Misc. - "Holy Week" - Matthew 26:1-19

“Holy Wednesday” - “On Wednesday, it Got Real”

Palm Sunday - two disciples borrowed a colt and Jesus rode into Jerusalem. The people shouted “Hosanna, Hosanna!” And while His coronation as King would happen on the following Sunday, He was already Triumphant.

Monday - Cleansed the temple

Tuesday - The Fig Tree - Matthew 21:20-22.

He also debated in the Temple with the Pharisees

Temple Debates - Matthew 21:23-23:39

Wednesday - Olivet Discourse

Judas leaves to go find the Chief Priests at the end of the olivet discourse after Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus.

Matthew 26:1-2.

I want to camp out here in Matthew 26 tonight, and look at what took place with Jesus and His disciples on Wednesday and Thursday night.

so Look with me in Matthew 26:1-5

Matthew 26:1–5 KJV 1900

1 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, 2 Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified. 3 Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4 And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. 5 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.

What happened on this Wednesday evening

1. The Reminder from the Lord

This reminder does a few things:

a. Points to His Authority

Y’all need to listen up.

2. Let me tell y’all whats about to happen,

“ye know that after two days… the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified.”

I know it’s Wednesday, but come this time Friday, I’ll be on a cross.

Why did He have to suffer?

Isaiah 53:3 KJV 1900

3 He is despised and rejected of men; A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: And we hid as it were our faces from him; He was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Isaiah 53:5 KJV 1900

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed.

He had to suffer

b. Points to His Sufficiency

“is the feast of passover...”

While God intended the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread to be separate (though adjacent) observances, the Jews combined the two during the Babylonian exile, as the Encyclopaedia Judaica confirms: "The feast of Passover consists of two parts: The Passover ceremony and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Originally, both parts existed separately; but at the beginning of the [Babylonian] exile they were combined" (vol. 13, p. 169). This careless and unscriptural merging of festivals resulted in the Jews observing Passover late on Abib 14, just hours before the Feast of Unleavened Bread began. Thus, a third variation of Passover observance was added to the mix.

At the time of Jesus Christ, this mixture was on full display. Philo of Alexandria, in De Vita Mosis, notes that in the early first century, the Passover was not strictly a Temple-kept event, but one in which people also killed their own lambs without help from the priests. In his Wars of the Jews, Flavius Josephus records that in 4 BC over 250,000 lambs were sacrificed for Passover. However, given the limited space of the Temple environs and the fact that Jewish tradition (not the Word of God) held that the lambs were to be slain within a two-hour time slot (from the ninth to the eleventh hour, or 3:00-5:00 pm), it is readily apparent that not all of those lambs could have been sacrificed at the Temple. In fact, Joachim Jeremias, in Jerusalem in the Times of Jesus, calculates that the three courses of priests on duty could slay only 18,000 lambs during those two hours. Josephus records that the rest of the lambs—a far greater number—were slain by individuals at their own homes.

Another critical point is that, despite Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread being distinct festivals, they were commonly grouped together and simply called "Passover." Thus, when the gospel writers mention "Passover," it can sometimes refer to the Passover sacrifice itself (Matthew 26:17; Mark 14:12), the day when the sacrifice was made (Mark 14:1), or the whole eight-day period of Abib 14-21 (Passover plus Unleavened Bread; Luke 22:1).

In actuality, then, there were really two Passover observances happening at the time of Jesus: one led by the priests at the Temple and the other observed by the people in their homes. These separate observances were also at different times: The Temple-kept Passover was observed late in the afternoon of Abib 14, while the home-kept Passover was kept at the beginning of Abib 14. As the gospels show, Jesus and His disciples ate the Passover in a home rather than at the Temple, observing it the evening before the priests did at the Temple. In other words, Jesus kept it as Abib 14 began, while the priests kept it as Abib 14 ended.

a. the Why?

Why did God call His people to do this?

Well God was about to prove a few things:

He was God alone

He was a Man of His Word

He is faithful

he will accomplish His plan

He would deliver them from bondage

He was about to prove who He is.

b. The What?

so what was about to happen through this?

Israel would be delivered from bondage (verse 1)

Israel would be paid back! (v. 2)

egypt would see their God as favorable (v. 3)

God would set something new up.

This would judge all the people

anyone that didn’t have blood on their door posts, the firstborn would die

2. The Procedure of Passover

a. God Established Order

Notice somethings here:

The Lamb had to be Selected (v. 3-4)

The people were required (their first step of obedience) was to go to the local store and buy a lamb.

The Lamb was Spotless (v. 4)

It had to be without blemish… perfect!

The Lamb was Settled (v. 6)

They would buy the lamb and the lamb would stay in their house for a few days.

Imagine how quickly the family would begin to love that precious animal.

The Lamb became the Substitute (v. 6)

Exodus 12:13 “13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”

The Lamb was Slain

the blood was applied

the blood was on the doorposts

b. God Envisioned Ordinance

Exodus 12.

This was to be set up every year.

It would be the start of a new year. It was like a fresh start for God’s people.

That would have no leaven

God wanted them to be set apart.

Leaven was a picture of sin.

God wanted the people to be set free from all bondage

c. God Expected Obedience

Exodus 12:27–28 KJV 1900

27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. 28 And the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.

3. The Principles of the Passover

What does that have to do with me?

What does this teach me?

a. the Cost of Sin

It’s taught that the lamb was held down for our sin.

b. The Call to Sanctification

c. The Contributor of our Strength

The rest of the Lamb was eaten for the people’s strength. They ate the Lamb so they could make the walk into the land of victory!!

4. The Picture of the Passover

Hayden… where is my lamb?

a. The Lamb Jesus was Selected

b. The Lamb Jesus was Spotless

c. The Lamb Jesus was Settled

d. The Lamb Jesus was my Substitute

e. the Lamb Jesus was Slain

2. The Resolution by the Lost

Judas’ decision did a few things...

a. Affirmed Bad Ideas

These men already had a plan...

Matthew 26:3–5 KJV 1900

3 Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4 And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. 5 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.

“We’re going to kill him. It’s time for us to kill Jesus… but let’s not do anything today.

Proverbs 21:1–3 KJV 1900

1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever he will. 2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: But the Lord pondereth the hearts. 3 To do justice and judgment Is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

Psalm 1 KJV 1900

1 Blessed is the man That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor standeth in the way of sinners, Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; And in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That bringeth forth his fruit in his season; His leaf also shall not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so: But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

b. Advertised Bad Intentions

Like a curtain being drawn back to reveal the stage of a play, Judas’ heart and intentions are on full display here.

If He Only Waited

Betrayal.

Selfishness.

Personal Gain.

John 12:6 KJV 1900

6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.