Jesus' Last Days

Our study today is lesson #12 in our lesson quarterly dealing with the book of Matthew. Today we find ourselves on a lesson entitled Jesus' last days - lesson #12. Now, for those who are joining us who don't have a copy of the lesson, you can go to the Amazing Facts website - just amazingfacts.org. And you could download today's study - lesson #12 - Jesus' last days. We also have a free offer, that goes along with our study this morning, called the high cost of the cross - a book written by Joe Crews.

For our friends who are watching us online or on the various television networks, if you'd like to receive a copy of this book, give us a call on the resource number. The phone number~ is 866-788-3966 - again, that's -788-3966 - and you can ask for offer #156. We'll be happy to send this to anybody who calls and asks. Now, if you're outside of North America, you just need to go to the Amazing Facts website - just amazingfacts.org and you can download the book called the high cost of the cross and you can read the .pdf version of that. Well, before we get to our study this morning, we'd like to begin with a few songs of praise, so I'd like to invite the choristers to come and join me here on stage and they will lead us in a few hymns.

(Soft piano music) thank you, Pastor Ross. As we always do, we start out our studying with some singing, which we love to do together so I invite you, those that are at home, pull out your hymnals and sing along with us. Hymn #253 - there is no other name like Jesus - and that is true. In this world that we are living in, there truly is no other name and I am so glad every day that I can count on him and call upon his name for help. We will sing the first, the third, and the last verses.

Hymn #253 - there's no other name like Jesus. There's no other name like Jesus, 'tis the dearest name we know, 'tis the angel's joy in heaven, 'tis the Christian's joy below, sweet name, dear name, there's no other name like Jesus; sweet name, dear name, there's no other name like Jesus. 'Tis the hope that I shall see him when in glory he appears, 'tis the hope to bear his welcome that my fainting spirit cheers. Sweet name, dear name, there's no other name like Jesus; sweet name, dear name, there's no other name like Jesus. If he wills that death's cold finger touch my feeble, mortal clay, then 'tis well if only Jesus is my dying trust and stay.

Sweet name, dear name, there's no other name like Jesus; sweet name, dear name, there's no other name like Jesus. You know, as we were singing that I was thinking, what a sweet thing it is going to be when we get to heaven and we hear Jesus say our names and he greets us, yay? I cannot wait for that day. And, until then, we will keep fighting and keep Marching through. Hymn # 647 - mine eyes have seen the glory - of the coming of the Lord. And whether you're here in our audience singing with us, or you're at home, let's just sing this one like we really mean it - mine eyes have seen the glory - we'll sing all three verses.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; he is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; he has loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword; his truth is Marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is Marching on. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; he is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat; o be swift, my soul, to answer him; be jubilant my feet! Our God is Marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is Marching on. In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, with a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me; as he died to make men holy, let us live to make men free! While God is Marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is Marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is Marching on. Amen. At this time Pastor Ross will lead us in prayer. I'd like to invite you to bow your heads as we begin with a word of prayer.

Dear Father, once again we are grateful that we're able to open up the Bible and study this very important subject, the story of Jesus. And, in particular, we're looking at those final moments of Christ's earthly life, so we ask for the Holy Spirit to come and guide our minds and our hearts, for we ask this in Jesus' Name, amen. We're going to be doing something just a little different this morning. I'd like to invite Pastor Doug to come join me, but we did get some questions that came in from our extended Sabbath school class and we're going to try and address two of the questions that came in, Pastor Doug, right here at the beginning of our lesson this morning. Alright.

Alright, well, if you're ready, our first question that's come in from steven from Colorado - his question is: "the lesson author says that Jesus had free will. Does this mean that he could have sinned or, possibly more importantly, could he have returned to The Father and avoided the cross? How would either of these choices have affected us? That's a big question. There's a few hypotheticals in there. One, did Jesus have a free will? Of course. First of all, he's our creator.

He chose to create us, so Jesus has a free will. I think they're asking, when he was on earth did he have any choice to say, 'oh, forget about these humans. They just don't appreciate what I'm doing.' And throw his hands in the air and walk back to heaven - or fly back to heaven - and what would have happened to us? Well, with the hypothetical questions it's sometimes hard to answer, but we would certainly be doomed if it wasn't for the sacrifice of Jesus. Could he have failed? Did he have a free will that way? Yes and no. The prophecy could not fail.

His Word will never return void. The Word of God said that Jesus' sacrifice would be successful. Jesus said, 'after three days I will rise.' So he made a prediction that he would do it. His Word would come true. But when he was in the garden of Gethsemane, and we're going to talk about that this morning, he couldn't see beyond the portals of the tomb.

