Reading for Today:
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Numbers 29:1
Chapter 29 1 And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have a holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing of trumpets unto you.
–30:16
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Psalms 34:15-22
15 The eyes of Jehovah are toward the righteous, And his ears are `open' unto their cry. 16 The face of Jehovah is against them that do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 17 `The righteous' cried, and Jehovah heard, And delivered them out of all their troubles. 18 Jehovah is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, And saveth such as are of a contrite spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous; But Jehovah delivereth him out of them all. 20 He keepeth all his bones: Not one of them is broken. 21 Evil shall slay the wicked; And they that hate the righteous shall be condemned. 22 Jehovah redeemeth the soul of his servants; And none of them that take refuge in him shall be condemned. Psalm 35 `A Psalm' of David.
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Proverbs 11:30-31
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; And he that is wise winneth souls. 31 Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: How much more the wicked and the sinner!
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Mark 14:27-54
27 And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered abroad. 28 Howbeit, after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee. 29 But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. 30 And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, that thou to-day, `even' this night, before the cock crow twice, shalt deny me thrice. 31 But he spake exceedingly vehemently, If I must die with thee, I will not deny thee. And in like manner also said they all. 32 And they come unto a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith unto his disciples, Sit ye here, while I pray. 33 And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly amazed, and sore troubled. 34 And he saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death: abide ye here, and watch. 35 And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass away from him. 36 And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; remove this cup from me: howbeit not what I will, but what thou wilt. 37 And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest thou not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 39 And again he went away, and prayed, saying the same words. 40 And again he came, and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they knew not what to answer him. 41 And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough; the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Arise, let us be going: behold, he that betrayeth me is at hand. 43 And straightway, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. 44 Now he that betrayed him had given them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is he; take him, and lead him away safely. 45 And when he was come, straightway he came to him, and saith, Rabbi; and kissed him. 46 And they laid hands on him, and took him. 47 But a certain one of them that stood by drew his sword, and smote the servant of the high priest, and struck off his ear. 48 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a robber, with swords and staves to seize me? 49 I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but `this is done' that the scriptures might be fulfilled. 50 And they all left him, and fled. 51 And a certain young man followed with him, having a linen cloth cast about him, over `his' naked `body': and they lay hold on him; 52 but he left the linen cloth, and fled naked. 53 And they led Jesus away to the high priest: and there come together with him all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. 54 And Peter had followed him afar off, even within, into the court of the high priest; and he was sitting with the officers, and warming himself in the light `of the fire'.
Notes:
Psalm 34:18 broken heart,…contrite spirit. These are graphic idioms that describe dependent disciples (see Pss. 51:17; 147:3; Is. 57:15; 61:1; 66:2; Matt. 5:3).
Proverbs 11:30 wins souls. Literally, “to take lives,” in the sense of doing them good or influencing them with wisdom’s ways (see
Luke 5:10
10 and so were also James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
). The word is also used for capturing people for evil purposes as in 6:25;
Psalms 31:13
13 For I have heard the defaming of many, Terror on every side: While they took counsel together against me, They devised to take away my life.
;
Ezekiel 13:18
18 and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the women that sew pillows upon all elbows, and make kerchiefs for the head of `persons of' every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and save souls alive for yourselves?
.
Proverbs 11:31 recompensed. God’s final blessing and reward to the “righteous” and His judgment and punishment of the “ungodly and the sinner” come after life on this earth has ended. But there are foretastes of both during life on the earth, as the righteous experience God’s personal care and goodness, while the wicked are void of it.
Mark 14:32 Gethsemane. The name means “oil press” and referred to a garden filled with olive trees on a slope of the Mt. of Olives. Jesus frequented this spot with the disciples when He wanted to get away from the crowds to pray (
John 18:12
12 So the band and the chief captain, and the officers of the Jews, seized Jesus and bound him,
; Matt. 26:36).
Mark 14:36 Abba. An endearing, intimate Aramaic term that is essentially equivalent to the English word “Daddy” (see Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). all things are possible. Jesus knew that it was in the scope of God’s power and omniscience to provide an alternate plan of salvation, if He desired. cup. This was the cup of divine wrath referred to in the Old Testament (Ps. 75:8; Is. 51:17; Jer. 49:12). Christ was to endure the fury of God over sin, Satan, the power of death, and the guilt of iniquity. not what I will, but what You will. This reveals Jesus’ total resolution and resignation to do the will of God. He came into the world to do God’s will, and that remained His commitment while here (Matt. 26:39;
John 6:38
38 For I am come down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
–40).
DAY 16: Who was involved in the arrest of Jesus?
“Judas, one of the twelve,” was the betrayer (
Mark 14:43
43 And straightway, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve, and with him a multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.
). All the Gospel writers refer to him this way (vv. 10, 20; Matt. 26:14, 47;
Luke 22:47
47 While he yet spake, behold, a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them; and he drew near unto Jesus to kiss him.
;
John 6:71
71 Now he spake of Judas `the son' of Simon Iscariot, for he it was that should betray him, `being' one of the twelve.
); and in so doing, they display remarkable restraint in describing and evaluating Judas. Especially in this context, such a simple description actually heightens the evil of his crime more than any series of derogatory epithets or negative criticisms could do. It also points out the precise fulfillment of Jesus’ announcement in vv. 18–20.
“A great multitude with swords and clubs” also was there. This “multitude” was a carefully selected group whose sole purpose was arresting Jesus so He could be put to death. A cohort (600 men at full strength) of Roman soldiers (
John 18:3
3 Judas then, having received the band `of soldiers', and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.
, 12) was in this crowd because the Jewish leaders (see
Luke 22:52
52 And Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and elders, that were come against him, Are ye come out, as against a robber, with swords and staves?
) who organized the throng needed permission from Rome to carry out the death penalty and feared the crowds. The “swords” were the regular small hand weapons of the Romans, and the wood “clubs” were ordinary weapons carried by the Jewish temple police.
Then there were the “chief priests…scribes…elders.” Although 3 distinct sections of the Sanhedrin, they were acting in unity. These Jewish leaders had evidently for some time hoped to accuse Jesus of rebellion against Rome. Then, His execution could be blamed on the Romans and the leaders could escape potential reprisals from those Jews who admired Jesus. The Sanhedrin likely had hurried to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, to ask immediate use of his soldiers, or perhaps acted on a prearranged agreement for troop use on short notice. Whatever the case, the leaders procured the assistance of the Roman military from Fort Antonia in Jerusalem.
From The MacArthur Daily Bible Copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Bibles, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc, Nashville, TN 37214, www.thomasnelson.com.
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