OT Reading 03.29.09 Isaiah 53:1-12

1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

NT Reading 03.29.09 Luke 23:26-47 The Crucifixion

26. As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.
27. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28. Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.
29. For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!'
30. Then " 'they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!" '
31. For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
32. Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.
33. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.
34. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."
36. The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar
37. and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."
38. There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
40. But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence?
41. We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
42. Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
43. Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Jesus' Death
44. It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45. for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
46. Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.
47. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man."

THY WORD IS TRUTH JOHN 17:17

Pastor Ted Whitaker, PhD, CLP

Sunday March 29, 2009

Sermon Delivered to Annapolis and Hopedale Presbyterian Churches

“Jesus Death on the Cross Foretold"

"Part 5”

Today is the fifth Sunday in lent and we are going again to focus on the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross and what it means for us.

This is the fifth sermon in the series “Jesus Death on the Cross Foretold”.

We have seen very explicit references to Jesus death in the Old Testament scriptures in the previous sermons in lent.

The best of all is Psalm 22 that has 7 major verses that describe a crucifixion scene including piercing of hands and feet written by the prophet David 1000 year before crucifixion was invented by the evil Roman Empire.

If you missed that sermon it is publish on the “Thy Word Is Truth” Hopedale Annapolis blog spot.

The second week of lent’s sermon was from the prophet Zachariah on the ‘Thirty Pieces of Silver”.

Last Sunday’s sermon was on the substitutionary sacrifice Isaac on the rock on Mt. Mariah better known as Calvary in the city of Jerusalem.

I will be posting these on the hopedaleannapolis blog spot.For today’s message we will consider a passage from the Messianic prophet of the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah.

And those of you who heard the series of Advent sermons that I gave may remember why I call Isaiah the Messianic prophet.

I used quote after quote from this prophet as Scripture readings for the season of advent and let me give your just a small sampling of the references to the long awaited Messiah that were given just before the birth of Jesus in the stable in Bethlehem.

Briefly, here are the nativity prophecies of Isaiah.

“For a child will be born to us and a son will be given to us and the government will be upon his shoulder and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace and There will be no end to the increase of His government…

(That is chapter 7) and then later in chapter 11 we hear, “Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from its roots will bear fruit and the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him.”

And then in chapter 35 we hear about the Messiah’s miracles, “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped, then the lame will leap like the deer and the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy…

Then the word of John the Baptist are really from the mouth of Isaiah, “Clear away for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God… then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together…

And later again in chapter 42 Isaiah’s voice speaks of Messiah, “Behold, My servant whom I uphold;

My chosen one in whom My Soul delights, I have put My Spirit upon Him; He brings justice to the nations.

But Isaiah is not done until the book is complete and his Messianic voice is finial silenced in his death in 681 BC.

Isaiah lived in the time of King Hezekiah of Judah. The kingdom Israel was destroyed by King Shalmeneser of Assyria in 722 BC in Isaiah life time.

So late in the book of Isaiah in Chapter 60, the voice of Isaiah is revealing the Messiah with these words,” Arise, shine; for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Isaiah speaks of the light of the world and the dawn of the glory of Christ.

And in the next chapter 61 we have the last direct reference to the Messiah which Jesus of Nazareth himself quotes when he was asked to read the scriptures in a synagogue in Galilee.

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring the good news to the afflicted;

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, and to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners;

and to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

So from beginning to end the book of Isaiah has one strong Messianic voice and it is proof positive that Isaiah was written by one man and one man alone.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. For the evidence of scripture support only one author.
But today we will focus on the description from Isaiah of the suffering and death of the Messiah on the cross and that is chapter 53.

(Isaiah’s prophesy in this short chapter 53 is so vivid a description of Jesus of Nazareth’s passion in Holy Week that it is unmistakably as direct reference to Jesus).

So much so that it is a forbidden chapter and is never read in Jewish synagogues and temple today.

We hear today in the Old Testament s reading Isaiah’s words about the suffering servant of the Lord Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah. “He was despised and forsaken of men, A Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we esteem Him not.

And later we have these words as if like King David in Psalm 22 Isaiah was stand at the cross of Jesus as a witness of Jesus death on the cross, “But he was pierced through our transgressions, and He crushed for our inequities…

How could Isaiah you was dead 681 years before Christ was born in Bethlehem know that the Messiah would be pierced?

The answer is that God put those words in Isaiah’s mouth and they are not Isaiah’s word but God’s words.

But then Isaiah speaks of Christ’s beatings or scourging by the Roman guards before he is crucified with these words in verse 5 and 6 of chapter 53, “The chastening for our well being fell upon him, and by His scourging we are healed.

I would like to point out that some of the words of scripture are pout of date here. We no longer call a beating with a whip a scourging.

The brutal evil Romans Empire had brought beating into an “art form” the details of which we would not like to witness or even discuss today in polite company especially in the presence of children.

But these are strange words here in another important way.

The prophet Isaiah is telling us here what the beatings of Jesus mean. What the beating of a man half to death means.

We are healed by his lashes. The King James says it best, “By His Stripes we are healed.”

But some may not understand that either. What have stripes have to do with healing?
This really is very good question?

The stripes referred to here are the marks on the back made by the whips but again that only describes the effect of the punishment delivered.

How does that heal us?

To find the answer, we need to remember what last Sunday’s sermon was about.

Abraham’s intended sacrifice of his only son was stopped by God and a ram (a male sheep) was substituted for Isaac’s and sacrificed in Isaac’s place.

The ram took the punishment for God had provided the lamb. God’s lamb took Isaac’s place on the alter of sacrifice.

Isaiah is saying that we are healed by Messiah’s stripes because Messiah was beaten as a punishment for our sins.

So we are relieved from the punishment for all that we have done that is bad in our lives because Jesus took our punishment and then took our death also.

