Travel Through the Bible in One Year Challenge: Matthew 27; Mark 15

This is so incredible to know what Christ went through for us, I really wondered where to begin...of course I went to Patricia's blog and I have to post it, because she poses an interesting theory that we are Barabbas...we are really guilty, like he was really guilty, but Christ substituted himself as a sacrifice...even for a murderer...or someone who rebels...Ironically, Barabbas was guilty of the crime for which Jesus was accused. Barabbas means "son of the father", which was actually Jesus' position with God. Interesting theory: what do you think?

Check out the rest:

Posted November 12, 2010 by Patricia in Mark, Matthew. 7 Comments

Well. I truly have a knot in my stomach. What do write? I want to write about Love. That is the ultimate reason for today’s reading. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17.

I first read Matthew. Event though the Gospel is for ALL I did however take the authors background into account as I read it. Anyway, I am going to just pull out a few bullets of interest today. otherwise I am sure the reading will be familiar without them.

First, they handed him to Pilot. Why? He was the Roman Governor in Judea. The ruling council of the Sanhedrin could not carry out the death penalty. Only the Roman emperor could. However, blasphemy was not punishable under Roman Law (it was a Jewish Law) sooooo NOTICE that they change the charge in front of Pilot. They NOW accuse Jesus of calling himself KING of the Jews (not the Son of God) . This on the other hand, was a direct threat to Caesar and would be punishable. (if it were a true accusation).

Know that I am trying to keep this short, but if you dig into the Old Testament you would see prophetic scriptures being fulfilled with each action…from Isaiah to Zechariah. I am however going to take a minute to discuss Barabbas. Completely fascinating. It was a tradition on the Day of the Feast to free a criminal. Pilot could have easily released Jesus. However, note that he “washed his hands clean of this mess” when he washed his hands in front of the crowd. All the way back to Deuteronomy you may actually remember me commenting on this.

Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, and they shall declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O LORD, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent man.” And the bloodshed will be atoned for. So you will purge from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD. ( Deut 21:6-9)

Pilot was declaring he would not charge Jesus guilty and left it up to the crowd. Think about Barabbas. Barabbas was Guilty and deserved to be on the cross. We are Barabbas! Jesus took his place. Took our place! The criminal was not set free that day, he was replaced!

Today’s read was not a first for me but what hit me today was this moment of Jesus is Godbut here is is truly man. Truly. He was so beat and so tired that a man from Cyrene that was probably visiting for the Passover was forced to help him carry that cross. I just can’t take how much Jesus did that day. Scriptures like (30) “Struck him in the head again and again…” were moments of reality of ALL He took for me that day.

Maybe you grew up with images of this….

But truly it is an image of this…..

What makes it worse is that usually during a crucifixion the criminals were given a drink with gall to dull them to make the excruciating pain a bit less, and Jesus didn’t even do that…He took it ALL for us.

Jesus quoted Psalm 22 when in that moment He became the Sin and was separated from the Father! (Stop here and flip back and read the words of David, read Psalm 22:1-5.

As Jesus called out the Hebrews thought he may be calling on Elijah to come save him. Elijah was a prophet that was taken to Heaven without experiencing death. Then finally when He GAVE UP His spirit what happened?? Death was conquered immediately! How do we know, even without the evidence of the resurecion…what is called the raising of the Saints to some. Holy people, believers that had passed to death before the death of Jesus rose from the dead! (A Saint is a Believer) Even the Roman guard (called a centurion) at that moment professed Jesus as Lord!.

For those who spent what felt like 6 months reading about the materials inside the Tabernacle in the days of Moses you will for certain remember that God was separated from the priests by a huge thick curtain. At the moment when Jesus gave His life for us, that curtain was torn (top to bottom, leaving NO room for gravity explanations or rationalization) allowing us direct access to the Lord through the death of Jesus! (aren’t you glad I am trying to keep this short)

Please realize the GIFT you have today. What was only accessable once a YEAR by One man…we can access everyday through one Savior, the new High Prist…our Lord Jesus Christ. Please do not rush this read this weekend. Take the time to go back to Isaiah 53…READ IT. Note the fulfillment of each line, right down to the details of verse 53:9 relating to Matthew 27:59 when Joseph of Aramathea buried Jesus in a rich man’s tomb.

Be the first to like this post.

7 responses to this post.

Posted by brittany devault on November 12, 2010 at 8:06 am

As I read it I felt like I was there watching the whole thing!!! I have read bits and pieces before of this but never read it after reading the whole rest of the bible! Gives me chills!!! When pilot even washes his hands that’s when you I really felt sadness bc of all Jesus had done and yet the people did still not believe, even tho I know he had to die to fufill scriptures. Just gives me a different perspective of what Jesus HAD to go through for our sins. God is so loving!! Just awesome read today! Favorite scripture was when the veil was torn and the whole earth trembled!! Now I can truley say I know what that means!

