SO ALONE

Do you remember Jesus’ message to the owner of the Last Supper room?   “My time is at hand...”

Watch how in control Jesus is, how prophecy is fulfilled each step of the way, and how lonely He is... (Matt 26:30-45)

Jesus leads His disciples to the Mount of Olives where He will one day stand as ‘king over all the earth’, but first... there’s the garden of Gethsemane (Greek for oil-press) where He faces the unbearable dread of looming crucifixion.                                                                                     

They have all declared they would rather die than deny Him but Jesus knows better... He is SO ALONE.

“All of you shall be offended because of me this night”

By the way, did you notice all the 3’s?...                         

• Peter will deny Jesus 3 times before cock-crow.  Now that’s denial!
• “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will but as thou wilt”            3 times! That’s fervent prayer.
• Those privileged 3 disciples are found asleep 3 times. Guys, yeah why not sleep since nothing has happened...yet.   So that’s devotion??

Jesus has arranged the Passover room, chosen the venue for betrayal, and even planned His resurrection to then wait in Galilee. Yes, He is IN CONTROL.

The prophecy??...                 

“I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.”

So where has the betrayer Judas gone? – that familiar friend who Jesus trusted and who ate of His bread.                 

Let’s see if he has ‘lifted up his heel’ against Jesus. 

Maybe a kick in the guts?......NEXT

THE GREAT GIVER... & THE TAKER

Jesus is certainly in control...                                                    
“My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.”                                                      
How could you refuse? (Matt 26:17-30)

Notice that Matthew doesn’t tell us about the foot-washing or Jesus’ comforting words and prayer. They are all present and the focus is on...

“Surely, I’m telling you, one of you shall betray me...Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if he had not been born!”

Woah – that is one solemn warning.

The worried disciples all ask: “Is it I, Lord” - except for Judas Iscariote who calls Him ‘Rabbi’ – after taking the privileged sop!

“YOU SAID IT!”  

Jesus knows all, so He graciously warns His friend Judas. 

In fact it looks like Judas even stayed for Jesus to give of Himself to comfort them and us...

“Take eat, this is My body”...then: 
                    

“Drink you all of it...this is my blood”

(Did you know?... A  Jewish custom was to take your loaf of bread and skin of wine around to folks to comfort them after a death in the family.)

Yes, Judas is the taker – whatever he can get his hands on - but Jesus is the great Giver, the Giver of Himself.

WHO'S IN CONTROL HERE?

Two days before Passover...                                       

The lambs are being scrutinized for defects – are they good enough for all those international visitors?(Matt 26:1-16)   

One visitor is certain of this much... 

“The Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified”                                           

Jesus, with universal authority as Son of Man, faces a Roman execution?? His disciples would think Him mad saying this!

Giving hands

Notice the stark contrasts here...

• Where are the chief priests, scribes and elders?  In a palace!    Where is Jesus?  In the house of a leper.
• Caiaphas the high priest leads a plot to kill Jesus - just not at the feast.  A nameless woman comes to honour Jesus.                                                         
• The ointment for Jesus’ burial is very precious. His disciples claim the poor are more worthy!                                                                               

Greedy hands

Now Judas Iscariote agrees to betray Jesus for 30 lousy pieces of silver – the price of a slave!

Yes, Jesus has deliberately come back to Jerusalem to be crucified like a criminal, He’s just been anointed for burial and now there’s a small price on His head, just as prophesied centuries earlier.                                                                                                          

So, who really is in control here?                                

Will Jesus really be crucified at Passover?

THIS KING MEANS BUSINESS!

Finally the Son of Man has come and sits on His throne of glory with all nations gathered before him.  (Matt 25:31-46)    

How will He judge them? Will the nations be judged as a whole or as individuals?  

The short answer is – I don’t know.  Let’s wait and see!             