How could Isaiah know this 683 years before this happened? (Only if God told him what to say).
But Isaiah is not done yet.

He describes Jesus trial before Pilot with these words.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth;

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

Did Jesus remain silent before Pontius Pilot?

We learn this in the gospel of John last Sunday.

Pilot takes Jesus back away from the crowd who were yelling crucify him and asks Jesus, “Where do you come form?”

But Jesus does not answer him and Pilot angrily says, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know I have the power to free you or to crucify you?

But then Isaiah describes what will happen next in verse 8, “By oppression and judgment he was taken away…

For he was cut off from the land of the living.”

Isaiah speaks of the death of the Messiah as if he were standing in the crowd that day when they cried “crucify Him”

And look at the words that “Isaiah uses. Isaiah used the words “Cut Off”.

The Messiah will be cut off from the land of the living.

Does that not ring a bell in our minds? Should it?

It should for those of the words of the prophet Daniel that I gave you in the first Sunday in Lent.

Remember Daniel predicted to the very day the time of the death of the Messiah in AD 30. And what words did Daniel use in foretelling Messiahs death?

Let me give them to you again and see if you recall them. Daniel chapter 9 verse 26, “After sixty-two sevens, the Anointed One will be what?

CUT OFF and have nothing.

There are those words again “cut off”.

Daniel uses the words “cut off” just like Isaiah is using today in the Messiah chapter 53 in the Old Testament reading.

How could this be?

The words are the same because they are neither the words of Isaiah or the words of Daniel the words are from God.

(And may I add they are proof that God exists and are proof that God is the author of the events of the history of His people Israel and even further it is proof that God is the author of all the events of the history of mankind).

The fact that the prophet Isaiah spoke of the Messiah, the suffering servant would be pierced and the he would be cut off from the living 700 years before Jesus of Nazareth died on the cross is emough evidence for anyone to believe!

Amen

OT Reading 03.22.09 Genesis 22:1-19

1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.
4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.
5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,
7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied.
12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time
16 and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,
18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

NT Reading 03.22.09 Matthew 27:32-44 The Crucifixion


32. As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.
33. They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).
34. There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.
35. When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
36. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there.
37. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
38. Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.
39. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40. and 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!"
41. In 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.
43. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' "
44. In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

THY WORD IS TRUTH JOHN 17:17

Pastor Ted Whitaker, PhD, CLP

Sunday March 22, 2009

Sermon Delivered to Annapolis and Hopedale Presbyterian Churches

Bible quotes: NIV (New International Version)

“Jesus’ Death on the Cross Foretold - Part 4”

Today is the fourth Sunday in lent and we are going again to focus on the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross and what it means for us.

This is the fourth sermon in the series “Jesus Death on the Cross Foretold”.

We have seen very explicit references to Jesus death in the Old Testament scriptures in the previous sermons in lent.

The best of all is Psalm 22 that has 7 major verses that describe a crucifixion scene including piercing of hands and feet written by the prophet David 1000 year before crucifixion was invented by the evil Roman Empire.

If you missed that sermon it is publish on the “Thy Word Is Truth” Hopedale Annapolis blog spot.

Last weeks sermon on the Thirty Pieces of Silver will be posted on the blog Monday if you have missed that one also.

But today, we will consider a passage in Genesis that foretell of a sacrifice of a lamb that will take place in the future and on a very particular piece of real estate called to this very day Mt Moriah.

And where is Mt Moriah located?Mt. Moriah is located in the city of Jerusalem but in the time of Abraham, the first Jew, (the first man to be circumcised), it was not called Jerusalem.

The name of the small town was Salem.(And you may recognize that Salem is contained in the later name of the city, Jerusalem).

Well what is so special about Jerusalem that makes it a special place on the earth that God would make it Holy ground?

And the answer is many things but this passage that we heard read today from the Old Testament in Genesis 22 is one of them.

For the scene in Genesis, is a sacrifice of a son and that son was named Isaac.

We should remember that Isaac was very special son.

He was the son of Abram and Seri old age after they had passed their reproductive years.

And before God changed their names to Abrham and Serah.

Isaac’s birth was a miraculous birth for the birth of Isaac in human terms was impossibility so much so that Isaac name means laughter in Hebrew.

For both Sarah and Abraham laughed when God told them that they would have a son.

So Isaac is a picture of a coming son the only begotten son of God who also had an impossible birth from a woman who had known no man, as virgin.

And there is a scripture one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament that connects together here describing the birth of both theses impossible sons Isaac and Jesus.

It happened in the New Testament before the birth of John the Baptist at the announcement to the Virgin Mary that she will have a son there is a scripture from Luke 1:3 “Nothing is impossible with God.”

So Isaac, John the Baptist and Jesus all were impossible pregnancies and impossible births in human terms.

So that is the back ground of the sacrifice of an impossible son in Genesis but what is the connection of the intended sacrifice of Isaac and the sacrifice of Jesus of Nazareth on the cross of Calvary that very important piece of real estate in the city of Jerusalem and as I said before it happens on Mt Moriah of all places on the earth this happens at the very same place.

So where is Mt. Moriah in the city of Jerusalem and why is it so important?

To find out we need to look thought the history of the Nation of Israel to see what happens on Mt Moriah between the intended sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham and the crucifixion of Jesus on this very mountain perhaps only few humdred yards hundred of yards away for the very spot.

If we go to the book of chronicles, we find a reference to Mt Moriah and its significance to the Jewish Nation.

Chronicles is a much neglected book of the bible because it is sort of the biblical dumping ground for details that were not included in other books of prophesy.

So it should not be surprising to us that we should find a reference to Mt Moriah in the book. And what do we find about Mt Moriah in Chronicles.

The time is just after the death of King David and David’s son Solomon is now king of Israel.

