Holy Week
Sunday

• Jesus enters into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday)
• Zechariah 9:9 - Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!

Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem!
Look, your King is coming to you;
he is righteous and victorious,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey. [1]
Monday

• Jesus clears the temple
• Matthew 21:12-13 - Jesus went into the temple and threw out all those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. 13 He said to them, “It is written, my house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of thieves!”[2]

Tuesday

• Jesus delivers the Olivet Discourse at the Mt. of Olives with His disciples.
• Matthew 21:23 – 24:51.

Wednesday

• No record in the Scripture

Thursday

• Jesus told Peter and John to go and prepare for the Passover Meal.

 
“Thank You Jesus for the Blood” –            Charity Gayle


THE LORD’S SUPPER
MATTHEW 26
26 As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take and eat it; this is my body.” 27 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”[3]

• They left singing and went to the Garden of Gethsemane
• Jesus asked them stay awake and pray with him three times.
• Matthew 26:39 - Going a little farther, he fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.[4]
• Judas came and betrayed Jesus with a kiss.
• The religious mob arrested Jesus.
• Peter cut off the High Priest’s servant's ear.
• Jesus healed the ear.
• The disciples scattered.
• Jesus’s trial with the Sanhedrin took place in the early morning hours.
• Peter denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed.

Friday

• Before 9 AM (third hour), Jesus had been through trials and sentenced to death on the cross.
• As He was led away, He was mocked, spit on, beaten and had a crown of thorns placed on His head.
• He was mocked as Roman soldiers nailed Him to the cross and hung between two thieves.
• Jesus gave seven statements on the cross.
• The first was, Luke 23:34 - Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.”[5]
• On the 9th hour (3 PM), Jesus breathed His last and died.
• No bones were broken, as was prophesied.
• By 6 PM, Jesus was taken down and placed in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb before sundown.

 
“At this point, I am going to ask that you sit in silence for just a minute. There is no reason for you to be alarmed, trust me. But I would like to speak with our safety team in the parking lot right now. There is nothing to worry about.”
 
Saturday – The Day with No Name

• What were you experiencing in the room while I was gone?
• What were the disciples experiencing on that day?
• The crowds are gone.
• Their minds and hearts were numb.
• And they were not sure what’s next.
• Do you ever feel like you are living in the day with no name?
• You’re just waiting…
• While the whole time life is going on around you.
• Matthew 27:62-66 - The next day, which followed the preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that while this deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come, steal him, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”
• 65 “You have a guard of soldiers,” Pilate told them. “Go and make it as secure as you know how.” 66 They went and secured the tomb by setting a seal on the stone and placing the guards.[6]

 
Sunday

• Early Sunday morning, several women (Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Salome, and Mary the mother of James) went to the tomb and discovered that the large stone covering the entrance had been rolled away. An angel announced:
• Matthew 28:5-7 - The angel told the women, “Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there.’ Listen, I have told you.”[7]
• Jesus appeared to the disciples.

Matthew 28:16-20 - The eleven disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted. 18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”[8]

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Zec 9:9.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Mt 21:12–13.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Mt 26:26–28.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Mt 26:39.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Lk 23:34.
[6] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Mt 27:62–66.
[7] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Mt 28:5–7.
[8] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Mt 28:16–20.

Jesus toyed with Pharisees about death & life
 
John 8:51-59
51 Truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
52 Then the Jews said, “Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died. Who do you claim to be?”
54 “If I glorify myself,” Jesus answered, “my glory is nothing. My Father—about whom you say, ‘He is our God’—he is the one who glorifies me. 55 You do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57 The Jews replied, “You aren’t fifty years old yet, and you’ve seen Abraham?”
58 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”
59 So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple. [1]

• We have always been fascinated with death & the afterlife.
• Death Education Class in China
• “Heaven is For Real”
• In all created things God has created this incredible symphony.

 
1 Corinthians 15:35–58 (NLT)
The Resurrection Body
35 But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” 36 What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. 37 And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. 38 Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. 39 Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
40 There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. 41 The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.
42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. 43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
45 The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. 46 What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. 47 Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. 48 Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. 49 Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.
50 What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.
51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.[2]

• It’s important to remember that resurrection after death was not a new idea:
• In the Fall, leaves drop from the trees and the plants die. They turn brown, wither, and lose their life.
• They remain that way for the winter – dormant, dead and lifeless.
• And then Spring comes, and they burst into life again. Growing, sprouting, producing new leaves and buds.
• For there to be Spring, there has to be Fall and Winter. For nature to spring to life it first must die.
• Death then resurrection.
• It’s true across our environment with ecosystems, food chains and seasons.

"The death of one living thing for the life of another." (Circle of Life)
What are some examples of death leading to life?

• Genesis – Produce from the trees – Died.
• (Death entered the world.
• Adam & Eve’s spirits died.
• Animal was the first sacrifice.
• Skin cells die and flake off daily and after 30 days we have a new skin.
• Firemen at 9-11
• Now these oranges were originally alive; they were connected to the tree which has its roots in the soil.
• They grew from the earth.
• They were once all receiving nutrients from the earth, but then they were harvested, thrown on a truck, brought to the farmer’s market, and eventually ended up in our kitchen.
• When they were harvested, they were severed from the tree, they were pulled from the soil, they were disconnected from their life source, and they were brought to us so that we could eat them.

 

• And if we don’t eat, we don’t live.
• This food …this dead food …gives us life,
• The more recently food has been living the more life it gives us. Fresh food is better for us.

