Like a Lamb to the Slaughter

Matthew 27:11-14

The great prophet Isaiah gave us this insight into Matthew 27:11-4, in Isaiah 53:7, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before the shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”  These words were spoken about 700 years before the birth of Jesus, and as pronounced those many years before, we see them played out in Jesus’ encounter with the high priest and then later with Pilate.

It was night, and by the laws of the Jews an unlawful meeting, when the high priest ask this of Jesus; “And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”  The answer was true, but it was also the answer the high priest wanted, for he accused Jesus of blasphemy, and the others present agreed and said he should die.

That brings us to Matthew 27:11-14, “Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.”

Do you recall Pilate sending Jesus before Herod because Jesus was a Galilean and belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction; in today words we call that passing the buck.  Herod was excided to see Jesus because he had heard so much about Him.  In fact, Matthew tells us that Herod was hoping Jesus would put on a show for him, but no matter what the chief priests and the scribes accused Him of, Jesus remained silent.  Dr. Luke tells us Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him.  They arrayed him in splendid clothing, and he was sent back to Pilate.  What was the verdict of both Herod and Pilate, this man has done nothing deserving death.  But the crowds cried out “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas.  And when ask by Pilate what should be done to Jesus the leaders and the crowds shouted, “Crucify, crucify him!”

As a follower of Christ, I believe those voices in the crowd are once again saying be rid of Him, and the Him is Christ living in you and me.  It is amazing how one stance for the family has brought out the disgusted of the unchurched and people ignorant of Biblical truths taught in Scripture.  And do not forget those who claim to be followers of Christ, but the message is not Christian, it centers on hate, and fear, much like the KKK. 

It seems we need once again to define that Christianity is a Relationship with God:  One word will define it “Done” Jesus Christ has done everything that God the Father required.  It only requires you place faith in the finished work of the Cross, and if one asks God, He will give them faith to believe in the grace and the blood that was shed by Jesus to pay for sin, all sin, yours and mine.  Religion is defined by the word “Do” what action can a person do to earn a relationship with God?  And religion is very set on making all others adhere to it rules and doctrines, even to the point of death, and religion is taking place in Matthew 27.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Blood Money

Matthew 27:3-10

Blood money; In the Japanese culture and many others, it is common to give blood money to a victim's family.  So who put a price on the value of life, a judge, a family member, or do we look to our Creator to see the value of life?  Do you recall the Scriptures addressing a young man named Cain, who was angry with his brother Abel in that he had found favor with God and Cain had not?  Shall we pick up the account in Genesis 4:6-7, The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”  After God had spoken to him about his jealousy, Cain did not repent but allowed his emotions to control him and killed his brother.  Now the rest of the story; And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.”  (Genesis 4:10-16)

I’m not sure we grasp the punishment, no longer would Cain see the face of God, and what is a man who has walked with God and now is removed from fellowship?  And the ground, his source of life support, will no longer yield as it once had.  Cain knows he is a marked man and a fugitive on earth.  Others will try to kill him for his deed, so God places a mark on Cain and gives warning to anyone who brings harm to Cain, that vengeance would be taken on them sevenfold. 

Back to Matthew’s account of Judas the betrayer, once he saw that Jesus was condemned he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priest and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”  They said “What is that to us?  See to it yourself.”  And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went out and hanged himself.  But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.”  (Matthew 27:4-6) 

It is just like the devil to put an evil desire in our hearts and we do as Eve in the Garden, we see it and desire what it will do for us, with no regard for the will of God, and as soon as it is done, the devil begins to accuse us and we are sorry.  How Judas misread the religious leaders, they were all about seeing Jesus condemned; they had no problem with innocent blood.  We should never forget that the end game of religion is death, Blaise Pascal hit it on the head; “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.”

As a follower of Christ, what value do you place on your relationship with God?  For Judas it was 30 pieces of sliver, and the prophet Jeremiah had proclaimed this would happen hundreds of years before and how the priest would buy a potter’s field with the blood money.  The question should ring in our ears, what is the value I place on my relationship and fellowship with the living Jesus?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

What was in it for Pilate?

Matthew 27:1-2

“When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor.”

As a person who made a living in sales, I always wanted to cut to the chase, it was always the bottom line, and so it was important to know if the person I was addressing could sign the order.  So was the case with the chief priests and the elders, they wanted to be rid of this Jesus, and they needed someone who could close the deal.  Pilate the governor was the man, and anyone in the sales profession knows it is the “man” you are looking for, he/she has the authority to close the deal.

Now the Arabs have a saying that I learned while in the Gulf area, “an enemy of my enemy is a friend.”  That is what is happening, though at this time Pilate was surely an enemy of the chief priests and elders, and the Jewish people as a whole, but not of Jesus.  So it is going to take some selling to get Pilate to do their bidding, and anyone who is in sales knows it’s the “WITFM,” what in it for me.  What was in it for Pilate; peace, to satisfy the crowd calling for Jesus to be crucified, and to make sure that a riot did not breakout, for Cesar would not be happy if that happen.  Now make no false assumptions, Pilate knew he was being conned, he understood that it was out of envy that they had delivered Jesus up to him.

