God @ Work: Before
Notes
Transcript
Then I said to them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed my wages, thirty pieces of silver. “Throw it to the potter,” the Lord said to me—this magnificent price I was valued by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw it into the house of the Lord, to the potter.
INTRO—
INTRO—
[G.O.S.P.E.L. in 6 Words Video…The point of the first Gospel-focused Easter remains clear… GOD. OUR. SINS. PAYING. EVERYONE. LIFE. … For these three Sundays this Easter season this year, we focus on the comforting truth that the Gospel is GOD @ WORK accomplishing our redemption. Today we focus on God @ Work: Before. Next Sunday: During. And, the Sunday after that: After…God @ Work!]
Over the years, opportunities which really have excited me are the ones in which I’ve learned from what has taken place in the past... by visiting historic sites. Over the years, I've gained greater appreciation for events in our nation's history as I've had opportunity to visit the places where they happened. As a youth, I was able to go to Washington, DC, and see and tour the buildings which house the important seats of our government. I've been to Mt. Vernon...and seen that home of my distant relative...as well as seeing Monticello. In recent years, I've had the privilege of walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma...and of visiting Black Wall Street—in the Greenwood District of Tulsa: the site of the Tulsa Race Massacre which took place 100 years ago the end of May this year…so many opportunities bringing history to life.
Other opportunities for learning from the past have come from museum visits...Art, as well as History. The World War I museum is a treasure...a reminder of the horror of war and the courage and resilience of those standing and fighting for enduring freedom.
Right now, I invite you to join me in touring the Passion Week museum where we’ll see "God @ Work: Before." This museum, established by God, will show us the depth of His plan for accomplishing our salvation…long before Jesus entered Jerusalem that final time as he headed for the Cross. Let’s begin our tour…
The Room of Betrayal
The Room of Betrayal
[The first room we enter today is the Room of Betrayal…At the first display, the prophetic plaque reads...]
Even my friend in whom I trusted, one who ate my bread, has raised his heel against me.
18 “I’m not speaking about all of you; I know those I have chosen. But the Scripture must be fulfilled: The one who eats my bread has raised his heel against me. 19 I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am he.
[One other display we’ll look at today has the prophetic plaque which reads…]
12 Then I said to them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed my wages, thirty pieces of silver. 13 “Throw it to the potter,” the Lord said to me—this magnificent price I was valued by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw it into the house of the Lord, to the potter.
14 Then one of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver for him. 16 And from that time he started looking for a good opportunity to betray him.
6 The chief priests took the silver and said, “It’s not permitted to put it into the temple treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 They conferred together and bought the potter’s field with it as a burial place for foreigners. 8 Therefore that field has been called “Field of Blood” to this day. 9 Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him whose price was set by the Israelites, 10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.
6 Jeremiah replied, “The word of the Lord came to me: 7 Watch! Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, is coming to you to say, ‘Buy my field in Anathoth for yourself, for you own the right of redemption to buy it.’ 8 “Then, as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to the guard’s courtyard and urged me, ‘Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for you own the right of inheritance and redemption. Buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. 9 So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out the silver to him—seventeen shekels of silver.
[As we exit the Room of Betrayal, we come into a rather large room…full of displays. I’m convinced the sheer volume of displays, complete with prophetic plaques related to all of them…serves a couple important purposes: (1) Showing the significance of this event in Passion Week; & (2) showing us that this event was no accident…it did not necessitate God moving to a plan B. The room? The Room of the Cross.]
The Room of the Cross
The Room of the Cross
[The first display we approach again contains prophetic words from the Psalms. Specifically, Psalm 22.]
7 Everyone who sees me mocks me; they sneer and shake their heads: 8 “He relies on the Lord; let him save him; let the Lord rescue him, since he takes pleasure in him.”
29 Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads, and saying, “Ha! The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself by coming down from the cross!” 31 In the same way, the chief priests with the scribes were mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! 32 Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe.” Even those who were crucified with him taunted him.
[& Matthew 27.39-44; Luke 23.35-37]
Instead, they gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
28 After this, when Jesus knew that everything was now finished that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, “I’m thirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was sitting there; so they fixed a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it up to his mouth.
6 If someone asks him, ‘What are these wounds on your chest?’—then he will answer, ‘I received the wounds in the house of my friends’. 7 Sword, awake against my shepherd, against the man who is my associate— this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones.
Then Jesus said to them, “Tonight all of you will fall away because of me, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.
[& Mark 14.27]
“Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at me whom they pierced. They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for him as one weeps for a firstborn.
35 He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows he is telling the truth. 36 For these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: Not one of his bones will be broken. 37 Also, another Scripture says: They will look at the one they pierced.
[focal v. = 37]…but…I thought…(yes,…)
[So far, we’ve seen God had always been at work to accomplish our salvation through the prophecies and displays of fulfillment on the Rooms of Betrayal and the Cross. Now we turn to the final Room we’ll tour today. The room which, for me, makes the other rooms more ‘ok’ than they would otherwise be. This room is the Room of Resurrection! The first prophetic plaque we read in this room is from the Prophet Zechariah…]
Room of Resurrection
Room of Resurrection
“Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at me whom they pierced. They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for him as one weeps for a firstborn.
Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. So it is to be. Amen.
[The other prophetic plaques we will encounter in this room originate from the psalmists…]
8 I always let the Lord guide me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices; my body also rests securely. 10 For you will not abandon me to Sheol; you will not allow your faithful one to see decay. 11 You reveal the path of life to me; in your presence is abundant joy; at your right hand are eternal pleasures.
22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to these words: This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know. 23 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. 25 For David says of him: I saw the Lord ever before me; because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me in Hades or allow your holy one to see decay. 28 You have revealed the paths of life to me; you will fill me with gladness in your presence.
6 “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” 7 I will declare the Lord’s decree. He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.
11 Serve the Lord with reverential awe and rejoice with trembling. 12 Pay homage to the Son or he will be angry and you will perish in your rebellion, for his anger may ignite at any moment. All who take refuge in him are happy.
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.”
CONCL— The Entrance (Triumphal)
CONCL— The Entrance (Triumphal)
[As we conclude today’s tour, we returning now to the entrance of the museum. This entrance…which we emphasize on this Sunday—Palm Sunday— each year…is…Triumphal. It too has prophetic words for our consideration…& celebration! We begin with Zechariah...]
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.
12 The next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 they took palm branches and went out to meet him. They kept shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord—the King of Israel!” 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written: 15 Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion. Look, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt. 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first. However, when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.
[key vv. = 14-15]
25 Lord, save us! Lord, please grant us success! 26 He who comes in the name of the Lord is blessed. From the house of the Lord we bless you.
28 When he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples 30 and said, “Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” 32 So those who were sent left and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 “The Lord needs it,” they said. 35 Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their clothes on the colt, they helped Jesus get on it. 36 As he was going along, they were spreading their clothes on the road. 37 Now he came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen: 38 Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven! 39 Some of the Pharisees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out.”
[key vv. = 37-38]
[Now, this was a relatively quick tour today. Much, much more could be read and seen through prophetic plaques—not only in the Psalms and Zechariah, but also in many other Old Testament writings. I encourage you to do some digging on your own to unearth these treasures. Reassuring, reaffirming the fact that God’s work accomplishing our salvation through his GOSPEL plan goes so very far back and has been so wonderfully verified in the New Testament accounts. We have great reason for hope! This Easter…and always!]
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. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. The bow of war will be removed, and he will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.