Sabbath Before Passover – 2007

We need to understand that the central theme of the whole Bible is Jesus Christ, from Genesis to Revelation. That's why in the book of Revelation and also in Isaiah He says, 'I am the First and the Last.' In Rev. He says, 'I'm the Beginning and the Ending.

Revelation 3:14—Christ is the: "…the Beginner of the creation of God."

In Gen. 3:15 we find the first prophecy of the coming Messiah for the forgiveness of sin. It is very interesting when we understand how this is all put together. This is right after Adam and Eve sinned, and then God was giving His judgment and His punishment. He started out with the serpent.

Genesis 3:14: "And the LORD God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go upon your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman…'" (vs 14-15).

This is a prophecy directly of Satan and Christ and the Church. The woman, in this case, was Eve—but prophetically the Church.

"…and between your seed and her Seed; He… [the seed of the woman, the One Who would become Jesus Christ] …will bruise your head…" (v 15).

He's going to annul all the works of Satan the devil and everything that man has done in rebellion and, and, and defiance against God. All the works the Satan has done, all of the civilizations, everything that Satan has done is going to be annulled.

"…and you shall bruise His heel" (v 15). Here's a prophecy of the crucifixion!

I think it's very interesting that right in the first part John 3 we have a fulfillment of this. This is one of the famous verses that so many people know, that so many people rely on and is used by almost every single false prophet that comes along and people really don't understand it, because they don't realize that the crucifixion of Jesus Christ occurred on the Passover Day. And that's why He is called our Passover!

Books {TruthofGod.org}:

• The Christian Passover
• The Day Jesus, the Christ, Died

You need the Passover book to fully understand everything about the Passover.

There are a lot of people who have said a lot of things against the Passover book, but remember this: not one thing that has been written in there has been proven to be false or wrong or incorrectly researched. If it does come up that those are the cases, we certainly will make the corrections.

John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but may have everlasting life."

In the Greek this is in the subjunctive, which means there is a choice involved: "…may not perish…" and "…may have everlasting life."

In the equation is salvation; God is not the problem:

• God is true
• God is righteous
• God is Holy
• God will fulfill His will
• God will do the things He is going to do in dealing with mankind

Because of the judgment that God gave to mankind through Adam and Eve, we have a sinful nature. God gave it to us so that we would, in the flesh, learn.

If you are going to enter into the Kingdom of God as a spirit being by being born again at the resurrection, you're going to have learned the lesson that sin does not pay! And that there will be no more rebellion in the heavens or in the Family of God.

• that's why God created us in the flesh
• that's why God gave us the law of sin and death within us

Here's the phenomenal thing that God did, which most people really don't understand. In sentencing all of mankind to have a sinful nature with the law of sin and death, God became the Son of God, one of Elohim —which occurred at this point—and the other one of Elohim became the Father. Psa. 2 says that 'This day have I begotten You'. That's the day that Jesus became the Son!

He had to be reduced to a very pinpoint of life, and impregnated in the womb of the virgin Mary and be born as any other human being. What is so astounding about this is the way that God did it.

I don't think that there's a verse today that we're going to cover that we haven't covered some time in the past. But we learn 'precept upon precept and line upon line.' This is what's so important in what we are doing, and the reason that we have the Passover, and the reason that we keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and all the Holy Days and the Sabbaths of God.

Philippians 2:5: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus…" We have to:

• let it
• desire it
• want it

The Passover is the key that makes all that possible! Here's what Jesus did:

Verse 6: "Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself…" (vs 6-7).

Divested Himself of His glory and His honor as God! He retained just enough of God to be in the flesh. There's no such thing as 100% God/100% man. That is a falsehood, because God in His glory cannot exist in human flesh. His glory would destroy the human flesh! So, God had to reduce Himself down to a very fine, pinpoint of life. Whatever genes and chromosomes He had with the Father then united with the genes and chromosomes of the virgin Mary and He was born at the set time.

"…and was made in the likeness of men, and took the form of a servant…. [Greek: 'doulous' meaning slave] …And being found in the manner of man… [everything about being human Jesus was and did] …He humbled Himself…" (vs 7-8)

No one has humbled himself as greatly as Jesus Christ has done! What we also need to understand is that God the Father and Jesus Christ are the most humble Beings in the universe. You have to be in order to uphold the universe in righteousness and Truth.

"…and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (v 8). Everything keys on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ!

1-Timothy 3:16: "…God was manifested in the flesh…" What kind of flesh did Jesus have? Let's see that Jesus took upon Himself: the same punishment that He gave to Adam and Eve and all their descendants!

