Scripture to Read: Matthew 26
This week we’re going to focus on Christ’s betrayal, the cross, and finally the resurrection. Our Lord Jesus Christ had spent three years investing in His twelve disciples, plus hundreds of others who had chosen to follow Him. Christ knew He came to fulfill the Father’s will, but that did not make Jesus’s final week any easier. In Matthew 26:1-3, we find the plot to kill Jesus, then in Matthew 26:6-13, Jesus is anointed with costly perfume as a picture of His coming burial. Matthew 26:14-19 lays out for us Judas’s underhanded deal with the chief priests, selling Jesus out for thirty pieces of silver. Matthew 26:20-35, we find Jesus and the disciples having this last Passover together, and Christ instituting the Lord’s Supper. Matthew 26:36-46, we find our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane. We must not miss that our Lord Jesus Christ, even though He knew our Heavenly Father’s perfect will, still prayed and asked the Father, three times, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” Our Heavenly Father wants us to feel the freedom to ask Him for anything, but not to lose heart if His perfect will does not match our earthly will. Matthew 26:47-68, Jesus is betrayed by Judas, arrested, and then taken before Caiaphas, the high priest. Finally, we have Peter’s denial in Matthew 26:69-75. Jesus went through all of this because of His great love for us.
Challenge & Application
What did you learn today about our Lord that you did not know before, or maybe had forgotten?
Who will you share our Lord with this week, so they may know what He did for them?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!