Zedekiah did evil in the eyes of the Lord. It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence. Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem in response. The city was taken and Zedekiah was captured. The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah.11 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes.
Nebuchadnezzar burned Jerusalem, including the temple. He took away the artisans, leaving the poor to work the fields. The city was looted. Jehoiachin king of Judah was freed by the new king of Babylon, but still was exiled.
BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 26, Day 5: Jeremiah 52
12a) Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem in response. The people were starving, the city was taken, and Zedekiah was captured. Nebuchadnezzar burned Jerusalem, including the temple. He took away the artisans, leaving the poor to work the fields. The city was looted.
b) Zedekiah was captured. The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes.Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, , bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death.
c) The temple was where God dwelled. Once it was gone, the people had no place to meet God under the Old Covenant. It was a symbol that God had abandoned His people to His judgment.
13) It proves that God knows the future. It gives us faith that God is the One True God. It gives faith in prophecy.
14) I think it’s significant that Jehoiachin was never really “free.” He was still an exile in Babylon. Bible scholars point out that King Jehoiachin received small kindnesses out of God’s grace and as a foreshadow of God’s blessing and restoration of His people to come. It ends this chapter on a positive note.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 26, Day 5: Jeremiah 52
A sad chapter and day for God’s people. It’s hard to read, especially of the temple’s destruction. But, it serves as a warning to us all to obey God with all our hearts, minds, and souls.
End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 26, Day 5: Jeremiah 52
Almost every verse is fulfilled prophecy in Jeremiah 52.
We read about the evil reign of Zedekiah and what happened to him. Jerusalem is destroyed; the city is plundered; the people are left in ruin and/or carried away to exile. All the leaders were killed, too.
Bible scholars point out that King Jehoiachin received small kindnesses out of God’s grace and as a foreshadow of God’s blessing and restoration of His people to come. This ends the chapter (and the book of Jeremiah) on a positive note.
The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity[a] and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess. They will serve God again. ‘I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. God is with them and will save them. God will not completely destroy them; only discipline them. ‘But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil. 17 But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’
‘I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his dwellings; the city will be rebuilt on her ruins,and the palace will stand in its proper place. He will add to their numbers. They will bring him honor. God will punish all who oppress them. Their leader will be one of their own; their ruler will arise from among them. So you will be my people, and I will be your God.’”
Jeremiah 31
I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.” “The people who survive the sword will find favor in the wilderness; I will come to give rest to Israel.” God will build them up again. They will proper again with plenty of fruit. The Lord will preserve a remnant adn they will come back to the Lord. The people will be delivered and redeemed and be abundant.
The Lord will make a new covenant with His people. I will put my law in their mindsand write it on their hearts. I will be their God,and they will be my people. I will forgive their wickednessand will remember their sins no more.” Jerusalem will be rebuilt.
Jeremiah 32
The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of Judah. I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.4 Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape the Babylonians[a] but will certainly be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will remain until I deal with him, declares the Lord. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed.’”
Jeremiah buys his uncle’s field because the Lord told him to do so.
I am about to give this city into the hands of the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it. The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but arouse my anger with what their hands have made, declares the Lord. I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety.38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. The Lord will prosper them.
Jeremiah 33
The Lord says: They will be filled with the dead bodies of the people I will slay in my anger and wrath. I will hide my face from this city because of all its wickedness. Yet, the Lord will restore His people: Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security.7 I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity[b] and will rebuild them as they were before. I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. The land will be restored and the people will prosper again. Jesus will come and save Judah. He will be called the Lord Our Righteous Savior.
BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 26, Day 4: Jeremiah 30-33
9a) He will bring His people Israel and Judah back from captivity[a] and restore them to the land He gave their ancestors to possess. ‘I will surely save you out of a distant place,your descendants from the land of their exile. God will not completely destroy them. ‘But all who devour you will be devoured; all your enemies will go into exile. Those who plunder you will be plundered; all who make spoil of you I will despoil. 17 But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds.
