the Galilean too, weren’t you?” she said.

He denied it in front of everyone.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

He went out to the gateway. Another girl saw him and said to the people who were there, “This fellow was with Jesus the Nazarene!”

Once more he denied it, this time swearing “I don’t know the man!”

After a little while the people standing around came up and said to Peter, “You really are one of them! Look – the way you talk makes it obvious!”

Then he began to curse and swear, “I don’t know the man!” And then, all at once, the cock crowed.

And Peter remembered.

He remembered the words Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.”

And he went outside and cried like a baby.
Two men. One softly tells the truth and suffers for it. The second lies repeatedly in order to save himself. Which one deserves to die? Which one did? Which one wept? What are the implications of this? Which one are you? Which one do you want to be?

Reading for Today: Matthew 26:36-56

Matthew 26:36-56

So Jesus went with them to the place called Gethsemane.

“You sit here,” he said to the disciples, “while I go over there and pray.”

He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him, and began to be very upset and distressed.

“My soul is overwhelmed with grief,” he said, “even to death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Then, going a little further on, he fell on his face and prayed.

“My father,” he said, “if it’s possible – please, please let this cup go away from me! But . . . not what I want, but what you want.”

He came back to the disciples and found them asleep.

“So,” he said to Peter, “couldn’t you keep watch with me for a single hour? Watch and pray so that you don’t get pulled down into the time of testing. The spirit is eager, but the body is weak.”

Again, for the second time, he went off and said, “My father, if it’s not possible for this to pass unless I drink it, let your will be done.”

Again he came and found them asleep; their eyes were heavy. Once more he left them and went away. He prayed for the third time, using the same words again. Then he came back to the disciples.

“You can sleep now,” he said, “and have a good rest! Look – the time has come, and the son of man is given over into the hands of wicked people! Get up and let’s be going. Look! Here comes the one who’s going to betray me!”

While Jesus was still speaking, there was Judas, one of the Twelve. He had come with a large crowd, with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. The one who was intending to betray him gave them a sign: “The one I kiss – that’s him! Grab hold of him!”

So he went up at once to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Teacher!” and kissed him.

“My friend,” said Jesus, “what have you come to do?”

Then they came and laid hands on Jesus, arrested him.

At that, one of the men with Jesus reached out his hand, drew his sword, and hit the high priest’s slave, cutting off his ear.

“Put your sword back where it belongs!” said Jesus to him. “People who use the sword die by the sword! Don’t you realize that I could call on my father and have him send me more than twelve legions of angels, just like that? But how then can the Bible come true when it says this has to happen?”

At that time Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you really come out with swords and sticks to arrest me, as if I were some kind of brigand? I sat there teaching in the Temple every day, and you didn’t arrest me! But all this has happened so that the writings of the prophets would be fulfilled.”

Then all the disciples abandoned him and ran away.

It is all too easy to think about Jesus in such a way that can sanitize Him, peaceful and accepting of the fact that He was going to die on the cross. This scripture makes it very clear that this is not the case. Jesus is God’s Son, but He was also a man, with very real fears and worries. He knew that it had to happen, He knew that it was the fulfillment of the story of the scriptures, but that doesn’t mean that it was easy for Him. How does the realization that He was a human, with feelings and emotions just like you, change the story of the crucifixion? What does this tell us about His prayers Gethsemane? How does this change the feeling of verses 52-54?

Meditate on this today: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Reading for Today: Matthew 26:14-35

Matthew 26:14-35

Then one of the Twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests.

“What will you give me,” he said, “to hand him over to you?’

They settled the deal with him at thirty pieces of silver. From that moment on, he was watching for an opportunity to hand him over.

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples said to Jesus, “Where do you want us to get the Passover ready for you to eat it?”

“Go into the city,” he said, “to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is very close. I’m going to keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’”

So the disciples did as Jesus had told them, and go the Passover ready.

When evening came, he settled down with the Twelve. As they were eating, he said, “I’m telling you the truth: one of you will betray me.” They were extremely upset, and began to say one by one, “It’s not me, is it, Master?”

“It’s one who’s dipped his hand with me in the dish,” Jesus replied. “That’s the one who will betray me. The son of man is on his way, as the Bible said it would happen, but it’s misery for the man who hands him over. It would be better for that man if he’d never been born.”