This is important to understand and really realize and comprehend from this point of view: That's why Jesus' one sacrifice, for the sins for everyone for all time, can be contained within the offering of His body; because:

• He was Creator
• He took on flesh
• He took on the same kind of flesh that we have

Romans 8:3: "For what was impossible for the Law to do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God having sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh…" What does that mean?

In the Greek we have two adjectives there: in the likeness of sin, and in the likeness of flesh, that Jesus took within Himselfof the genes that He received from His mother Mary, because the law of sin and death is passed on through inheritance. That's why all human beings sin. Jesus inherited, from His mother 'the law of sin and death' so He could be just like we are.

Since He was begotten by the Holy Spirit of God the Father and was filled with the Holy Spirit from the very instant of conception, He never sinned. We'll see that a little later, but it's very, very important because God put to death sin in the body of Jesus Christ when He was crucified. Because He did this, He took upon Himself the law of sin and death.

"…and for sin… [as a sacrifice] …condemned sin in the flesh" (v 3).

Let's see what else it says about Jesus. Even though He had the law of sin and death within Him, He never sinned! He never knew sin from the point of view that He never experienced it Himself by sinning Himself. But with 'the law of sin and death' within Him He was 'tempted in every way as we are, yet, without sin!' Without having the law of sin and death in Him, He could never be tempted.

• How would He know what it's like to be tempted?
• How could He be that perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind if He was different than we are?

2-Corinthians 5:21: "For He made Him… [God the Father made Him] … Who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

That's the mystery of Godliness for us, so that we can truly become the sons of God through God's plan. Satan counterfeited it back in the Garden of Eden, and said, 'Look, you can do it right now, just eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; and you can decide for yourself.'

Now let's see what else we have here. This is really quite an interesting thing the way that this is phrased in John 1; maybe you never noticed this before.

John 1:29: "On the next day, John sees Jesus coming to him, and he says, 'Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world"—because as in Adam we all sin and as in Adam we all die as God looks at it. Every human being has the sin that came originally from Adam and Eve.

Verse 36: "…'Behold the Lamb of God!'"

Revelation 13:8: "…the Lamb… [of God] …slain from the foundation of the world." God had this all planned in the way that He is going to work it out according to His Sabbath and Holy Days as revealed in the Scriptures!

Exo. 12 records the commands that God gave for the Passover for the children of Israel. That's why I mention concerning The Christian Passover book that the Passover actually began, not with the children of Israel, but the Passover actually began with Abraham!

As you will see in the Passover book, the timing of the sacrifices that were given in Gen. 15—after God made the promise to Abraham and later the covenant with him—was that the timing sequence there was exactly the same timing sequence on the day that Jesus was crucified. Now the timing sequence for the children of Israel was slightly different, because the lamb is slain right at the beginning of the day, right after sundown, at the beginning of the 14th.

Everything is written in the Passover book, you can get all the details there with that, so I'm not going to go through it. But what I want to point out here is something very important concerning the Passover with the children of Israel. One of the major features was, in addition to the blood from the lamb on the lintels and the upper doorposts, was to protect the firstborn! There is a type of Christ in that, and a type of Christ in the lamb without blemish, that is true.

But there's another reason that is far more important in relationship to understanding about God's way that we need to realize. That is, why God did it the way that He did it. What was the other thing that God did?

Exodus 12:12: "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn… [that's the first reason] …in the land of Egypt, both man and beast… [second reason]: …And I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD."

Now, it's very important to understand, and this is why right from here on God made it clear that there was not to be a bringing in of the religions of the world into the way that God gave the children of Israel, and later into the way that God gave to the Church. Just like they were not to go out and ask about the other gods and say, 'Oh, this is interesting, let's incorporate that in our worship.' God said, 'You shall not do so, for every abomination that I hate have they done unto their god.'

Likewise with the New Testament. We're not to go out and combine paganism with the teachings of Jesus Christ and come up with our own version of Christ, our own version of Christianity. That's what the world has done. They use the Bible and reject the Bible at the same time. That's almost an oxymoron or a 'moryoxon.'

Man has to live by every Word of God, and the Word of God is inspired by Him! This is God's message to us so we know what to do, and God tells us what to do. Remember, here's another important, very significant thing. No man will tell God what to do or what He will accept, because:

• God has provided the way through Christ.
• God has provided the way through His Word
• God has provided the way with His Spirit

That's why it's very important when it says, against all the gods of Egypt, 'I will execute judgment.'"

They had every god that there ever was there, just like in Babylon and that we have today—Babylon the Great—which has all the Egyptian factors in it, and also remember that it talks about 'Jerusalem today is like Sodom and Egypt' (Rev. 11:8).

