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Monday, March 21, 2005
I still get confused when it comes to the Easter story.
I mean, I've heard the elements of the story since I was a little kid and it often becomes some sort of "soup" that I can't really figure out what happened and when it happened. You know, there was the Last Supper, and Judas left. And Peter was denying knowing Christ. And the disciples fled. And Annas and a high priest and Pilate were involved. And a criminal got freed. And there were two criminals on either side of Christ. Somebody carried the cross for Christ. I really get goofed up on what happened when Christ was on the cross and what was said. And didn't Christ was the disicples' feet and didn't Peter try to kill somebody in there somewhere, too?
That's where Dawson McAllister helps me out.
When I was a senior in high school I went to a "Dawson McAllister Conference." I think he still does youth rallies, and me and a few friends attended one when he came through town. He'd just written a workbook called "A Walk With Christ to the Cross" and the focus of the weekend rally was teaching us the time line.
What was particularly interesting is that I decided to take some teens from our church to a Dawson McAllister rally and he was doing a "15th Anniversary" tour of the same workbook that I went through when I was in high school.
The reason that he could revisit that workbook is because it was a great teaching tool...it's very well organized and breaks the last hours of Christ's ministry on earth into a very orderly timeline.
So, this week, we'll be using his timeline as our outline, and we'll use some of the Bible study methods that we used last week as our guide. Today, we'll start with Jesus on Thursday night around 6PM.
Grab your Bible and turn to Matthew 26: 19--29, and answer these questions before you move on.
WHAT time of year is it? (v. 19)
WHO is there? (v.20)
WHAT did Jesus say & WHAT was the reaction in vv. 21—25?
WHAT did Jesus do in v. 26?
WHY did He do that?
What did He do in v. 27?
WHY did He do that in v. 27-29?
We learn that it's the Passover, so that would make it the springtime...and from the context we know that it's about 33 A.D. We know that the 12 disciples are there, and they're reclining at a table. Jesus informs them that one of them would betray Him. Each one said they wouldn't be the one who did, and Jesus told them it would be the one who put his hand in the bowl with Him would be the betrayer, and that it would be better to have never been born than to be the betrayer. Judas asked if it would be him and Jesus let him know that it very well was.
In verse 26, Jesus took some bread, said a blessing and gave it to his disciples. After that we see that he took some wine from a cup, gave it to them, and after each one told them the symbolism of it. That the bread was symbolic of His body, and the wine was symbolic of blood, which would be shed for many to forgive sins. Then He told his followers that He would have no wine until he drank it with them when they were in the Kingdom. I'd imagine this made John 6: 66-68 come to life for the 12.
We've come to know this time as The Last Supper. Famous paintings (albeit littered with poor interpretations of what was really happening in that room) have been made of this moment. In fact, most churches celebrate this supper on a regular basis as a time to focus on the work Christ did for us as well as point us to the time in which we will have many suppers with Him in The Kingdom...frankly, I think of that every time our church takes communion.
This is where CORRELATION is helpful too. In fact, there's a whole book of correlations that out of print now but it's called The Life of Christ in Stereo and it has all these stories in order, pulling events from different Gospel accounts.
Added accounts are found in:
John 13: 1--20. Read it and look for time differences from the Matthew account before going further.
This account picks up after supper and before they sing the hymn in the Matthew account. Jesus got up from supper and took the attire of a slave, and then washed the disciples' feet...the action of a slave. Peter was incredulous. He couldn't imagine letting Jesus wash his feet and told Him so. Jesus told him he'd understand later, and that He must was Peter's feet or Peter could have no part in the Kingdom. Peter figured that if he had a part in the Kingdom with just a foot washing, then maybe he could get more of a part in the Kingdom by letting Jesus was him from head to toe...and Jesus said that wasn't really necessary. Jesus let them know that they were to serve one another, and even gives more details in the words used during the wine and bread.
Mark 14: 17--21 also offers some insights. It was evening, and we get a cultural concept of reclining at the table and eating...so, picture HOW they were eating. 12 people would be laying down at this table. The room dynamics were likely a "horseshoe" of three tables, with 12 men having their head where the food would be sitting and their feet furthest from the table. That's why the famous DaVinci painting is factually incorrect!
Luke 22: 7--38 gives us a lot of different insights. We get some events of earlier in the day in which Christ sends Peter to find a room so they can celebrate the Passover. It's a pretty amazing way in which he finds it, too. We also get some new insights in verse 23 that the discussion of betrayal then takes place among the disciples and who was actually going to do it. What's also interesting is that all the Kingdom talk began and they were having an argument over who might be the greatest among them (which might explain why Jesus got up and showed them a servant in the John account, and tells us something about why John was so moved by it all). Jesus has some stern words for Peter, and Jesus tells Peter that he will betray Him three times before the rooster crows. They find two swords as well.
All of this transpires during the equivalent of Thursday, 6 to 11:30 PM.
Now, for the applications, and what I'd like for the comments to be this week is what God is teaching YOU as you do your personal studies. Mine today is finding ways to serve people that I don't really like. I mean, Christ showed servanthood to His disciples and THEY WERE ABOUT TO BETRAY HIM! They were going to backstab Him, yet He loved them and taught them to serve and love one another. I guess sometimes I need to work on loving and serving those who are more difficult to love and serve...
Brent 5:47 AM
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