John 12:24 - Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.[3]

• Jesus teaches us how to die so that we can really live.
• Jesus invites parts of us to die to our flesh.
• This is what holds us back from living – like the part of us that constantly tries to make ourselves look good, or the part of us that always has to be right, or the part of us that always has to be better than others, or the part of us that always tries to look like we have it together.

 
What Jesus is teaching with the use of the metaphor is that we must undergo a process of transformation ...a change from death to life.

Admittedly, we resist the process. It is hard to give up our agendas, our objectives, our aspirations, our interests—our ego. Yet this is what we have been called to: the new life of Christ in us. That is a marvelous exchange!

• In our dying, Christ is alive within us.
• In our brokenness Christ is seen clearly. The way to fullness is brokenness; the way to life is by death.

Two points seem unmistakably clear to me here: the first is that this is hard; the second is that this is glorious.

• We don’t need to miss either of these. If we only see the hard part, we will miss the power and the freedom.
• If we only see the glorious part, we will minimize the sacrifice.
• The seed must die. ―Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it cannot bear any fruit.

 
Jesus refers here to his own impending death and resurrection. Jesus makes a promise.

• His death will result in life, not only for his crucified body, but for all humankind.
• I hope we all understand the truth Jesus is sharing: our hope for life is in his death, burial, and resurrection.
• To receive God’s free gift of eternal life, we must die to our own efforts to earn or control our destiny and put ourselves totally in Jesus’ hands.

 
In Luke 9:23 Jesus says, ― “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.”[4]

• Denying ourselves is dying to self.
• What we allow to die in our lives
• We’re invited to trust Jesus because we’ve been told we can never do it alone.
• But some people refuse to die.
• They relentlessly cling to their egos and false selves and keep propping up that version of themselves that they think is desirable, and trust in their own efforts to accomplish this somehow, someday.

 
Is this you holding on to your life so tightly that you are actually losing it? And you can’t really experience it?
 
“All men die… Not all men really live.” – William Wallace
 
Trying to kill the flesh through our flesh always fails!

• Truly dying to self means saying no to the flesh and its attempts to decide what's good for us apart from God. 
• It means coming under the authority of God's Word and submitting to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 
• The Holy Spirit is the one who leads us down the path of death to self-rule. 
• As we entrust ourselves to Jesus, the Spirit enables us more and more to die to self and live to Christ. – (Jeff Pokone)

 
In a supreme act of faith, a farmer opens his hands and drops his seed into the earth.

• It lies there dead and buried, and he waits throughout the long winter for some sign that there will be a crop in the spring.
• Scientists cannot explain this mystery.
• A dead seed lies buried in the soil for weeks.
• And then, defying all logic, it comes alive.

We want to control everything.

• The problem with this picture is that it is not about living …it may be about existing, but it is hardly the abundant life that Jesus said he had come to bring.
• May we remember that if we die to self …if we die with Christ …we will also be raised to new life in Christ …that death leads to life.

 
Our Lord's cross is the gateway into His life.

• The tomb was the beginning... Not the end.
  
  

1 Corinthians 15:26 - 26 The last enemy to be abolished is death.[5]
 
Oswald Chambers - The Cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous collision and where the way to life was opened. But all the cost and pain of the collision was absorbed by the heart of God.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Jn 8:51–59). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (1 Co 15:35–58). Tyndale House Publishers
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Jn 12:24). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Lk 9:23). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (1 Co 15:26). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

THE DEATH OF JESUS
Matthew 27:45 – 28:10
45 From noon until three in the afternoon, darkness came over the whole land., 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Elí, Elí, lemá sabachtháni?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling for Elijah.”
48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and offered him a drink. 49 But the rest said, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
50 But Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit. 51 Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs were also opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 53 And they came out of the tombs after his resurrection, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.
54 When the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
55 Many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and looked after him were there, watching from a distance. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
 
THE BURIAL OF JESUS
57 When it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph came, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. 58 He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body. Then Pilate ordered that it be released. 59 So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in clean, fine linen, 60 and placed it in his new tomb, which he had cut into the rock. He left after rolling a great stone against the entrance of the tomb. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were seated there, facing the tomb.
 
THE CLOSELY GUARDED TOMB
62 The next day, which followed the preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that while this deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give orders that the tomb be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come, steal him, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”
65 “You have a guard of soldiers,” Pilate told them. “Go and make it as secure as you know how.” 66 They went and secured the tomb by setting a seal on the stone and placing the guards.
 
RESURRECTION MORNING
Matthew 28
1 After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, because an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and approached the tomb. He rolled back the stone and was sitting on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. 4 The guards were so shaken by fear of him that they became like dead men.
5 The angel told the women, “Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there.’ Listen, I have told you.”
8 So, departing quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, they ran to tell his disciples the news. 9 Just then Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They came up, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus told them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”[1]
 