2 Chronicles chapter 1 verses 3 reads, “Then Solomon began to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to his father David.

It was on the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite, the place provided by David.

He began building on the second day of the second month in the fourth year of his reign.

So Mt. Moriah is the mountain in the city of Jerusalem where the temple of Jehovah God (YWHW) was built.

And some of you may remember a sermon that I preached here about the temple of Solomon about a year ago.

God the Father took up residence in that Temple that Solomon built and we learned this in the book of 1 kings chapter 8 what happened in the Temple that King Solomon built.

1st Kings Chapter 8 verse 6 reads, “The priests then brought the ark of the LORD's covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place (the Holy of holies), and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim.

The cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles.

These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place in front of the inner sanctuary, but not from outside the Holy Place; and they are still there today.

There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb (which is another name the Jews used for Mt Sinai), where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out of Egypt.

When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD.

And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple.

And I should like to add a comment here.

In the glory of God present in the temple of Solomon, the nation of Israel had a visible sign of God’s presence just like the children of Israel did in the desert floor when Moses when up on Mt Sinai to receive the tablets of stone upon which were written the 10 Commandments.

And here remains in the Holy of Holies the Ark of the Covenant with those same tablets of stone.

And God takes residence in this place and a cloud and the light of his presence is His Shikina glory and the glory of God lighted the Temple of Solomon both day and night.

And what we Kings Solomon’s words as he dedicates the Temple, “Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud; I have indeed built a magnificent temple for you, a place for you to dwell forever."

But sadly, because of the sin of idolatry of King Solomon kingdom of Israel in the very next generation would be divided and the Temple would remain in the kingdom of Judah.

Israel would build an idolatrous temple in Sechem that would become Samaria.

God did not reside in his Temple forever as Solomon declared for after generation after generation of idolatry of the kings of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar came into Jerusalem destroyed the Temple that Solomon built and carried all the inhabitants of Jerusalem of into slavery in Babylon.

So let’s look at the intended sacrifice of Isaac on Mt. Moriah and see how it foretells of the real sacrifice of Jesus on that very place in Jerusalem.

I have been referring this morning to the intended sacrifice of Isaac on Mt Moriah because as we all know, “Isaac was not sacrificed on the rock on Mt Moriah that day.

And why did this not happen?Because God that Father commanded Abraham to stop and not sacrifice Isaac, Isaac and Abraham lived happily ever as we heard in the Old Testament reading today.

God said to Abraham, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.

Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

And it is was a good thing because both Abraham and Isaac are ancestors to Christ.Isaac is the child of the promise just like the land of Canaan is the land of the promise.And what is the promise?

It is the covenant made the Abraham by God. And what about that promise to Abraham is it still a promise and is that promise still in effect.

Does God break promises? God does not swear falsely. The promise of the land was sworn by God.

To break a promise sworn to by God, He would cease to be God because he would no longer be a good God.

God never breaks His promises.But did Abraham fail make a sacrifice there on Mt. Moriah that day in disobeying God to make a sacrifice?

Abraham did not disobey God and for Abraham made a sacrifice of a lamb. And male sheep not just any lamb.

What did Isaac say as he was lead to that rock on Mt. Moriah?“

Where is the lamb for the sacrifice, father?

And what was Abraham’s response to Isaac’s question.God will provide a lamb my son.

And when God stopped Abraham from sacrificing Isaac what happened. They found a ram, a male sheep, caught in a bush by its horns and that was the lamb that God provided so his command would be obeyed by Abraham. Isaac was not sacrificed but an animal was substituted for a human sacrifice.

And it is a substitutionary sacrifice.

And it foretells of Jesus sacrifice on that very mountain in Jerusalem approximately 2000 years later.

Jesus is the real substitutionary sacrifice for our sins.He takes on our sins on himself and He is the perfect Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.

Jesus takes our punishment for our sins on himself on Mt Moriah.

The fact that God provided a substitution of a male sheep on exactly the same spot on the earth that King Solomon built the Temple and exactly the same spot on the earth that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified is enough evidence for anyone to believe!

Amen.

OT Reading 03.05.09 Zechariah 11:7-14

7 So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock.
8 In one month I got rid of the three shepherds. The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them
9 and said, "I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another's flesh."
10 Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations.
11 It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the LORD.
12 I told them, "If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter"-the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD to the potter.
14 Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

NT Reading 03.15.09 John 19:7-24 Jesus Predicts His Betrayal

18 "I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture: 'He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.'
19 "I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He.
tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me."
21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me."
22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant.
23One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him.
24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, "Ask him which one he means."
25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?"
26 Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon.
27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. "What you are about to do, do quickly," Jesus told him,
28 but no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him.
29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the Feast, or to give something to the poor.
30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

THY WORD IS TRUTH John 17:17

Pastor Ted Whitaker, PhD, CLP


Sunday March 15, 2009


Sermon Delivered to Annapolis and Hopedale Presbyterian Churches


Bible quotes: NIV (New International Version)

“Jesus’ Death on the Cross Foretold - Part 3”

Today is the third Sunday in lent and we are going again to focus on the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross and what it means for us.


This is the third sermon in the series “Jesus Death on the Cross Foretold” and just like in the season of advent we are going to look how God prepared the way for his son to come to earth as God incarnate.


(God in the flesh who dwelt among us is the same God who sacrificed Himself for the sake of reconciliation of mankind to himself).


And continuing in this theme we will look this Sunday morning just how far in advance God the Father had a plan to accomplish this task of the atoning sacrifice of his son, Jesus, to die for the sins of the whole world.


Today we will consider two Old Testament prophets Jeremiah and Zechariah that will foretell of the Messiah’s being betrayed by one of his friends and that person will be Judas Iscariot a disciple chosen by Jesus of Nazareth.


Jeremiah was dead for 54 years before Zacharias became a prophet and priest in Israel in 520 BC.


