The Devil tempted Judas with a simple question…are you a lover of men, or money? Sadly, Judas chose the latter, and this “Blood Money” was his ultimate downfall. The Prophet Zechariah spoke of those thirty pieces of silver, which related back to the Mosaic Law, which stated that if a bull gored a slave and killed him, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave as compensation. Interesting enough, the price of a “quality slave” was twice that amount for compensation… Thus, Jesus was sold out by Judas for the price of a mediocre slave.
Category: Daily Inspirational Devotional
John 12:7 ” Leave her alone, Jesus replied. It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.”
When Mary had learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s home she knew this was her chance to meet this man everyone was talking about. She looked around her room for something to take as a gift…her eyes settled on a beautiful alabaster jar of nard. It was an extravagant indulgence she had treated herself to, but now it sat there as a symbol of her vanity and pride, and all she was ashamed of. She slipped it under her cloak and set off silently moving through the side streets. The servant girls were all busy when she arrived at the home, no one barred her from entering. Mary moved quickly, drawn by the men’s voices, then she heard Jesus speak and the tears started to well up in her eyes. Now was her chance, but fear and panic stopped her from interrupting the dinner, so instead she stood crying behind Jesus as He reclined on the couch. Mary’s eyes fell on His feet, they were dirty and dusty, and she was suddenly indignant that none of the servants had washed His feet before the meal. But then a quiet voice within her spoke…”But you can.” For a moment her haughtiness took over…”Me?! Wash someone’s feet?! The lowliest of the servants do that! I am far too important to get my hands and clothes dirty!” But again the quiet voice spoke…”Look where your importance has gotten you. You are no better off than the servant girl who forgot to wash His feet…you are both lost.” Struck by the stark truth, Mary began to sob. All pride and vanity inside her broke and she fell to her knees in front of Jesus’s feet. Her tears flowed from her bowed face onto His feet, washing away the dirt. Transfixed, Mary watched as Jesus’s feet became clean. She quickly undid her hair and dried them…ever afraid that Jesus would stop her, she hurriedly broke open the jar of nard and poured the perfume onto His feet. She signed deeply , and as the fragrance filled her head she felt her old life melt away…she felt…free. Free from all that had held her captive in the past. The guilt and shame gave way to a wonderful peace…. A Peace she had never experienced before. Suddenly Mary realized that Jesus had turned towards her and was speaking to Simon the Pharisee. Mary and Jesus eyes met as He said, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house and you did not give me water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not put oil on My head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins are forgiven- for she loved much. Then Jesus reached out and touched Mary’s face and said, “Your sins are forgiven, your faith has saved you, go in peace.” He then smiled at her and Mary’s heart was filled to overflowing with gratitude and love. “Thank you,” was all she could murmur as she slowly got up. A new Mary stood…the old Mary had died at the feet of Jesus.
Luke 22:31 ” Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
Just like Job, Satan was asking permission to test Peter’s faith…wanting to prove him unfit for God to use. Satan wanted to sift him like grain in a sieve and see what would be left. But because of Jesus’s intercessory prayer on Peter’s behalf he didn’t lose faith…but he did have to return back to it after denying Jesus. Peter’s faith wavered, but was not broken…his faith was questioned…but never crushed. And this is why Jesus added those last words of affirmation and encouragement to Peter…”And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Seeing the resurrected Christ cemented Peter’s faith into something that no one or thing would ever shake again… and as Jesus had said to him, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church.”
Matthew 21:5 ” Say to the Daughter of Zion, See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
If you would have asked most Jews, their idea of their King coming into Jerusalem to take it back from the Romans would likely be a very powerful man with thousands of troops, chariots, and horses rallied behind him…With pride and awe they would watch as the Romans would be defeated and driven from the city. But on that Palm Sunday, the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem was anything but that forceful takeover they were all envisioning. Instead, we see Jesus coming into Jerusalem without fanfare, mildly riding in on a donkey…not a rearing, snorting stallion, with just His twelve rag-tag Disciples walking behind Him. But regardless of how the Jews thought He would come… The Prophet Isaiah wrote…”The Lord has made proclamation to the ends of the earth: Say to the Daughter of Zion, See, your Savior comes!”
John 19:36 ” These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: ‘Not one of His bones will be broken,’ and, as another scripture says, ‘They will look on the one they have pierced.’ “
The Lord gave Moses many regulations and restrictions about the Passover Lamb, one being, the breaking of the lamb’s bones was forbidden. As it was with the Lamb of God…none of His bones were broken by the guards as He hung on the Cross. David prophesied this in Psalm 34:20 when he wrote, ” He protects all His bones, not one of them will be broken.” The Old Testament Prophet Zechariah gave us insight into the last bit of this scripture…”And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on Me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a first-born son.” God fulfilled to the letter what was foretold in the Old Testament about His Son.
Hebrews 13: 11-12 ” The High Priest carries the blood of animals into the Most High Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood.”
The Law specifically dictated how the body of the sacrificed animal was to be disposed of…it was to be burned outside the camp. And so it was with Jesus, who was taken by the guards outside the city gate to the place of the Skull…Golgotha. There, God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement…not only appointed as the place to come with our sins, but He Himself being the very means by which this atonement was made. The Church was now sanctified and made holy by the shedding of Jesus blood.
Matthew 16:21 ” From that time on, Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the Elders, Chief Priests, and Teachers of the Law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
Jesus had just asked the disciples who they thought He was, and Peter had answered…”You are the Messiah, the Son of God!” So now Jesus was proceeding with the next aspect of His journey towards the cross. He started to make very plain to them the horrific experiences He would have to undergo at the hands of the Jewish Leaders…but on the third day He would be resurrected from the dead. I can only imagine that His disciples had a very difficult time wrapping their minds around the things He was telling them…not wanting to believe Him, but also remembering Isaiah’s prophecy…”He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised and we esteemed Him not. 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.”
Hebrews 10: 9-10 ” …Here I am, I have come to do Your will. He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Unlike the other priests, Jesus didn’t have to keep offering sacrifices day after day for the people. He sacrificed for their sins, once for all when He offered Himself. He willingly gave Himself up as the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf, and by doing so destroyed the power of Death and the grave. As it says in I Peter 2:24 ” He bore our sins in His body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.” Jesus came to do His Father’s Will…once, for all.
Matthew 26:31 ” Then Jesus told them, ‘This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ “
For three years Jesus had lived, laughed, worked, and traveled with His disciples, but now they couldn’t believe their ears when He told them they were all going to abandon Him. The scripture Jesus is quoting comes from Zechariah 13:7 ” Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me! declares the Lord Almighty. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones.” He was using Old Testament prophecy to foretell what was about to happen…even if all the disciples insisted otherwise. As they sat around the table, none of them could imagine what He was telling them would come true in a few short hours…none of them could envision deserting Jesus…but they all did.
Jeremiah 31:34 ” No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.”
This scripture shows perfectly the vast difference between the Old and New Covenant. No longer would we have to be instructed about the Lord, from someone who was also instructed about Him…now, we could experience Him personally, with no middleman. No longer would we only be able to read about His love and mercy…now, we could encounter it ourselves intimately from our loving Heavenly Father. No longer would we just gaze at a painting of God longingly, wishing to know Him better….now, with the Holy Spirit dwelling inside us, we have that unshakeable confidence of knowing Him profoundly. The New covenant… a covenant of peace, and personal relationship with the Prince of Peace.
Safetypinlove 