Video – Israel ‘22
 

• One of my favorite times of the year is spring.
• I love that feeling of the stirrings of new life that arises when first the tiniest spring flowers like snowdrops or aconites fight their way through the winter frosts, to be followed by crocuses, daffodils and apple blossom.
• There is something in the human psyche that responds to new life.
• In some ways, the resurrection of Jesus chimes in with this response to new life.
• Just as spring flowers intimate that winter is passing and summer is round the corner, so also Jesus’ resurrection points us to the fact that the old order is passing and new creation is just about to happen.
• The major difference between their rising to new life and Jesus’ rising is that their new life is cyclical, interwoven with death, whereas Jesus’ is not. Jesus rose to new life and will never die again.
• The difference between what happened to Jesus and what happened to Lazarus is vast because just like the spring flowers Lazarus died again, and awaits another resurrection.
• Jesus did not die again, nor ever will; Jesus rose not to the same life—as Lazarus did—but to a different life in which death no longer features.
• Technically, what happened to Lazarus was not resurrection (rising to a new eternal life) but revivification (rising to a renewed old life).
• Jesus’ resurrection is more than just that he was dead and now is alive, since this could be said of Lazarus and many others who were miraculously raised in the Bible.
• What is ‘more’ about Jesus’ resurrection is that he will never die again.
• Jesus had risen from the dead but no one else had; Jesus had risen from the dead but the world was, apparently, no different from the way it had been before: the Romans still occupied Palestine, the poor were still poor, Israel still down-trodden.[2]

 

• There are 3 groups of people at Pinheads today:
  1) Those who are just curious about what is happening here… on an Easter Sunday Morning.
  2) Those who don’t believe in resurrection.
  3) Those who do believe in resurrection.
• Have you ever given thought to the idea that what separates you from the rest of the world is your belief in the idea of resurrection?
• We have almost worked our way through the history of the New Testament Church in the Bible.
• Paul is imprisoned and being sent to Rome, for what reason?
• Simply because he believes in the resurrection of Jesus and is telling people about this great news.

 

• Belief in the resurrection is an act of rebellion against the evil, corruption and oppression that can so easily swamp us.
• Believing in the resurrection can be a refusal to accept that the world is as it is, that it can never change and that we must accept it simply as it is.
• Believing in the resurrection can and should transform not only how we view the world, but how we live in it.
• We naturally become people in whom others can see new life, and people who introduce that new life wherever the world is stifling and life-denying.
• Resurrection makes a difference not only to Jesus and the earliest disciples but also to us, as we live out our lives day by day.[3]

 

• Jesus’ resurrection points us to a new way of looking at the world, a new way of being that changes who we are and how we live in the world.
• The only way to escape from our identity in Adam was by dying.
• When Jesus died, he made a way of escaping from identity in Adam, and by rising again he opened up a new identity, a Christ identity shaped, not by Adam and who he was, but by Christ and who he was.
• Our baptism marks that pattern of dying and rising with Christ which allows us a new corporate identity now infected, not with Adam’s imperfections, but with Christ’s perfections.
• You have to believe in resurrection because you have been resurrected!
• Galatians 2:20-21 - I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.[4]
• We talk about identity in Christ every week here at Pinheads. Why is that so important?
• Everything about who we are, what we think and what we do is now infected with Christ and, as a result, our lives should be entirely transformed.[5]
• But at the same time, there is an evil in this world that wants to tell us a different story/narrative.
• And for some reason, no matter how many times you keep hearing that we are new creation, we keep coming back to the idea that is a great message but I just don’t “feel” it right now.
• That is because it is not a “feeling”.
• You being a new creation, is a reality based upon Truth.
• I will spend the rest of my days reminding you about the Truth of you who you really are.

 

• Resurrection is not complete, however, without the ascension and Pentecost.
• The death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus and the sending of the Holy Spirit all come together as a seamless whole.
• The resurrection offers us transformation in Christ, the ascension gives us the motivation to act and Pentecost the ability to do it.
• The reason why the ascension was vital was that if the risen Christ had not ascended into heaven and was still on earth proclaiming the good news, healing the sick and befriending the poor and oppressed, then most of us would leave this work to him.
• We would become passive recipients of his ministry rather than active proclaimers of his message.
• After the resurrection, once they had grasped what had happened to Jesus, the disciples were in danger of slipping back into their previous form of existence.
• What they most needed was a vacuum, and this is what the ascension provided, a space that could only be filled if they picked up the challenge and took it on.
• The sending of the Spirit gave them the ability to do what otherwise they were incapable of doing.
• Filled with the Spirit they were able to comprehend the significance of the resurrection and to understand that Jesus’ ascension and command to proclaim the gospel sent them out into the world but, most important of all, the Spirit gave them the ability to do as Jesus commanded.
• Beyond their human limitations, fears and anxieties, the Spirit-filled disciples were at last able to do all that Jesus asked.

 

• Some people understand ‘living the resurrection’ to mean that we should be constantly (and, in my view, irritatingly) cheerful, whatever the ups and downs of life.
• This is far from the experience of the New Testament writers, who spoke often of real sufferings as a result of their life in Christ.
• What it really means is that we enter the hard times with our feet firmly planted on the rock, our souls anchored in the hope that Christ brings.
• This does not mean a lack of suffering or even that we do not feel suffering as much as others.
• To believe in resurrection is to believe that death is not all powerful, that beyond despair there is hope or, as Paul puts it…[6]
• Romans 8:37-39 - No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.[7]

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Mt 27:45–28:10). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Gooder, P. (2015). This Risen Existence: The Spirit of Easter (p. 5). Fortress Press.
[3] Gooder, P. (2015). This Risen Existence: The Spirit of Easter (p. 7). Fortress Press.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Ga 2:20–21). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Gooder, P. (2015). This Risen Existence: The Spirit of Easter (p. 14). Fortress Press.
[6] Gooder, P. (2015). This Risen Existence: The Spirit of Easter (p. 17). Fortress Press.
[7] Christian Standard Bible (Ro 8:37–39). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

What is in the bottle?
We can clearly see the bottle and describe the bottle. But we struggle with knowing what is inside the bottle.
 
