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Zion Bread of Life Christian Church

Wednesday, 29 November 2023

Pastor Joshua Zhang

Jesus was willing to fulfill God’s plan of salvation and use His humanity to overcome the temptations of the devil. He did not sin. In this chapter, the time has come for Satan to come and destroy, not only Jesus, but the entire plan to save mankind. The Lord Jesus continued to prevail in the face of Satan’s evil schemes. Now is the time for Him to sacrifice Himself to bear the sins of the world, and He openly puts Himself on the line.

“The Feast of Unleavened Bread, also known as the Passover, is approaching. The chief priests and scribes are thinking of ways to kill Jesus because they are afraid of the people.” (v.1-2) These chief priests and scribes actually belong to Satan. When they saw that the Passover was approaching, they sought to kill Jesus and not allow Him to live any longer, because He had come to change their religion. However, they were afraid of Jesus and the people, so they did not dare to deal with him publicly.

“Then Satan entered into the heart of Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve.” (v.3) Satan entered into Judas (the original text does not have the word “heart”) occupied him and made him look for opportunities to betray Jesus. Satan is the father of darkness, entering into the chief priests and scribes. Now he has also entered Judas, and Satan’s plan is in these people. The chief priests gave Judas money, and Judas promised to find an opportunity to deliver Jesus to them (see v.4-6).

The Feast of Unleavened Bread, the day came when the Passover lamb had to be slaughtered. “Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.” (v.8) Jesus knew Satan’s plan, but he was willing to fulfill God’s great plan of salvation and eat with his disciples. The Passover meal and the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper indicate that He is willing to use His body and blood to make an everlasting covenant, become the Passover lamb, and offer Himself boldly (see v.7-20). Although Jesus said: “Woe to him who betrays the Son of Man!” He did not stop Judas from betraying himself (see v.21-23).

Because Jesus would be leaving, the disciples began to argue about who was greatest; they were still thinking about the kingdom on earth. Jesus taught them: There are kings on earth, but this is not the case in the kingdom of heaven. It is he who serves others who is greatest. I give you a kingdom, just as my Father gave it to me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on my thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel (see v.24-30). To be in the kingdom of God is to serve one another humbly, without arguing about who is the greatest, because everyone is equally great and sits on the throne together, without distinction!

The disciples didn’t understand, so Jesus continued: “Then the Lord said, Simon! Simon! Satan wants to have you so that he may sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail. “When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (v.31-32) Jesus not only taught his disciples not to argue about who is the greatest, but also predicted to Peter that he would fall and deny the Lord because Satan would sift him (see v. 31-34). In other words, Satan not only entered Judas Iscariot, but also controlled the chief priests and scribes, the entire old religion, and even wanted to sift every disciple of Jesus, including us, to our complete destruction. But Jesus has said to Peter, and he also says to us today: “I have prayed for you” so that we will not lose faith in the dark moments when the enemy is in power! In fact, we are all sinners, and we all have moments of weakness, but with the grace of Christ we can turn around, and when we turn around we should strengthen our brothers instead of criticizing them. This is the kingdom of God.

After the Passover meal, Jesus took his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Jesus is a perfect man, full of humanity, because He humbled himself sevenfold and emptied His divinity and came to earth, without using His divinity to face all the sufferings on earth; the cross now placed in front of Him is extremely painful, but He faced everything calmly with humanity, and at this time angels came down to strengthen Him (see v.39-43). Today we are also facing difficult times, but when we pray to God and are willing to sacrifice ourselves for God, God will strengthen our humanity. “Jesus was extremely hurt and prayed more earnestly, and his sweat fell like drops of blood on the ground.” (v.44) This is such a big battle; but when Satan is in power, we can pray. Even if there is pain, God will help. We gain strength to overcome!

When Judas brought people to arrest Jesus, Jesus said, “I have been with you in the temple every day, and you have not laid hands on me. But now is your time, and darkness has taken over.” (v.53) This is from Satan. Dan’s moment is a moment when darkness reigns, but because Jesus is willing to sacrifice Himself, God’s salvation will be accomplished! Similarly, today we are in a period of darkness dominated by plague, political instability, environmental pollution, family problems, etc., but because of Jesus’ eternal sacrifice, God’s salvation will be accomplished for us today!

Darkness enveloped Jesus, including Peter denying the Lord three times, being teased and beaten by Jesus’ guards, and being tried in the Sanhedrin, but it could not cover the light in Jesus’ heart; the power of God was in Him, enabling Him to walk through death and to resurrection. (See v.54-71). Often, facing the greatest darkness is the moment when God achieves the greatest salvation, because God’s will will definitely come true!