‘I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his dwellings; the city will be rebuilt on her ruins,and the palace will stand in its proper place. He will add to their numbers. They will bring him honor. God will punish all who oppress them. Their leader will be one of their own; their ruler will arise from among them. So you will be my people, and I will be your God.’”
I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.” “The people who survive the sword will find favor in the wilderness; I will come to give rest to Israel.” God will build them up again. They will proper again with plenty of fruit. The Lord will preserve a remnant adn they will come back to the Lord. The people will be delivered and redeemed and be abundant.
b) Because at this point in their history they are about to be taken captive. They needed words of encouragement that this would not be forever; that their children will inherit and inhabit the Promised Land once again. Everyone needs hope, or life is utterly meaningless. And, there is only hope found in God.
10a) The Lord will make a new covenant with His people. I will put my law in their mindsand write it on their hearts. I will be their God,and they will be my people. I will forgive their wickednessand will remember their sins no more.”
b) They have the Holy Spirit who guides them. Jesus fulfilled the law. The Holy Spirit tells us: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”[a] Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”[b]
c) I’m not weighed down by my sins as I know God forgives me. I know Jesus took my judgment. For that, I feel I do become closer to Jesus each and every day and can be more like him, too. I can pray and feel guided by the Holy Spirit as to what God wants me to do. This in and of itself is freedom.
11) By Jeremiah purchasing a piece of land that would soon be overrun by Babylonians and be worthless, the message was clear: God would restore Judah and God’s people would once again inherit the Promised Land.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 26, Day 4: Jeremiah 30-33
LOVE Jeremiah 32:40: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me
End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 26, Day 4: Jeremiah 30-33
Jeremiah 30
God says again how he will bring His people back from captivity. They will no longer be slaves. He will gather His people in the Promised Land and restore them. God’s judgment will be like a whirlwind.
Jeremiah 31
Israel will have salvation in the latter days. God is faithful to Israel because of His everlasting love for them. He will build up His people, and they will be joyful. God will gather His people who have been scattered. Israel will repent, and God will forgive them. The people will be restored and blessed.
God promises a New Covenant because Israel could not keep the Old Covenant. There will be an inner transformation with the presence of the Holy Spirit. God loves His people and will forgive their sins. Jerusalem shall be restored.
Jeremiah 32
Jeremiah is told by God to purchase property as proof of a future for His people in the Promise Land. God will restore His people. Jeremiah prays for understanding. God responds with the judgment and with the restoration and the New Covenant promise.
Jeremiah 33
There is hope after the judgment for restoration. And, there shall be gladness and a branch of righteousness (Jesus) shall come. The covenant shall be repeated.
BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 26, Day 3: Select Passages From Jeremiah 4-29 & 46-51
6a) Jeremiah 4:6: 13:18-20; 20:4-6; 25:8-14: The Babylonians are coming from the north. The king and queen will lose their crowns. The cities in the Negev will be shut up,
and there will be no one to open them. All Judah will be carried into exile, carried completely away.
Jeremiah 20:4-6: I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will give all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, who will carry them away to Babylon or put them to the sword. 5 I will deliver all the wealth of this city into the hands of their enemies—all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away as plunder and carry it off to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.’”
Jeremiah 25:8-14: Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon will come against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. God will completely destroy[a] them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. 10 God will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
12 “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians,[b] for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate forever. 13 I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. 14 They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”
b) The exact time of the exile. The fact that it would be the Babylonians. The fact that the exile has a finite time. I love how God gives us concrete details for our benefits and in His mercy. It shows His love and His power.
7) Jeremiah 6:1-7; 11:22; 12:12-13: I will destroy Daughter Zion, so beautiful and delicate. I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine. Over all the barren heights in the desert destroyers will swarm, for the sword of the Lord will devour from one end of the land to the other; no one will be safe.
