Good Morning, Siblings!

Today’s reading are Matthew 26.

Read today’s Bible readings at BibleGateway by clicking here.

Rabbit Trails

Related sidenote for our studies: We’ve mentioned a few times about the “613” laws or commandments of the Father. Yesterday we had a very good question about those so I wanted to clarify a bit. That number (613) is really an estimate, referencing every single commandment or directive the Father has ever given. The bulk of these are ones we read in Leviticus. Keep in mind that this number includes a great many commandments that only apply to Levitical priests, or only to farmers, etc. I’ve never taken the time to count them all myself but at some point someone did and came up with 613 so that is what we usually throw out there as the number. It may seem like a lot until you realize that the United States has so many laws they cannot count them. We know there are well over 25,000, and yet most of us live as law abiding citizens. We talked about all of this on my paper, Did Messiah Replace The Ten Commandments With Just Two? 

The following are Ricky’s notes. You get a break from me today!

This is indeed a somber chapter but the love our savior shows us is one of the things that stands out most to me.

Matthew 26:1-5 begin with our messiah reminding his disciples (again) that he will soon be delivered up to be crucified. Can you imagine what the disciples were thinking at this point? This wasn’t the first time they have heard this from Jesus.

We next find out what the intentions of the high priest, chief priests, elders, and scribes are and it is a death sentence for our savior. The ONLY thing they are worried about is angering the people since Yeshua was so popular. (It seems they were only concerned for themselves and maintaining THEIR power.)

In Matthew 26:6-13 we read of the a woman who anoints Yeshua in Bethany. While the disciples took exception to it, Yeshua was quick to point out to them that on several fronts this was a great act by the woman and she had “done it to prepare me for burial.” In this gospel, the woman is unnamed, later on when we read John 12, we will find out that the woman is Mary (sister of Martha and Lazarus). Some commentaries suggest that her name may have been left out of Matthew since it could have been written around a time when perhaps she was still alive and they did not want to sadden her. This, of course, is speculation.

“Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?”” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭26:17‬ ‭

This is a rabbit trail that we are going to let you take. Several commentaries note that the word “first” is not accurately translated and that it more likely means before. (If you look up the Greek word “prote” using BibleHub, one of the meanings is “before). I’m not going to dive too deeply into this but regardless of which crucification/resurrection timeline you believe in, this day was almost certainly not the first day of Unleavened Bread. The first day of Unleavened Bread occurs AFTER Passover which had not come to pass.

In Matthew 26:30 Yeshua foretells that all of the disciples will fall away from him this very night. Peter especially refuses to believe this. We have read of how close the two of them were. How stunning to see Peter, who moments before declared he would rather die with Messiah than leave His side, deny Him repeatedly.
It is heartbreaking. I can’t begin to imagine the pain Peter felt at the realization of what he’d done.
Having looked in our Messiah’s eyes, to walk in the dust of His sandals, to see Him perform miracles and to hear Him teach – and then to deny Him?

How much more prone to this same thing are we, thousands of years away from that moment, surrounded by concrete and cars and cell phones and all the trappings of this world.

Peter said he would die for Him.
I hear that phrase tossed around a lot.
The main thing to ask ourselves these days, though, is,

Are we willing to live for Him?

In Matthew 26:51 we read of one of the disciples cutting off the ear of a guard as they attempt to arrest Jesus. When we get to John 18, we will learn that it was Peter who did this. (We even learn the name of the guard.) Yeshua reminds Peter that He has the ability to stop this, but it MUST occur in order that the scriptures be fulfilled. There’s that word “fulfilled” again (end of verse 53). Here’s another case that shows “fulfilled” can’t mean “end” and the Greek word links back to “pleroo” which we discussed in detail back in Matthew 5:17.

Personally as I read verse Matthew 26:57-68, it is heartbreaking to me. To know all the love Yeshua brought to the people and the amazing things he did for so many that believed, we suddenly see him treated as a common criminal. Folks, he did NOTHING to deserve the treatment he received after being captured nor the punishment he received all the way up to his death, but he took it all willingly FOR US! Just think about that for a moment. When I did this, the following verse came to mind:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. John 3:16-17

Let’s not just believe in him. Let’s live LIKE HIM and apply His example and wisdom to every second of every day of our lives.


Test everything, hold tight to what is good.~ 1 Thess 5:21

We are saved by Grace alone: Obedience is not the root of our salvation, it is the fruit!

May YHWH bless the reading of His Word!

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Christy Jordan
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