1 Corinthians 4- Walk The Walk
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Author Archives: Unashamed of Jesus
Matthew 27- King of Kings
And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. Matthew 27:11-14
Now the trial of Christ begins, a trial that is corrupted and unjust, a trial that was a setup to charge the Son of God with false accusations. Many evil people played their part in orchestrating the greatest shame of a trial in history. Pontius Pilate, who basically tried to wash his hands clean of this injustice, is the central figure to the entire trial, as he ultimately made the decision to have Christ executed on a cross.
Pilate is intrigued by Jesus, and asks him “Are You The King of the Jews”? Now notice how Jesus answers “You have said so” Now many might wonder , why wouldn’t Jesus just directly tell Pilate, Yes I’m the King of Kings, the Messiah. However remember Jesus never did this with anyone, as he wants people to come to their own conclusion. Even though Pilate was a wicked and evil man, Christ was giving him a chance to accept him as Lord and King, however the hardness of Pilate’s heart would always prevent that from happening.
Jesus remained silent, even during the false accusations by the religious leaders. As it prophesied in Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
Jesus is the Lamb of God that was led to the slaughter, however Christ willingly layed down his life for us, Christ was obedient even to the point of death on the cross, to pay for the penalty of our sins. Pilate couldn’t understand , he knew Jesus was innocent, yet Christ never opened his mouth to defend himself, letting himself be condemned to the cross
Notice Jesus allowed the words of evil men to condemn themselves, Jesus didn’t have to defend himself , because Christ is innocent. However the blasphemies and false accusations spoken by the evil people, will condemn them on judgment day, when they will face Christ, the one they crucified on the cross
Is Jesus the King of the Jews, Yes Christ is King of the Jews and the Gentiles, Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. How many Kings would lay down their lives for their people? How many Kings would leave their throne, to lower themselves below the angels, to become the suffering servant for our sins? Jesus Christ is worthy of all praise, Glory to the King of Kings, Amen!
The Message of The Cross Sermon
1 Corinthians 3 – The Church
Matthew 27- 30 Pieces of Silver
When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. Matthew 27:1-5
The Apostles Creed states “suffered under Pontius PIlate ” Even though Pilate tried to “wash his hands” of the death of Christ, it was under his authority that he determined Jesus was to be crucified by the Romans. The religious leaders of Israel, used the Roman government to do their dirty work in killing the Messiah. Ultimately there were alot of evil hands involved in the death of Christ, but God used it to fulfill His will and deliver us from our sins
One of the main evil participants was Judas Iscariot, who we talked about in depth previously. Now that Judas fulfilled his betrayal of Christ, it was time for him to get paid the 30 pieces of silver. If you think God is not in control, this was prophesied in Zechariah 11:10-17
12And I said unto them, If ye think good, give [me] my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty [pieces] of silver. 13And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty [pieces] of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; And gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me. Matthew 27:6-10
So why did the Apostle Matthew refer to Jeremiah when the prophecy was actually foretold by Zechariah? Is there actually a contradiction in the Bible? No, during the first century the scriptures were divided into three sections The Law, The Prophets, and The Psalms, this was confirmed by Jesus (Luke 24:44) When Matthew was referring to Jeremiah, he was referring to The Prophets section, which Jeremiah was traditionally the first book on the scroll
Jesus said “What does it profit to gain the whole world and lose your soul” (Matthew 16:26) When Judas received his 30 pieces of silver, did it bring him happiness? No, he hanged himself on a tree. As Jesus foretold “It would have been better he was never born at all” (Matthew 26:24)
1 Corinthians 2- All I Know
Matthew 26- The Rooster Crowed
Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.” And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly. Matthew 26:69-75
As we read previously, the religious leaders rejected the Messiah Jesus, but now comes the rejection from his own disciples. Imagine how Jesus felt, his hand picked disciples, who spent the past 3 years with him, ran for the hills once trouble came their way. Even though everyone abandoned Jesus, Christ never abandoned us, he still went to the cross to pay for our sins, because He loves us!
As Jesus prophesied, Peter would eventually deny Christ three times before the Rooster crows, meaning before the morning. Remember Peters first response “Lord I will never fall away” He was confident in his faith, however when persecution came, Peter failed and rejected The Lord three times. I’m sure there are times in our own walk, where we let The Lord down, but remember his response to Peter, after the resurrection Christ came looking for Peter!
Think about this from Peter’s perspective, he denied Jesus and then Christ went to the cross and died. Even though Jesus told his disciples multiple times that He would rise after 3 days, they didn’t seem to comprehend or remember his words. So Peter, feeling ashamed of how he responded to Christ, thought it was all over. Peter was probably unsure of what his next steps were in his life, he left everything behind to follow Jesus and then felt like a failure in the end
But image that glorious day, when Peter heard Jesus calling for him on the shoreline (John 21) Imagine the hope and joy Peter must have felt, to hear and know Jesus never left or forsake him. Jesus asked Peter three times “Do you love me” ? Isn’t it interesting how Peter denied Christ three times , then The Lord asks him if he loves him three times, redemption?
The fact is Jesus always knew Peter loved him, but gave him a chance to redeem himself. Jesus told him to “Feed My Sheep” Christ didn’t reject Peter for his failures, Christ forgave him and used Peter to build the Church (Acts 2, Matthew 16:18)
Remember in your failures, Jesus is standing on the shore, with open arms never leaving or forsaken you! Amen
1 Corinthians 1 – Wisdom of the World
Matthew 26- Rejection of The Messiah
And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end. Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? Matthew 26- 57-62
The religious leaders made-up a fake trial with false charges against Jesus, so they can justify to the people , to execute him. Imagine these men, who were the spiritual leaders of Israel, who dedicated their lives to studying the Word of God, are plotting to execute the Son of God. Satan has blinded them, and the hardness of their hearts and the scales over their eyes, they are working for Satan to kill the Messiah
Of course, Jesus is sinless, therefor they needed to create fake charges, they quoted Jesus when he said “Destroy this temple in 3 days, and I’ll raise it up” (John 2:19) Of course the religious leaders had no idea what Jesus was talking about, Christ was prophesying about his death and resurrection, which ironically they are fulfilling with their wicked deeds
But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death. Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee? Matthew 26:63-68
So the question was asked to Jesus “Are you the Messiah, the Son of God”? Jesus answered directly “Yes and You will see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds” obviously referring to Daniel 7, the religious leaders knew exactly who Jesus was saying He is, the Son of Man in Daniel. It’s clear by their response of charging Christ is Blasphemy , they understood what he was saying they rejected the Son of God
The religious leaders had witnesses many of Jesus miracles and heard many of his teachings, they had clear evidence that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, yet they still choose to reject him, why? Because the religious leaders didn’t truly love God, they loved their religion, their money, their power, they wanted a god in their own image
The hour has come for Christ to go to the cross, at the hands of wicked men, to pay for the sins of the world, defeating death and Satan forever! Amen!
2 Corinthians 6- Don’t Be Yoked
Unashamed of Jesus 