1 Peter 2: 21,24
21 Indeed, this is what you were called to; because the Messiah too suffered, on your behalf, leaving an example so that you should follow in His steps. 24 He himself bore our sins in His body on the stake, O so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness - by His wounds you were healed.
1Peter 1:18-20
18 You should be aware that the ransom paid to free you from the worthless way of life which your fathers passed on to you did not consist of anything perishable like silver or gold; 19 on the contrary, it was the costly bloody sacrificial death of the Messiah, as of a lamb without defect or spot. 20 God knew Him before the founding of the universe, but revealed Him in the latter days for your sakes.
There is only one more week, Passover week, then all sin will be atoned for and the Lamb, God’s Sacrificial Passover Lamb, God’s Perfect Lamb, God’s only begotten Son, once for all will pay our sin debt, with a pardon.
“Paid-in-Full” to the Kingdom of Heaven!!! Hallelujah and praise be to the Lamb!!
Even Messiah our Passover is sacrificed for us. (1 Cor. 5:7)
"Who Am I"
performed and written by Casting Crowns
The last days leading up to Passover begin with Yeshua and His apostles stopping in Bethany on their way to Jerusalem to perform yet another miracle.
1 There was a man who had fallen sick. His name was El`azar, and he came from Beit-Anyah, the village where Miryam and her sister Marta lived. 2 (This Miryam, whose brother El`azar had become sick, is the one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent a message to Yeshua, "Lord, the man you love is sick." 4 On hearing it, he said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may receive glory through it." 5 Yeshua loved Marta and her sister and El`azar; 6 so when he heard he was sick, first he stayed where he was two more days; 7 then, after this, he said to the talmidim, "Let's go back to Y'hudah." 8 The talmidim replied, "Rabbi! Just a short while ago the Judeans were out to stone you -- and you want to go back there?" 9 Yeshua answered, "Aren't there twelve hours of daylight? If a person walks during daylight, he doesn't stumble; because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if a person walks at night, he does stumble; because he has no light with him." 11 Yeshua said these things, and afterwards he said to the talmidim, "Our friend El`azar has gone to sleep; but I am going in order to wake him up." 12 The talmidim said to him, "Lord, if he has gone to sleep, he will get better." 13 Now Yeshua had used the phrase to speak about El`azar's death, but they thought he had been talking literally about sleep. 14 So Yeshua told them in plain language, "El`azar has died. 15 And for your sakes, I am glad that I wasn't there, so that you may come to trust. But let's go to him." 16 Then T'oma (the name means "twin") said to his fellow talmidim, "Yes, we should go, so that we can die with him!" 17 On arrival, Yeshua found that El`azar had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Beit-Anyah was about two miles from Yerushalayim, 19 and many of the Judeans had come to Marta and Miryam in order to comfort them at the loss of their brother. 20 So when Marta heard that Yeshua was coming, she went out to meet him; but Miryam continued sitting shiv`ah in the house. 21 Marta said to Yeshua, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you." 23 Yeshua said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha said, "I know that he will rise again at the Resurrection on the Last Day." 25 Yeshua said to her, "I AM the Resurrection and the Life! Whoever puts his trust in me will live, even if he dies; 26 and everyone living and trusting in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world." 28 After saying this, she went off and secretly called Miryam, her sister: "The Rabbi is here and is calling for you." 29 When she heard this, she jumped up and went to him. 30 Yeshua had not yet come into the village but was still where Marta had met him; 31 so when the Judeans who had been with Miryam in the house comforting her saw her get up quickly and go out, they followed her, thinking she was going to the tomb to mourn there. 32 When Miryam came to where Yeshua was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 33 When Yeshua saw her crying, and also the Judeans who came with her crying, he was deeply moved and also troubled. 34 He said, "Where have you buried him?" They said, "Lord, come and see." 35 Yeshua cried; 36 so the Judeans there said, "See how he loved him!" 37 But some of them said, "He opened the blind man's eyes. Couldn't he have kept this one from dying?" 38 Yeshua, again deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying in front of the entrance. 39 Yeshua said, "Take the stone away!" Marta, the sister of the dead man, said to Yeshua, "By now his body must smell, for it has been four days since he died!" 40 Yeshua said to her, "Didn't I tell you that if you keep trusting, you will see the glory of God?" 41 So they removed the stone. Yeshua looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I myself know that you always hear me, but I say this because of the crowd standing around, so that they may believe that you have sent me." 43 Having said this, he shouted, "El`azar! Come out!" 44 The man who had been dead came out, his hands and feet wrapped in strips of linen and his face covered with a cloth. Yeshua said to them, "Unwrap him, and let him go!" 45 At this, many of the Judeans who had come to visit Miryam, and had seen what Yeshua had done, trusted in him. 46 But some of them went off to the P'rushim and told them what he had done. 47 So the head cohanim and the P'rushim called a meeting of the Sanhedrin and said, "What are we going to do? -- for this man is performing many miracles. 48 If we let him keep going on this way, everyone will trust in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both the Temple and the nation." 49 But one of them, Kayafa, who was cohen gadol that year, said to them, "You people don't know anything! 50 You don't see that it's better for you if one man dies on behalf of the people, so that the whole nation won't be destroyed." 51 Now he didn't speak this way on his own initiative; rather, since he was cohen gadol that year, he was prophesying that Yeshua was about to die on behalf of the nation, 52 and not for the nation alone, but so that he might gather into one the scattered children of God. 53 From that day on, they made plans to have him put to death. 54 Therefore Yeshua no longer walked around openly among the Judeans but went away from there into the region near the desert, to a town called Efrayim, and stayed there with his talmidim. 55 The Judean festival of Pesach was near, and many people went up from the country to Yerushalayim to perform the purification ceremony prior to Pesach. 56 They were looking for Yeshua, and as they stood in the Temple courts they said to each other, "What do you think? That he simply won't come to the festival?" 57 Moreover, the head cohanim and the P'rushim had given orders that anyone knowing Yeshua's whereabouts should inform them, so that they could have him arrested.