In this series of Lenten sermons, we will focus how far in advance of Judas Iscariots betrayal did God the Father, the in the Old Testament announce to everyone through these two prophets the exact price by which Jesus of Nazareth would be handed over to the Roman guards.


The test of prophesy is whether the words of the prophet happen as a event in human history.
That is the correct test of prophecy.


Prediction are different from prophecies in that prediction come from the mind of men but prophesies come from the mind of God.


True prophesy is not just a prediction but it is a warning of future event that will come to pass in time and those words are from God’s Spirit.


So the accurate recording of history is paramount to the proof of God’s existence. And that is why Zachariah is such an important prophet here.


For Zachariah life is very late in the timeline of the Messiah much closer to our own time.


The dates around Zachariah’s time are more secure and dependable because they can be checked against dates of other historian who wrote about human history outside of the bible.


When dates of history are record out side of the bible by respected historians like Josephus, Philo, and others no one expresses doubt about the correctness of their authorship.


No one claims that the Jewish historian Josephus was written by someone else 400 hundred years after he wrote the “Jewish wars” or the “Antiquities” that bear his name but the bible has many critics that claim there is an error of authorship and dates recorded in the bible.


But the fact remains that the scribes recorded those events and dates and their whole lives were dedicated to the task of recording the bible on scrolls and these scribes had a belief system based upon the law of Moses which required the death of any one bearing false witness.


The claims of biblical critics that the bible was written hundreds of years after traditional authors is false and absurd based upon these two standards alone.


For in their unbelief these biblical scholars can not tolerate the supernatural fortelling of events 1000 to 2000 years before the events happen and are recorded as facts in the history of Israel.


And why do they object!


Because it proves that God and His Spirit are the real authors of the words of prophesy but what they really object to is that God and His Spirit is the author of the events of history of mankind, itself.


It proves God exists and it is convicting for them!


You see there is a problem in academic scholarship in that unbelievers do not leave the faith.


For they have much difficulty in their own minds in accepting the bible as truth when the bible claims to be truth.


Thy Word is truth John 17:17 is a very troubling scripture for them.


I am the Way The Truth and the life is another one.


And this is what their real objection is.


The accuracy of authorship and accuracy of the timeline of history is a smoke screen for their unbelief.


A constant stream of skepticism and unbelief pervades academic biblical scholarship to this very day.


Zachariah was a priest and not a common man of Israel like the other Old Testament prophets.


So what did Zachariah predict or foretell would happen in the Old Testament that later happened in the life of Jesus of Nazareth’s that uniquely identifies Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah (the anointed one of God).


The prophecy of Zachariah that is being considered here today is the betrayal of Jesus by someone who will be paid thirty pieces of silver as his reward for that betrayal.


We heard of this in the Old Testament reading here today and the words were from Chapter 11 verse 10 of Zachariah, “Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations.


11 It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the LORD.


12 I told them, "If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.


13 And the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter"-the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD to the potter”.


So what is God speaking though the mouth of His prophet Zachariah trying to tell us here in this prophesy?


There are 30 pieces of silver mention here.


This is truth that can be verified by just counting out the pieces can’t we.

This is not something figurative, metaphoric or subjective or something we need to interpret.


We might be skeptical if it were subjective evidence based upon interpretation


for we all think a little differently don’t we.


But here we have a exact number of “30 pieces” that everyone can agree on by observations made with our eyes and our sense of touch.


Or by the weight of these piece of silver, we can verify that is either over or under that amount or thirty or exactly 30.


By a simple physical test, we can we all agree 30 pieces is the true amount?


What this means is that we have a test of truth for this event to come to pass in the life of Jesus for if there is suddenly “thirty pieces of silver showing up in Jesus life then the words of Zachariah are fulfilled prophesy.


But let’s look at the words of Zachariah again in more detail for there is another verifiable observation here.


There is a field where these “Thirty pieces” will be thrown and it will be associated with a person who makes pottery.


It will be a potter’s field.


So now we have another verifiable event that can take place in Jesus of Nazareth’s life that proves that Zachariah was prophesying about Jesus of Nazareth, the long awaited Messiah.


And what do we see happening before the Passover meal with Judas Iscariot his disciple.


In the NT reading today we learned that Judas was the treasurer of Jesus band of disciples.


Judas was in charge of the money for Judas was consumed with greed and was taking from the treasury for himself.


When Jesus tells his disciples that he would was being betrayed by a person in that very room they did not realize it was Judas, but Jesus knew.


Jesus says, “It is the one whom I will give this piece of bread that I have dipped into the dish.”
And then he says to Judas, “What you have to do, do it quickly.”


This exchange of words between Judas and Jesus is evidence that Jesus is the Messiah for he knows the heart of Judas and knows what he is about to do without anyone telling him.


Only God can look into a man’s heart and know what is there.


To get the details of Judas betrayal, we need to go the gospel of Matthew chapter 27.


After Jesus is seized by the Roman guards and taken before Pilot, Judas is in despair because of what he has dome and he hangs himself.


But listen to what Matthew tells us about what happens to those 30 pieces of silver.
Matthew 27:5 reads, “Judas threw the money into the temple and left.


6 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money."


7 So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners.


8 That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day.


9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel,


10 and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me."


So the blood money that Judas Iscariot used was thrown back to the priest of the temple who paid Judas by Judas himself and what did this band of priests do with this money.


The used it to buy a potter’s field just as Jeremiah prophesied 483 years before.

The evidence of thirty pieces of silver given by the prophet Zachariah 500 years before it happen in Jesus of Nazareth’s life is enough for any one to believe!

Amen.

Thy Word is Truth John 17:17

Welcome to the blog that seeks to stand for the truth of the word of God.