So it was and is with the Lord’s humanity. Men saw him tired, hungry, suffering, weeping, and thought he was only man. He was made in the likeness of men.
Yet He is divinely God over all, blessed forever. We have to taste and see that the Lord is good.
------------------------------------------------------------
Dogs are man’s best friends, so let’s assume that the dogs in your town have developed a problem that has them in deep distress and that only you can provide the help they need.
 
If it would help all the dogs to become more like men, would you be willing to become a dog? Would you put down your human nature, family, job, hobbies, and all else and choose—instead of intimate communion with your beloved—the poor substitute of looking into the beloved’s face and wagging your tail, unable to smile or speak?
 
When Christ became a man through the incarnation, he voluntarily limited what to him was the most precious thing in the world: unhampered, unhindered communion with the Father.[1]
 
Humanity of Jesus
Philippians 2:8 - He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.[2]
seen in

• 1) His birth
  • Galatians 4:4 - When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, [3];
  • Luke 2:7 - Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.[4]
  • John 1:46 - “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him. [5]
  • Hebrews 2:9 - But we do see Jesus--made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace he might taste death for everyone--crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death.[6]
• 2) His circumstances
  • Carpenter’s son
  • No home
  • Loved by some and hated by some
• 3) his reputation
  • Isaiah 53:2-9 – He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him.
    • He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him.
    • Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
    • But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.
    • We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.
    • He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth.
    • He was taken away because of oppression and judgment, and who considered his fate?

For he was cut off from the land of the living;
he was struck because of my people’ rebellion.

• He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death, because he had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully.[7]
  • Matthew 26:59 - The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to death,[8]
  • Matthew 26:67-68 - Then they spat in his face and beat him; others slapped him 68 and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah! Who was it that hit you?” [9]

• 4) His soul
  • Matthew 4:1–2 - Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.[10]
  • Luke 22:44 - Being in anguish, he prayed more fervently, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.[11]
  • Hebrews 2:17-18 - Therefore, he had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in matters pertaining to God, to make atonement, for the sins of the people. 18 For since he himself has suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted. [12]

Hebrews 4:15 - For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.[13]

• 5) His death
  • Luke 23
  • John 19
  • Mark 15:24-25 - Then they crucified him and divided his clothes, casting lots for them to decide what each would get. 25 Now it was nine in the morning when they crucified him.[14]
• 6) and His burial
  • Isaiah 53:9 - He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death, because he had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully.[15]
  • Matthew 27:57-60 - When it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph came, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. 58 He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body. Then Pilate ordered that it be released. 59 So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in clean, fine linen, 60 and placed it in his new tomb, which he had cut into the rock. He left after rolling a great stone against the entrance of the tomb.[16]

His humiliation was necessary

• 1) to execute the purpose of God
  • Acts 2:23-24 - Though he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him. 24 God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death.[17]
• 2) fulfil the Old Testament types and prophecies
  • These cannot all come to pass by chance.
  • In 1969, Professor Peter Stoner took eight of those prophecies, eight of them...born in Bethlehem, preceded by a messenger, riding on a donkey, betrayed by a friend, sold for 30 pieces of silver, money used to buy a potter's field, silent as a lamb, hands and feet pieced.
  • Had his math students do a study of the science of probability. They came up with one chance in ten to the seventeenth power...that's one chance in ten with seventeen zeroes after it.
  • And interestingly enough, some years later his grandson went back to the problem and decided it was actually ten to the eighteenth power. I'm not sure where that distinction lies.
  • Cover Texas with silver dollars... have a blind man pick 1 pre-marked silver dollar out of the whole bunch.
• 3) satisfy the law in the room of the guilty and procure for them eternal redemption,
  • Hebrews 9:12, 15 - He entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption…
    • Therefore, he is the mediator of a new covenant,, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.[18]
• 4) and to show us an example.

 
Issues prevalent today:

• Acceptance
• Stress/Anxiety/Depression
  • Serious mental stress is a fact of life for many Americans.
  • Seven-in-ten teens say anxiety and depression are major problems among their peers
• Alcohol & Drugs
• Sexual Activity
• Cyber Addiction (Social Networking)
• Bullying & Cyberbullying
• Peer Pressure
• Desensitization
• Poverty
• Disrespect/Defiant Behaviors
• Trust
• Motivation

 
Divinity of Jesus
Birth

• Luke 1:35 - The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.[19]

 
Ministry through miracles – Works of God done by Christ

• Minimum 37 miracles in the Gospels.
• 3 Messianic miracles:
  • Healing a Jewish leper
  • Casting out demons from a mute
  • Healing of man that was born blind

 
Jesus forgave sins

• Matthew 9:1-7 - So he got into a boat, crossed over, and came to his own town. 2 Just then some men brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. Seeing their faith, Jesus told the paralytic, “Have courage, son, your sins are forgiven.”
• 3 At this, some of the scribes said to themselves, “He’s blaspheming!”
• 4 Perceiving their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts? 5 For which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then he told the paralytic, “Get up, take your stretcher, and go home.” 7 So he got up and went home. 8 When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and gave glory to God, who had given such authority to men. [20]

 
Sacrifice for forgiveness

• Hebrews 9:24-26 - For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands (only a model of the true one) but into heaven itself, so that he might now appear in the presence of God for us. 25 He did not do this to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the sanctuary yearly with the blood of another. 26 Otherwise, he would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared one time, at the end of the ages, for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself.[21]
• Hebrew 10:10-14 - 10 By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.
• 11 Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins. 12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God., 13 He is now waiting until his enemies are made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified.[22]

 
Claimed the Ability to Give Rest to Anyone

• Matthew 11:28 - “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”[23]

 
Resurrection
 - Acts 1:3-8 – 3 After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
THE HOLY SPIRIT PROMISED
4 While he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.”
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”[24]
 
Promise of His return

• John 1:1-3 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.[25]
• Colossians 1:15-20 – 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
• For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--

all things have been created through him and for him.