This miracle illustrates the greatest upcoming event in the history of man! The miracle foretells the crowning proof of all- Yeshua Messiah’s own resurrection!
"Bring The Rain"
written and performed by MercyMe
A brief review of this account identifies Yeshua, yet again, as the fulfillment of the long awaited Messiah, the true Son of God. A powerful plea sent to Yeshua, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick”, yet He waited two more days before going to Bethany. Martha met Yeshua and said, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” {This event happened that the Son of God might be glorified, giving perfect timing for Yeshua to work the glorious miracle; the raising from the dead.} Yeshua answered Martha, “I AM the resurrection and the life, do you believe this? “Yea, Lord” was her answer. Martha quotes, “ I have believed that You are the Christ Messiah, and therefore, I do believe this!
Yeshua is the Christ Messiah.
Yeshua is the Son of God.
Yeshua is the prophesied One to come.
Yeshua is the resurrection.
Yeshua is the blessed Life.
Yeshua is the light and truth.
Yeshua is divine and faithful.
Yeshua then prayed to His living Father God in heaven with praise and thanksgiving for hearing Him. Prayer is connecting one’s soul with the very heart of God. After the prayer, Yeshua said in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” and he came forth - - perfectly!
Lazarus was Jewish, in the presence of many Jewish people, in order that they may witness the glory of God! Many of the Jewish people saw the things that Yeshua did and believed on Him. They had heard of the miracles, but now they had seen for themselves, first hand, and their unbelief changed to belief!!
Other Jews were irritated by it, and hardened in their unbelief. Some went to the Pharisees and reported what they had seen. The Pharisees called the Council to order to inflame one another with rage against the Christ. What do we do? If we don’t silence Him, all men will believe on Him! (That would set up a new King, and the Romans would take away our place and nation). Then Caiaphas, the high priest, spoke, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Yeshua would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. So from that day they plotted to take Yeshua’s life.
If I had been in the crowd that day, would I have seen and believed or would I have turned and walked away? Each one must choose.
1 Six days before Pesach, Yeshua came to Beit-Anyah, where El`azar lived, the man Yeshua had raised from the dead; 2 so they gave a dinner there in his honor. Marta served the meal, and El`azar was among those at the table with him. 3 Miryam took a whole pint of pure oil of spikenard, which is very expensive, poured it on Yeshua's feet and wiped his feet with her hair, so that the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of the talmidim, Y'hudah from K'riot, the one who was about to betray him, said, 5 "This perfume is worth a year's wages! Why wasn't it sold and the money given to the poor?" 6 Now he said this not out of concern for the poor, but because he was a thief -- he was in charge of the common purse and used to steal from it. 7 Yeshua said, "Leave her alone! She kept this for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." 9 A large crowd of Judeans learned that he was there; and they came not only because of Yeshua, but also so that they could see El`azar, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 The head cohanim then decided to do away with El`azar too, 11 since it was because of him that large numbers of the Judeans were leaving their leaders and putting their trust in Yeshua.
Matthew 20:17-19 CJB
17 As Yeshua was going up to Yerushalayim, he took the twelve talmidim aside by themselves and said to them, as they went on their way, 18 "We are now going up to Yerushalayim, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the head cohanim and Torah-teachers. They will sentence him to death 19 and turn him over to the Goyim, who will jeer at him, beat him and execute him on a stake as a criminal. But on the third day, he will be raised."
This was prophesied by Isaiah in Chapter 52:13-15 and Chapter 53.