The Truth of the word of God is eternal, unchangeable, inerrant, infallible, flawless, sufficient, authoritative, absolute…because that is what is revealed in Christ.

To the secular mind these adjectives are objectionable at the very outset because they are a direct threat to “self”.

The reason of this objection is that humanism is based upon self and selfishness.The human being is born into a state of self-centeredness and sits on the throne of life and sits in authority over life.

The true believer in Christ denies self and bends the knee to the authority of Christ.

So the truth of the word of God is based upon a person Jesus Christ and not an intellectual concept of truth.

And the foundation scripture of biblical Christianity is John 1:1.John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

The companion scripture is John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”.Jesus is the living “Word of God” and “The Truth”.

These two scriptures taken together reveal to us that the bible or the word of God is really the “Word of God” and we need to come to that conclusion.

The truth of the scriptures is really a person and not a concept or idea.

The Truth of the bible is Jesus Christ himself who claims to be the Truth of the bible in John 14:6.

The last foundational scripture is another claim of Christ before his ascension, “ All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me”. (Mathew 28:18).

Here is the line of separation for all eternity.

Devotees of humanism have an authority problem in that something temporary rules life and that is self.

Devotees of Christianity look to someone else who is permanent in authority of their lives and that is Christ.

Either we submit to Christ’s authority in our lives and are given eternal life with Him or we submit to our own authority and lose our lives permanently.

According to the scriptures, there are two groups of people in this world the save and the unsaved:“The Christ centered and the world centered”.

“The Sheep and the Goats”.

This blog is dedicated to sharing of the scriptures that identify Christ’s flock and the scriptures that identify the antichrist’s flock.

This blog is also dedicated to identifying the values of the Christian community and also identifying the values of the culture and the world.

They are not the same values!With this today, I so dedicate and start of “Thy Word Is Truth” John 17:17 blog.

Pastor Ted Whitaker, Ph,D, CLP Pastor of Hopedale Annapolis United Presbyterian Churches

“Thy Word Is Truth” John 17:17

From the desk Ted Whitaker, Ph.D, CLP, Pastor and believing biochemist!

Dear Congregation Member:

Here is the evidence that you asked for. In the next post is a table for comparison of the exact words written by King David in PSALM 22 written in 1000 BC on the top row.

On the second row is the corresponding accounts of what happened to Jesus in the gospels of Matthew and John.

Please notice in red letters the exact words of PSALM 22 written in 1000 BC by King David appearing in the Gospel accounts of Jesus death on the cross in 7 lines of Psalm 22.

John was the only disciple that heard and saw what happened to Jesus when he was crucified so his account is an eye witness account.


This is what your pastor needed as a former scientist to believe.

There are 7 examples of identical words or events in Psalm 22 that are facts witnessed at Jesus crucifixion by the disciple John.

If your pastor can step into his scientific shoes for just one minute, “eight corresponding observations in a row are far beyond coincidence statistically.

Even if we give a 50 (or one half) to 50 (or one half) chance like a coin toss of heads or tails to the correspondence of the same events happening 1000 years apart.

Then the chances that 7 events happened in a row 1000 years apart are:

½ times ½ times ½ time ½ times ½ times ½ times ½ times ½ equals = 1/256
or 1 chance in 256 coin tosses.

The odds even in these simplest of terms are far beyond coincidence!

The real odds of this happening are not 50:50 but astronomical even for one event to happen with the exact words 1,000 years later!

The Table of Correspondence:

PSALM 22 OLD TESTAMENT 1000 BC

(1) Line 1 “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?”

GOSPEL ACCOUNT NEW TESTMENT AD 30

(1) Matthew 27:46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtani?” – which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?




PSALM 22 OLD TESTAMENT 1000 BC

(2) Line 6-7 “I am a worm and not a man and despised by people, All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads”.

GOSPEL ACCOUNT NEW TESTAMENT 30 AD

(2) Matthew 27:28-30 They stripped him and put a scarlet rob on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “hail the king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him and too the staff and struck him on the head again and again.


PSALM 22 OLD TESTAMENT 1000 BC

(3) Line 8 “He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

GOSPEL ACCOUNT NEW TESTAMENT 30 AD

(3) Matthew 27:41 In the same way, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others”, they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, “I am the Son of God.” In the same way the robber who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.



PSALM 22 OLD TESTAMENT 1000 BC

(4) Line 14 “I am poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint. Myheart has turn to wax; it has melted away within me.”

GOSPEL ACCOUNT NEW TESTAMENT 30 AD

(4) John 19:31-34 “Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.



PSALM 22 OLD TESTAMENT 1000 BC

(5) Line 15 Psalm 22 “My strength is dried up like a potshard and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.

GOSPEL ACCOUNT NEW TESTAMENT 30 AD

(5) John (19:28b-30)… Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished."



PSALM 22 OLD TESTAMENT 1000 BC

(6) Line 16 Psalm 22 “Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.”

GOSPEL ACCOUNT NEW TESTAMENT AD 30

(6) John 20:24 …"Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."




PSALM 22 OLD TESTAMENT 1000 BC

(7) Line 18 Psalm 22 “They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”

GOSPEL ACCOUNT NEW TESTAMENT AD 30

(7) John 19:23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. "Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing."So this is what the soldiers did.




Pastor Ted Whitaker, Ph.D., CLPSunday

March 8, 2009

Sermon Delivered to Annapolis and Hopedale Presbyterian Churches


Bible quotes:NIV (New International Version unnoted)

NASB (New American Standard Version as noted)

“Jesus’ Death on the Cross Foretold - Part 2”

Today is the second Sunday in lent and we are going to focus on the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross and what it means for us.As a reverent church we have been looking at all the Old Testament prophesies that Jesus of Nazareth uniquely fulfills as the Messiah foretold by all the prophets of the Old Testament.