He - he saw separation as - of The Father and carrying the weight of the world, all the sins as just so bleak that it looked hopeless - it felt hopeless to him. And there was - that was the biggest agony - and he was being tempted to believe that this is going to cause eternal separation so he felt what the lost feel and what they struggle against, but the prophecy wasn't going to fail. Everything in the Word of God said that his mission would be successful. Amen. Alright, well, we do have another question that's come from Daniel from ArKansas and the question is: 'the cup that Jesus asked to be passed from him, in Matthew chapter 26, verse 39, what was in the cup? Now it's when he was in the garden he said, 'father, if there's any way, let this cup pass from me.

' You know, it's interesting that just a little while earlier, they had the cup of the new covenant and, by taking that cup, the disciples said, 'we are receiving the Gospel.' Now, Jesus was about to take a cup of suffering. James and John came at the encouragement of their mother, at least they brought their mother along, and she appealed and said, 'when you enter into your kingdom, let these two sons of mine sit on the right and the left.' And Jesus said, 'you don't know what you're asking. Are they to be baptized with my baptism and drink from my cup?' And they said, 'oh, yes we are.' And he said, 'well, you will indeed drink from my cup.' And so there - this was a cup of suffering that Christ wanted to be taken away and it included just the physical pain that he was going to bear, separation from The Father, just the whole agony he had come into the world to drink this cup. Now, back in Bible times, they - doctors didn't dispense pills that were concentrated like they do now. Often they'd give you these concoctions and herbs and things - usually bitter - and they'd say, this is going to make you feel better but you've got to drink this cup.

And so, those bitter cups were a symbol of what he needed to go through in order to heal and to save us. Alright, well Pastor Doug, I think that question is a good segue into our study for today, talking about Jesus' last moments here on the earth before his sacrifice. Alright, thank you very much, Pastor Ross. I want to welcome those who are part of our extended Granite Bay church family. Some of you watch week after week and you have no local church you can attend, but you are a member and you want to belong.

Well, we invite you to consider being a part of the Granite Bay church family. And you can go to the Granite Bay website - simply granitebaysda.org - and you can find out more there. Our lesson today - we're continuing in our study on Matthew and it's Matthew chapter 12 - I'm sorry, lesson #12. The chapter we're really covering today is chapter 26. Most of our study today is in that one chapter.

Now, you might be asking, 'Pastor Doug, last week we studied chapter 24 and now we're talking about chapter 26. Did we miss something?' Well, yes we did. The lesson is really going through the life of Jesus and it's left out the chapter 25 - chapter 25, let me summarize for you very quickly, is the parables or the teachings of Jesus, almost all of them related to the second coming. Chapter 24 - if you've got a red-letter edition Bible, you'll notice that chapter 24, there's this whole wall of red paint - red lettering. When you get to chapter 25 it continues.

Chapter 25 is a continuation of the prophecies Jesus gives in chapter 24. Chapter 25 has three parables. You've got the parable of the ten virgins. You've got the parable of the talents - (clears throat) excuse me - and you've got the parable of the sheep and the goats. And so, they're all parables that are talking about the second coming there, and that's all chapter 25.

And that'll help you understand that when we get to chapter 26, it says, 'now it came to pass when he had finished these sayings.' Now, before I get into that, I think I forgot the memory verse. We have a memory verse and it's chapter 26, verse 31. Do you want to say that with me? Matthew 26:31 - here in your lesson it's from the niv. I think they're only giving us half the verse, so we should be able to do that. You ready? "This very night you will all fall away on account of me.

" Jesus made a prophecy there - "this very night you will all fall away on account of me." And so as we delve into the lesson - and I think I've got some of you lined up who are going to help me read some verses - John - someone, in a moment, is going to read John , verse 3 - who has that? Okay, ron? You'll have that in just a minute. I want you to read Matthew chapter 26 verses 1 to 13 and, well, you know, I'll read this to you, "now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that he said to his disciples, 'you know that after two days is the passover, and The Son of man will be delivered up to be crucified.' Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill him. But they said, 'not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.' And when Jesus was in bethany at the house of Simon the leper," - now this is talking about that very important feast that happens - "a woman came to him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil," - it's also called 'ointment' - "and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table." - Alright, one thing some of you are going to notice right here, before we go any farther is where did mary - alright, and do - do you all understand that this is at the house of probably Martha and Lazarus - it's a feast - it's the house of, I'm sorry, Simon. Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived in bethany. It's a feast in bethany.

The mary who goes there is mary of bethany, who may also be mary magdalene - the same mary, we believe. Martha and Lazarus lived there because mary had been living up in magdala for a while - they called her mary of magdala or mary magdalene - it was often associated with the place. And it says that she anointed his head. Well, was it the head or was it the feet? If you look in Luke - now we just read in Matthew chapter 26 she poured it on his head. Look in Luke 36 - Luke 7, verse - "then one of the pharisees asked him to eat with him and he went to the pharisee's house, and he sat down to eat.