That's telling us, stay away from all false religions. God has already judged them as worthless. He has destroyed them. Why go out and resurrect them, and say:

• Oh, this is wonderful, we'll do this.
• Oh, this tradition by these people is interesting, let's do this.
• Oh this is what other people believe.
• Oh this is nice, this is good, let's do this.'

That's why the Passover is so important, because the Passover means that you have forsaken all other gods!

Now let's see some things concerning Jesus Christ. Let's see what Jesus had to go through to be the very sacrifice, for the forgiveness for our sins. Let's see how important this is and understand:

• what Jesus did
• how He did it
• why He did it
• what we are to do

Then we'll examine a little bit more about the prophecies of what Jesus was going to go through in the crucifixion.

Hebrews 2:9: "But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor on account of suffering the death, in order that by the grace of God He Himself might taste death for everyone"—who repents.

Hebrews 1:3: "Who, being the brightness of His glory… [that's what Jesus is now, the brightness of the glory of the Father] …and the exact image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His own power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."

Hebrews 2:10: "Because it was fitting for Him, for Whom all things were created, and by Whom all things exist, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He Who is sanctifying and those who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren" (vs 10-11). He had to die!

Now let's see something concerning the sacrifice of Christ and what He went through. I've mentioned this before, and you might want to review it during the Feast of Unleavened Bread: that is the sermon series on Hebrews that we did, specifically #27—The Covenant Between God the Father and Jesus Christ, because that was a prelude to everythingthat we are talking about today.

Hebrews 10:7: "Then said I, "Lo, I come (as it is written of Me in the Scroll of the Book) to do Your will, O God."' In the saying above, He said, 'Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin (which are offered according to the priestly law) You did not desire nor delight in'" (vs 7-8).

Why? Because it couldn't affect what the sacrifice of Christ would do!

Verse 9: "Then He said, 'Lo, I come to do Your will, O God.' He takes away the first covenant in order that He may establish the second covenant."

Verse 12: "But He, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever… [only His sacrifice can take away sin] …sat down at the right hand of God." That's quite something, His sacrifice!

We're going to look at some of the prophecies of what Jesus went through. We've also got it in A Harmony of the Gospels, and The Day of Jesus the Christ Died. I want to focus in on the prophecies that Jesus Himself gave, because He was Lord God of the Old Testament, and He inspired the prophets, He inspired David and he wrote down these Psalms as a prophecy of what Jesus would go through.

As we go through some of the Psalms let's ask: I wonder what David thought when God inspired him to write these Psalms? Or to sing them? Or to sing them and write them?

We also need to realize that back in Hebrews 5:5 it says this of Jesus: "In this same manner also, Christ did not glorify Himself to become a High Priest, but He Who said to Him, 'You are My Son; today I have begotten You.' Even as He also says in another place, 'You are a Priest forever according to the order of Melchisedec'; Who, in the days of His flesh, offered up both prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was able to save Him from death…" (vs 5-7)

This tells us that Jesus drew close to God all the time, knowing that having the law of sin and death in Him, He could have sinned. And this is how God is perfected even more. Overcoming sin in the flesh by having sin within His flesh to overcome. That's awesome indeed! That is tremendous!

"…and was heard because He feared God. Although He was a Son, yet, He learned obedience from the things that He suffered; and having been perfected…" (vs 7-9).

• from everything that He went through
• from being born
• all the way through His ministry
• all the way through the horrible events on the Passover Day to be the sacrifice for the sin of the world

He was perfected so that He then could in turn perfect us! And that's why it talks about when it says that 'God so loved the world.'

"…He became the Author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him" (v 9).
Now, let's see what Jesus Christ—Who was Lord God of the Old Testament—inspired in the Psalms as a prophecy of what He would go through. The very experience of:

• becoming a human being
• carrying the law of sin and death within Him
• come to the crucifixion

That's why it had to be on the Passover Day and all the other things that go with it!

Psalm 69:1: "Save me, O God…"—it says that Jesus 'cried out to Him Who was able to save Him from death!'

"…for the waters have come in upon my soul!…. [overwhelmed with it] …I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overwhelm me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; my eyes fail while I wait for my God. Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; those who would cut me off are mighty being wrongfully my enemies. Should I restore what I did not take away?" (vs 1-4).

What you have here in the Psalms is a prophecy of some of the thoughts of Jesus while He was on the cross of crucifixion. Then you have some of the words of David interspersed there relating to his life. Then you have some other verses that relate back to the prophecy of Christ. In the Old Testament it's 'line upon line, here a little, there a little, precept upon precept, and you put it together. When you read these things it is not just a straight on line prophecy in every verse.