As this, Judas, who was planning to betray him, said, “It isn’t me, is it, Teacher?”

“You’ve just said so,” he replied.

As they were eating, Jesus took some bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples.

“Take it and eat it,” he said; “this is my body.”

Then he took a cup; and, after giving thanks, he gave it to them.

“Drink this, all of you,” he said. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. But let me tell you this: I will not drink any more from this fruit of the vine, until the day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my father.”

They sang a hymn, and went out to the Mount of Olives.

Then Jesus said to them, “You are all going to stumble and fall tonight because of me. This is what the Bible says, you see:

‘I shall strike the shepherd,
And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

“But after I am raised up, I shall go on ahead of you to Galilee.”

“Even if everyone else trips and falls,” said Peter in reply to him, “I’m never going to do that!”

“I’m telling you the truth,” said Jesus to him, “this very night, before the cock has crowed, you will deny me three times.”

“Even if I have to die with you,” said Peter to him, “I won’t ever deny you!”

And all the disciples said the same.

The Last Supper. Communion. The most important meal ever shared, and yet it comprises only four verses in the twenty-one verses that sandwich it with deceit, betrayal, fear, and warning. There are many things that can take away our attention from the power of our Lord, and most of those things are distractions that we let have more weight than they are worth even though those four verses are critical to the understanding of our identity as followers of Christ. They grace us with humility in the knowledge that we all have a hand in breaking His body, that we all take a part in spilling His blood, that we all are protected by the true Passover Lamb who has released us all from slavery. So, why is it so easy to let the little distractions (and the big ones) stand in our way of focusing on the implications of communion?

Reading for Today: Psalm 31:9-16

Psalm 31:9-16

Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in distress;
my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
my soul and body with grief.

My life is consumed by anguish
and my years by groaning;
my strength fails because of my affliction,
and my bones grow weak.

Because of all my enemies,
I am the utter contempt of my neighbors
and an object of dread to my closest friends—
those who see me on the street flee from me.

I am forgotten as though I were dead;
I have become like broken pottery.
For I hear many whispering,
“Terror on every side!”
They conspire against me
and plot to take my life.

But I trust in you, LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in your hands;
deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
from those who pursue me.

Let your face shine on your servant;
save me in your unfailing love.

Have you ever felt the way that the psalmist depicts in verses 9-13? Sometimes we feel that way because we have sinned or taken a misstep (in which case we should pray for forgiveness and change our ways), but sometimes we feel this way because God has called to walk a certain path that is holy, upright, and unpopular. Can you think of a time when you felt this way because you had made the right choice, the tough choice, and prayerfully followed Jesus’ direction? How did that feel? How did you stay on track?

Go back and read this passage as if it were Jesus praying, knowing He was about to be offered up for your sins. Taken in its entirety, what is the importance of verses 14-16? Even though Jesus is the Son of God, He still had to pray this prayer, to grow and refine His obedience. What does that mean for you when you hit a hard time? Does it mean you should cave in to what’s popular and easy, or does it mean hit your knees and pray for the strength, the faith, and the obedience to follow God’s directives?

Reading for Today: Matthew 26:14-27:66

Matthew 26:14-27:66

Then one of the Twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests.

“What will you give me,” he said, “to hand him over to you?’

They settled the deal with him at thirty pieces of silver. From that moment on, he was watching for an opportunity to hand him over.

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples said to Jesus, “Where do you want us to get the Passover ready for you to eat it?”

“Go into the city,” he said, “to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is very close. I’m going to keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’”

So the disciples did as Jesus had told them, and go the Passover ready.

When evening came, he settled down with the Twelve. As they were eating, he said, “I’m telling you the truth: one of you will betray me.” They were extremely upset, and began to say one by one, “It’s not me, is it, Master?”

“It’s one who’s dipped his hand with me in the dish,” Jesus replied. “That’s the one who will betray me. The son of man is on his way, as the Bible said it would happen, but it’s misery for the man who hands him over. It would be better for that man if he’d never been born.”

As this, Judas, who was planning to betray him, said, “It isn’t me, is it, Teacher?”