• He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.
• He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.
• For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross[26]

• Matthew 12:38-42 - Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”
• He answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish, three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah’s preaching; and look—something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and look—something greater than Solomon is here. [27]
• Philippians 2:5-11 - Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.
•   The word “form” means “the outward expression of the inward nature.” This means that in eternity past, Jesus Christ was God. In fact, Paul states that He was “equal with God.”[28]
• Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, 8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.
• For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth--11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.[29]

 
You can clearly see through history that Jesus was real.

• Jesus’ humanity is recorded in history
• Even the deity of Jesus has been recorded (His birth, ministry, death, burial and resurrection)
• But with all that proof… it still takes faith.
• Faith to believe that Jesus is the Messiah.

[1] Green, M. P. (Ed.). (1989). Illustrations for Biblical Preaching: Over 1500 sermon illustrations arranged by topic and indexed exhaustively (Revised edition of: The expositor’s illustration file). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Php 2:8). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ga 4:4). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Lk 2:7). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Jn 1:46). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Heb 2:9). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Is 53:2-9). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 26:59). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[9] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 26:67-68). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[10] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 4:1–2). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[11] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Lk 22:44). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[12] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Heb 2:17–18). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[13] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Heb 4:15). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[14] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mk 15:23–25). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[15] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Is 53:9). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[16] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 27:57–60). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[17] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ac 2:23–24). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[18] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Heb 9:12,15). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[19] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Lk 1:35). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[20] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 9:1–8). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[21] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Heb 9:24–26). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[22] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Heb 10:10–14). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[23] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 11:28–30). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[24] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ac 1:3–8). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[25] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Jn 1:1–5). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[26] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Col 1:15–20). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[27] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mt 12:38–42). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[28] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 74). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[29] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Php 2:5–11). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

John 12
ISAIAH’S PROPHECIES FULFILLED
37 Even though he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him.

• All 3 Messianic miracles had been performed and He even raised Lazarus from the dead.

38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet, who said:
Lord, who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord
been revealed? (Isaiah 53:1)
39 This is why they were unable to believe, because Isaiah also said:
40 He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their hearts,
so that they would not see with their eyes
or understand with their hearts,
and turn,
and I would heal them.

• Hardened – God gave man free will.
• Once man has made a decision, God will give them strength to follow that decision.
• God knows in advance who will repent and who will not.
• Luke 7:30 - 30 But since the Pharisees and experts in the law had not been baptized by him, they rejected the plan of God for themselves.[1]

41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke about him.
42 Nevertheless, many did believe in him even among the rulers, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, so that they would not be banned from the synagogue. 43 For they loved human praise more than praise from God.

• There were those who would not believe, and there were those who would not openly confess Christ even though they had believed.
• Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea belonged to this group initially, but eventually came out openly in their confession of Christ (John 19:38ff).
• In the early church, there were numbers of Pharisees (Acts 15:5) and even priests (Acts 6:7).
• It was the old struggle between the glory of God and the praise of men (John 12:25–26).
• It was a costly thing to be excommunicated (John 9:22), and these “secret believers” wanted the best of both worlds.[2]

 
A SUMMARY OF JESUS’S MISSION
44 Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me. 45 And the one who sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.

• Jesus’ purpose was to save… not judge… but judgment does come.

48 The one who rejects me and doesn’t receive my sayings has this as his judge: The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

• By rejecting Jesus (and the Word), the “sinner” is actually passing judgment on himself.
• Great White Throne Judgment

49 For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said. 50 I know that his command is eternal life.

• Contradiction with John 5:39 - 39 You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me.[3]
• Difference between Logos and Rhema (words and revelation)
• Romans 10:17 - 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.[4]

So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.”[5]

• Jesus spoke Rhema.

 
Matthew 21:19b-22
19 Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, he went up to it and found nothing on it except leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” At once the fig tree withered.
20 When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and said, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”
21 Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you tell this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. 22 And if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” [6]
 
Mark 11:19-26
19 Whenever evening came, they would go out of the city.

• Pictures of Fig Tree

THE BARREN FIG TREE IS WITHERED
20 Early in the morning (Tuesday – 11th of Nisan), as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 21 Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
22 Jesus replied to them, “Have faith in God.

• Faith doesn’t come from what you “know”
• Faith comes from what God “reveals” to you.

23 Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for—believe that you have received it and it will be yours.

• What is a mountain?

25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.”[7]
[26 But if you don’t forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your wrongdoing.]”

• It could have been accidentally omitted as a result of a copyist skipping from the words “your sins” at the end of v. 25 to the same words at the end of v. 26, but more likely it was added under the influence of Matt 6:15[8]
• Our forgiving spirit is one evidence that our hearts are right with God and that we want to obey His will, and this makes it possible for the Father to hear us and to answer prayer (Ps. 66:18).
• Faith works by love (Gal. 5:6 - 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.[9])
• If I have faith in God, I will also have love for my brother[10]
• Bob Warren Basketball Card
• Romans 10:17 - 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.[11]​
• Friday Night we were talking about taking the Lord’s Supper and asking for forgiveness before we partook.
• Forgiveness of others is something we do ongoing as believers.
• God doesn’t continually forgive us each time we ask for forgiveness.
• Hebrews 9:22 - 22 According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.[12]
• We do not earn God’s forgiveness by forgiving one another.
• Hebrews 10:3-18 - 3 But in the sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
• Therefore, as he was coming into the world, he said:

You did not desire sacrifice and offering,
but you prepared a body for me.

