The many ways Jesus gave His life {Matthew 26:1-74}
2:02 AM
In chapter of Matthew 26, we follow Christ through His final days and hours and watch how He gives His life away in little pieces, even before He gasped His last breath on Golgotha. We read how Judas played his role, but It's actually Christ who handed Himself over.
What did it look like for Christ to give His life, while He still breathed, as He willingly walked to His death? He gave His life away in so ways in this chapter alone.
"When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”- Matthew 26:1-2
In the first two verses of this chapter, Jesus tells His disciples the exact day He will die. He specifies that it will happen in two days’ time. We don’t have a record here of their response, but judging from their other responses in Scripture, disbelief is a fair guess. Jesus gave His life by declaring His intention to do so.
Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,[a] 7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 12 In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”- Matthew 26:6-13
He then allowed the woman to prepare His body for burial. He defended her extravagance when their disciples rebuked her saying the perfume was too expensive and she should have sold it to get some money to give it to the poor, instead Jesus celebrated her for seeing a small part of the truth of what would happen to Him, declaring her actions as noble. He knew what was coming His way, yet He did not run from it. Jesus gave His life by preparing for His own burial.
Then, when He was sharing His final meal with the disciples, Jesus distressed His disciples by saying, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me” (v. 21). Jesus suffered one of the deepest human sorrows: betrayal by a friend. It is noticeable that even though Jesus knew Peter would deny Him, Jesus loved him still...Jesus still looked at Him with love. Jesus knows we will fail, yet He loves us still.
In spite of their protestations, His disciples continued to betray Him as they fell asleep (vv. 36-46), abandoned Him (v. 56), and denied Him (vv. 69-75). Jesus gave His life by suffering betrayal.
"Keep Alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak!"- Matthew 26:41
One thing that really ministered to me is the importance of stay alert as Jesus/ admonished His disciple to "watch and pray". We are at more risk when we feel more confident that "We will manage, we will make it"
as Henry Matthews comments:
Improper self-confidence, like that of Peter, is the first step to a fall. There is a proneness in all of us to be over-confident. But those fall soonest and foulest, who are the most confident in themselves. Those are least safe, who think themselves most secure. Satan is active to lead such astray; they are most off their guard: God leaves them to themselves, to humble them.
We must watch and stay vigilant at the attacks of the enemy in our lives and then pray immediately. We must come against Satan when he's trying to get a foot hold, so that he will never get a stronghold!
Jesus gave up His life for us, in these and many other ways. He can totally relate to us as He suffered the whole weight of human pain from heartbreak to torture.
It is because of Jesus’ thousand tiny deaths, and one literal death, that we can live.
We don't only get to live, but we get to live happily ever after, in eternity with Him. We praise His Holy Name!!
Have a beautiful, blessed weekend.
Love from Botswana,
Angie
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