“You’ve just said so,” he replied.

As they were eating, Jesus took some bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples.

“Take it and eat it,” he said; “this is my body.”

Then he took a cup; and, after giving thanks, he gave it to them.

“Drink this, all of you,” he said. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. But let me tell you this: I will not drink any more from this fruit of the vine, until the day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my father.”

They sang a hymn, and went out to the Mount of Olives.

Then Jesus said to them, “You are all going to stumble and fall tonight because of me. This is what the Bible says, you see:

‘I shall strike the shepherd,
And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

“But after I am raised up, I shall go on ahead of you to Galilee.”

“Even if everyone else trips and falls,” said Peter in reply to him, “I’m never going to do that!”

“I’m telling you the truth,” said Jesus to him, “this very night, before the cock has crowed, you will deny me three times.”

“Even if I have to die with you,” said Peter to him, “I won’t ever deny you!”

And all the disciples said the same.

So Jesus went with them to the place called Gethsemane.

“You sit here,” he said to the disciples, “while I go over there and pray.”

He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him, and began to be very upset and distressed.

“My soul is overwhelmed with grief,” he said, “even to death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Then, going a little further on, he fell on his face and prayed.

“My father,” he said, “if it’s possible – please, please let this cup go away from me! But . . . not what I want, but what you want.”

He came back to the disciples and found them asleep.

“So,” he said to Peter, “couldn’t you keep watch with me for a single hour? Watch and pray so that you don’t get pulled down into the time of testing. The spirit is eager, but the body is weak.”

Again, for the second time, he went off and said, “My father, if it’s not possible for this to pass unless I drink it, let your will be done.”

Again he came and found them asleep; their eyes were heavy. Once more he left them and went away. He prayed for the third time, using the same words again. Then he came back to the disciples.

“You can sleep now,” he said, “and have a good rest! Look – the time has come, and the son of man is given over into the hands of wicked people! Get up and let’s be going. Look! Here comes the one who’s going to betray me!”

While Jesus was still speaking, there was Judas, one of the Twelve. He had come with a large crowd, with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. The one who was intending to betray him gave them a sign: “The one I kiss – that’s him! Grab hold of him!”

So he went up at once to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Teacher!” and kissed him.

“My friend,” said Jesus, “what have you come to do?”

Then they came and laid hands on Jesus, arrested him.

At that, one of the men with Jesus reached out his hand, drew his sword, and hit the high priest’s slave, cutting off his ear.

“Put your sword back where it belongs!” said Jesus to him. “People who use the sword die by the sword! Don’t you realize that I could call on my father and have him send me more than twelve legions of angels, just like that? But how then can the Bible come true when it says this has to happen?”

At that time Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you really come out with swords and sticks to arrest me, as if I were some kind of brigand? I sat there teaching in the Temple every day, and you didn’t arrest me! But all this has happened so that the writings of the prophets would be fulfilled.”

Then all the disciples abandoned him and ran away.

The people who had arrested Jesus took him off to Caiaphas the high priest. The scribes and elders had already gathered at his house. Peter, however, followed him at some distance, all the way to the high priest’s residence. He went in and sat with the servants, to see how things would work out.

The high priest and the whole council tried to produce false evidence against Jesus, to frame a capital charge and have him killed. But even though they brought in plenty of lying witnesses, they couldn’t find the evidence they wanted. Finally, two people came forward and declared: “This fellow said, ‘I can destroy God’s Temple and build it again in three days!’”

Then the high priest stood up.

“Aren’t you going to answer?” he said to him. “What are these people accusing your of?”

But Jesus remained silent.

Then the high priest said to him, “I put you on oath before the living God: tell us if you are the Messiah, God’s son!”

“You have said the words,” replied Jesus. “But let me tell you this: from now on you will see ‘the son of man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.’”

Then the high priest tore his robes.

“He’s blasphemed!” he said. “Why do we need any more witnesses? Look – you’ve heard this blasphemy, here and now! What’s your verdict?”

“He deserves to die,” they answered.

Then they spat in his face and hit him. Some of them slapped him, and said, “Prophecy for us, Mr. Messiah! Who was it who hit you?”

Meanwhile, Peter sat outside in the courtyard.