13 They will sow wheat but reap thorns; they will wear themselves out but gain nothing. They will bear the shame of their harvest because of the Lord’s fierce anger.”
8a) Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, and Elam.
b) They know that God will punish Babylon for what they did to His people in the same manner. May their blood be on those who live in Babylonia.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 26, Day 3: Select Passages From Jeremiah 4-29 & 46-51
We see God’s perfect justice. He punishes His people for their disobedience, but he also punishes other evil-doers. This gives us confidence when we see horrors in this day that God has got it.
End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 26, Day 3: Select Passages From Jeremiah 4-29 & 46-51
Judah had no chance against Babylon. The problem was them believing that they would be invaded. Those that believed should flee. Time was running out and judgment would come.
It’s important to realize that God raised Nebuchadnezzar up against His people. Many people have a hard time reconciling this, but it comes down to God’s omnipotence; He can do whatever He wants in His ways, not ours. God would use Babylon to conquer Judah, but also the surrounding nations. Then, God would punish Babylon by using the Persians.
BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 26, Day 2: Select Passages From Jeremiah 2-29
3a)
Jeremiah 2:23-25; 3:13: Idol worphip, adultery, disobeyed God.
Jeremiah 5:13, 30-31, 23:10b-11: Prophets preach falsehoods and rule by their own authority rather than God’s. The prophets use their power unjustly. They are wicked and godless.
Jeremiah 5:26-28; 7:5-11: People have become deceitful, commit evil deeds, do not seek justice, do not promote the case of the fatherless, and they do not defend the poor. They shed innocent blood. They follow other gods. The people steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury,[a] burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known. They are a den of robbers.
b) To acknowledge their guilt before the Lord so that they can receive forgiveness. And, to understand their sins so that they can work to correct them and not continue to make them.
c) I think He has helped me to become more aware of patterns in my sins and worked to help me correct them.
4a) Jeremiah was in pain and anguish over the people’s sins. He longs for them to repent. He feels crushed. He mourns over them. Horror grips him. He weeps day and night over their sins. Their sins overwhelm him.
b) They can stick to what the Bible says about sin and judgment and not put their own spin on things. Christians should not judge others based on their sins, either.
5) The Lord yearns to forgive His people if they just turn to Him. He does not want to punish, but does so to teach them a lesson. He loves deeply and will do anything for His people if they simply obey Him.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 26, Day 2: Select Passages From Jeremiah 2-29
There is something about the analogy of me being like clay in God’s hands that I love. He molds me; He’s in control; He can change me.
End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 26, Day 2: Select Passages From Jeremiah 2-29
In total, there are 14 messages Jeremiah delivers to the people of the coming judgment.
Idolatry was the main sin, along with Israel’s leaders who failed to lead and were corrupt themselves.
God always offers a chance to come back to Him.
Jeremiah 18:1-11
God can do what He pleases with us at any moment in time. He can show mercy or show judgment.
God responds to our choices.
God’s people believed no harm could come to them because they were God’s people. They wanted to believe the happy prophecies of the false prophets. God points out here this is not so.
Jesus and the disciples went to the Garden of Gethesmane. He told them to wait while he went and prayed. He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee (James and John) with him. He become sorrowful and troubled. He then left them, asking them to keep watch, and stepped further away. He prayed on his face to God to take the cup from him if it was God’s will.
He returned to his disciples who were sleeping. He chastized them for not keeping watch. He told them to watch and pray so they don’t fall into temptation.
He went away again and prayed to God to take the cup from him. He found them sleeping a second time. Then Jesus went a third time, praying the same prayer. He returned to his disciples, saying he is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 26, Day 5: Matthew 26:36-46
10a) His sorrow for humanity and all of their sins. It’s a big burden to carry all of that weight on your shoulders. His sorrow for his own death, pain, and suffering.
b) He prayed on his face, asking God, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken form me. Yet, not as I will, but as you will.”
c) He chastized them for not keeping watch and not praying so they don’t fall into temptation. Basically, he has but hours to live and his closest friends are sleeping them away.