And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at his feet behind him weeping; and she began to wash his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed his feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil." So which is it, the head or the feet? Go ahead and read for us chapter 12, verse 3. "Then mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair and the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil." Now we believe these are all talking about the same event. John, for instance, in his Gospel, doesn't say it was mary. He says, 'a woman in the city'. He always, sort of, protects her identity.

You can also find that it tells us in Luke - it says it was a feast at Simon's house - Luke doesn't say that, but later in the story of Luke, Luke says, 'Simon, I have something to ask you' so it's got to be the same feast, right, that he's talking about as mary's kissing his feet? The book Desire of Ages gives us a little insight on this. You know, I wrote a whole book called at Jesus feet - about mary magdalene - and so I went through all of these stories and took them apart and said - how does this all fit together? And it fits along also very well with the Desire of Ages. I came to the conclusion that mary magdalene is the same as mary of bethany and there's even the possibility that the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8 was the first encounter of Jesus with mary. Again, he just calls her 'a certain woman.' But here's Desire of Ages - 558, "at great personal sacrifice she had purchased an alabaster box of "ointment of spikenard, very costly," with which to anoint his body. But now" - now why is she anointing his body? Jesus said, 'she's done this for my burial,' but it ends up becoming more than that, you'll see in just a moment.

Sometimes we give people flowers after they die - mary wanted to do something for Jesus while he was alive. It's amazing how many times, if you go through the Gospels, Jesus told the disciples in advance, 'I'm going to Jerusalem. I will be betrayed into the hands of sinners. The gentiles will crucify me. I will rise the third day.

' He said that over and over again. Mary heard that. You read in Luke chapter 8, it says, 'there were certain women that followed him from Galilee' - and it mentions mary magdalene. And it says 'they ministered unto him of their substance.' So she was frequently there when he was speaking. She heard this, she believed it.

The disciples said, 'oh no, that won't happen to you, Jesus.' They thought, 'he's speaking in mystical terms, again. You know, bread, leaven, these things? We don't know what he's talking about. And so they weren't taking him seriously. They were shocked when it happened. Let me read on, "but now many were declaring that he was about to be crowned king.

Her grief was turned to joy and she, eager to be the first to honor her Lord, breaking her box of ointment, she poured its contents upon his head and feet of Jesus; then, as she knelt wiping - weeping, moistening them with her tears, she wiped his feet with her long, flowing hair." So, it's simply she did both. And there's really not conflict in the Scriptures there. Now, what does the word - how do you interpret the word 'Christ'? What does Christ mean? Christ comes from a Greek word, 'Christos', which means 'to anoint'. Have you ever heard about when they Christen a ship? You probably don't think about it, they're anointing the ship - usually with champagne - to launch it on its - a baby's Christening, they talk - it means 'the anointing' - they're hoping the Spirit of God will come on the child. And the word 'Messiah' is what? It's Hebrew for 'anointed'.

Jesus was called 'the anointed'. And so, isn't it interesting and very significant that - what is a church a symbol of? I'm sorry what is mary - what is a woman a symbol of? I got up early. (Laughter) a woman's a symbol of a church and so, here you've got this woman kneeling at the feet - a symbol of submission to Jesus - weeping. It's like his feet are bathed in our tears. She's anointing him with oil - she's anointing him as king - David was anointed as king.

The priest was anointed - she's anointing him as priest. And I think there's one place in the Bible where even a sacrifice was anointed, so she's anointing him as sacrifice. And so, here is an anointing - just before his crucifixion is to take place - by mary, who was considered the, you know, the least of the least because even Simon said, 'this man, if he was a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is that's touching him, for she is a sinner.' And this is who Jesus chose to anoint him. She evidently had money because it says once place, she ministered unto him of her substance. In another place it says, Judas is upset because this is a gift fit for a king.

What a waste of money. And so mary probably put it all into buying this tremendous gift. Matthew 26, verse 8, "but when his disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, 'why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.' But when Jesus was aware of it, he said to them, 'why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for me. For you have the poor with you always,'" - now that's an interesting prophecy. Will there always be some poor people around that we can minister to? - "'But me you do not have always.

For in pouring this fragrant oil on my body, she did it for my burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this Gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.'" Was Jesus a prophet? How do you know he was a prophet? Son of God? He's in the Bible? Because his prophecies came true. I mean, think about it, for a fellow to make a prediction at a dinner and say, 'everywhere in the world people are going to remember what this woman just did, wherever the Gospel is preached.' You know, right now, all over the world, there are billions of people and lots of millions of Christians - about 2 billion catholics and protestants combined, and I'll bet you there's several places in the world where people are talking about what mary did. It's in all four Gospels. And Jesus made that prediction and it came true.