So when did this envy come about?  It is somewhat easy to see with the history record, they were jealous of His ability to draw a crowd no matter where He went.  He had more followers than they did, He spoke with an authority they knew nothing about, and He had not spent years studying under someone they considered as a great teacher.  Not that uncommon from the world we live in, envy and jealousy is alive and well.  We all have seen the guy/gal who was good at conning the boss to get the promotion, but was a long way from being the best choice, that brings about envy, but make no assumption, Jesus Christ was the real thing and the chief priest knew it to be true.

Mark’s gospel has this to add, after Jesus has been delivered to Pilate, the first question he ask of Jesus is; “Are you the King of the Jews?”  And this was Jesus’ answer: “You have said so.”  You may be asking that same question, are you the King of the Jews, or maybe even a better question, are You God?  You will not find a better answer from Jesus than the one He gave to the woman of Samaria that Jesus addressed at the well, these were her words; “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ).  When he comes, he will tell us all things.”  Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” (John 4:25-26)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A recovering Baptist

Matthew 26:69-75

I am a recovering Baptist, my Baptist life began at birth, and for many years I watched and took note of Baptist life in small churches in Corpus Christi, Texas.  At around 12 years of age, I walked an aisle and was a voted in member of Ebony Acres Baptist church, with one specification, at 12, I did not have a vote.  What I learned there, and later in another small Baptist church did not make me want to know Jesus or obey Him, but it did teach me to be somewhat closed minded of others who were not Baptist, like the Methodist, Presbyterians, or anyone else but Baptists, and then only the Southern Baptist.  It was not what was taught, so much as what was not taught, we did not discuss the Holy Spirit and how He came to live in our life and His desire is to lead us into all truth.  You see the Pentecostals made much of the Holy Spirit and they did things like speak in tongues and for a Baptist in our little church, that was taboo.

So what is a lost religious person, who is Baptist by birth, going to do with a guy like Peter, a chosen disciple of Jesus Christ, who publicly denies Jesus?  Now it might have been ok if Peter would have said, I’m not sure which Jesus you are referring to, in that Jesus was a common name at that time.  But I was grounded in the Baptist faith, its rules and regulations, and no one gets by with swearing, “I do not know the man.”  I can testify as a person of Baptist Heritage who was religious, Peter was a wimp, he had no back bone, in fact I’m sure that if it had been me, I would have never got that far, I would have been packed and leaving the area.  But that did not keep me from being a judge of Peter’s actions.

You may want to read the account in Matthew 26:69-75, what Peter had said earlier, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.”  And do you recall Jesus words to Peter; “Truly, I tell you, this very night before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”  And do you recall Peter’s reply; “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!”  What Peter will learn after he is filled with the Holy Spirit is that Jesus tells the truth, and that holds true also with a guy like me, a Baptist without an eternal destination that included Jesus. 

Much later after I had acted by faith in what Jesus had done for me on the cross, to forgive my sin of unbelief and confess that only by Jesus broken body and His precious blood was there forgiveness of sin, did I begin to grasp the magnitude of Jesus’ love for me.  But 27 years of being a lost Baptist had built eighteen lane highways in my mind on how to get my needs met outside of Christ.  My friends Bill & Anabel Gillham taught me how to not look to Bob, but to Jesus, and some of those highways are now only two lane roads with potholes, but those potholes are full of misinformation, lust for things that have no eternal value, and desires of the flesh.

Since I’ve had a relationship with Jesus, it has become apparent that my words and actions have been very much like weak Peter, the Peter full of self.  My hearts desire is to walk daily in such a way that my life takes on the flavor of the man Peter who declared after Pentecost these words: “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Why did Jesus not ask for the angels to rescue Him?

Matthew 26:57-68

If you had been in heaven on the night that Jesus was brought before Caiaphas the high priest, the elders and scribes, you would have been aware that the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus.  Why, because they did not have a case, they needed liars, and if you were in heaven that night you would have been aware that Jesus did not answer His accusers.  You would have seen Peter following at a distance and when they entered into the courtyard of the high priest Peter sat with the guards also keeping his mouth shut.

I do not know what took place in heaven on that night, for God did not choose to reveal His thoughts, nor did He allow us to look into what was going on, but this I know from Scripture that the angels watch us to see what we will do with our free will.  When Christ came into the world as a baby the angels were there, praising God and glorifying the Son of God.  And as Judas came with his band of men to take Jesus by force, do you recall Jesus words; “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”  Twelve legions of angels on standby, it will only take one word and they come and rescue their Creator, and yet Jesus was silent, and that silence was in accordance with the will of the Father. 

In the gospel of John it is spelled out for us in the tenth chapter, picking up the account in verse 11, “I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  When we grasp the magnitude of God’s love we see in John 3:16, we bow our knee and our hearts to a love that is beyond human understanding, and yet is freely given by our Father in heaven.  Picking up the account in John 10:14, I am the good shepherd.  I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Heaven stood still that day because of love for you, you were those other sheep Jesus was referring to in John 10:16. 