During the advent season we went every Sunday in lent to the Old Testament prophets to see that Jesus was born at just the right time and place to be the long awaited Messiah or anointed one.

But the prophesies in the Old Testament about the Christ do not stop with his supernatural birth from a virgin’s womb but the prophets also foretold about his death and exactly when and where that would take place.

We learned from last Sunday’s sermon from the Prophet Daniel that the “Anointed One” Would be cut off and have nothing”Jesus death was prophesied by Daniel 483 years before his death on the cross of Calvary.

In today’s sermon we will consider how Jesus will die on the cross. It comes from the prophet David.

Yes, David was a prophet and there are many Messianic psalms that David wrote for he was the sweet psalmist of Israel (verse 1) as he said on his death bed in 2Samuel (NASB Chapter 23:1-7).

David either wrote the psalms or had it written for him by the Levites that were leading worship as choir directors in the tabernacle like Asaph, Korah and his sons and the list is very long after these two major choir directors of people who wrote Psalms for David.

We opened the service today in the call to worship taken from Psalm 22 and then I read as the Old Testament reading for a very important reason.

Psalm 22 contains a vivid description or picture of a crucifixion as found anywhere else in the bible.

I want all of us to remember that King David lived and wrote the Psalms that were worship in the Tabernacle 1000 years before Jesus of Nazareth was born in Bethlehem.

I want us to follow together each line of this Psalm that David saw in his mind that matches the account of Jesus death on the cross taken from the gospel writers Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

We will focus mostly on the account of the Disciple John which was the NT reading for today.

I will try to keep a running total of the events of the Jesus crucifixion that king David saw in his mind as he wrote Psalm 22.

Let us look at the opening line of Psalm 22. “My God my God why have you forsaken me?” What were Jesus of Nazareth’s words from the cross?

Where else would we find these exact words of Jesus as he hung on the cross?Well they are quoted exactly by both Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 as “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

So modern translators of the bible quote this verse in the original language that Jesus spoke from the cross and that was Aramaic.

Then the bible translators tell us what Jesus said in English this means. “My God, My God why have you forsaken me is the opening line of Psalm 22, written 1000 years before?

Does God have a plan about his coming Son?

He tells us far in advance in the Old Testament what will come to pass in the New Testament regarding his son, Jesus of Nazareth, the long awaited Messiah.

(This is the first line of this Psalm that matches Jesus death).

Let us consider line 6 and 7 of Psalm 22. “I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.”And then line 7, “All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads”

And how does the gospel writer describe what they saw at the cross of Jesus.And what did the people say when Jesus was on trial before Pontus Pilate, they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!"

"Shall I crucify your king?"Pilate asked.

"We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered.

And this continued at the cross Matthew tells us that the Roman guards mocked Jesus with these words (27 verse 29)

They (The Roman Guards) put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said.

They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.

These events were prophesied by the prophet Isaiah (also the messianic prophet of the OT) in chapter 53, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

It is almost as if the prophet Isaiah was also given a vision of Jesus of Nazareth’s death on the cross like King David was.(And this the second line of Psalm 22 that corresponds to Jesus death).

Let us look at line 8 of the Psalm 22, “He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him.

Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."Do we find these words in the gospel accounts of Jesus death?

Yes we do.

Matthew tells us in Ch 27:41 that the chief priests mocked Jesus with these words, “In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. "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.

43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'

This is the third line of Psalm 22 corresponds to Jesus of Nazareth’s death.And so, lets take a look at line 14 of Psalm 22, “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me”.

Is there any place in the gospels that describes the physical condition of Jesus heart at his death on the cross?

The answer is yes, this description is in the gospels!

John tells us that the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross on the Sabbath so the Roman Guards were making sure that the men crucified that day were dead so they could be taken off the cross before the Sabbath and when a Roman soldier came to Jesus, the disciple John tells us “But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.

Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.

Jesus heart had burst when he died just as David’s Psalm 22 told us and all his blood poured out on the cross.”

(The fourth event of Jesus death in Psalm 22).

Let us look at line 15 of the Psalm. “My strength is dried up like a potshard and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.

What happens to us when we become dehydrated “Does our tongue stick to our mouths?”

What do the gospel writers tell us of what Jesus says on the cross?

John (19:26) tells us that to fulfill the scripture that Jesus said “I am thirsty” on the cross.

They put a sponge filled sour wine on a pole to his mouth.

This event is also described in another Psalm of David, Psalm 69, “Reproach has broken my heart and I am so sick. 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 for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

(This is the 5th line of correspondence between Psalm 22 and Psalm 69 and Jesus death.)

Let’s look at line 16 of the Psalm 22 again, “Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.We do not need to go to the gospels for the exact quote here!

King David speaks of piercing of hand and feet (crucifixion) in his Psalm but crucifixion was not known in David’s time it was the cruel invention of the Roman Empire.

This is the 6th line of identical description between Psalm 22 and Jesus death.

Let look a line 18 of Psalm 22. “They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”

What did we hear that the Roman guards did with Jesus clothing before they nailed him to the cross in the New Testament reading today.John 19:23 reads, “When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. "Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it."

David told us 1000 years before that the Romans would cast lots for Jesus garments!

(The seventh line of the Psalm that matches Jesus death!)

We should remember that the only disciple of Jesus had that was at the foot of the cross was the disciple John.

That is why I chose this gospel account from John instead of the other gospel writers because all that Jesus said on the cross was heard by the ears of John the disciple “that Jesus loved and trusted”.

He was the only one that was loyal to Jesus at his death all the other disciples disserted Jesus at the cross in fear for their lives.

Jesus before he gave up his last breath gave the care of his mother to John with these words John 19:25 and I quote, “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister…, and Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son,"and to the disciple (John), "Here is your mother."

From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

Seven events of Jesus crucifixion were foretold in Psalm 22 written 1000 years before Christ was born.