What a strange thing to foretell. And in that little room, when they were all making fun of her, he said, 'you're putting down what she's doing. I'm telling you, what she did is going to be repeated and proclaimed around the world and it will inspire people to service and generosity around the world. And so was it a waste? Think about the river of offerings and service that has come into the church of God from what mary did. Was it a waste? No, it has gotten millions times compounded interest.

Someone's going to look up for me Matthew 26:14-16 - you'll have that? Okay. I'm going to read John 12:4, but one of his disciples - who is it that's complaining specifically? Matthew tells us 'they complained'. John tells us who it was. "But one of his disciples, Judas iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray him," - there was another Judas disciple - Judas was a very common name because it's based on the tribe of judah - "...who would betray him said, 'why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?' This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it." Are there also some hypocritical pastors and evangelists out there that exploit people's money under the pretense of it going to the poor? Job was - rather Judas was one of those, wasn't he? Alright, read for us please, Matthew 26:14. "Then one of the twelve, called Judas iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, 'what are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you?' And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.

So from that time he sought opportunity to betray him." What was it that moved Judas to go right from that dinner to make an agreement with the priests? Bethany's not that far from Jerusalem - it's just a couple of miles away. You know, when Judas began to murmur among the other apostles and the people of the dinner and say, 'oh, wasn't this a terrible - that - waste of money? And look who it is that's touching him. She should have given that to the poor. I would have kept the money and given it to the poor.' And then Jesus rebukes him and says, 'you have the poor with you always, but me you don't always have. And what this woman has done is going to be honored.

' And Jesus now - Judas is feeling a little bit rebuked by all of this. And you know what else really bothered Judas? Judas was controlled by greed. Mary was controlled by gratitude. Judas wanted the highest place. Mary's taking the lowest place.

Judas feels rebuked not only by Jesus, but by mary's action and he goes out angry and he says, 'well, I can take care of this.' And he goes right from that dinner to the high priests and covenants to betray him. He starts looking for an opportunity to do it when there's no crowd around. Alright, the new covenant is our next section. Matthew 26:17, "now on the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to him, 'where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the passover?' And he said, 'go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'the teacher says, 'my time is at hand I will keep the passover at your house with my disciples.''" - Go to verse 19 - it says, "so the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the passover." I want also to note - I want you to notice Mark, when he talks about this incident, he adds something else - Mark 14:13, "and he sent out two of his disciples and said to them, 'go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house," - there's a servant, he'll be getting water from the town well, you follow that man.

He's got a pitcher of water. Often the women used to carry the water and so they said, 'he won't be hard to spot. Follow him.' They follow him up and down the streets - he's probably looking over his shoulder wondering what's going on and he says, "'wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'the teacher says, 'where is the guest room in which I may eat the passover with my disciples?'' Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared;'" - all ready - "'there make ready for us.'" It's interesting how God provides. When Jesus comes into Jerusalem he says, 'I need a conveyance. I'm supposed to ride a colt and I don't have a colt.

' So he sends the disciples into town and says, 'you'll see a colt tied, just tell them the Lord has need of it and they'll let it go.' It's interesting how when God needs something, he has people that will provide it. You got that? And when he needs an upper room? They say, 'oh, where are we going to get a room big enough? We don't have the money in our budget for a hotel room to eat the passover. What are we going to' - he says, 'don't worry. I've got it covered. God's got plans.

And you notice, he also makes them wait until the last minute. It says, 'he'll show you where to go in and you can go right in and start preparing.' And this is for the next day. And then he finds out. Just, sometimes, God keeps you waiting until the last minute. Alright, it's moving along here talking about the covenant.

I'm going to read Matthew :26 through 29 now. Now during dinner, "and as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'take, eat; this is my body. Then he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'drink from it, all of you. For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom.

'" First thing I want you to remember is the last thing I read. When people celebrate the last supper, what kind of bread is it? Unleavened bread. What kind of wine? Unfermented wine. Leavening and fermentation are the same process. The bread was unleavened - how do we know that? Jesus said, 'I'm not going to drink it until I drink it with you new.

' What kind of wine was it? New wine. Is new wine fermented? No, Jesus talks about you don't put new wine - he compared his Gospel to the new wine - in old vessels. People say, 'well, Jesus turned the water into wine.' Well, that's the same word that's used - they had no word for grape juice, wine was the juice of the grape. They had both the old wine that was fermented, and they had the new wine that was unfermented. Jesus did not make a bunch of booze for the party.

Think of all the fall-out and bad things that happen from that and it's highly doubtful that Jesus would endorse that, especially since the Bible says, 'wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, whoever is deceived thereby is not wise. And when you think about all of the difficulties - I remember growing up, we were required at military school to go to religious services. I think I've mentioned this before. And since my father had a baptist background, my mother was Jewish, and they'd sent me to catholic schools, I would rotate through all three services. They had a protestant service - each Sunday - they were all Sunday - protestant service, Hebrew service, and catholic service.

