Anticipating Easter - Gethsemane Prayer - (1) Charles Spurgeon

Then Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray."


He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with Him, and He began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then He said to them, "My soul is over whelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep with with Me."


.....Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping...
                       Matthew 26:36-40


Thoughts from Charles Spurgeon:


There are several instructive features in our Savior's prayer in His hour of trial.


It was a lonely prayer.


He withdrew even from His three favored disciples.


Believer, be diligent in solitary prayer, especially in times of trial.


Family prayer, social prayer, prayer in the church will not be sufficient; these are very precious, but the fragrance of heaven will be sweetest in your private devotions, where no ear hears but God's. 


--From Morning and Evening, March 22,

         Charles Spurgeon

Anticipating Easter - The Final 3 Hours - John MacArthur

The Final Three Hours on the Cross

(MT) Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, (LK) the sun was darkened [and] (MT) there was darkness over all the land. (MT) And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" (MK) which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

(MT) Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "Look, (MT) this Man is calling for Elijah!"

(JN) After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!" Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there. (MT) Immediately one of then ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed of (JN) hyssop, and put it to His mouth

(MT) and offered it to Him to drink. The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him and (MK) take Him down." (JN) So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!"

(LK) And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, into your hands I commit My spirit." Having said this, (JN) and bowing His head, (LK) He breathed His last (MT) and yielded up His spirit.

(MT - Matthew) 27:45-50
(MK - Mark) 15:33-37
(LK - Luke) 23:4-45a
(JN - John) 19:28-30


Notes from John MacArthur:

1. From the 6th hour until the 9th hour - From noon until 3 PM. The crucifixion began at 9 AM and so the 6th hour marked the halfway point of Jesus' six hours on the cross.

2. Darkness - A mark of divine judgment (cf. Isaiah 5:30,13:10-11; Joel 2:1-2; Amos 5:20; Zephaniah 1:14-15; Matthew 8:12, 22:13, 25:30).

The geographical extent of the darkness is not known, although the writings of the church fathers hint that is extended beyond Israel.

This could not have been caused by an eclipse because Jews used a lunar calendar. Passover always fell on full moon, making solar eclipse out of the question. This was a supernatural darkness.

3. Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani - "Eli" is Hebrew, the rest Aramaic. (Mark 15:34 gives the entire wail in Aramaic.)

This cry is a fulfillment of Psalm 22:1, one of the many striking parallels between that psalm and the specific events of the crucifixion.

Christ at that moment was experiencing the abandonment and despair that resulted from the outpouring of divine wrath on Him as sin-bearer (cf. Matthew 26:39).

[Note: Christ cried out "My God," not "Abba," and not "Father," His usual terms of addressing His Father. This is the only time in the gospels He did not address God as His Father.]

4. Why have You forsaken Me? Jesus felt keenly His abandonment by the Father resulting from God's wrath being poured out on Him as the substitute for sinners (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21).

5. Sour wine - The drink here is not the same as the "wine mixed with myrrh" offered to Him as He marched to the cross (Matthew 27:34) which was intended to lessen the pain. The purpose of this cheap, sour wine (cf. Mark 15:36) is to prolong life and increase the torture.

The term harkens back to Psalm 69:21 where the same word is found in the Septuagint. Hyssop is a little plant that is ideal for sprinkling. (see Exodus 12:22).

[See also Psalm 51]

6. Elijah - Further mockery which in effect meant, "Let the forerunner come and save this so-called Messiah" (cf. Luke 1:17).

7."It is finished!" The verb here carries the idea of fulfilling one's mission and religious obligations (see John 17:4). The entire work of redemption has been brought to completion.

The single Greek word here translated it is finished
has been found in the papyri being placed on receipts for taxes meaning "paid in full" (see Colossians 3:13-14).

8. Cried out with a loud voice - Demonstrating amazing strength in light of the intense suffering He had endured. His shout reveals that His life did not slowly ebb away, but that He voluntarily gave it up (John 10:17-18).

9. Into Your hands - This quotes Psalm 31:5, and the manner of His death accords with John 10:18. Normally, victims of crucifixion died much slower death. He, bring in control, simply yielded up His soul(John 10:18; 19:30), committing it to God. Thus He offered Himself without spot to God (Hebrews 9:14).