We love you Lord! And We praise You!
Posted by Patricia on November 12, 2010 at 8:11 am

God woke me very early today to read with Him. He knew I would need a lot of time to sit back and absorb what was happening and I truly have to say I read it all new today. I think times past I was looking at the BIG picture where this time I was revealed to little things.
Posted by brittany devault on November 12, 2010 at 9:51 am

i actually started reading it last night at school during my 15 min break and i just could barely contain myself, i wanted to tell every body!!!

i’m like you the little things that stuck out to me were things i never even thought about before or even knew! i didn’t know Judas ended up feeling guilty and hung himself….wow! this might be a wierd question……..but do you think Judas got to go to heaven?? do you think he was truley saved but backslid when he betrayed Jesus….or……no
Posted by Patricia on November 12, 2010 at 9:54 am

No, he was not a believer. Satan entered Him. Satan cannot coexist with God therefore we know He was not a Believer. There were other references along the way that showed his character too.
Posted by brittany devault on November 12, 2010 at 10:01 am

OHHHH YEAHHHHH i had forgotten about satan entering him. Well it’s kinda like he’s representing satan after the final judgment. in a round about way.
Posted by Tedi on November 12, 2010 at 3:22 pm

Patricia, it was hard looking at this picture of Jesus and knowing that this is actually what He looked like at His death. It’s much easier to see Jesus as He is protrayed in the first picture. But the second picture is reality. He not only took the physical pain, but He took our sins upon Himself. And, knowing that God allowed this to happen to His own Son, shows all the more how much God loves us.

As far as Judas is concerned, I believe him to be in hell and forever seperated from God. How sad that there are others around us who ‘know’ about Jesus and what He did for us, but they do not ‘know’ Jesus. They have Jesus in their head, but not in their hearts.

I met a young woman a few years back that said she knew Jesus, but the more she talked, the more the Spirit within me, made me see that she did not ‘know’ Him. After the class period the Lord prompted me to speak to her directly and I was able to show her in God’s word, just what Jesus had done for her. She said to me, “No one has ever taken the time to show me this. I did not know this and I have been to church many times in my life, never had I heard about how much Jesus died, just for me..” I told her that if had she been the only person on the earth, that Jesus would have died just for her. She accepted the Lord Jesus that night. And…I know I will see her when we get to heaven.

I hasten to say, it was nothing I did that brought her to Jesus that night, but God used my hands, my mouth and my willingness to show Jesus to her. I could do no other. I HAD to witness to her. It was a divine appointment and God showed me that she did not know Him. He wanted her to be His, that night, and He already had her heart open for her to literally ‘see’ Him. Praise the Lord!

My eyes and ears are not always so allert as they were that night and I pray that my heart will be more and more open to the oppertunities that God want me to take.

Prayer request: I am looking at mission trips right now, to decide where God wants me to go this next year. Pray for me to go where He wants me to go and that I will see His divine appointment, both on mission trips and right here at home. Hallelujah!!!!
Posted by "miss anonymous" AKA Karen on November 14, 2010 at 11:16 am

We are Barabbas….. Good grief! I remember this “clicking” last year when we read, but this time, it’s crystal clear. While reading this, I just wanted to turn my head, or close my eyes….. Just like I do during a scary movie. The realization that it should be ME on that cross and how UNDESERVING I am of His grace and love is overwhelming!

2 comments:

BonnieNovember 12, 2011 at 5:21 PM
I hate reading this......even thought it is for my benefit.....I just do not see how they could kill Jesus.... now for my questions....

1. I have heard that when he was on the cross, beside him was a criminal that accepted Him before he died....and Jesus forgave him....where is that in here?

2. When He was crucified, when He is calling out, "My God! My God, why have You forsaken Me?" This sounds kinda like he is quesioning God,....why he has to suffer.....help me with this please.....I mean....he knows he is going back with God.....is this all the sin and suffering He has to take for us.....is that why he has such pain and cries out?

3. Am I to understand that Pilate did not want to crucify him....but did it to please the crowd, but he really did not want to?

4. When Jesus actually died, is this is when the Holy Spirit came to Earth and the saints and angels came and appeared and the Earth shook..... ? Do I have this right? Or did this all happen after he was resurrected....3 days later?

I think I just figured out something probably everyone knew....this is one of those no Church background things for me.....do they call Matthew, Mark, Luke and John the gospels because they were the only books written while Jesus was alive?
CarolNovember 13, 2011 at 9:30 AM
Superb questions! First, I also hate reading this....the NERVE to do this to our Savior....if you have the stomach for it, The Passion that Mel Gibson produced is the movie that has that bloody picture.....you talk about a picture being worth a thousand words....

1) you are right about the criminal...it is just not in this gospel account...you'll read it very soon in Luke's account.

2) Excellent question....I'll pull from my study Bible to answer

Jesus was not questioning God; he was quoting the first line of Psalm 22-a deep expression of the anguish he felt when he took on the sins of the world, which caused him to be separated from his Father. This was what Jesus dreaded as he prayed to God in the garden to take the cup from him. The physical agony was horrible; but even worse was the period of spiritual separation from God. Jesus suffered this double death so that we would never have to experience separation from God.

3) yep. The religious leaders were Jewish, but Rome ruled over them. Only Rome could grant capital punishment (death). History says that Pilate taunted the Jews and took extra taxes from them to build an aquaduct. When the Jews threatened to report Pilate to Rome, he became scared because his primary job was to promote peace. He prized his position, so he humored the crowd.

4) No, the Holy Spirit didn't come down just yet. Jesus died and the veil in the temple separated from top to bottom showing that we can approach God directly...the earth did shake and there was an unexplained darkness for 3 hours....Holy Spirit will come soon, around 40 days after Jesus is resurrected.

The gospels were eye witness accounts so we would believe. Matthew, Mark and Luke are known as the Synoptic gospels....kind of a chronology were most events agree. John adds many different events, kind of to supplement the other gospels.