And I remember one day I went to the catholic service and, because we had a lot of students - I think they had more than one service, and the priest also had other churches he took care of, as a service he would go over and do the military academy and then he'd go other places to his parish. And I guess we got him one afternoon when he'd already done several masses and he was tipsy from drinking the wine because he'd say his, you know, in the latin mass, and then he'd drink. And he was obviously inebriated and I thought, 'this can't be what Jesus is telling us to do in remembrance of him. And since the bread is a symbol of what? His body, a holy life, unleavened bread. And the grape juice is a symbol of what? His blood, which is pure, sinless life, then I think it's pretty clear that this was unfermented and he said, 'I'll drink it with you new in my father's kingdom.

' Right? So he institutes the Lord's supper. Now, what was the occasion for this dinner? It's passover. He says, 'with longing I've longed to eat the passover.' Passover was one of the most important Jewish feasts. If you look in Exodus chapter 12, Moses said, 'this is the beginning of months for you.' When they came out of Egypt that Marked the beginning of the nation. Jesus chose that occasion to institute the new covenant.

Do we still sacrifice lambs, or did the passover go through a conversion with Christ? The passover was a shadow. When Christ finally comes, everything that it pointed to was fulfilled in him. When he died on the cross, what happened to the Jewish temple? The veil was rent - the holy place exposed. During his trial, what did the priest do to his garments? High priest - tore his own garments, remember? You're never supposed to do that. So here you've got the veil in the temple - new temple - you are the temple of God, the veil was torn - high priest tears his garments - new priesthood - you are a royal priesthood.

And so now do we sacrifice lambs during the passover? Jesus is the lamb. Christ is our passover, Paul says, that sacrificed for us. So whenever we celebrate the Lord's supper, it's sort of a reminder of how the children of Israel were saved from the angel of death, that great judgment, because of the blood of the lamb. Now we know what that means today. Probably many of them weren't quite sure.

They thought that the virtue was in a lamb. That lamb was a symbol of Jesus, so when John the baptist said, 'behold, the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, they all thought about the passover lamb. Jesus is that lamb. And so he instituted the new covenant. Now when we read our Bibles, and you think the first part of the Bible you've got the old covenant, last part you've got the new covenant.

Where does the new covenant first appear? You know, it - you find it -yeah, in the old testament. Jeremiah - I think it's 31:31? It may be. It says, 'behold, I make a new covenant with the house of Israel.' And so you first find that and it's repeated in Ezekiel and then you find it in the new testament, even repeated word for word in Hebrews. So we're living, now, under the time of the new covenant. Okay, now we're getting to the section on Gethsemane and I need somebody to read to me Matthew 26:30.

"And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the mount of olives." This is one of the only times you're going to find in the Bible where it says Jesus sang. Now that's not because it was the only time he sang, it's just one of the only recorded places where it talks about Jesus singing. And so, even though he knows he's about to go to the cross, he sings with them. And they had - if you go to the Psalms they had several Psalms that were called, you know, the pascal, or passover Psalms. So they sing together and where do they go? To the mount of olives.

Where, in particular, do they go? A place called Gethsemane. Now Gethsemane is a small olive orchard with a garden across the brook kidron at the foot of mount - the mount of olives. I've been there on a tour to Jerusalem and they have an olive press there. It's a place where olives were crushed that the oil might come forth and the oil is what provided the burning of the flame in the temple - it gave the olive oil. Jesus being crushed made it possible for him to purchase the outpouring of the Spirit for you and me.

It's interesting, you look at John 18 - John - Gospel - 18, verse 1, "when Jesus spoke these words" - after he teaches them in the upper room - "he went out with his disciples over the brook kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered." The brook kidron, if you know your - geography, actually is helpful. You've got the temple - here's the temple. Here's the mount of olives. Get temple - garden of Gethsemane. Between the mountains there's a valley.

That valley is where the blood flowed from the temple. There was, literally - I've seen it. They had a tunnel under the altar where the blood went and it ran out into the kidron. The kidron had a little creek - that they were not to eat from the - drink from the kidron brook because that brook would run down into the Jordan and off into the dead sea. So when it says he went across the kidron, the kidron was red with blood during the passover.

Josephus, the historian, says that they sacrificed as many as ,000 lambs in Jerusalem in the time of Christ, during the passover - 250,000. It was a very efficient operation and there was, quite literally, a river of blood. And so the fact that Christ crossed over the blood - you know, the children of Israel crossed the red sea and Jesus crossed over the blood for us. And now, when he - after they have the dinner, because it's passover, it's a full moon. You can see a little bit.

The moon's almost full now, isn't it? I think I saw it up the other night. And you can see a little bit and he's going up the side of the mount of olives. Do you know that Jesus, he wept in a garden on the mount of olives. Jesus is The Son of David. Do you remember reading when David is fleeing from absalom, David weeps on the mount of olives.

