KNOWING GOD – THE GOD OF LOVE
[With Reference to the Events Concerning Jesus’ “Passion,” note how Jesus’ love is amazingly displayed throughout and therefore ‘stand in awe of God, the Most High.’]
Lesson Thirteen
AT THE COENACULUM, name of traditional place of the Last Supper.
Text: (NIV) Matthew 26:17-35 (Mark 14:12-31; Luke 22:7-38; John 13 & 14)
Events Relating to the Coenaculum (Cont’d)
Words of Comfort and Promise of the Holy Spirit – John 14:1-31a (Cont’d.)
John 14:4-6 (Cont’d) – 4You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
(V.6) – I am … the truth and the life. Note John 3:14-15 – 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert” – See Numbers 21:4-8.
Further mention of the bronze snake: 2 Kings 18:4 – He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)
(AMP) – He removed the high places, broke the images, cut down the Asherim, and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until then the Israelites had burned incense to it; but he called it Nehushtan [a bronze trifle].
Application: Let us ask the GOD OF LOVE to help us to identify and demolish the current trivia, using His “mighty weapons.” 2 Corinthians 10:4 (NLT) – We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.
Note 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NLT) – We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.
We need to seek the GOD OF LOVE for a repeat of this in our time, and we can be sure that the method will be according to Colossians 1:28 – We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
John 3:14-15 (Cont’d.) – 14… so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. The Son of Man was “lifted up” for six hours:
Mark 15:25 (AMP) – And it was the third hour (about nine o’clock in the morning) when they crucified Him.
(CEV) It was about nine o’clock in the morning when they nailed him to the cross.
Luke 23:44-46 (AMP) – 44 It was now about the sixth hour (midday), and darkness enveloped the whole land and earth until the ninth hour (about three o’clock in the afternoon), 45 While the sun’s light faded or was darkened; and the curtain [of the Holy of Holies] of the temple was torn in two. 46 And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit! And with these words, He expired.
Note: Before He was “lifted up,” the Son of Man experienced what He had predicted in Mark 10:33-34 – 33“We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”
During the first three hours of being “lifted up,” the Son of Man continued to experience mocking, this time by:
Matthew 27:39-44 – 39Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”
41In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42“He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, `I am the Son of God.'” 44In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
As a result of all He suffered before and during the “lifting up,” Jesus’ appearance was as stated in Isaiah 52:14 – Just as there were many who were appalled at him—his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness—
(NLT) – But many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man.
The final three hours of being “lifted up” is summarized as follows:
Luke 23:44-46 – 44It was now about the sixth hour and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
Jesus thus accomplished His earthly mission as “The Way, The Truth and The Life.” Note:
1 John 5:20 – We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true–even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.