We once ran merino sheep with cashmere goats and the best way to separate them was to force them into a corner – the sheep would escape to one side and the goats to the other. Maybe the nations will have been under so much pressure during the Tribulation that it will be obvious which ones have cared for the faithful Jewish witnesses.  

Haven’t we seen somewhat of a rehearsal of this during the last century?                     

Germany was torn apart after exterminating 6 million Jews, while nations like U.S.A. have prospered after giving Jews refuge. The British Empire and U.S.S.R. persecuted the Jews and are now just a distant memory.  

What we can be sure of is that the stakes are high:                
Eternal life or... eternal punishment! - everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Yes, hell is real. This King means business!

WATCH!!

Jesus the Messiah has used ~550 words telling His disciples what’s going to happen in the End Times...             

• Beginning of the end                             
• Tribulation, then...                                      
• Great Tribulation                                          
• Second Coming

...then another 206 words for those who will live to see these events. The Olivet Discourse sure seems done and dusted with 756 words in total.                                             

Hang on...there’s more...much more!  (Matt 24:43 – 25:30)      

Now Jesus will speak... 

over 800 words of warning!

Pay attention guys, to these 3 parables because there’s a day of reckoning coming and the Messiah means business - there’s going to be ‘cutting in two’, weeping, gnashing of teeth, darkness, doors getting slammed shut... even eternal punishment!               

He comes as...                                                       

• the Master of the house             
• the Bridegroom, and...                                     
• the Man of business

Maybe we should be diligent, with lamps trimmed and using those rich talents He has given us ...WATCHING so closely, as if a thief was about to break in and steal!

Jesus still hasn’t finished yet... Finally He comes as King. (NEXT)

AS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH

The disciples have asked Jesus:                                    

“What will be the sign of your coming?”

Yes, the generation - alive today - that sees Israel revive after 14^th May 1948... WILL see a sign that the Messiah is coming.  (Matt 24:36-42)                           

Whatever will it be?

People will be carrying on with their lives – eating, drinking, going to weddings...all of a sudden...some people will disappear!                                                

Yes, it will be very decisive - some will be taken, while others will be left behind.                                                                    

Come aboard!

It is often claimed that those taken away will be headed for judgment but hang on a minute...  
In the example Jesus gave, who was taken away in the ark?...Noah and his family – after being invited by God to come into the ark.                                                                                                  

Who was left behind in the Great Flood?...those for judgment!                                                                                             

Left behind!

(Even the Greek words used support this...                             
‘Taken’ comes from paralambano: to take alongside to oneself; whereas ‘left’ comes from ‘aphiemi’: abandon/forsake)

It will be the disappearance of many people that will alert this generation that Jesus Christ comes soon.                 

“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world...”                                                        

If you must fit the Church into Matthew 24, this is where – the miraculous rapture. 

Blink and it’s history!

THE FIGTREE REVIVES!

The Messiah now changes tack to give his disciples a bonus – even telling them who will see that Great Tribulation!...(Matt 24:32-36)

Does He tell them they will see it in their lifetime?                No, He certainly does not.                                                   These disciples never saw the Great Tribulation (as Preterists claim) not even in 70AD, nor did they see the Son of Man return in glory.

Early that morning Jesus had cursed a fig-tree for not offering early fruit:                                                                 

“Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth for ever!”

The disciples would remember this refers to Hosea’s prophecy: “I saw your fathers as the first-ripe in the fig-tree at her first time...”  
(the fig-tree symbolizing peace and prosperity)

He has come to the temple and been rejected by the elders – there is no fruit because Judaism has become dead. It will however try to revive!

“Now learn...”    Learn what?                                                  
The generation that sees the fig-tree show signs of reviving by putting forth leaves will see it – the Tribulation, even the Great Tribulation and finally... ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory’.

When did Israel begin to revive?

70 years ago, on 14^th May 1948 – after 1878 years!

Yes...

“It is near, even at the doors”.

What else will they see to signal the coming of the Messiah?...NEXT!