Verse 7: "Because for Your sake I have borne reproach, shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger to My brothers and an alien to My mother's children… [They didn't even believe that He was the Messiah! Why did they do this?] …for the zeal of Your house has eaten Me up… (vs 7-9)—to complete the plan of God!

• the plan of God cannot be complete without the Passover
• the plan of God cannot be perfected unless Jesus came in the flesh carrying the law of sin and death within Him

"…and the reproaches of those who reproached You have fallen upon Me…. [He took upon Him all the sin] …When I wept in my soul with fasting, it became my reproach" (vs 9-10).

Verse 12: "Those who sit in the gate speak about me; and I was the song of the drunkards…. [you can almost hear it in the saloons, cursing against Jesus] …But as for me, my prayer is to You, O LORD, in an acceptable time; O God, in the abundance of Your mercy answer me, in the Truth of Your salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from those who hate me and out of the deep waters. Do not let the flood of waters overflow me, nor let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut its mouth upon me… [permanently, the grave] … Answer me, O LORD, for Your steadfast love is good; turn unto me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies. And hide not Your face from Your servant, for I am in trouble; answer me speedily" (vs 12-17).

Verse 18: Draw near unto my soul and redeem it… [He had to be brought back to life again] …deliver me because of my enemies. You have known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor; my enemies are all before You…. [all standing right out there at the base of the cross] …Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; and I looked for sympathy, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They also gave Me gall for My food; and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink" (vs 18-21). Prophecy of what they would do when Jesus was on the cross!

He was giving this in a prophecy ahead time. How far ahead of time did God do this? It had to be about 1400 years—almost 1500 years—before the crucifixion! Quite a thing! Quite a witness!

Let's see what else He went through. As we go through Isa. 53, we need to understand and realize what it was that Jesus did for us. If there's any good thing that could be said about what Mel Gibson did with the Passion of the Christ was he did show the brutality of it, and it was as brutal as it was depicted. He had a lot of Catholic doctrine and traditions in there, but nevertheless, that made an impact upon people. Here it talks about the preaching of Gospel and it talks about Jesus as growing up

Isaiah 53:1: "Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; He has no form nor comeliness that we should look upon Him, nor beauty that we should desire Him" (vs 1-2).

I want you to think about this if you think you've had it tough in your life. That's why Christ did what He did and was put to death by the hands of those He created.

Verse 3: "He is despised and rejected of men…" That's why Christ can comfort us! Regardless of the circumstances you are going through, Jesus Christ—through the power of the Holy Spirit—can comfort you. Whether you're despised or whether you're rejected, that doesn't make any difference to God, because God went through that Himself and bore that burden for you! That you can come and lay that before God and ask God to lift it from you.

"…a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from Him, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not" (v 3)

Isn't that an amazing thing? All of this has to do with the crucifixion that He went through. The mindset that He also had, and everyone rejected Him at that time.

Verse 4: "Surely He has borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows; yet, we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted…."

That's what they said. They all gathered around the high priest and the people saying, 'Well, He trusted in God, let God save Him.' Why did He do it?

Verse 5: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed."

Now, let's understand something about this, very, very important here: Every sin that human beings have done was poured out upon Jesus Christ in the flesh. Every sin that you committed laid stripes, bruises, spitting and tearing of the beard upon Jesus Christ! That's why repentance is so very, very important for us to understand and grasp.

• Who—as you look at all of us weak of the world—cares for us?
• Who loves us?
• Who would die for us and all of those whom God would call?

Jesus Christ Himself, and that shows the profound love of God!

That's why John 3:16 says that God 'gave His only begotten Son.' This is what He gave Him to. This is what He experienced. Jesus did this and took all of this upon Himself so that we can have peace with God. That's why, in the New Testament, it says 'He is our peace.'

"…with his stripes we ourselves are healed" (v 5). Healing is something that we need to look to God for all the time! That's why we have anointing and prayer. In this world, there are so many things in the world that cause bad health, and we need to be alert to that and take care of ourselves the best we can. But healing comes from God!

Showing exactly what human nature is like, v 6: "All we like sheep have gone astray…"

• we have gone from God
• we have sinned against God
• we, even after we're converted, have to change, grow and overcome

That's why we have the Passover every year for the renewing of the New Covenant!

"…we have turned each one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (v 6).

In other words, all are going astray, all are going our own way, and there is a way that seems right to a man, the ends thereof are the way of death. Jeremiah said, 'The way of man is not in him to direct his steps.' and 'The heart is deceitful above all things, who can know it?' He took all of that upon Himself. What did that do to Him?