Isaiah 52 CJB
13 "See how my servant will succeed! He will be raised up, exalted, highly honored! 14 Just as many were appalled at him, because he was so disfigured that he didn't even seem human and simply no longer looked like a man, 15 so now he will startle many nations; because of him, kings will be speechless. For they will see what they had not been told, they will ponder things they had never heard."
Isaiah 53 CJB
1 Who believes our report? To whom is the arm of ADONAI revealed? 2 For before him he grew up like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He was not well-formed or especially handsome; we saw him, but his appearance did not attract us. 3 People despised and avoided him, a man of pains, well acquainted with illness. Like someone from whom people turn their faces, he was despised; we did not value him. 4 In fact, it was our diseases he bore, our pains from which he suffered; yet we regarded him as punished, stricken and afflicted by God. 5 But he was wounded because of our crimes, crushed because of our sins; the disciplining that makes us whole fell on him, and by his bruises we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, went astray; we turned, each one, to his own way; yet ADONAI laid on him the guilt of all of us. Or: and in fellowship with him 7 though mistreated, he was submissive - he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to be slaughtered, like a sheep silent before its shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8 After forcible arrest and sentencing, he was taken away; and none of his generation protested his being cut off from the land of the living for the crimes of my people, who deserved the punishment themselves. 9 He was given a grave among the wicked; in his death he was with a rich man. Although he had done no violence and had said nothing deceptive, 10 yet it pleased ADONAI to crush him with illness, to see if he would present himself as a guilt offering. If he does, he will see his offspring; and he will prolong his days; and at his hand ADONAI's desire will be accomplished. 11 After this ordeal, he will see satisfaction. "By his knowing [pain and sacrifice], my righteous servant makes many righteous; it is for their sins that he suffers. 12 Therefore I will assign him a share with the great, he will divide the spoil with the mighty, for having exposed himself to death and being counted among the sinners, while actually bearing the sin of many and interceding for the offenders."
Yeshua’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem as recorded in Matthew 21:1-9. (Known also as Palm Sunday)
1 As they were approaching Yerushalayim, they came to Beit-Pagei on the Mount of Olives. Yeshua sent two talmidim 2 with these instructions: "Go into the village ahead of you, and you will immediately find a donkey tethered there with its colt. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, tell him, `The Lord needs them'; and he will let them go at once." 4 This happened in order to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, 5 "Say to the daughter of Tziyon, `Look! Your King is coming to you, riding humbly on a donkey, and on a colt, the offspring of a beast of burden!' 6 So the talmidim went and did as Yeshua had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put their robes on them, and Yeshua sat on them. 8 Crowds of people carpeted the road with their clothing, while others cut branches from trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds ahead of him and behind shouted, "Please! Deliver us!" to the Son of David; "Blessed is he who comes in the name of ADONAI!" "You in the highest heaven! Please! Deliver us!"
Continuing in Luke 19:39-44 CJB
39 Some of the P'rushim in the crowd said to him, "Rabbi! Reprimand your talmidim!" 40 But he answered them, "I tell you that if they keep quiet, the stones will shout!" 41 When Yeshua had come closer and could see the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, "If you only knew today what is needed for shalom! But for now it is hidden from your sight. 43 For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you, encircle you, hem you in on every side, 44 and dash you to the ground, you and your children within your walls, leaving not one stone standing on another – and all because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Mark 11:11 CJB
Yeshua entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
The next day Yeshua clears the Temple.
Mark 11:12-19 CJB
12 The next day, as they came back from Beit-Anyah, Yeshua felt hungry. 13 Spotting in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came up to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it wasn't fig season. 14 He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" And his talmidim heard what he said. 15 On reaching Yerushalayim, he entered the Temple courts and began driving out those who were carrying on business there, both the merchants and their customers. He also knocked over the desks of the money-changers, upset the benches of the pigeon-dealers, 16 and refused to let anyone carry merchandise through the Temple courts. 17 Then, as he taught them, he said, "Isn't it written in the Tanakh, My house will be called a house of prayer for all the Goyimp But you have made it into a den of robbers!" 18 The head cohanim and the Torah-teachers heard what he said and tried to find a way to do away with him; they were afraid of him, because the crowds were utterly taken by his teaching. 19 When evening came, they left the city.
The withered fig tree
20 In the morning, as the talmidim passed by, they saw the fig tree withered all the way to its roots. 21 Kefa remembered and said to Yeshua, "Rabbi! Look! The fig tree that you cursed has dried up!" 22 He responded, "Have the kind of trust that comes from God! 23 Yes! I tell you that whoever does not doubt in his heart but trusts that what he says will happen can say to this mountain, `Go and throw yourself into the sea!' and it will be done for him. 24 Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, trust that you are receiving it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive your offenses." 26 But if you do not forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your offenses."
Continues the same day. The authority of Yeshua questioned.