One of the servant-girls came up to him. “You were with Jesus the Galilean too, weren’t you?” she said.

He denied it in front of everyone.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

He went out to the gateway. Another girl saw him and said to the people who were there, “This fellow was with Jesus the Nazarene!”

Once more he denied it, this time swearing “I don’t know the man!”

After a little while the people standing around came up and said to Peter, “You really are one of them! Look – the way you talk makes it obvious!”

Then he began to curse and swear, “I don’t know the man!” And then, all at once, the cock crowed.

And Peter remembered.

He remembered the words Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.”

And he went outside and cried like a baby.

When dawn broke, all the chief priests and elders of the people held a council meeting about Jesus, in order to have him put to death. They tied him up, took him off, and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

Meanwhile Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned, and was filled with remorse. he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the high priests and elders.

“I’ve sinned!” he said. “I betrayed an innocent man, and now I’ve got his blood on my hands!”

“See if we care!” they replied. “Deal with it yourself.”

And he threw down the money in the Temple, and left, and went and hanged himself.

“Well now,” said the chief priests, picking up the money. “According to the law, we can’t put it into the Temple treasury. It’s the price of someone’s blood.”

So they had a discussion, and used it to buy the Potter’s Field, as a burial place for foreigners. (That’s why that field is called Blood Field, to this day.) Then the word that was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet came true:

They took the thirty pieces of silver,
The price of the one who was valued,
Valued by the children of Israel;
And they gave them for the potter’s field,
As the Lord instructed me.

So Jesus stood in front of the governor.

“Are you the king of the Jews?” the governor asked him.

“If you say so,” replied Jesus.

The chief priests and elders poured out their accusations against him, but he made no answer.

Then Pilate said to him, “Don’t you hear all this evidence they’re bringing against you?’

He gave him no answer, not even a word, which quite astonished the governor.

Now the governor had a custom. At festival-time he used to release one prisoner for the crowd, whoever they chose. Just then they had a famous prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. So when the people were all gathered there, Pilate said to them, “Who do you want me to release for you? Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus the so-called Messiah?” (He knew that they’d handed him over out of sheer envy.)

While he was presiding in the court, his wife sent a message to him.

“Don’t have anything to do with that man,” she said. “He’s innocent! I’ve had a really bad time today in a dream, all because of him.”

The high priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas, and to have Jesus killed. So when the governor came back to them again, and asked, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” they said, “Barabbas!”

“So what shall I do with Jesus the so-called Messiah?” asked Pilate.

“Let him be crucified!” they all said.

“Why?” asked Pilate. “What’s he done wrong?”

But they shouted all the louder, “Let him be crucified!”

Pilate saw that it was no good. In fact, there was a riot brewing. So he took some water and washed his hands in front of the crowd.

“I’m not guilty of this man’s blood,” he said. “It’s your problem.”

“Let his blood be on us!” answered all the people, “and on our children!”

Then Pilate released Barabbas for them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the barracks and gathered the whole regiment together. They took off his clothes and dressed him up in a scarlet military cloak. They wove a crown out of thorns and stuck it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. Then they knelt down in front of him.

“Greetings, king of the Jews!” they said, making fun of him.

They spat on him. They they took the reed and beat him about the head. When they had finished mocking him, they took of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes again, and led him off to crucify him.

As they were going out they found a man from Cyrene, called Simon. They forced him to carry Jesus’s cross.

When they came to the place called Golgotha which means Skull Place, they gave him a drink of wine mixed with bitter herbs. When he tasted it, he refused to drink it.

They they crucified him. They divided up his clothes by casting lots, and they sat down and kept watch over him there. And they placed the written charge above his head: “This is Jesus, the king of the Jews.”

Then they crucified two brigands alongside him, one on his right and one on his left.

The people who were going by shouted blasphemies at Jesus. They shook their heads at him.

“So!” they said. “You were going to destroy the Temple and build it in three days, were you? Save yourself, if you’re God’s son! Come down from the cross!”

The chief priests, too, and the scribes and the elders, mocked him.

“He rescued others,” they said, “but he can’t rescue himself! All right, so he’s the king of Israel! – well, let him come down from they cross right now, and then we’ll really believe that he is! He trusted in God; let God deliver him now, if he’s that keen on him – after all, he did say he was God’s son!”