Verse 7: "He was oppressed, and He was afflicted; yet, He opened not His mouth… [you can read that in the Gospels, He didn't talk back] … He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth…. [He had to do it that way] …By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and with His generation… [the apostles did] …who did consider that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of My people he was stricken" (vs 6-8).

• that's why He went through everything that He did
• that's how great our Savior is
• that's how marvelous Jesus Christ is
• that's how loving that God the Father is

Willing to take all of this upon Himself that we can have our sins forgiven and all those that He calls can have their sins forgiven and put into a relationship with God

• so that we can be changed
• so that we can be converted

We'll talk about that on the first day of Unleavened Bread: How God wants us to become.

(go to the next track)

Verse 9: "And he made his grave with the wicked… [notice how difficult this would be for any human being, including Christ] …although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth."

He didn't raise His voice as far as having a political following. There was no violence in His hands. There was no deceit, and yet, He carried within Him that human nature which could be deceitful. Yet, He never sinned. So this was quite a thing that Jesus did. Think on how much God loves you to do this for you. And remember, He did this before you were ever born! That's quite a thing to always remember. Furthermore, He's reached down and called you so that He could apply this very tremendous sacrifice which He gave to you—and to all of those whom He calls—so that you can become His and receive eternal life! That's why everything hinges on the Passover.

Verse 10: "Yet, the LORD willed to crush Him…" Isn't that something? God the Father, even as horrible as it was, was pleased that this took place, not all the violence that was involved, but the end result of it. That He had to be bruised. He had to be stricken in order to pay for the sins of all mankind. Remember, one sacrifice for all sin, forever!

"…and He has put Him to grief: You shall make His life an offering for sin He shall see His seed…" (v 10).

We read of that back in Heb. 2 He's 'not ashamed to call us brethren.' We are the seed of God the Father and Jesus Christ.

"…He shall prolong Hisdays… [through the resurrection] …and that the purpose of the LORD might prosper in His hand" (v 10). That is all the plan of God brought to fruition!

Verse 11: "He shall see of the travail of His soul.… [we'll look at this in just a little bit] …He shall be fully satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many…"

All the teachings contained in the Bible. And 'justification' means forgiveness of sin and put in right standing with God. That's amazing!

"…and He shall bear their iniquities" (v 11). That's why we take everything to Christ in prayer! We take everything to Him. We need to have Him to:

• forgive us
• strengthen us
• love us
• comfort us

and realize that He has done this for us! If He has done this for us, then we can also bear whatever we need to go through. Because with Christ in us, He is giving us that strength to be able to do so! He did so we can.
Verse 12 "Therefore, I will divide to Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong… [that's us] …because He has poured out His soul to death; and He was counted among the transgressors; and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for transgressors."

We're going to see that He made one intercession for all time. We'll see that in the seven sayings of Jesus while He was on the cross.

Isaiah 52:13: "Behold, My Servant shall rule well; He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high"—after the resurrection! Here is how you have the blending of things in the Old Testament.

Verse 14: "Many were astonished at Him—for His body was so disfigured—even His form beyond that of the sons of men."

You need to realize what Jesus went through. He virtually had flesh hanging on His body. Ripped and torn by the scourging of the cat-o-nine tails. That scourging was near unto death.

Notice the result that's going to happen with it, v 15: "So shall He sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths because of Him… [sooner or later that's going to happen] …for they will see that which was not told to them; yea, what they had not heard, shall they consider."

Now let's look at one more. Come over here to Isa. 50. Let's see a prophecy of how Jesus prophesied what He was going to go through. Now remember, Jesus inspired all these prophecies of the things that would come upon Himself. He knew what would happen, how it would happen, and all of those things. Fantastic!

Isaiah 50:5: "The Lord GOD has opened My ear, and I was not rebellious, nor turned away backwards."

He always did the will of God. He said, 'Of My own self I can do nothing, but I do the will of the Father, Who sent Me.'

Verse 6: "I gave My back to the smiters… [the scourgers] … and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair… [they just ripped the hair right off His beard, because Jesus did have a beard] …I did not hide My face from shame and spitting."

They beat Him and they clubbed Him, and they put the robe of purple on Him and they put the crown of thorns upon Him. Then Pilate said: 'Behold the man!'

Verse 7: "For the Lord GOD will help Me; therefore, I have not been disgraced… [He's going to be confounded or turn back of any of this] …On account of this I have set My face like a flint…"

That's what it said there of Jesus: set His face to go to Jerusalem because He knew He was going to Jerusalem and He told the disciples that He was going to be betrayed and be turned over to the, to the religious leaders and the political leaders and that they would, they would kill Him, but He would rise the third day. So, He set His face as a flint!

