Messages from Matthew: Pursuing Different Goals at Passover (Matt 26:14-19)

MESSAGES FROM MATTHEW ON THE MINISTRY OF JESUS:
Pursuing Different Goals at Passover (Matt 26:14-19)

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2017
 

Sometimes a person who is dissatisfied with his income will want to supplement that income.

Unfortunately the way Andy chose to supplement his income was illegal and got him sent to prison, where he realized that he needed a different occupation. The warden saw that deep down Andy was a good person and made arrangements for him to learn a trade while doing his time. After three years, Andy was recognized as an excellent carpenter, and the warden would often give him a weekend pass to do odd jobs for people in the community. The warden was in the midst of remodeling his kitchen at home and, in fact, had done much of the work himself. All that remained was to cut out and attach the butcher block countertop. For this, the warden would need help, so he called Andy into his office and asked him to complete the job. Alas, Andy declined. "I'd really like to help you, Warden, but I dare not.... Counter fitting is what sent me to prison in the first place."

Sometimes a person who is dissatisfied with his income will want to supplement that income. Judas was dissatisfied with his income, so he decided to supplement it by betraying Jesus. As a result the two men ended up Pursuing Different Goals at Passover.

 

Judas and Jesus both have goals they want to meet. Judas's goal is selfish: He wants to benefit by profiting off another man's loss. Jesus' goal is selfless: He wants to benefit by having others profit off his loss: "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matt 20:28).

I. Judas is concerned with profit (vv. 14-16).

Matt 25:14 One of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests 15 and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?" So they counted out for him. 16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

A. He asked about the possibility of betrayal...
B. He asked about the price for betrayal.

After confirming that the religious elite are interested in arresting Jesus,¹ Judas negotiates a price for his betraying the rabbi, "thirty pieces of silver." It is "a basic wage for two or three months" and the minimum price of a slave (Nolland 2005:1060).² Too late Judas realizes that his decision has unwelcome consequences. Perhaps he did not believe the authorities would follow through with their threat to kill Jesus or he thought the arrest would force Jesus to reveal his messianic identity.³ Either way, Judas regrets his betrayal and returns the silver: "Judas threw the money into the temple and left" (Matt 27:5a). Returning the money does nothing, however, to assuage his conscience,⁴ because "he went away and hanged himself" (Matt 27:5b).⁵

Messages from Matthew: The Prelude to Passover (Matt 26:1-5)

MESSAGES FROM MATTHEW ON THE MINISTRY OF JESUS:
The Prelude to Passover (Matt 26:1-5)

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2017
 

A major holiday, like a significant birthday or anniversary, often requires extensive preparation...or surreptitious preparation.

A man rushed to the jewelry counter in the mall, soon after the doors opened and said he needed a pair of diamond earrings. The clerk showed him a wide selection, and the man quickly picked out a pair. When she asked if he wanted the earrings gift-wrapped, he said, "That'd be great. But can you make it quick? I forgot today was my 25^th anniversary...and my wife thinks I'm taking out the trash."

As a major holiday approaches, it often requires extensive preparation. For Jews, the most important holiday may be the annual commemoration of Israel's freedom from slavery in Egypt. It is a celebration that people hold in small groups with a meal together, a meal that has grown more elaborate with the passage of time. For Jesus and his disciples the celebration required some preparation, such that The Prelude to Passover involved more than an ordinary gathering.
 

As Passover nears again, the disciples and Jesus look forward to another observance. They have been together now for over three years, and each year they have gone up to Jerusalem to celebrate. This year should be no different. They are older, of course, and their ministry has grown in popularity, as well as grown in envy among certain religious leaders. Still, their popularity affords them some protection, especially around the holiday. The high priest and certain members of the Sanhedrin are calling for Jesus' arrest, but that may simply be wishful thinking, the kind that often attends thoughts about political opponents. This year's celebration will probably go off without a hitch.

I. The disciples prepare for the holiday (vv. 1-2).

Matt 26:1 When Jesus had finished saying all these things [i.e., the Olivet Discourse], he said to his disciples, 2 "As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified."

A. The service is near.
B. The sentence will follow.

Wait, those two events should not go together. Passover, of course, happens every year at this time, and God's people will observe it this year just as they have done in years past. It is a festive occasion, a celebration of Israel's freedom from bondage in Egypt. How does that party relate in any way to Jesus' arrest, which does not sound like a fun time at all? The rabbi must be mistaken. The disciples will just ignore the crucifixion for now and concentrate on the celebration instead.

Jesus has just finished a major instructional session on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, which is a magnificent setting. He taught the disciples about what the future holds for them, including a special appearance he would be making.¹ The precise timing of those events was a mystery, but God would sort it all out. For now there was a celebration to make ready. As Jesus gives instructions for the festive occasion, he includes some disturbing news.

