Hey Gang, Jesus reminded the Leaders of Isaiah's words that the Temple
was God's house of prayer for all people:
"Even those I will bring to
My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer" (Isa.
56:7a), but they made it a "den of thieves",
they sought how "they might destroy Him" (Matt. 21:12-16; Mark
12:13-17; Luke 20:19-25).
Hey Gang, the thing that really set the pot to boiling was
the words "Lazarus, come forth from
the grave" (John 11:43-45).
Why? Because they saw the glory of God being manifest in this Carpenter
from Nazareth and they could no longer deny that He was deity. It was a panoramic picture of the greatness
of Jesus. It also kicked their hatred up
their hatred and jealousy a few more notches and it could no longer be
contained.
They would have killed Him that day, but could not because
of the many who believed in Him (John 2:23; 4:39, 50, 53). John tells us they wanted to kill Lazarus,
who was a living testimony and witness to the power and claims of Jesus (John
12:10). But, again, the people who were there would have witnessed their crime.
Their jaws were set.
They made up their minds to get rid of Jesus under any circumstances. But they were very careful not to show their
treacherous actions and nor excite the local multitudes who believed on Him and
loved Him (Matt. 26:3-5; John 11:47-54). It was here that Caiaphas uttered his
famous death decree, "It is
expedient for one man to die for the people, and that the whole nations not
perish." (John 11:50).
The Leaders needed a catalyst to kick their plan into gear; that catalyst came in the form of one of
Jesus’ inter-most family, namely, one Judas Iscariot. Judas had a problem, his love for mammon was
greater than his love for Jesus and he was willing to betray Jesus for thirty
pieces of silver. The only question was
where and when. The story of betrayal
is a familiar one.
Jesus was celebrating the Passover with His Disciples in an ‘upper
room’ when Judas slipped into the shadows and went to the Pharisees to do his
dastardly deed. The die was cast. After washing the Disciples’ feet, and sharing
the first communion, Jesus led his small band of warriors to the Garden of
Gethsemane, His favorite place to spend time with Father God.
The story of Jesus in Gethsemane was one of agony and pain;
pain so deep that He literally sweat drops of blood. The battle of the cross was not waged at
Calvary but in the Garden, where Jesus cried out, "Father, If you are willing, remove this cup from Me, yet not My
will, but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42).
It was here that Jesus won the final victory came over the powers of darkness
and the die was cast. Jesus would take
the sins of all men and carry them on His back to Golgotha's Hill.
Sooooo, my young friends, began the most despicable day in
human history, the day they began the process to kill the Son of God. Temple guards and soldiers came. "Judas
then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and
the Pharisees came there with lanterns and torches and weapons".(John
18:3) From the moment they arrested
Jesus nothing that was done was legal by Mosaic law or as clearly
defined in the Talmud. In the next
morning message we will look at the process leading to the cross.
Blessings,
Gramps
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