"…and I know that I shall not be ashamed" (v 7) Isn't that something? Quite a prophecy!

Now let's look at another prophecy that's very important for us to grasp and to understand. I've often wondered when I read Psa. 22 before, and I still do and I'm absolutely amazed of what David must have thought when he wrote these words, because God inspired him to write these words.

Remember, also, that Jesus was called the son of David. Isn't it interesting that David was given these Psalms. Every one of these Psalms that have to do with the crucifixion of Christ came through David. What we're going to see in Psa. 22 are many of the words that Jesus spoke while He was on the cross we find them recorded here. All the events that we find in the Gospels about the account of all the events leading up to His arrest, and His arrest and all the events subsequent to His trials and scourging and subsequent mocking and beating and ending up in the crucifixion were all prophesied, every one of them. Here one of them right here:

Psalm 22:1 "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me, and why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?"

Isn't that something? That He was, at that time, when darkness covered the earth from noon to three in the afternoon, when darkness covered the earth… And it wasn't an eclipse because you can't have an eclipse of the sun when the moon is full. It's an absolute impossibility because it's on the other side. It was darkness and God had to leave Him so that He, by Himself, on that cross dying, would bear the sins of all mankind so that we could have our sins purged.

Verse 6: "But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men and despised by the people. All who see Me mock Me; they shoot out the lip; they shake the head, saying, 'He trusted on the LORD; let Him deliver Him; let Him rescue Him, since He delights in Him!'" (vs 6-8).

What did Jesus think when He heard that. Looked down and saw the priest, and saw the Roman soldiers, and saw the people out there all jeering at Him. Then the thief on the one side, the thief on the other side, one of them says, 'Yes, save us, save yourself and save us.' Here what He thought of them:

Verse 9: "For You are He who took Me out of the womb… [goes right back to when He was born as a human being] …causing Me to trust while on My mother's breasts. I was cast upon You from birth; You are My God from My mother's womb" (vs 9-10).

'God you've always been with Me forever. You have been with Me through this whole thing from the time I was born right up to this very minute, so You are not going to leave Me. You are not going to forsake Me.'

Verse 11: Be not far from Me; for trouble is near, for there is none to help." No one is going to help Him but God, and that's only going to come with the resurrection. While He's on the cross there are:

• none to help
• none to relieve
• none to comfort

Verse 12: "Many bulls have encircled around Me…" These are just like the soldiers out there, and also can have a reference to the demons! When Christ was there on the cross, I'm sure that Satan was there and the demons were there and they were circling, going around and around and around, laughing and scorning what Jesus was going through.

"…strong bulls of Bashan have surrounded Me. They opened wide their mouths at Me, like a ravening and a roaring lion" (vs 12-13). There He is:

• suffering
• bleeding
• dying
• weak
• thirsty

Then He looks down—He talks about how He felt—as He was expiring His very last:

Verse 14: "I am poured out like water… [just all the energy and life coming out of Him] …and all My bones are out of joint… [pain in every bone] …My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of My bowels."

He could just feel the life coming out of Him. This is probably when the soldier thrust the sword into His side and pierced His heart.

Verse 15: "My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; dogs have surrounded Me; a band of evildoers have encircled Me; they have pierced My hands and My feet; and You have brought Me into the dust of death" (vs 15-16).

He knew what it was, and He knew what it was going to be. This is tremendous, brethren, what Jesus Christ has done. That's why it's such a travesty that the world take the verse John 3:16, and treats it so lightly and does not comprehend the great magnitude of what God has done. They do not even realize that this was done on the Passover in the middle of the week. Amazing!

Verse 16: "Dogs have surrounded Me; a band of evildoers have encircled Me; they have pierced My hands and My feet." That's exactly what they did!

Didn't He tell Thomas, 'Here, put your hand in My hand, and put your hand in My side.' That's where the spear went in. It probably came in from the right side and pierced right into His heart.

He's looking down at His body and it says, v 17: "I can count all My bones… [He probably had to lift His head up to get any breath and there are His ribs, flesh torn right off] …they look and gloat over Me." They just gape and gawk!

When something that evil takes place and something that bad happens, that's what people do. They just gawk; they don't know what to do. They don't know what to say. They don't know how to handle it because the pall of death is right there.

Verse 18: "They divide My garments among them and cast lots upon My vesture."

There the soldiers were, and God made those soldiers do it, to cast the lot. Then decide, 'This expensive garment, don't cut that, we'll just cast lots for it.'