11) He asked to not go through this, but he said only if it was God’s will. He knew it was God’s will, and he knew his destiny. He accepts it willingly, but not without remorse.
12a) Although we may not like God’s will for our lives, it is His will, so we must accept it and move forward.
b) Thank you, Jesus, for taking my sin on your shoulders and carrying it for me so I may live forever in your kingdom free from sin.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 26, Day 5: Matthew 26:36-46
I did not remember that Jesus checked on his disciples three times and that he prayed the same prayer three times afterward. Love this! Even though Jesus asked three times, God answered by confirming Jesus’s destiny. So good!
End Notes BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 26, Day 5: Matthew 26:36-46
Gethsemane is east of the temple mount area in Jerusalem and on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives. The town was surrounded by olive trees, and Gethsemane means “olive press,” indicating the vast importance of the olive to this region.
Here, Jesus is sorrowful, in part due to the physical pain he was about to suffer, but he was also sorrowful of carrying the entire world’s sin on his shoulders. Luke 22:43 says that angels came and ministered to Jesus in the garden. He is about to face a spiritual battle, and he keeps Peter, James, and John with him.
If there were any other way for mankind to be saved, God would never have sent His one and only Son to die as he did. Thus, it is not possible.
Jesus would bear God’s wrath; this is what he is most sorrowful about. He is about to be separated from God, His Father, for the first time as he bears the sins of humanity. It’s like a kid who is lost and begins to panic. This is pure agony.
It was here, in this garden late at night, that we all were saved when Jesus decided once and for all to take our wrath upon himself. Prayer won the day.
Note that the disciples were no help at all in supporting their leader here.
Peter failed Jesus because he failed to watch and pray. Jesus warns him here, but he fails to take heed.
Note that Jesus prayed the same prayer repeatedly. This means we are to do the same. Pray with all your heart the same prayer.
Note Jesus did not flee. He met the challenge head-on. As should we meet all of our challenges.
Jesus would finish the work he had started. Praise, God Almighty!
Jesus says that they will all fall away (desert him) because of him (who he is) this very night. But after he has risen, he will go ahead of them to Galilee. Peter says he never will, which is when Jesus says he will deny him 3 times before the rooster crows. Peter says no, as do the other disciples.
BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 26, Day 4: Matthew 26:31-35
8 ) They will all fall away because of him that very night.
9a) Peter tells Jesus he won’t fall away.
b) They are all in denial. It’s ironic how they know it will happen, but they do it anyway.
c) I don’t overestimate my own strength because I know I can’t do anything without God, His strength, and His power.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 26, Day 4: Matthew 26:31-35
I love how the rooster crows! We now own chickens, and we have one rooster. Although I have to say, he never stops crowing except at night.
An interesting read:
End Notes BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 26, Day 4: Matthew 26:31-35
Jesus tells the disciples they will desert him in order to show them that Scripture must be fulfilled. Peter, like most of us, is in denial of wrongdoings and reliant on his own strength rather than God’s. Peter would falter, but Christ never does.
Peter was smug and self-assured. He will soon be humbled beyond belief. I’d be embarrassed and feel extremely guilty. This would definitely be hard to forgive myself for this one.
When Passover arrived on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples asked Jesus where he wanted them to make preparations. He sent them into the city to a man’s house. That evening, Jesus told the disciples that one of them will betray him. All of the disciples ask if it is them. Jesus says it will be the one who has dipped his hand into the bowl, and it would be better if that man would not have been born. Jesus tells Judas it is him, when he asks Jesus.
At the Passover meal, Jesus took the bread and broke it, passing it to his disciples. He said this is his body and for them to eat it. Then he took the cup and told the disciples to drink, as it represented his blood of the covenant, which is poured out in order to forgive them all. Jesus says he will not drink it until the day he drinks it anew in his Father’s kingdom. They sang a hymn and then went out to the Mount of Olives.
BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 26, Day 3: Matthew 26:17-30
6a) Passover and it commemorated how God spared the Israelites from judgment while they were in Egypt and delivered them out of Egypt.
b) The Israelites sacrificed a lamb and marked their homes with the lamb’s blood so that God would passover their house and spare them. Jesus is the Passover lamb. He was sacrified for our sins so God will, in effect, pass over us when we stand before him. The Passover was an act of redemption of his people out of slavery. Similarly, Jesus redeems us from our slavery to sin and brings us to him forever.
7a)
Luke 22:19-20: The bread and the wine of communion represent us remembering Christ’s sacrifice for our sins on the cross. We cleanse ourselves with his body and blood so we can stand before God.
John 6:51-58: Jesus says that he is the living bread, so anyone that eats of the communion bread will have eternal life. The bread is his flesh, which he gives for the life of the world, and the wine his blood.
1 Peter 1:19: Jesus is a lamb without blemish, meaning he is perfect as is his blood. Thus, when you take communion, you are drinking of Christ’s perfection.
1 Peter 2:24: By Jesus’s wounds, we are healed. He bore our sins on his body so we could die to sin and live for righteousness.
1 John 1:7: Jesus’ blood purifies us from all sin.
b) Taking communion helps us to remember Jesus and what he did for us on the cross. He established the New Covenant so we could be closer to him and God. Whenever you take communicy, you proclaim his death and declare your faith in him and his sacrifice for us until his return. We are to remember Jesus via the communion until he comes again.
c) It helps to reflect on everything that Jesus did for us and our sins and give praise to God and Jesus because of it.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 26, Day 3: Matthew 26:17-30
I love taking communion. It’s such a great time to be with the Lord and thank Him for all that He has done and will do.
End Notes BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 26, Day 3: Matthew 26:17-30
Most Bible scholars agree that Jesus had this Passover meal with his disciples before Passover because he knew he would be crucified. It should be called The Last Passover rather than the Last Supper since Jesus’s death effectively ended Passover.
Why does Jesus announce that one of the 12 disciples will betray him? Because, out of his infinite mercy, he is giving Judas one last opportunity to repent.
It is notable that the other disciples did not accuse the others. They simply asked Jesus if it were them that betrayed him. Note that none of the other disciples understood Jesus’s answer to Judas when he confirmed Judas was the betrayer.
Judas was an intimate friend of Jesus Psalm 41:9 Jesus’s love for Judas is greater than Judas’s treachery of him.
Here, Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper for all Christians.
John tells us that Jesus washes the disciples’ feet (John 13:1-11) and then Judas leaves (John 13:30). However, the exact timing of it all is unclear and unknown. Many contend Judas never partook of the Lord’s Supper.
The Passover Meal
Everything at the Passover meal has significance:
The bitter herbs is the bitterness of slavery
The salt water is the tears everyone shed as slaves
The lamb was the sacrifice
The bread now is Jesus’s body that was sacrificed and beaten for us. He gives us strength and provides all we need.
The wine now is Jesus’s cleansing and redeeming blood.
The New Covenant
Jesus institutes a new covenant with mankind that allows us to be with God from an inner cleansing Jesus offers. God’s word and Himself live in us (via the Holy Spirit).
There is considerable debate about if the bread and wine represent the actual blood and body of Christ (known as transubstantiation in Christian theology) or if it is the blood and body of Christ by faith alone (known as consubstantiation). Others say Jesus’s presence in the bread and wine is real, but only spiritual, not physical.
We TAKE the bread (so choosing Jesus is a choice). We EAT the bread (we are alive when we eat food, so we’re alive in Jesus).
Fun Fact: “Thanks” in ancient Greek is the word “Eucharist,” which is why the Lord’s Supper is sometimes called the Eucharist.
Jesus will gather all of his people at the Second Coming once again and have a great supper. (Revelation 19:9).