And Jesus is The Son of David. So that's just - it's a - when David - David, kind of, had lost the Kingdom - or the Kingdom was at risk when he was weeping on the mount of olives. Right now the Kingdom is in the balance as Jesus is weeping on the mount of olives in Gethsemane. Alright, Judas sells his soul. Luke 22 - and someone, in a moment, is going to read John 13:30, okay? In Luke 22, verse 3, "then satan entered Judas, surnamed iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.

So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money." - 30 Pieces of silver - now we don't know exactly how much it was because it just says, 'piece of silver' and they had different sized pieces of silver, but it was somewhere between one and four months' salary. It was the price of a slave is what they - he sold Jesus for. He promised then he sought opportunity. He was just waiting.

He knew sometimes Jesus was going to go where only he could tell them, in the absence of the multitude. Alright, go ahead, read for us John 13:20, please. "Judas, having received a piece of bread, then went out immediately and it was night." You remember what happened at the dinner? Jesus said, 'this night, one of you is going to betray me.' And the disciples are all looking around - they'd learned not to question Jesus' prophecies, because everything he said seemed to happen. You know, he says 'you're going to go find a donkey and they find it. 'You're going to find an upper room.

' And they find it. Now he says, 'tonight, one of you is going to betray me.' And instead of contradicting him, they start looking around the room. And then they finally are wondering, 'could it be me?' And one by one they begin to say, 'Lord, is it me?' And another one says, 'is it me?' 'Is it me?' And he doesn't really answer them until Judas says, 'is it me?' And Jesus said, 'thou has said.' And it's interesting that the way that they're seated around the table is it starts with Peter at his right hand, John just next to Peter and it wraps all the way around and Judas is at his left hand. So Judas is at the end of the circle, so to speak. And they kind of just go around the table.

Finally it comes to Judas, he says, 'is it me?' He says, 'thou has said.' They still weren't sure what that meant. And then, when Judas got up and went out, they thought that Judas was going out - there's something that still hasn't been bought for the feast or something he's got to do. He's go the moneybag. Who knows what he's doing? They didn't worry about it. He was always coming and going on his own.

He was the treasurer. And Jesus actually dips a piece of bread in sauce, which is something they did during the dinner. He hands it to Judas and says, 'go and do what you do quickly. And I think it's very interesting, it says, 'when he received the bread, he went out immediately. It was night.

' It says, 'satan entered Judas.' He went out and it was night. What a sad thing. At that point, Christ had grieved away the Holy Spirit. I'm sorry, Judas had grieved away the Holy Spirit. Did Jesus wash his feet? Yeah.

And he still wouldn't let it soften his heart. I think, matter of fact, you read in the book Desire of Ages, when Christ was washing Judas' feet, his first impulse is he was about to break down and cry and confess what he had done and Jesus would have forgiven him. There was still hope at that point. But he hardened his heart. The devil said, 'oh, if he was really the Messiah, what would he be doing on his hands and knees? the King of Israel would never be doing that.

He's an imposter. And he convinced himself to go through with his terrible deed. How would you like to be coming forth in the resurrection of the lost as Judas - and knowing that you had betrayed The Son of God - not only lost your own salvation, but been the one who chose to deny and betray Jesus. That's just a thought that makes us shudder to think about. Now they're in the garden of Gethsemane.

You read in Matthew chapter , "and while he was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now his betrayer had given them a sign, saying, 'whomever I kiss, he is the one; seize him.' Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, 'greetings, rabbi!' And kissed him. Now why did he say 'whichever one I kiss?' Didn't the - and I should back up and say there's - I respect - respectfully need to disagree with something I read there in the lesson. It said there was as many as 600 soldiers, implying they were a detachment of roman soldiers. I don't think so.

The Romans were not involved yet. It was the soldiers and a mob from the priests. You'll notice there was a servant from the high priest that was there. These were sent from the temple. They hadn't gotten any word or authority from pilate yet to arrest him.

I don't think it was 600. I mean, you've got twelve apostles, you don't need 600. That's sort of using a chainsaw to get rid of a fly. And so I think there, you know, may have been fifty or a hundred and he would have called that a great multitude. And they came to arrest him.

It's dark. They don't have the same artificial light. They've torches. And, keep in mind, when Jesus passed through the crowd - you and I - when you see paintings of Jesus, what color robe is he wearing? How many say white robes? I mean, when he's on earth you always see he's got the white robe. Where does it say that? It tells us that he had a robe, it doesn't ever tell us what color it is.

What do you think his clothes looked like? Probably like the clothes of the other apostles. Did he look like a movie star? There was no form or comeliness that we should desire him. He looked like a normal man. And so, he used to slip through the crowd. He'd go to the feast by himself and when he was mixed in with the crowd, nobody spotted him until he started teaching and healing people.