Verse 19: "But You, O LORD, be not far from Me; O My strength, hasten to help Me! Deliver My soul from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog. Save Me from the lion's mouth; yea, and from the wild ox's horns. You have answered Me. I will declare Your name to My brethren… [He's looking toward the resurrection, when He would do this] …the midst of the congregation I will praise You. You who fear the LORD, praise Him; all of you, the seed of Jacob, glorify Him; and stand in awe of Him all of you, the seed of Israel" (vs 19-23). That's something!

• that's what Jesus went through
• that's what He experienced

Let's see that Jesus knew all of these prophecies. You will understand when Jesus prayed, why it's recorded what He did and how He reacted. This is important for us to understand that Jesus knew every one of these things that was going to take place. He knew everything that was going to happen. He knew how it was going to come down.

Luke 22:39—this is after they had the Passover: "Then He left the house and went, as He was accustomed, to the Mount of Olives; and His disciples also followed Him. And when He arrived at the place… [this special place on the Mount of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane] …He said to them, 'Pray that you do not enter into temptation.' And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw; and falling to His knees, He prayed, saying, 'Father, if You are willing to take away this cup from Me… [it's not even a completed sentence here] …nevertheless, not My will, but Your will be done'" (vs 39-42).

Here was one of the last things that was the pull of the flesh that Jesus had to confront just before He was arrested. To make sure He would do the will of the Father. He said, "…nevertheless, not My will, but Your will be done."

Verse 43: "Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly…." (vs 43-44).

He was probably going over all of these prophecies that He Himself had prophesied and given the David and given to Isaiah and given to the other prophets, knowing that everything He prophesied about this night, about His sacrifice, would come to pass. So, being in agony, and more earnestly.

"…And His sweat became as great drops of blood falling down to the ground" (v 44).

This was a tremendous, just absolutely saturating His whole being. The whole anticipation of the experience of the coming crucifixion. After that God gave Him the strength. God was with Him. Though He was going to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, He still did not fear. He had His mind set:

• He knew what this was all about
• He knew what He was going to do
• He knew what was going to happen to Him

because He prophesied all of it!

• How did Jesus have this mindset?
• How was He able to do it?

Heb. 12 is about how Jesus had this mindset. It tells us what we are to do, because we have been living in a time of great ease, of great luxury, of great opportunity. We are going to be facing some very desperate and trying times in the future. We need to have the same attitude that Jesus had. We need to, as the prophecy said, 'set His mind like flint' so that we also can endure the things that come. That we also can be focused on what Jesus did.

Hebrews 12:1: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great throng of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily entraps us; and let us run the race set before us with endurance, having our minds fixed on Jesus, the Beginner and Finisher of our faith; Who for the joy…" (vs 1-2).

That's why He was able to get up from this prayer and walk out with the disciples knowing that Judas and the band was on the way.

"…that lay ahead of Him endured the cross, although He despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (v 2).

Now let's see what Peter wrote concerning the crucifixion and how Jesus reacted to it. Quite a thing when you understand it! Listen, understand that there is:

• no problem,
• no difficulty
• no temptation
• no sin
• no depression
• nothing

that God cannot help you with! There is nothing you cannot take and lay before the feet of Jesus Christ, because He has gone through it to take it for us, so that we, we can have peace with God! So that we can be in the Kingdom of God! That's what He had His mind set on. And that's what we need to do also.

1-Peter 2:21: "For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow in His footsteps; Who committed no sin; neither was guile found in His mouth; Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when suffering, He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him Who judges righteously…" (vs 21-23).

That's what we need to do with our life. That's what the whole Feast of Unleavened Bread, as we're going see, is all about. That's what taking the Passover is all about.

Verse 24: "Who Himself bore our sins within His own body on the tree, so that we…"

• He did it for us!
• He did it for you!
• He did it for me!
• He did it for all of those He has called!

"…being dead to sins, may live unto righteousness; by Whose stripes you were healed…. [that's something] …For you were as sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls" (vs 24-25). That's the reason for it!

Now, let's go back and see some of the things that Jesus said while He was on the cross, knowing that this was the mindset that He had before He was arrested and then led away and subsequently crucified.

Luke 23:39: "Then one of the malefactors who was hanging there… [one of the other crosses] …railed at Him, saying, 'If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.' But the other one answered and rebuked him, saying, 'Do not even you fear God, you who are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving due payment for what we did; but this Man did nothing wrong.' Then he said to Jesus, 'Remember me, Lord, when You come into Your kingdom.' And Jesus said to him, [so this is the first saying:] [#1]'Truly, I tell you today, you shall be with Me in paradise'" (vs 39-43).