27 They went back into Yerushalayim; and as he was walking in the Temple courts, there came to him the head cohanim, the Torah-teachers and the elders; 28 and they said to him, "What s'mikhah do you have that authorizes you to do these things? Who gave you this s'mikhah authorizing you to do them?" 29 Yeshua said to them, "I will ask you just one question: answer me, and I will tell you by what s'mikhah I do these things. 30 The immersion of Yochanan -- was it from Heaven or from a human source? Answer me." 31 They discussed it among themselves: "If we say, `From Heaven,' he will say, `Then why didn't you believe him?' 32 But if we say, `From a human source, . . . '" -- they were afraid of the people, for they all regarded Yochanan as a genuine prophet. 33 So they answered Yeshua, "We don't know." "Then," he replied, "I won't tell you by what s'mikhah I do these things." Yeshua continued teaching many parables in the Temple.
Continuing the week.
Mark 14: 1-10 CJB
Judas Iscariot – one of the Twelve – agrees to betray Yeshua
1 But the festival of Matzah, known as Pesach, was approaching; 2 and the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers began trying to find some way to get rid of Yeshua, because they were afraid of the people. 3 At this point the
Adversary went into Y'hudah from K'riot, who was one of the Twelve. 4 He approached the head cohanim and the Temple guard and discussed with them how he might turn Yeshua over to them. 5 They were pleased and offered to pay him thirty silver coins. 6 He agreed and began looking for a good opportunity to betray Yeshua without the people's knowledge.
Luke 22:7-16 CJB
7 Then came the day of matzah, on which the Passover lamb had to be killed. 8 Yeshua sent Kefa and Yochanan, instructing them, "Go and prepare our Seder, so we can eat." 9 They asked him, "Where do you want us to prepare it?" 10 He told them, "As you're going into the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house he enters, 11 and say to its owner, `The Rabbi says to you, "Where is the guest room, where I am to eat the Pesach meal with my talmidim?" ' 12 He will show you a large room upstairs already furnished; make the preparations there." 13 They went and found things just as Yeshua had told them they would be, and they prepared for the Seder. 14 When the time came, Yeshua and the emissaries reclined at the table, and he 15 said to them, "I have really wanted so much to celebrate this Seder with you before I die! 16 For I tell you, it is certain that I will not celebrate it again until it is given its full meaning in the Kingdom of God."
John 13:1-5 CJB
1 It was just before the festival of Pesach, and Yeshua knew that the time had come for him to pass from this world to the Father. Having loved his own people in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 They were at supper, and the Adversary had already put the desire to betray him into the heart of Y'hudah Ben-Shim`on from K'riot. 3 Yeshua was aware that the Father had put everything in his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God. 4 So he rose from the table, removed his outer garments and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 Then he poured some water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the talmidim and wipe them off with the towel wrapped around him.
John 13 CJB
12 After he had washed their feet, taken back his clothes and returned to the table, he said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me `Rabbi' and `Lord,' and you are right, because I am. 14 Now if I, the Lord and Rabbi, have washed your feet, you also should wash each other's feet. 15 For I have set you an example, so that you may do as I have done to you.
Yeshua came to serve and this example is the height of humility!
Luke 22:17-20 CJB
17 Then, taking a cup of wine, he made the b'rakhah and said, "Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on, I will not drink the `fruit of the vine' until the Kingdom of God comes." 19 Also, taking a piece of matzah, he made the b'rakhah, broke it, gave it to them and said, "This is my body, which is being given for you; do this in memory of me." 20 He did the same with the cup after the meal, saying, "This cup is the New Covenant, ratified by my blood, which is being poured out for you.
Hebrews 9: 11-15 CJB
11 But when Christ came as High Priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a New Covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the First Covenant.
During the Passover meal Yeshua said, “I tell you a truth, one of you will betray me. The Twelve began to ask, “Is it I, Lord?” Yeshua replied, “the one who dips his hand in the bowl with me, will betray me. Judas looked at Yeshua and said, “Surely not I, Rabbi.” Yeshua answered, “Yes, it is you. What you are about to do, do quickly. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out - and it was night.
Yeshua conferred upon the apostles an honored position in His Father’s Kingdom.
Luke 22: 28-30 CJB
28 "You are the ones who have stayed with me throughout my trials. 29 Just as my Father gave me the right to rule, so I give you an appointment, 30 namely, to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom and to sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Isra'el. When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
The Passover meal has ended. This begins the unveiling truth of the progressive revelation that started as a shadow in Egypt, now, it is being fulfilled in the reality of the once-for-all sacrifice of God’s loving Lamb - His Son! Yeshua’s statement says it all:
And Yeshua took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body given for you; Do this in Remembrance of Me.”
From this time forward, Passover has taken on a full and complete reality of truth, behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.
The Passion of the Christ - The Last Supper
"Remembrance"
performed by Matt Maher