This is truly enough evidence for anyone to believe!

AMEN.

OT Reading 03.08.09 Psalm 22:1-18 (NASB)

1. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

2. O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.

3. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.

4. In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.

5. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

6. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.

7. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

8. "He trusts in the LORD; Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."

9. Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother's breast.

10. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God.

11. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.

12. Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

13. Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.

14. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.

15. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

16. Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.

17. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.

18. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

NT Reading 03.08.09 John 19:7-24

7 The Jews insisted, "We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God."
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid,
9 and he went back inside the palace. "Where do you come from?" he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.
10 "Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"
11 Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."
12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar."
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha).
14 It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered.
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.
17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).
18 Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle. 19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.
21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."
22 Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."
23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24 "Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did.

OT Reading 03.01.09 Daniel 9:17-27 (NIV)


17 "Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary.
18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.
19 O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."
20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill-
21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.
22 He instructed me and said to me, "Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding.
23 As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision:
24 "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.
25 "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
26 After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.
27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering.

NT Reading 03.01.09 Matthew 26:1-3;14-29


1 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples,
2 "As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified."
3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,
4 and they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him.
5 "But not during the Feast," they said, "or there may be a riot among the people." …..


14 Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests
15 and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty silver coins.
16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
17 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
18 He replied, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.' "
19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.
20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve.
21 And while they were eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me."
22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, "Surely not I, Lord?"
23 Jesus replied, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.
24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi?" Jesus answered, "Yes, it is you."
26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."
27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.
28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."

THY WORD IS TRUTH John 17:17

Pastor Ted Whitaker, PhD, CLP

Sunday March 1, 2009

Sermon Delivered to Annapolis and Hopedale Presbyterian Churches

Bible quotes: NIV (New International Version) NASB (New American Standard Bible)

“Jesus’ Death on the Cross Foretold"

"Part 1”

Today is the first Sunday in the season of lent which means we will have six Sundays where we remember what Christ has done for us on the cross at Calvary nearly 2000 years ago.

Did you ever think about the difference in importance between the season of advent and the season of lent.

We tend to love the season of the nativity of Christ more than the season of the resurrection of Christ because of something very serious.

Jesus must die a very cruel death before the joy of Easter morning.

But as I have preached before God does not leave us in the dark about this.

As I preached last week if something supernatural is going to happen in the New Testament, God usually tells us first in the Old Testament.

Therefore we should not be surprised that God foretells the death of his son in the Old Testament scriptures....

So here today at the beginning of lent we have a communion service. And as we take the bread and the wine today let us do what Jesus tells us to do when we take them.

Do this in remembrance of Jesus. But more importantly do this in remembrance of what he did on the cross.

So where in God’s Word does he tell us where and when Jesus would die? We heard of two places this morning in the readings of scripture this morning.

The first reading form the Old Testament tells is when Jesus the Messiah (the anointed one) would die but veiled.

It is not clear and straight forward so without some one to guide us we would miss it on the first reading.

In fact it takes a very careful comparing of dates to find out that the prophesy of in the Book of Daniel is telling us exactly when the Messiah would be killed and that date is exactly the date that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified by the Roman guards.

It does not tell us in the year AD 33 but it does give us a starting date.

The words are from the prophet Daniel in city of Babylon. So out of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon did God tell us that the Messiah would die and when it would happen.

Daniel was taken to Babylon after king Nebuchadnezzar had attached the kingdom of Judah in the year 586 BC and burned the temple of King Solomon to the ground and carried all the inhabitance to his city of Jerusalem off to captivity in Babylon.

Daniel was a young man when this happened (in his twenties and Daniel lived all his adult life in Babylon and died there as an old man of ninety). Daniel was special man of God and was able to interpret dreams and visions like no other in the bible.

The miracles that God performed in Daniels life gave credence or believability to his prophesies as coming from God.

Let us remember us of just some of these miracles that identified Daniel as a great man of God.

There was the miracle of the fiery furnace with Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into the furnace because they would not worship king Nebuchadnezzar.

When Daniel and friends were not killed even when Nebuchadnezzar heated the furnace 7 times hotter and walked out of that furnace without being burned, Daniel had a new status even with mighty King Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel had interpreted Nebuchadnezzar dreams and those interpretation came true.

And when Nebuchadnezzar was gone and his son was king Daniel predicted the fall of Babylon to the king of Persia by reading an inscription on the wall made by a human hand.

King Belshazzar (Nebuchadnezzar’s son) was so frighten by this inscription that suddenly appeared on his wall that he summoned every wise man in his kingdom but they could not tell him what it meant.

So King Belshazzar called for Daniel and Daniel was brought before the king.

The king told Daniel, “I have heard that you give interpretations and to solve difficult problems.

If you can read this writing (on the wall) and tell me what it means, I will give you a purple robe and have a gold chain place around your neck and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

The Daniel answered, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your reward to someone else.

“Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell what it means.

“O king, the Most High God gave your father King Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor.

Because of the high position that God gave him, all the people and nations dreaded and feared him.

But God humbled him by giving him the mind of an animal and made him eat grass like an animal and stripped him of his glory and Nebuchadnezzar acknowledge that the most high God was sovereign over the kingdoms of men.

But as for you his son, O Belshazzar, you have not humbled yourself. Instead you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven.

Therefore God has sent this hand that wrote this inscription on you wall.

And this is what the inscription MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN. And this is what these words means.

MENE means God has number you days of you reign and brought to an end. TEKEL means you have been weighed upon the scales and found wanting.

PERES means your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.

That very night King Belshazzar was slain and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom and the city of Babylon.

And so Daniel and the children of Israel remained in captivity under a new king in Babylon and there would be others like King Cyrus of Persia. For Babylon mighty Babylon was defeated without a fight in one night.