The brigands who were crucified alongside him heaped insults on him as well.

From noon until mid-afternoon there was darkness over the whole land. About the middle of the afternoon Jesus shouted out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachtani” – which means, “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”

Some of the people who were standing there heard it and said, “This fellow’s calling Elijah!”

One of them ran at once and got a sponge. He filled it with vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave him a drink.

The others said, “Wait a bit. Let’s see if Elijah is going to come and rescue him!”

But Jesus shouted out loudly one more time, and then breathed his last breath.

At that instant the Temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks were split, and the tombs burst open. Many bodies of the sleeping holy ones were raised. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’s resurrection, and went into the holy city, where they appeared to many people.

When the centurion and the others with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that happened, they were scared out of their wits.

“He really was God’s son!” they said.

There were several women there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee, helping to look after his needs. They included Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

When evening came, a rich man from Arimathea arrived. He was called Joseph, and he too was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and requested the body of Jesus. Pilate gave the order that it should be given to him.

So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. He laid it in his own tomb, which he had carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a large stone across the doorway of the tomb and went away.

Mary Magdalene was there, and so was the other Mary. They were sitting opposite the tomb.

On the next day (that is, the day after Preparation Day), the chief priests and the Pharisees went as a group to Pilate.

“Sir,” they said, “when that deceiver was still alive, we recall that he said, ‘After three days, I’ll rise again.’ So please give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise his disciples might come and steal him away, and then tell the people, ‘He’s been raised from the dead!’ and so the last deception would be worst than the first.”

“You may have a guard,” said Pilate; “go and make it as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and putting a guard on watch.

I cried when I read this.

One question is echoed through this passage…”Surely you don’t mean me?” Yet this is a question that should resound with all of us, in two very different ways. And , ultimately, the answer to both is “yes”.

“Surely you don’t mean me?” Horrified, we ask and yet know the truth, when asking if it is us who will betray Jesus. “Yes, it is you.” We have all betrayed Him, in action, in thought, in feeling too many times to count. Let this idea settle. Mourn it. Weep for it. Ask forgiveness for it.

“Surely you don’t mean me?” Surrendered and exhausted, we ask and yet know the truth, when asking if it is now our turn to be sacrificed, abused, and poured out for His sake. “Yes, it is you.” When we made the decision to follow Jesus, we accepted this honor as well: to be crucified in order to save others. Let this idea settle, too.

Take some time to ask Jesus to forgive you for betrayal and for the strength to pick up His cross.

Reading for Today: Matthew 26:1-13

Matthew 26:1-13

When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, “In two days’ time, as you know, it’ll be Passover! That’s when the son of man will be handed over to be crucified.”

Then the chief priests got together with the elders of the people, in the official residence of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas. They plotted how to capture Jesus by some trick, and kill him.

“We’d better not try anything at the feast,” they said. “We don’t want the people to riot.”

While Jesus was at Bethany, in the house of Simon (known as “the Leper”), a woman came to him who had an alabaster vase of extremely valuable ointment. She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table.

When the disciples saw it, they were furious.

“What’s the point of all this waste?” they said. “This could have been sold for a fortune, and the money could have been given to the poor!”

Jesus knew what they were thinking.

“What make life difficult for the woman?” he said. “It’s a lovely thing, what she’s done for me. You always have the poor with you, don’t you? But you won’t always have me. When she poured this ointment on my body, you see, she did it to prepare me for my burial. I’m telling you the truth: wherever this gospel is announced in all the world, what she has just done will be told, and people will remember her.”

Yesterday, Jesus gave an illustration about His followers’ heart condition towards other people. Today, Jesus is making a proclamation about their heart condition towards Him. Why are Jesus’ disciples complaining? What does Jesus say about her actions?
Sometimes it is easy to focus only on serving others, and forget about worshiping Jesus. This can be problematic: serving others should be an outpouring of our worship. Neither one can or should exist without the other. We can’t really serve others with the heart the Jesus desires without worshiping Him first, and we can’t really worship Him with the heart He desires without serving others as a result. Do you find yourself leaning to one side of the dilemma? Take some time to ask Jesus to help you find a balance.