• You did not delight

in whole burnt offerings and sin offerings.

• Then I said, “See--

it is written about me
in the scroll--
I have come to do your will, O God.”

• After he says above, You did not desire or delight in sacrifices and offerings, whole burnt offerings and sin offerings (which are offered according to the law), 9 he then says, See, I have come to do your will. He takes away the first to establish the second. 10 By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.
• Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins. 12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. 13 He is now waiting until his enemies are made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For after he says:
• This is the covenant I will make with them

after those days,
the Lord says,
I will put my laws on their hearts
and write them on their minds,

• and I will never again remember

their sins and their lawless acts.
18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.[13]

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Lk 7:30). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 343). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Jn 5:39). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ro 10:17). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Jn 12:20–50). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Mt 21:19–22). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Mk 11:19–25). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] Brooks, J. A. (1991). Mark (Vol. 23, p. 183). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[9] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ga 5:5–6). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[10] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 150). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[11] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ro 10:17). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[12] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Heb 9:21–22). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[13] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Heb 10:3–18). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

John 3:22-36 – John the Baptist < Jesus
 22 After this, Jesus and His disciples went to the Judean countryside, where He spent time with them and baptized. 23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. People were coming and being baptized, 24 since John had not yet been thrown into prison.
25 Then a dispute arose between John’s disciples and a Jew about purification. 26 So they came to John and told him, “Rabbi, the One you testified about, and who was with you across the Jordan, is baptizing—and everyone is flocking to Him.”
27 John responded, “No one can receive a single thing unless it’s given to him from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I’ve been sent ahead of Him.’ 29 He who has the bride is the groom. But the groom’s friend, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the groom’s voice. So this joy of mine is complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”
31 The One who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth is earthly and speaks in earthly terms. The One who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what He has seen and heard, yet no one accepts His testimony. 33 The one who has accepted His testimony has affirmed that God is true. 34 For God sent Him, and He speaks God’s words, since He gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hands. 36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who refuses to believe in the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.
 
Jesus leaves Judea because of John’s arrest
         - John 4:1-4 - When Jesus knew that the Pharisees heard He was making and baptizing more disciples than John [2] (though Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), [3] He left Judea and went again to Galilee.
Jesus travels through Samaria
 John 4:1-4 - 1 When Jesus knew that the Pharisees heard He was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), 3 He left Judea and went again to Galilee. 4 He had to travel through Samaria,[1]
John the Baptist Arrested
 Luke 3:19-20 - 19 But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him about Herodias, his brother’s wife, and about all the evil things Herod had done, 20 added this to everything else—he locked John up in prison.[2]
Matthew 4:12 - 12 When He heard that John had been arrested, He withdrew into Galilee.[3]
Mark 1:14-15 - 14 After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of God: 15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!”[4]
Luke 4:14 - 14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread throughout the entire vicinity. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, being acclaimed by everyone. [5]
Jesus & the Woman at the Well
John 4:5-42 - 5 so He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there,
 - Maps (Sychar, Sychar zoom & Mt Gerizim)
 - Mt. Gerizim was were the temple for Samaritan worship took place.
 - The Samaritans wanted their own temple and didn’t even mention Jerusalem.
 - They took the Mosaic Law and replaced Jerusalem with Mt. Gerizim.
Joshua 8:30-35
 30 At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the Lord, the God of Israel, 31 just as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of uncut stones on which no iron tool has been used. Then they offered burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings on it. 32 There on the stones, Joshua copied the law of Moses, which he had written in the presence of the Israelites. 33 All Israel, foreigner and citizen alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on either side of the ark of the Lord’s covenant facing the Levitical priests who carried it. As Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded earlier, half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half in front of Mount Ebal, to bless the people of Israel. 34 Afterward, Joshua read aloud all the words of the law—the blessings as well as the curses—according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read before the entire assembly of Israel, including the women, the little children, and the foreigners who were with them.[6]
- Today, Mt. Gerizem is in Palestinian control.

and Jesus, worn out from His journey, sat down at the well. It was about six in the evening. 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. “Give Me a drink,” Jesus said to her, 8 for His disciples had gone into town to buy food.
 - Jesus did this while the disciples gone.
 - They didn’t approve of him hanging out with a Samaritan.
 - It is a greater disappointment for them to hang out with a Samaritan than it was a woman.
9 “How is it that You, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” she asked Him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would ask Him, and He would give you living water.”
11 “Sir,” said the woman, “You don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do You get this ‘living water’? 12 You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are You? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.”
13 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again—ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life.”
15 “Sir,” the woman said to Him, “give me this water so I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.”
16 “Go call your husband,” He told her, “and come back here.”
17 “I don’t have a husband,” she answered.
“You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband,’ ” Jesus said. 18 “For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, syet you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 Jesus told her, “Believe Me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ ). “When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”
26 “I am He,” Jesus told her, “the One speaking to you.”
27 Just then His disciples arrived, and they were amazed that He was talking with a woman. Yet no one said, “What do You want?” or “Why are You talking with her?”
28 Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the men, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They left the town and made their way to Him.
31 In the meantime the disciples kept urging Him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But He said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
33 The disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought Him something to eat?”
34 “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work,” Jesus told them. 35 “Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest. 36 The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so the sower and reaper can rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.”
39 Now many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 Therefore, when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of what He said. 42 And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”[7]

• V. 9 - How is it that You, a Jew,
• V. 11, 15, 19 - “Sir,” said the woman
• V. 19 - “I see that You are a prophet.
• V. 29 - Could this be the Messiah?”