Messages from Matthew: Christ's Concern and Yours (Matt 25:31-46)

MESSAGES FROM MATTHEW ON THE MINISTRY OF JESUS:
Christ's Concern and Yours (Matt 25:31-46)

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2006
 

As we see people wasting their lives in dissipation of various kinds, we wish there were some way of bringing them to their senses, of making them realize what the future could hold for them, if they would only repent.

A minister walked into a bar and said to the first man he met, "Do you want to go to heaven?" "Yes, I do," the man replied. "Then leave this bar right now," the minister said. He approached a second man and asked the same question. "Do you want to go to heaven?" "Certainly!" was the man's reply. "Then leave this den of iniquity!" said the minister. Encouraged by his success, he walked up to a third man and asked, "Do you want to go to heaven?" "No, I don't," the man replied. The minister looked him in disbelief. "You mean to tell me that when you die you don't want to go to heaven?" "Oh," the man replied, somewhat surprised, "absolutely! ...I thought you were gathering a group to go right now."

While it may not be "right now," there will come a day when we will have to account for the way we have spent our life, whether by advancing God's interests or advancing our own.

 

When Rev. Van Horn, our Conference president this year, introduced his theme—Making Christ' Mission Our Mission—it raised the question: What was Christ's mission? That is, what did he identify as the reason he came?¹ Was it one thing or several things? How much did God intend only for him to do? What, if any of it, did Jesus relegate to his disciples, perhaps to us as well?²

 

For the answer, I looked primarily at Jesus' words about his mission, at what the gospel writers recorded that give his understanding about why he came and what he was to accomplish. The results did not surprise me. Several times, Jesus says³ that...

• The Father sent him.

...and several times Jesus says that...

• The Father told him what he should do and say.⁴

Those who heeded his instruction would, enjoy a full and productive life, because he said...

John 10: 10b I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Jesus accomplished his appointed task through preaching the gospel, which was his primary activity.⁵

Luke 4:43 ...I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God [he said] because that is why I was sent.

His ultimate mission, however, was to provide atonement for sin through his vicarious death.⁶ As he said...

Matt 20:28 [= Mark 10:45]...the Son of Man [came] to give his life as a ransom for many.

Messages from Matthew: The Ten Virgins (Matt 25:1-13)

MESSAGES FROM MATTHEW ON THE MINISTRY OF JESUS:
The Ten Virgins (Matt 25:1-13)

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2017

The wedding ceremony is supposed to be the official start to a lifetime of marital bliss...supposed to be.

"How did the wedding go?" asked the minister's wife. "Just fine until I got to the part where I asked the bride if she would obey. She said, 'Do you think I'm nuts?' The groom said, 'I do,' and things went downhill from there."

The wedding ceremony is supposed to be the official start to a lifetime of marital bliss. Wedding ceremonies in the past were probably not as confrontational, but they still may have been complicated, especially if they were big enough, as in Jesus' parable of "The Ten Virgins."¹

Jesus is approaching the end of his earthly ministry. He will soon leave his disciples, and he has only a few days to convey final instructions to them, which he does by telling a parable, a true-to-life story about how important it is to be prepared for his return.

The parable is a common figure of speech in the gospels, one Jesus employs frequently, often to teach about the future kingdom of heaven,² as he does here. To understand a parable, there are three steps that offer a simple and straightforward approach to interpretation:

1. Determine the setting. Identify the occasion that prompts Jesus to tell this tale.
2. Divide the story. Separate the main details, those essential to the telling, from the minor details, those optional to the telling.
3. Discover the significance. Find the one point Jesus wants to convey to his audience.

I. Jesus predicts the messiah's advent = Determine the setting (Matt 24:1-3).

The occasion that prompts Jesus to tell this parable is a conversation he has with the disciples back in chapter 24 about his future return:³

Matt 24:1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

Jesus' response to the disciples' query is an entire block of instruction about eschatology (final things) that Bible scholars call "The Olivet Discourse," which includes, among other things, this parable of "The Ten Virgins."

Messages from Matthew: Peacemakers (Matt 5:9)

MESSAGES FROM MATTHEW ON THE MINISTRY OF JESUS:
Peacemakers (Matt 5:9)

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Dr. Paul Manuel—1999
 

This weekend we have been discussing the peace only God can bring. Sometimes we think that, having found this peace, we have come to the end of a long and difficult journey, and we can rest at last. While there is, indeed, rest for those who receive God's peace, there is responsibility as well; for in the new journey we begin with God, He wants us to minister to others what we have received. That is, He saved us so that we could serve Him. He wants us who know peace to be agents for peace in the lives of others.

