Easter - Day 01
Day 01: Monday, April 03
Read Matthew 27:27-44
Highlight
After Jesus is falsely accused and condemned to death he is taken away to be mocked and beaten in preparation for his final journey to the cross. This may seem like an insignificant and cruel detail, but it’s valuable for a couple of reasons. First, it fulfills the Old Testament prophecies of David in Psalm 22:8, "He trusts in the Lord,’ they say, ‘let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him", and Isaiah 53:3-4:
"He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted."
Secondly, it affirms the culpability of his accusers. These are the chief priests, the scribes and elders. They know the Scriptures and they know exactly who Jesus claims to be…and they use his own claims to mock him.
Notice that in Isaiah’s prophecy he doesn’t say that ‘they’ held him in low esteem, ‘we’ did. “He took up our pain and bore our suffering” (v. 4). The apostle Paul puts it this way in his letter to the Romans (5:10), “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” We are all the enemies of Christ until we too are reconciled to him through his death. It is a great, tragic irony that Jesus is mocked and ridiculed by the very people He came to save.
Reflection
Every passage in the Bible, including the one you just read, is “...inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” 2 Timothy 3:16
Prayer
Let the passage we just read guide your prayers. Use the acronym ACTS.
Adoration - Praise God for the truth this passage communicated about him.
Confession - Confess to God the thing that this passage showed you is wrong in your life.
Thanksgiving - Thank God for what this passage taught you was true about you and for the ways He is already helping you to do what is right.
Supplication - Ask God for help to do what this passage teaches to do and accomplish the good works he has for you.
Read Matthew 27:27-44
Highlight
After Jesus is falsely accused and condemned to death he is taken away to be mocked and beaten in preparation for his final journey to the cross. This may seem like an insignificant and cruel detail, but it’s valuable for a couple of reasons. First, it fulfills the Old Testament prophecies of David in Psalm 22:8, "He trusts in the Lord,’ they say, ‘let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him", and Isaiah 53:3-4:
"He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted."
Secondly, it affirms the culpability of his accusers. These are the chief priests, the scribes and elders. They know the Scriptures and they know exactly who Jesus claims to be…and they use his own claims to mock him.
Notice that in Isaiah’s prophecy he doesn’t say that ‘they’ held him in low esteem, ‘we’ did. “He took up our pain and bore our suffering” (v. 4). The apostle Paul puts it this way in his letter to the Romans (5:10), “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” We are all the enemies of Christ until we too are reconciled to him through his death. It is a great, tragic irony that Jesus is mocked and ridiculed by the very people He came to save.
Reflection
Every passage in the Bible, including the one you just read, is “...inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” 2 Timothy 3:16
- What in this passage did the Spirit bring to light for you?
- What are you going to do in your life to respond to this passage?
Prayer
Let the passage we just read guide your prayers. Use the acronym ACTS.
Adoration - Praise God for the truth this passage communicated about him.
Confession - Confess to God the thing that this passage showed you is wrong in your life.
Thanksgiving - Thank God for what this passage taught you was true about you and for the ways He is already helping you to do what is right.
Supplication - Ask God for help to do what this passage teaches to do and accomplish the good works he has for you.
Posted in Easter 2023