Jesus sang and worshipped God, as should we. Can you imagine heading to church and Jesus is the worship leader? Pretty cool!
Jesus sang the night before his crucifixion. He is at peace with God and His will. We should be, too.
Passover traditionally ended with three Psalms sung Psalms 116-118. We can presume Jesus sang these here.
Jesus tells his disciples he will be handed over to be crucified in two days. The chief priests and the elders assembled at the palace of the high priest named Caiaphas to plot to arrest Jesus and kill him. But they didn’t want to do it during the Feast.
A woman anointed Jesus at Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper. She poured very expensive perfume on his head. The disciples upbraided the woman, saying they could have sold the perfume for a high price and given the money to the poor. Jesus chastized the disciples, saying he will not always be with them. She is preparing him for burial. She will be remembered for what she has done.
Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests to ask how much they would give him to betray Jesus. They said 30 silver coins. He agreed to do so when the opportunity rose.
BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 26, Day 2: Matthew 26:1-16
3) In many ways. She gave Jesus her most precious possession freely. The woman sacrificed a lot to do so. She did so herself as a woman. She endured scorn by the disciples to do so. It is very inspiring to remember to give Jesus my best, too.
4a) They did not see the heart of the woman; all they saw was monetary value, not eternal value.
b) Jesus saw the woman’s heart, her love, and her intentions. He made sure she would be remembered forever for what she did.
c) Unsure. Sometimes I think nothing at all.
5) 30 silver coins. Exodus 21:32 says that 20 skekles of silver is to paid for the life of a slave who had been killed by another’s bull (or at the fault of another). The bull would be put to death. Zechariah 11:12-13 says the pay of a shepherd was 30 pieces of silver, as well as the pay for the potter. Jesus lowers himself to what a slave is worth. Zechariah the prophet foretold this moment, so 30 pieces of silver fulfills prophecy.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 26, Day 2: Matthew 26:1-16
Great, great lesson. Love how we see the love for Jesus with the most precious possession, adjacent to the intense hatred of him and the wish for his death.
Great read!
End Notes BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 26, Day 2: Matthew 26:1-16
Jesus is done instructing. He now will focus on finishing his work on Earth.
This is the fourth and last time Jesus announces his own death that is recorded in the book of Matthew.
The high priest was appointed for life. Caiapas ruled until his death in A.D. 36
While the high priests did not want to kill Jesus during Passover, God had other plans. God was in control, and He would save humanity on His own time.
The Anointing of Jesus
John (John 12) tells us that this woman was Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha. (Luke 10:39),
If you read all of the Bible passages for this event, the majority of Bible scholars believe that Matthew, Mark, and John record this event, while Luke records a separate event.
This is the only time Simon the leper is mentioned in the Bible. Many Bible scholars believe Jesus healed him since a leper was considered unclean and could not host others in their home.
We are told by John that the disciple who criticized was Judas (no shock since he seems to have money on the mind). (John 12:4-6). Mark 14:5 tells us that the perfume was worth a year’s wages.
The woman did a good work for Jesus. She gave her most prized possession, as should we. Jesus was comforted in these heavy hours.
Nothing is wasted for Jesus. Nothing is too good for Jesus.
No doubt the woman probably did not know the significance of her unbridled gift to Jesus. The same holds true for us. The smallest act done in Jesus’s name can make all the difference in others’ lives.
Judas’ Betrayal
Some Bible scholars believe that because Judas’s betrayal is recorded directly after this “waste” that Judas saw, he then made up his mind to betray Jesus.
Judas’ only clear motive in betraying Christ is greed. Bible scholars have debated for centuries what motivated this betrayal, from disillusionment of who Jesus was to he was a Judean. It’s clear that this simple motive was enough.
30 pieces of silver is only worth about $25 in today’s money — not a lot of money to betray someone who you’ve followed for the last two years. This shows Judas never cared for Jesus. He rejected repentance, and he would pay the ultimate price.