10. Yielded up His spirit - A voluntary act. The sentence signaled that Jesus "handed over" His spirit as an act of His will. No one took His life from Him for He voluntarily and willingly gave it up (see John 10:17-18).



These notes taken from One Perfect Life, by John MacArthur

Anticipating Easter - Ancient Words

Ancient Words about the Messiah Jesus....


Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our
iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter...

He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 
                                -- Isaiah 53: 4-9, written about 700 BC

The punishment that brought us peace was upon him

By his wounds we are healed


And that's why we call that Black Friday...
Good Friday!

Anticipating Easter - Philip Yancey

Random notes from Philip Yancey's book, The Jesus I Never Knew, Part One, Who He Was


I would have puzzled over the strange mixture represented by the Twelve.  Simon the Zealot belongs to the party violently opposing Rome, while Matthew the tax collector has recently been employed by Rome's puppet ruler.

No scholars like Nicodemus or wealthy patrons like Joseph of Arimathea have made it into the Twelve.

In my observation, in fact, the disciples' most obvious trait seems to be their denseness. "Are you so dull?" Jesus asks again and again.

While he is trying to teach them servant leadership, they are squabbling about who deserves the most favored position.


Oddly, as I look back on Jesus' time from the present perspective, it is the very ordinariness of the disciples that gives me hope.

Jesus does not seem to choose his followers on the basis of native talent or perfectibility or potential for greatness.

When he lived on earth he surrounded himself with ordinary people who misunderstood him, failed to exercise much spiritual power, and sometimes behaved like churlish schoolchildren.

Three followers in particular (the brothers James and John and Peter) Jesus singled out for his strongest reprimands -- yet they would become prominent leaders of the early church.

I cannot avoid the impression that Jesus prefers working with unpromising recruits.

Once, after he sent out seventy-two disciples on a training mission, Jesus rejoiced at the successes they reported back.

No passage in the Gospels shows him more exuberant. "At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.'"

From such a ragtag band Jesus founded a church that has not stopped growing in nineteen centuries.

~~~~~~~

[Note: the selection of the Twelve gives me hope, too. And Christ actually selected these men Himself. Unlike most rabbis, whose followers came to them seeking appointment, Jesus  sought each of these men, as Mark tells us in his Gospel (Mark 3), for specific reasons:

     Jesus went up on a mountain and called to
     him those he wanted, and they came to him...
     that they might be with him and that he might
     send them out to preach.....

These are the men He wanted to be with.....

And it is from these men that we have the Easter story and its miracle of re-birth and gift of authority and power through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

It's the way God worked then and the way He works now.]

Thank you, God, that you have chosen to take the
poor, ordinary and powerless people (and that includes me) to accomplish your Kingdom work!

Anticipating Easter - The Really Good News - Jerry Bridges

It is difficult for decent, upright Americans to accept the fact that we are by nature hostile to God, that we cannot please Him.

This is because we have confused general American morality, plus a dose of Sunday church attendance, with obedience to God's Law.


Most Americans have never been seriously confronted with the exceedingly high standard of God's eternal Law. When they are, they typically reveal their hostility to it.

...We were spiritually dead, enmeshed in a culture totally opposed to God, under the dominion of Satan, and slaves of our own sinful natures


Apart from the supernatural work of God in our lives, we were helpless to do anything about our condition.

When Lazarus lay dead in the tomb he could not decide to come to life again.

In fact, Lazarus could not even respond to Jesus' call, "Lazarus, come out!" unless with that call Jesus gave him life (see John 11:1-44 for full story).


Lazarus' condition, as he lay dead in the tomb, is a picture of our spiritual predicament. We can hear the call of the gospel a hundred times, but unless that call is accompanied by the life-giving power of the Holy Sprit, we can no more respond to it than Lazarus could respond to a vocal call from Jesus.


I know it is difficult for us to accept the fact that we could not just decide to trust Christ in much the same way we might decide to buy more life insurance.

The truth is, we did decide to trust Christ, but the reason we made that decision is that God first made us spiritually alive.

This is part of the good news.

God comes to us when  we are spiritually dead, when we don't even realize our condition, and gives us the spiritual ability to see our plight and to see in Christ the solution.

God doesn't just come partway to meet us in our need. He comes all the way.

When we were dead He made us alive in Christ Jesus.

And the first act of that new life is to turn in faith to Jesus.
 
  -- From The Gospel for Real Life, Chapter 11,
              by Jerry Bridges