The more she hung out with Jesus, the more she realized who He actually was.
Luke 4:14-15 –Ministry in Galilee
14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread throughout the entire vicinity. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues, being acclaimed by everyone. [8]

[1] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Jn 4:1–4). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Lk 3:19–20). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Mt 4:12). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Mk 1:14–15). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Lk 4:14–15). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Jos 8:30–35). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Jn 4:7–42). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Lk 4:14–15). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

True prophets are like good doctors: They diagnose the case, prescribe a remedy, and warn the patient what will happen if the prescription is ignored.

• When prophets declare a vision of the future, they do it to encourage people to obey God today.[1]

Isaiah

• The first chapter of Isaiah serves as a summary vision and presents the major themes of the book: judgment on Judah for rebelliousness, and hope for the future restoration of Zion.[2]

Time Period

• Since the prophet’s ministry began sometime in Uzziah’s reign (790–739 BC) Isaiah ministered for at least 58 years (from at least 739, when Uzziah died [6:1], to 681, when Sennacherib died)[3]

The Bible contains hundreds (25%) of detailed prophecies (a foreshadowing of things to come that God would bring to pass).

• Promise and fulfillment are the common threads throughout the Scripture.
• There are well over 60 distinct predictions in regard to our Savior Jesus Christ.
• Not only were the predictions made 1000 years before Christ came from heaven to earth, but they were made over 500 years before crucifixion was first used anywhere in the world as a form of capital punishment! Crucifixion didn't exist when the prophecies were made.
• A scientist picked out 48 such prophecies and determined that the probability of one man randomly fulfilling them all is 1 in 10 to the exponent of 157. That is one followed by 157 zeros!
• Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies!

 
-Isaiah spoke of the Covenant between God & Abraham
-Isaiah spoke of the Covenant between God & Moses
 
Gen 3:15 – Born a male from the seed of a woman (2,000 BC)
         (NAS) [15] And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.”
         (NLT) [15] From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Injuring vs. conquering
 
Isaiah 6:9–10 (HCSB) – (Matthew 13:10-15)
9 And He replied:
Go! Say to these people:
Keep listening, but do not understand;
keep looking, but do not perceive.
10 Dull the minds of these people;
deafen their ears and blind their eyes;
otherwise they might see with their eyes
and hear with their ears,
understand with their minds,
turn back, and be healed.
 
Matthew 13:10–17 (HCSB)
10 Then the disciples came up and asked Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
11 He answered them, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them. 12 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  13 For this reason I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand.  14 Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:
 
    You will listen and listen,
    yet never understand;
    and you will look and look,
    yet never perceive.
    15 For this people’s heart has grown callous;
    their ears are hard of hearing,
    and they have shut their eyes;
    otherwise they might see with their eyes
    and hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts
    and turn back—
    and I would cure them. 
 
16 “But your eyes are blessed because they do see, and your ears because they do hear!  17 For I assure you: Many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see yet didn’t see them; to hear the things you hear yet didn’t hear them.
 
Isaiah 7:14 (HCSB) – (Matthew 1:23)
14 Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.
 
Matthew 1:22–23 (HCSB)
22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
    23 See, the virgin will become pregnant
    and give birth to a son,
    and they will name Him Immanuel,
which is translated “God is with us.”
 
Isaiah 9:1–2 (HCSB) – (Matthew 4:13-16)
9 Nevertheless, the gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the former times when He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali.  But in the future He will bring honor to the Way of the Sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations.
    2 The people walking in darkness
    have seen a great light;
    a light has dawned
    on those living in the land of darkness.
 
Matthew 4:12–17 (HCSB)
12 When He heard that John had been arrested, He withdrew into Galilee.  13 He left Nazareth behind and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
    15 Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
    along the sea road, beyond the Jordan,
    Galilee of the Gentiles!
    16 The people who live in darkness
    have seen a great light,
    and for those living in the shadowland of death,
    light has dawned.  
17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!”
 
Isaiah 9:7 (HCSB) – (Luke 1:32-33
Romans 1:3)
    7 The dominion will be vast,
    and its prosperity will never end.
    He will reign on the throne of David
    and over his kingdom,
    to establish and sustain it
    with justice and righteousness from now on and forever.
    The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
 
Luke 1:31–33 (HCSB)
    31 Now listen:
    You will conceive and give birth to a son,
    and you will call His name Jesus.
    32 He will be great
    and will be called the Son of the Most High,
    and the Lord God will give Him
    the throne of His father David.
    33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever,
    and His kingdom will have no end.
 
Romans 1:3–4 (HCSB)
3 concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David   according to the flesh 4 and who has been declared to be the powerful Son of God by the resurrection from the dead according to the Spirit of holiness.
 
Isaiah 11:1 (HCSB) – (Matthew 2:23)
Reign of the Davidic King
    11 Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
 
Matthew 2:19–23 (HCSB)
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Get up! Take the child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, because those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 So he got up, took the child and His mother, and entered the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee.  23 Then he went and settled in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that He will be called a Nazarene.
 