Now, that couldn't mean that that the thief's soul went to paradise that day, because that would have gone there before Jesus died. There's no such thing as an immortal soul—so we won't get into that. But he said, "…'Truly, I tell you today, you shall be with Me in paradise.'" That's the first saying that Jesus said while He was hanging there on the cross.

Notice what He was thinking of. He was thinking of His mother; John 19:25: "And Jesus' mother stood by the cross, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, [#2] 'Woman, behold your son'" (vs 25-26).

He was letting her know that the Apostle John would take care of her. That's the second saying that Jesus said. There were seven sayings altogether. Notice what was on His mind: serving and helping others.

Verse 27: "Then He said to the disciple, [#4] 'Behold your mother.' And from that time, the disciple took her into his own home."

Matthew 27:46: "And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, [#3]'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?' That is, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me.'" He had to be forsaken so that He Himself could purge our sins by Himself!

This is getting right down to the, right before He died; John 19:28: "After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had now been finished, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled…"

So He was aware of the fulfilling of the Scriptures all the time He was going through this whole ordeal. He had His mind on the goal of the Kingdom of God and bringing all the brethren into it. He had His mind on the goal of what He and God the Father were doing. The very purpose of the plan of God the Father and Jesus Christ.

"…said, [#5]'I thirst'" (v 28). Then they tried giving it to Him and then He didn't take it.

Verse 30: "And so, when Jesus had received the vinegar, He said, [#6]'It is finished.'…."

We know that those things are very, very important to understand.

Luke 23:46: "And after crying out with a loud voice… [probably right after the spear was thrust into His side] …Jesus said, [#7]'Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.' When He had said these things, He expired"—He died!

So, that's what He had on mind all the time He was going through the crucifixion. He was aware of the Scriptures being fulfilled. He was aware of what was taking place. He knew that He was going to die and that everything as far as being a human being would be just completely, all the strength exhausted out of His system. But He knew that God was going to raise Him. He had His mind on that. He had His mind on the, on the plan of salvation for all mankind.

A Harmony of the Gospels:

"As the chain of agonizing events unfolded—the false accusations and unjust trials, the cruel beatings, humiliating mocking and spitting, brutal scourging and slow death by crucifixion—Jesus Christ remained steadfast in His love and loyalty to God the Father. But the disciples and women who looked upon Jesus' mutilated and bloodied body did not understand what they were witnessing. They stood afar off, watching His crucifixion in stunned bewilderment and disbelief that this could be happening to Jesus Christ, Whom they believed was the Son of God. How could the promised Savior hang beaten and scourged, nailed to the cross in naked shame, dying before their very eyes? They had hoped that He would save them from the Roman oppression and establish the kingdom of God. Now there would be no salvation, not at that time or ever, so they thought, as they witnessed Jesus drawing His last breath on the cross. They did not realize until after the resurrection that the outpouring of Jesus' blood was the beginning of the salvation of the world.

"[Jesus] the Son of God had died to atone for the sins of the World! As the God Who had created man, His death paid the penalty for the sins of every human being, opening the way for all mankind to receive the gift of eternal life. This was the beginning of the New Covenant, sealed with the body and the blood of Jesus Christ, which would bring salvation to all the world" (Harmony of the Gospels, by Fred R. Coulter, pp 266-267).

So, when you go keep the Passover, tomorrow night, keep all of this in mind and realize that Jesus was crucified and died to save us from our sin!

Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

Scriptural References:

• Revelation 3:14
• Genesis 3:14-15
• John 3:16
• Philippians 2:5-8
• 1 Timothy 3:16
• Romans 8:3
• 2 Corinthians 5:21
• John 1:29, 36
• Revelation 13:8
• Exodus 12:12
• Hebrews 2:9
• Hebrews 1:3
• Hebrews 2:10-11
• Hebrews 10:7-9, 12
• Hebrews 5:5-9
• Psalm 69:1-4, 7-10, 12-21
• Isaiah 53:1-12
• Isaiah 52:13-15
• Isaiah 50:5-7
• Psalm 22:1, 6-23
• Luke 22:39-44
• Hebrews 12:1-2
• I Peter 2:21-25
• Luke 23:39-43
• John 19:25-27
• Matthew 27:46
• John 19:28-30
• Luke 23:46

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Psalm 2
• Genesis 15
• Revelation 11:8
• 1 Timothy 3:16

Also referenced:

Books:

• The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
• The Day that Jesus the Christ Died by Fred R. Coulter
• A Harmony of the Gospels by Fred R. Coulter

Sermon Series: Hebrews

Sermon—The Covenant Between God the Father and Jesus Christ (Hebrews Series #27)

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 3-18-07
Reformatted/Corrected: 3/2019