He looked like just everybody else. And so they told Judas, they said, 'which one is he?' He said, 'look, I'll go up to him and kiss him and I'll make like I'm greeting him and you come up behind me.' Think about this, Judas was upset because mary kissed his feet and that she anointed him. Judas kisses his face. Mary kisses his feet and serves him. Judas kisses his face and betrays him.

There's only two records in the Bible of anyone kissing Jesus. One kisses his feet and serves, and the other kisses his face and betrays. There's a prophecy that says, 'kiss the King' - but, alright, so now you've got the denial of Peter. And you read in Matthew 26, verse 69, "now Peter sat outside" - oh, and then, I think you all know, Peter didn't mean to deny Jesus. He didn't plan on that - it was not premeditated.

When they're going around the circle and they're saying, 'this night one of you will betray me.' One of them who speaks is who? Peter. And Peter said, 'though all men forsake you, I will not forsake you. Even though all of these betray you, I'll go to death with you.' And what does Jesus say to Peter? 'This night, before the night is - the rooster crows twice you'll deny me three times.' And his statement varies from one Gospel to the other. But the idea is, before the rooster crows, you're going to deny me. And Peter said, 'I'll die for you before I deny you.

' Did he mean it when he said it?' Yes. He did. How do you know that? When the mob comes to arrest Jesus, what does he do? He pulls out a sword and he's ready to fight and, if need be, die for Jesus. And Peter is a little bit mystified, because earlier Jesus said, 'he that doesn't have a sword, get one.' And Peter says, 'Lord, we've got two.' How many of you remember that? 'We've got two swords.' Is that enough for a revolution? And, you know, Jesus says, 'it is enough.' Some people think that Jesus was saying, 'two swords is enough.' Jesus, when he said it in Greek, it's basically saying, 'enough of this. It doesn't mean the two swords are enough, he means, you guys don't get it.

It's like the thing, 'oh, we forgot the bread.' When Jesus said, 'beware of the leaven of the pharisees. They said, 'oh, we forgot our lunch.' He said, 'I'm not talking about that.' And when he said, 'he that doesn't have a sword get one.' They said, 'Lord, we've two swords.' He says, 'enough of this. I don't mean that.' What was the sword a symbol of? The Word of God. And so, they did have two swords. It's interesting that when - when jonathan and Saul went against the philistines, it says there were only two swords in the Kingdom, jonathan had one and Saul had one.

And the Word of God's compared to a double-edged sword. It's kind of a dual nature for the Word of God. So he pulls out a sword to fight. He cuts off the servant's ear. John tells us his name was malchus.

Jesus reaches over, heals his ear. He must have stuck it back on and miraculously welded it back in place. Now, if I was that servant, I would have let Jesus go right then. I'd say, 'oh, we're not arresting this guy, he just put my ear back.' I mean, wouldn't that miracle have been enough? But they were under orders. And so, they arrested Jesus and he said, 'put your sword back.

If you live by the sword, you'll die by the sword. Then they - all the disciples forsook him and fled - all twelve. Gradually John comes back to follow him. Peter follows from a distance and it says that in, I think, Mark chapter 14. A lot of Christians get in trouble because they follow Jesus from a distance.

He followed him, but from a distance. And so when they - John goes into the judgment hall. Peter waits out there and he sits there with the servants. And it's a cold spring morning, you know, at - the night is clear and moon is out and they're shivering and they've got a little coal fire and so he's standing there. In the glow of the coals, one of the girls looks at him, she said, 'I saw you with Jesus in the temple.

You're one of his followers.' And they're kind of laughing because he's right inside being tried. And Peter just - he's overwhelmed. The devil spooked him or something and he denies Christ. You know how it is, you say, 'oh no.' You know how it is, you say, 'I don't know what you're talking about.' Everyone's looking at him. And maybe she had a little cynicism or a mock in her voice.

Then they asked the question again, 'you're one of his followers.' 'No, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know the man.' And the third time someone says, 'surely you're one of them because your speech. You've got an accent. You guys from Galilee, you've got that northern accent. It's easy to spot.

' You know in - you can go to some states and there's words they can't say. Well, they think they can say them, but they can't say them normal. And the galileans - fishermen - they had a strong accent. They said, 'you're one of those galileans.' And what does Peter do then? Swearing and cursing. Every time you start going down the road of denying Christ, it gets easier and easier and you get further and further away.

And, after that, he hears a rooster crow in the distance. I know what that sounds like because we have a rooster right across the fence from our house here in town. Karen and I hear a rooster every morning and he starts to crow about 5:00. And he hears the rooster and this time it's very distinct. And then he turns to look at Jesus when he hears the rooster.