And Daniel predicted this the very day before by reading the writing on the wall. So now Daniel had another king to impress with his interpreting of dreams and prophesies of the future.

And when Daniel would not worship the king of Persia the new king of Babylon, Daniel would be thrown into the lions den but would be untouched by these wild animals. And so the king of Persia would see for himself that Daniel was a great man of God.

So after all this, God gives Daniel the prophesy of the Messiah’s death.

And then we come to the Old Testament reading for today.

Now Daniel is praying and making petitions to God:

Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city which bears your Name.

While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill while I was still there, Gabriel, the man I had seen in an earlier vision came to me swiftly about the time of the evening sacrifice.

He instructed me as said, “Daniel, I have come to give you insight and understanding.

As soon as you began to pray, and answer was given which I have come to tell you for you are highly esteemed.

The angel Gabriel came to tell of the Messiah death long before he comes to tell of Jesus birth to his mother Mary (in the New Testament).

Gabriel tells Daniel consider this message and understand this vision: “Seventy sevens are decreed for your people and you holy city to finish transgression, to put and end to sin to atone of wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophesy and to anoint the most holy.

Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and build Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes there will be seven sevens and sixty two sevens. It will be rebuilt with streets and trench but in time of trouble.

And after the sixty two sevens, the “Anointed One” will be cut off and will have nothing.

And so Gabriel have given Daniel a veiled message when the Messiah (The Anointed One will die) but it is in code.

There is a mathematical equation given as to how to calculate the date of Christ (the Messiah) death.

And we a given a starting point but not an exact date but when something happens.

And just to make sure that we don’t miss the starting point;

God makes it a very significant event.

And that will be the decree of the king of Persia to end the captivity of the Jews in the city of Babylon and allow them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.

And this comes to pass exactly on time. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple of Solomon in 586 BC and the temple was rebuilt and dedicated exactly 70 years later in 516 BC fulfilling the prophesy of Jeremiah.

And I quote, Jeremiah 25:11, “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt," declares the LORD, "and will make it desolate forever.

I will bring upon that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations.

Daniel also quotes this passage from Jeremiah to the king of Persia.

God word is as accurate as any modern scientist would want to be. All the prophesies come true, and exactly on time.

That is why the John 17:17 says, ”Thy Word is Truth”.

(GOD’S Word is true and accurate and the fulfillment of prophecy proves it time and time again throughout the bible from beginning to end).

So how does the seventy sevens and the sixty two seven translate to the death of the Messiah and correspond to the death of Jesus on the cross of Calvary so that only Jesus of Nazareth could fulfill this prophesy of the angel Gabriel?

Did you notice, I did not say Daniel because this prophesy was given by the angel Gabriel to Daniel!

After the temple had been rebuilt, King Artaxerxes of Persia writes a letter to Ezra the priest (recorded in the book of Ezra chapter 7 verse 11).

The year was 457 BC and in that decree of Artaxerxes to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the city we have a starting point of the 69 weeks of the prophet Daniel.

These weeks in the book of Daniel equal to years of time in the History of Israel.

So 69 weeks of time multiplied 7 gives us 487 years from the decree to Ezra the priest to go to Jerusalem until the Messiah would be cut off (meaning that the Messiah would be killed.

In other words, the Messiah would die 483 years after Ezra the priest returned to Jerusalem from Babylon.

The date that Ezra goes to Jerusalem is 457 BC so if we add 483 years to 457 BC we have the year 26 AD which is the year that Jesus of Nazareth was baptized and started his ministry.

If we add to this 3 and ½ years (which is half of the seven given in Daniels prophesy) this is the time Jesus was with his disciples in his ministry in Galilee in 29 AD and the half a year brings us into the spring of 30 AD the exact time that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified.

Since Daniel died in 536 BC and he foretold of the exact time of Jesus death on the cross in 30 AD that is enough evidence for anyone to believe.

Amen

Dear Members of Hopedale And Annapolis Churches

I am about to post a series of Lenten Sermons about the foretelling of Jesus Death on the Cross that are in the prophecies of the Old Testament.

I usually take the readings and sermon topics for the Lectionary published on the PCUSA website but the Lectionary does not recognise the cross or Jesus atonement.

Please look at the scriptures for lent on the PCUSA website and notice that they do not have anything appropriate for the season of lent or what Jesus death on the cross should mean to believers.

See the Table 1 below for the current Lectionary subject matter:




The Current Lectionary As Published On The PCUSA Website

Does Not Recognize The Cross Or Jesus Atonement For Our Sins


The PCUSA Lectionary Is Not Appropriate For The Season of Lent!

Table 1

Sunday in Lent 2009 NT Readings Subject of Readings

March 1 (1st Sunday in Lent) Mark 1:9-15 John the Baptist Prepares The Way

March 8 (2nd Sunday in Lent) Mark 8:31-38 Jesus Predict His Own Death

March 15 (3rd Sunday in Lent) John 2:13-22 Jesus Clears The Temple

March 22 (4th Sunday in Lent) John 3:14-21 Moses Lifts Up a Snake in the Desert

March 29 (5th Sunday in Lent) John 12:20-33 Jesus Predicts His Death


Table 2

A Lenten Lectionary Subjects That Recognize The Cross and The Atonement:


Matthew 27 Jesus’ Betrayal, Arrest, Trial, Crucifixion, Death, Burial

Mark 14:12-72 Jesus’ Betrayal, Arrest
Mark 15 Jesus’ Trial, Crucifixion, Death, Burial

Luke 22:47-71 Jesus’ Arrest, Trial
Luke 23 Jesus’ Crucifixion, Death, Burial

John 18 Jesus’ Arrest, Trial
John 19 Jesus’ Crucifixion, Death, Burial



For those of you who would like to do some bible readings on the subjects of Jesus betrayal, arrest, trial, beating, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection please look a Table 2 above