Many years ago in San Antonio, Texas I met a young teenage girl name Carol, and she had written down a talk she had with God.  It went like this:  “Carol, how much do you love me, Lord?

God, I love you so much Carol that I did not let my emotions and feeling for my Son get in the way of everything that had to happen to Him for your sake.  I didn’t give in to the terrible hurt and anguish I felt as they rejected and beat my Son.  I never lost sight of what was best for you as I watched them mutilate and tear my Son’s body apart.  Your life is more important to me than preserving any dignity or thought for myself.”

Why did Jesus not ask for the angels to rescue Him, it was because of love for sinners like you and me, sinners with no hope?  If Jesus had asked the Father to rescue Him, we would be without hope, now and forever.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Many examples of Betrayal's

Matthew 26:47-56

Betrayal cannot happen from someone outside of the camp!  We have many examples of unfaithfulness, and one that stands out in history is Roman emperor Julius Caesar came to a very sticky end when his own nephew, Marcus Junius Brutus, took part in the murder plot against him.  Most of us recall Caesar’s last words; “Et tu, Brutus.”  Aldrich Ames readily sold US government secrets to Russia during the 1980s. Ames’ work at the CIA gave him access to military intelligence and the names of every US agent in operation against Russia – intelligence he willingly surrendered; as a result, ten people were killed by the Russians an Ames was paid 4.6 million and is spending the rest of his life in prison.  You may also recall the Rosenberg’s were a married couple with communist sympathies that sold atomic secrets to the Soviets during the height of the Cold War.  Julius Rosenberg helped exchange covert information and also recruited other spies for the Soviet Union.  He, alongside his wife Ethel (whose level of involvement, if any at all, is still contentious), was arrested in 1950. After a controversial trial, both were executed for conspiring to sell atomic secrets to Russia on June 19, 1953.  All examples were taken from PBH network, titled the six biggest betrayals in history.

We have names for those who betray a friend, such names as a Brutus, Benedict Arnold, Judas Iscariot, and all are synonymous with treachery and betrayal.  As we examine Judas Iscariot, the guy Jesus allowed to handle the money for the twelve, we discover that his interest in Jesus may have been the goal of many from the beginning of time to the present; “What is in it for me?”  Judas is the example of a man who would sell his soul to the devil and though he was one of the twelve disciples, he must not have listened to the words of Jesus.  Do you recall Jesus asking; “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?  Or what shall a man give in return for his life?”  (Matthew 16:26)  Do not make the mistake of Judas, and it is easy to be around Christ and not hear what is being said.

Do you recall the plan that Judas had come up with, the plan was to walk up and kiss Jesus on the cheek and all these guys with him would seize Jesus?  But Jesus was not a Caesar, he was not surprised, in fact these were his words, “Friend, do what you came to do.”  And do you recall Peter’s words, all these other guys may run away but not me, and guess what he took out his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.   This is Jesus reply to Peter’s action, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”  These are words to his disciples but what come next are the words of Jesus to the worldly crowd.

At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.  (Matthew 26:55-56)  The question must be asked; what are your reasons for following Jesus, and are you leaving Jesus when the worldly crowds come into your Gethsemane?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

What happens next is very Embarrassing

Matthew 26:36-46

Webster’s dictionary gives this insight into the word Gethsemane: The name Gethsemane originates from a Hebrew term meaning “oil press,” suggesting that the garden was a grove of olive trees.  We are told they went to the Mount of Olives, where Jesus took Peter, James and John the sons of Zebedee and went farther into the garden.  I’ve been to the Mount of Olives and we were allowed to go into the inner garden for a time of prayer.  It was an emotional time for me, knowing the battle that my Lord had fought for me in this garden.

If you had been one of the chosen that night, some 2000 years ago, and Jesus had said, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.”  I ‘m sure you would have been watchful, but that is not reported in any of the gospels, in fact, Jesus takes Peter, James and John and it was very clear that Jesus was sorrowful and troubled.  Both Matthew and Mark report that Jesus said; “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”

The story has changed, you are no longer just one of the twelve, you are hand picked by the Lord to go farther into the garden, you have never seen Jesus in the three and a half years in such a state, you are surely going to watch and pray, but you have had a big meal and it’s dark, your eyes began to get heavy and what happens next is very embarrassing, Jesus is asking a question of you, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?  And then He looked at Peter and said, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

What was so sad, so shameful was that before going to sleep we heard Jesus praying to the Father, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”  Jesus came back the second time and we recalled Him turning and going back to the spot, getting on His face and telling His Father; “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”  And Jesus came back a third time, and we were sleeping and He went back and prayed to the Father the same words.

Do you remember that night?  Do you recall Jesus’ words to us when He came back from being with the Father?  This is what He said; “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.” 

That is not a story anyone wants to be involved in, for we would like to believe that if we had been in the story it would have been different, but my dear brothers and sisters; “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice