READ IT! - Introduction to Matthew 25-28

Readings for this week

Monday: Matthew 25

Tuesday: Matthew 26

Wednesday: Matthew 27
Thursday: Matthew 28
Friday: 1st Kings 1
Saturday: 1st Kings 2
Sunday: 1st Kings 3

Introduction to Matthew 25-28

Chapter 25 

Jesus continues to lay out several quick parables to provide a better understanding of his future coming.

Fifth Parable: Ten Virgins

It will be like ten virgins who take their lamps to go meet the bridegroom, but half of them don’t bring enough oil to keep their lamps lit. The bridegroom takes his time and shows up at midnight. The smart virgins use their extra oil to light their lamps but the dumb ones have run out and have to go out and try to buy some more in the middle of the night and get locked out. They bang on the door but the groom doesn’t recognize them.

Sixth Parable: The Talents

Before going on a trip a man leaves his three servants in charge of one, two, and five talents of gold, respectively. The men with the five and the two went to work right away and doubled their amounts. But the man with the one buried the money in the ground and did nothing. When the boss got home, he rewarded the first two men and gave them even more responsibilities, but he punished the one who buried his money, saying that the least he could have done was deposited it in the bank to earn interest. The man excuses himself saying he did it because his boss is a hard man. He gives the one talent to the man who doubled the five talents and he throws the lazy servant out into the darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Seventh Parable: The Sheep and the Goats

It will be like a shepherd separating sheep from goats. Sheep go to the right, and goats go to the left. Goats don’t pay attention to their master’s voice, but sheep recognize it and follow it. In the same way, when the Son of Man comes with his angels he will gather all the nations before him, and say to the ones on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ And then they will be confused because they won’t remember seeing Jesus in need, and he will tell them that whatever they did for the least person, they did for him. And he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ And they will also be confused because they won’t remember seeing Jesus in need, and he also say to them that whatever they didn’t do for the least person, they didn’t do for him. 

Chapter 26 

The priests plot to kill Jesus but they fear a riot during the festival. Jesus is then anointed by a “sinful” woman at Bethany, preparing him for his burial, and Judas Iscariot scoffs at this. He then goes to the chief priests and asks how much they’ll pay him to watch for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them, and they give him thirty pieces of silver.

Jesus has his disciples prepare for the Passover celebration in the upper room of a rented house. In the evening, they’re all reclining at the table that evening Jesus announced that one of them will betray him. All of the disciples deny this, but Jesus says, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” Judas is like, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?” Jesus is like, “You said it.”

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

So how exactly is this cup, this “fruit of the vine,” the blood of the covenant?

First, Abraham made a blood oath with God to be loyal to him. The penalty for disloyalty is death. But Abraham did not walk in the blood. God did. And God in the Son paid the price that we, Abraham’s spiritual descendants, all owe for our disloyalty. His blood “poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” is the price for our breaking the covenant with God.

Second, Jesus was also paying the price for every breaking of the Law of Moses. The Israelites made a blood oath but couldn’t keep their promises. And Jesus was paying that price, too.

Third, Paul later refers to the “blood of the covenant” in 1 Corinthians 11. Paul says that Jesus made a “new covenant” with his blood. As we drink his blood, we are going all the way back to the original meaning of the blood oath — we are drinking the blood of the Messiah, entering into communion with him and promising to be loyal — to be faithful — to him. And he is promising to keep his promises to us.

The Passover 

The Lord’s Supper was instituted as part of a Passover meal. The Passover celebrates God’s deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage. By the time of Jesus, the meal was celebrated with four cups of wine, each reflecting a promise of God made to Moses and Israel at the beginning of their deliverance. At least three of the cups were recorded in the Gospels’ account of the Last Supper. In the traditional Passover meal, the head of the household would recite each promise from God with each cup. The first cup, preceding the meal, is the Cup of Sanctification – based on God’s statement, “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians” The second cup, preceding the first course, is the Cup of Judgment or Deliverance — based on God’s statement, “I will deliver you from slavery to them.” Luke 22:17 records, “After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, ‘Take this and divide it among you.’” The family would then take the meal together, followed by the third cup, the Cup of Redemption – based on God’s statement, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.” Luke 22:20 records, “In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’” The fourth cup is the Cup of Protection – based on God’s statement, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God.” Jesus did not take this cup, forfeiting the Passover, God’s protection against the death angel. Instead, he said, “I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Although Jesus drank no more wine, he did drink from another cup. You see, the traditional Passover has a fifth cup, taken from Jeremiah 25, “Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.” This is also known as Elijah’s cup. Malachi also prophesied that Elijah would return shortly before the coming of the Messiah and day of God’s wrath against all wickedness. At this part of the Passover ceremony, the door is opened, and the head of household says, “Pour out your wrath on the world!” In the traditional ceremony, this cup is filled but not drunk — not until the coming of Elijah. But Jesus drank the cup. Just a few verses later in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath against the nations.

Jesus then predicts Peter’s denial. After Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas shows up with an armed mob. Judas goes to Jesus, saying, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and he kisses him. Jesus tells him, “Do what you came for, friend.” Jesus is arrested, but one of the disciples (Peter according to John’s Gospel) grabs a sword and strikes the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Jesus says, “Put your sword back in its place! For all who draw the sword will die by the sword! Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels! But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way!” Then all the disciples ran away and hid.

Jesus is taken before Caiaphas the High Priest (who was in on this whole scheme). Peter follows the crowd, watching from a distance to see what happens. The priests are trying to come up with a case against Jesus, but they can’t find any witnesses who can agree with each other. Eventually, two people agree that Jesus had claimed that he could destroy God’s Temple and rebuild it in three days. The High Priest is like, “Aren’t you going to say anything, Jesus?” Jesus says nothing. The High Priest puts Jesus under oath and says, “Tell us if you’re the Messiah, the Son of God!” Jesus says, “You said it.” He then says to the crowd, “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” The High Priest tears his own clothes, crying, “Blasphemy!” The crowd cries, “Kill him!” They then attack Jesus, spitting on him and hitting him, and yelling, “Prophesy to us, Messiah! Who hit you?”

Peter then disowns Jesus. 

Chapter 27 

When Judas sees that they’re going to kill Jesus, he is seized with remorse and tries to give the thirty pieces of silver back to the priests, saying, “I have sinned for I have betrayed innocent blood.” The priests, whose job it is to lead sinful people back to God in confession and forgiveness, say to Judas, “What’s that to us? You’re sin is your own problem!” Judas throws the money into the Temple and runs away and hangs himself. The priests don’t know what to do with the money because they know it’s blood money, so they later decide to buy the Potter’s Field with it and they call it The Field of Blood. Matthew says that this took place to fulfill the words of the prophets, and he quotes both Jeremiah and Zechariah, saying, “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”

Very early in the morning, the Sanhedrin decided to drag Jesus over to the Roman Governor Pilate for a decision on what to do with him. Pilate’s like, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus is like, “You said it.” The priests started accusing Jesus of all kinds of stuff, but Jesus didn’t say anything, so Pilate was like, “Aren’t you going to say something in your own defense?” But Jesus still said nothing and Pilate was amazed at him.

At this point the narrator informs us that it was traditional for a prisoner to be released once a year at the request of the people. He also tells us that there was at this time a known terrorist and murderer locked up in prison named Jesus Barabbas. Pilate uses this opportunity to ask the crowd who they would like to release – Jesus Barabbas or Jesus Christ? Pilate’s wife also shows up to tell her husband to have nothing to do with Jesus, saying that she’d had a terrible dream about that morning. But the crowd had turned against Jesus, and they were like, “No! Give us the terrorist! Set Barabbas free!” Pilate thought this was kind of stupid, so he was like, “What should I do with this ‘King of the Jews’ then?” The crowd shouted, “Crucify him!” Pilate was dumbfounded, and asked, “Why? What crime has he committed?” But the crowd kept screaming “Crucify!” so in order to avoid a riot, Pilate gave in to them. He also symbolically washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood! He is your responsibility!” The crowd shouted back, “His blood be on us and our children!” He released Barabbas, and had Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified.

The soldiers mock Jesus. As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). He was quoting Psalm 22 – the Death Psalm. Those nearby misheard him and thought he was calling for Elijah. One of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The others said, “Leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. Matthew says that the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” Many women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph (Jesus’ mother), and the mother of Zebedee’s sons (James and John’s mother). Matthew notes that they had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs.

On the evening of Jesus’ death, a rich disciple named Joseph of Arimathea got permission from Pilate to remove Jesus’ body from the cross and place it in his own tomb before the Sabbath began at sunset.

The next morning (the Sabbath), the priests and Pharisees also went to Pilate to get permission to have Jesus’ tomb sealed and made secure so that no one could steal his body. They said the reason the tomb needed to be guarded was because they remembered that while Jesus was still alive, he claimed that he would be put to death and be raised to life on the third day, and they were afraid the disciples would try to steal his body and try to convince people he’d returned from the dead. They added that this last deception would be worse than the first, so Pilate posted a guard at the tomb. 

Chapter 28 

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Some of the guards reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. The priests and elders then gave them a bunch of money and told them to say that the disciples stole his body and that they would keep them out of trouble with the Governor if he found out. Matthew then tells the reader of his Gospel that this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee and met Jesus on the mountain. They worshiped him, but Matthew says that some still doubted even then. Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”