He sees in the judgment hall a roman soldier makes a fist and it comes down and it hits Jesus and Jesus shakes himself, gets up, turns, and he looks at Peter. And Peter sees a look of love and it just breaks his heart. And it says he goes out and he wept bitterly at that. So then, of course, the conclusion of the trial and Jesus is taken to the cross and we'll be studying this in our last study on the subject. I think we pretty much got through today's lesson.

I want to remind you, before we do go off the air, we have a free offer called the high cost of the cross. We'll send this to you - just ask for it. It's free. You can also read it online at amazingfacts.org if you do call in, it's 866-788-3966 and ask for offer #156. Please read it when you do.

God bless you, friends. We'll continue studying His Word in our next lesson next week. Friends, have you ever heard of the bowhead whale? This enormous leviathan is the second-largest creature in the world. Dark and stocky, it roams the fertile arctic northern waters. These massive creatures can be more than 65-feet long and weigh more than 75 tons.

That's heavier than the space shuttle. Yet, in spite of their titanic size, they're able to leap entirely out of the water. Can you say 'belly flop'? The bowhead whale gets its name from its bow-shaped skull - and they've got one ginormous noggin. Matter of fact, their heads are about 40 percent of their body size, which comes in handy when you find out how they use their heads. They've got very thick skulls.

Sometimes they get trapped under the surface and they use their heads to ram the ice. They can break a breathing hole in the ice that is a foot and a half thick. Friends, you have to just imagine what it would be like to be walking around on the arctic ice and all of a sudden have the ground beneath you crack and split and rise as one of these sea monsters pushes its head up to breath for the first time in minutes. Because bowheads make their home in the coldest part of our world, they have the thickest blubber of any whale. But this, plus their friendly and curious nature, made them prime targets when the european whalers discovered the bowheads.

They hunted them nearly to extinction. Fortunately, because of conservation efforts, we've slowly seen their Numbers begin to increase since the 60s. One of the most Amazing Facts about the bowhead whale is its longevity. Scientists have discovered, by evaluating harpoon tips found in their skull, and examining their eye tissue, there are bowhead whales out there that are probably over 200 years old. You realize that means there are bowhead whales swimming the oceans right now that were alive before Abraham lincoln was elected president.

Can you imagine that? Among the other amazing mega-facts about the bowhead whale, is its mega-mouth. They have the largest mouth of any in the animal kingdom. And when they open their pie hole full extended, it's large enough to park a medium-sized suv inside. Yet, in spite of the fact that they've got such big mouths, they survive by eating the very smallest creatures in the ocean - plankton, krill, and other microscopic animals. Friends, I'm always amazed by the creatures God has made.

This bowhead whale is able to dive to the deepest oceans. They can break through the ice and move mountains with their head and completely leave the water and fly through the air. And yet, they do all that by gaining strength from almost microscopic organisms. It helps us remember that we survive through the little promises in God's Word. Jesus, when tempted by the devil, he quoted just a few little verses and he sent the enemy running.

You can also have that same durability and long life as the bowhead whale, by trusting in God's Word and his promises. I grew up in a church-going family. I mean, we were at every meeting. I sang in four of the choirs there. I directed three - very involved - very active.

It almost seemed like busy work sometimes, you know? I went to Sunday school. I knew about God. I knew about Jesus, but I didn't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. My senior year in high school I got the news that my father had been murdered. Now, I played it off well.

No one really saw that I was struggling with it. It just really felt like there was a hole that needed to be filled and I tried to fill it with drugs, with alcohol, with partying. After college, I just stopped going to church altogether. One day, on a Sunday, because I didn't feel like going to church with my mom, I thought, 'you know, I should get a little bit of word.' She had the satellite system hooked up and I'm flipping through channels and then the logo pops across - Amazing Facts presents. I've listened to a lot if different ministers, but here was - this was the first time that he's actually saying something where I had to grab my Bible and actually pick it up and I've never heard this before.

Let me look through and find this. I went through all the storacles. I went through all the study guides and I just couldn't get enough. And then the Sabbath came up and he's going through the appeal and I'm just going, 'Lord, I hear you. I have to go to church.

' So I show up - it was funny, I didn't feel like I was going to be judged - anything judgmental - anything. And I walked in the door and I just felt at home. But there's still a problem. I'm still partying. I was still going out to the bars.

At this time I was selling cocaine to pay my rent. Sixteen days later I find myself in a life or death situation. I had just come back from a liquor store and I grabbed a bottle of vodka. And there I am, high off cocaine, with my Bible in hand, trying to do a Bible study. And I heard an audible voice, 'just look at yourself!' And I did and I was like, 'what am I doing?' And I got on my knees.

I said, 'Lord, if you do not take this away from me now, I'm going to kill myself.' I was going to continue this lifestyle and I was going to end up overdosing, having a heart attack, whatever it was. 'You have to take this away - all of it.' And that day he lifted all of it away from me. It was all gone. When God does something in your life, he does it complete.