Isaiah 40:3–5 (HCSB) – (Luke 3:3-6)
3 A voice of one crying out:
    Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness;
    make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
    4 Every valley will be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill will be leveled;
    the uneven ground will become smooth
    and the rough places, a plain.
    5 And the glory of the LORD will appear,
    and all humanity together will see it,
    for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
 
Luke 3:2–6 (HCSB)
2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, God’s word came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.  3 He went into all the vicinity of the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:
    A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
    Prepare the way for the Lord;
    make His paths straight!
    5 Every valley will be filled,
    and every mountain and hill will be made low;
    the crooked will become straight,
    the rough ways smooth,
    6 and everyone will see the salvation of God.
 
Isaiah 50:6 (HCSB) – (Matthew 26:67)
    6 I gave My back to those who beat Me,
    and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard.
    I did not hide My face from scorn and spitting.
 
Matthew 26:63–68 (HCSB)
63 But Jesus kept silent.  Then the high priest said to Him, “By the living God I place You under oath:  tell us if You are the Messiah, the Son of God!”
64 “You have said it,” Jesus told him. “But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”  
65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed!  Why do we still need witnesses? Look, now you’ve heard the blasphemy!  66 What is your decision?”
They answered, “He deserves death!”  67 Then they spit in His face and beat Him; others slapped Him 68 and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah! Who hit You?”
 
Isaiah 61:1-2 (HCSB) – (Luke 4:18-19)
    61 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me,
    because the LORD has anointed Me
    to bring good news to the poor.
    He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and freedom to the prisoners;
    2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,
    and the day of our God’s vengeance;
    to comfort who mourn,
 
Luke 4:16–21 (HCSB)
 
16 He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.  As usual, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.  17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him, and unrolling the scroll, He found the place where it was written:
    18 The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,
    because He has anointed Me
    to preach good news to the poor.
    He has sent Me
    to proclaim freedom to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
    to set free the oppressed,
    19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.  
20 He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down.  And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”
 
Isaiah 53 (HCSB)
    53 Who has believed what we have heard?
    And who has the arm of the LORD been revealed to?
    2 He grew up before Him like a young plant
    and like a root out of dry ground.
    He didn’t have an impressive form
    or majesty that we should look at Him,
    no appearance that we should desire Him.
    3 He was despised and rejected by men,
    a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.
    He was like someone people turned away from;
    He was despised, and we didn’t value Him.

• (John 1:11, John 7:5)
• John 1:10–13 (HCSB)

    10 He was in the world,
    and the world was created through Him,
    yet the world did not recognize Him.
    11 He came to His own,
    and His own people did not receive Him.
    12 But to all who did receive Him,
    He gave them the right to be children of God,
    to those who believe in His name,
    13 who were born,
    not of blood,
    or of the will of the flesh,
    or of the will of man,
    but of God.
         John 7:2–5 (HCSB)
2 The Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, 3 so His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go to Judea so Your disciples can see Your works that You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret while he’s seeking public recognition. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 (For not even His brothers believed in Him.)
 
    4 Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses,
    and He carried our pains;
    but we in turn regarded Him stricken,
    struck down by God, and afflicted.
    5 But He was pierced because of our transgressions,
    crushed because of our iniquities;
    punishment for our peace was on Him,
    and we are healed by His wounds.
    6 We all went astray like sheep;
    we all have turned to our own way;
    and the LORD has punished Him
    for the iniquity  of us all.
 
    7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet He did not open His mouth.
    Like a lamb led to the slaughter
    and like a sheep silent before her shearers,
    He did not open His mouth.

• (Mark 15:4-5)

Mark 15:3–5 (HCSB)
3 And the chief priests began to accuse Him of many things. 4 Then Pilate questioned Him again, “Are You not answering anything? Look how many things they are accusing You of!” 5 But Jesus still did not answer anything, so Pilate was amazed.
    8 He was taken away because of oppression and judgment;
    and who considered His fate?
    For He was cut off from the land of the living;
    He was struck because of my people’s rebellion.
    9 They made His grave with the wicked
    and with a rich man at His death,
    although He had done no violence
    and had not spoken deceitfully.

•  (Matthew 27:57-60)

Matthew 27:57–60 (HCSB)
57 When it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph came, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. 58 He approached Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Then Pilate ordered that it be released. 59 So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in clean, fine linen, 60 and placed it in his new tomb, which he had cut into the rock. He left after rolling a great stone against the entrance of the tomb.
 
    10 Yet the LORD was pleased to crush Him severely. 
    When You make Him a restitution offering,
    He will see His seed, He will prolong His days,
    and by His hand, the LORD’s pleasure will be accomplished.
    11 He will see it out of His anguish,
    and He will be satisfied with His knowledge.
    My righteous Servant will justify many,
    and He will carry their iniquities.
    12 Therefore I will give Him the many as a portion,
    and He will receive the mighty as spoil,
    because He submitted Himself to death,
    and was counted among the rebels;
    yet He bore the sin of many
    and interceded for the rebels.

• (Matthew 27:38, Mark 15:27-28)
• (Romans 5:6-8)

Matthew 27:38 (HCSB)
38 Then two criminals were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.
Mark 15:27–28 (HCSB)
27 They crucified two criminals   with Him, one on His right and one on His left. [28 So the Scripture was fulfilled that says: And He was counted among outlaws.] 
Romans 5:6-8 (HCSB)
6 For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. 8 But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Comforted (p. 17). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] Barry, J. D., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Mangum, D., & Whitehead, M. M. (2012). Faithlife Study Bible (Is 1:1–31). Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.
[3] Martin, J. A. (1985). Isaiah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1027). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.