 

In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, he begins with a series of beatitudes. These are brief, pithy sayings that extol the value of certain actions or attitudes. They begin with the Hebrew phrase which many English translations render, "Blessed is the [one] who..." (so KJV, ASV, RSV, NAS, NIV). This "blessed" is not the same word the biblical writers use when God blesses us or when we bless God. In fact, this word is never used of God. It does, however, refer to those qualities that lead to success in life and is especially common in the Psalms. There, they deal with situations whose advantage is self-evident, and we could translate the Hebrew phrase that way: "O the advantage of the [one] who..."

Ps 1:1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

"O the advantage of the one who does not sin, because he will prosper."

Ps 146:5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God.

O the advantage of the one who trusts in God to help him, because God will help him."

 

The benefits of the beatitudes in Matt 5, however, are not quite so obvious, because the consequences Jesus offers are not what people would normally expect.

• "O the advantage of the one who is poor because he will inherit a kingdom" (v. 3).

"But, Jesus, if I come from a poor family, how will I inherit anything?"

• "O the advantage of the one who gets stepped on (meek) because he will succeed in life" (inherit the earth; v. 5).

"But, Jesus, the only way to get ahead—to move up the corporate and social ladder—is by stepping on or over someone else!"

 

These sayings probably puzzled many in Jesus' audience, and the one in Matt 5:9 no less than the others.

Matt 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

What is the advantage of peacemaking, and what does it have to do with sonship?

Messages from Matthew: An Exceptional Epitaph (Matt 1:19)

MESSAGES FROM MATTHEW ON THE MINISTRY OF JESUS:
An Exceptional Epitaph (Matt 1:19)

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2000

 

What would you like to be known for? If you could have any reputation, what would it be? If you had it inscribed on your tombstone, what would it say? Because someone else will probably make that decision, you want to make the choice obvious. There is a bumper sticker, the truth of which I particularly appreciate, that says, "Live so the preacher won't have to lie at your funeral". What would you want me to say about you? Let me suggest An Exceptional Epitaph from scripture.

 

During the Christmas season, our attention is on the one whose birth we are celebrating, which is only natural. We sing carols about his coming, set up nativity scenes in which he is the central figure, and read again the familiar story of his advent. Next to Jesus, the person who gets the most press is Mary his mother. There is another individual, though, with an important but often overlooked part in the story...Joseph. The gospel writers mention him fifteen times but seem to tell us little about him.ⁱ

• Five times he is identified as a descendant of David.
• Three times he is described as the husband of Mary.
• Three times he is simply listed with Mary.
• Three times he is called the father of Jesus.
• Three times he receives revelation in a dream.

None of this, however, tells us much about him. Is he just another man that history has neglected, like Whistler's father and Lord Godiva?

Looking more carefully, though, we discover a phrase embedded in a verse from Matthew, easy to miss, that describes Joseph's character.

Matt 1:18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.ⁱⁱ

This is An Exceptional Epitaph. In fact, the biblical authors call only four others righteous men (Abel, Noah, Simeon, and John the Baptist)." Why does Matthew add Joseph to this elite group? In addition to his obvious concern for Mary,"'there are two reasons gospel writers identify.

• First, Joseph is open to the leading of God—to the special instructions God gives that are for one person's situation.

Messages from Matthew: "Why this waste?" (Matt 26:6-13)

MESSAGES FROM MATTHEW ON THE MINISTRY OF JESUS:
Ignore the Poor (Matt 26:6-13)

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2015

Sometimes the commitments we make require us to be proactive, to be decisive and take initiative in what we do.

“Darn!” the man said to his friend while weighing himself at the local drug store scale. “I started on a new diet, but the scale says I’m heavier than I was before.” Turning to his friend, he said, “Here, hold my jacket.” The scale still indicated that he had not lost any weight. “OK,” he said to his friend. “Here, hold my Twinkies.”

Sometimes the commitments we make require us to be proactive, to be decisive and take initiative in what we do. Mary felt that her commitment to discipleship required that she be proactive, which she is in our passage this morning.

Throughout his ministry Jesus shows concern for the less fortunate, whether they be afflicted by disease, subject to demonic attack, or financially disadvantaged. It is the third group, those financially disadvantaged, that Jesus addresses in this passage, as he seems to suggest his disciples Ignore the Poor.¹

Matthew opens chapter 26 with Jesus’ prediction of his impending death and a description of the high priest’s plot against him. The author then relates a dinner with one of Jesus’ benefactors,² a man he may have earlier raised from the dead.³ At some point during the gathering, a woman (whom John identifies as Mary, sister of Lazarus) brings oil to anoint Jesus:⁴

While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper,⁵ a woman [Mary] came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. (Matt 26:6-7)

This causes quite a stir among the disciples:

When the disciples [Judas, in particular] saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” (Matt 26:8-9)

Jesus’ response puts the matter in perspective: