Upper Room Daily Reflections of Nashville, Tennessee, United States - daily words of wisdom and faith “A Prayer for Holy Saturday" for Saturday, 4 April 2015

Upper Room Daily Reflections of Nashville, Tennessee, United States - daily words of wisdom and faith “A Prayer for Holy Saturday" for Saturday, 4 April 2015 
Today’s Reflection:
GOD OF MERCY and love, turn your gaze upon us. Teach us to reframe our world as we turn our gaze toward you. Help us claim again, your Easter promise: that everything and everyone we encounter will be made new through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.[Kathleen R. Flood, Weavings]
Prayer by Kathleen R. Flood. From page 19 of Weavings, Vol. XXV, No. 2. Copyright ©2010 The Upper Room. All rights reserved. Used by permission http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question:
Pray today’s prayer. GOD OF MERCY and love, turn your gaze upon us. Teach us to reframe our world as we turn our gaze toward you. Help us claim again, your Easter promise: that everything and everyone we encounter will be made new through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today’s Scripture:
And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.[John 19:42, NRSV]

This Week: pray those grieving the loss of a loved one.
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Did You Know?
In need of prayer? The Upper Room Living Prayer Center is a 7-day-a-week intercessory prayer ministry staffed by trained volunteers, call 1-800-251-2468 or visit The Living Prayer Center web site.
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Saints, Inc.: This week we remember: Martin Luther King, Jr. (April 4).

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-68), American Baptist minister and civil rights leader. Born in Atlanta January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King, Jr. was educated at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania, and Boston University. In 1954 he became pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, and quickly found himself thrust into the leadership of a bus boycott that lasted more than a year and ended in a U.S. Supreme Court order to desegregate buses and schools.

The experience in Montgomery inspired King to look more closely at Gandhi's nonviolent protest. In 1960 he resigned his pastorate to devote full-time leadership to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which he had helped to form in 1957. Already the most visible leader in the civil rights movement, his courageous conduct in the Birmingham march in 1963 in the face of bitter opposition further elevated his status and gained for the movement the backing of President John F. Kennedy. In the wake of Kennedy's assassination in 1963, the United States Congress passed civil rights legislation. In 1964 King was awarded the Nobel Prize. Adhering strictly to the principle of nonviolence, he organized further protests in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and other states. King was assassinated during a demonstration of support for striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, April 4, 1968.

King's books include Stride Toward Freedom, Why We Can't Wait, Strength to Love, and The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., edited by Clayborn Carson.

If Martin Luther King, Jr. had taken the Spiritual Types Test he probably would have been a Prophet. King is remembered on April 4.

[Excerpted with permission from the entry on Martin Luther King Jr. by E. Glenn Hinson, from The Upper Room Dictionary of Christian Spiritual Formation, edited by Keith Beasley-Topliffe. Copyright © 2003 by Upper Room Books®. All rights reserved.]

Image from Library of Congress. 

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Lectionary Readings
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Monday of Holy week
Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm 36:5-11
Hebrews 9:11-15
John 12:1-11
Tuesday of Holy Week
Isaiah 49:1-7
Psalm 71:1-14
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
John 12:20-36
Wednesday of Holy Week
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 70
Hebrews 12:1-3
John 13:21-32
Holy Thursday
Exodus 12:1-14
Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Good Friday
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Psalm 22
Hebrews 10:16-25
John 18:1-19:42
Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil
Job 14:1-14
Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16
1 Peter 4:1-8
Easter Sunday
Acts 10:34-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 (UMH 839)
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
John 20:1-18 or
Mark 16:1-8
Scripture Texts:
Monday of Holy week
Isaiah 42:1 “Here is my servant, whom I support,
my chosen one, in whom I take pleasure.
I have put my Spirit on him;
he will bring justice to the Goyim.
2 He will not cry or shout;
no one will hear his voice in the streets.
3 He will not snap off a broken reed
or snuff out a smoldering wick.
He will bring forth justice according to truth;
4 he will not weaken or be crushed
until he has established justice on the earth,
and the coastlands wait for his Torah.”
5 Thus says God, Adonai,
who created the heavens and spread them out,
who stretched out the earth and all that grows from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk on it:
6 “I, Adonai, called you righteously,
I took hold of you by the hand,
I shaped you and made you a covenant for the people,
to be a light for the Goyim,
7 so that you can open blind eyes,
free the prisoners from confinement,
those living in darkness from the dungeon.
8 I am Adonai; that is my name.
I yield my glory to no one else,
nor my praise to any idol.
9 See how the former predictions come true;
and now new things do I declare —
before they sprout I tell you about them.”
Psalm 36:5 (4) He devises trouble as he lies in bed;
so set is he on his own bad way
that he doesn’t hate evil.
6 (5) Adonai, in the heavens is your grace;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
7 (6) Your righteousness is like the mountains of God,
your judgments are like the great deep.
You save man and beast, Adonai.
8 (7) How precious, God, is your grace!
People take refuge in the shadow of your wings,
9 (8) they feast on the rich bounty of your house,
and you have them drink from the stream of your delights.
10 (9) For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
11 (10) Continue your grace to those who know you
and your righteousness to the upright in heart.
Hebrews 9:11 But when the Messiah appeared as cohen gadol of the good things that are happening already, then, through the greater and more perfect Tent which is not man-made (that is, it is not of this created world), 12 he entered the Holiest Place once and for all.
And he entered not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus setting people free forever. 13 For if sprinkling ceremonially unclean persons with the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer restores their outward purity; 14 then how much more the blood of the Messiah, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself to God as a sacrifice without blemish, will purify our conscience from works that lead to death, so that we can serve the living God!
15 It is because of this death that he is mediator of a new covenant [or will].[a] Because a death has occurred which sets people free from the transgressions committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.[Footnotes:
Hebrews 9:15 Jeremiah 31:30(31)]
John 12:1 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.
Tuesday of Holy Week
Isaiah 49:1 Coastlands, listen to me;
listen, you peoples far away:
Adonai called me from the womb;
before I was born, he had spoken my name.
2 He has made my mouth like a sharp sword
while hiding me in the shadow of his hand;
he has made me like a sharpened arrow
while concealing me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant,
Isra’el, through whom I will show my glory.”
4 But I said, “I have toiled in vain,
spent my strength for nothing, futility.”
Yet my cause is with Adonai,
my reward is with my God.
5 So now Adonai says —
he formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Ya‘akov back to him,
to have Isra’el gathered to him,
so that I will be honored in the sight of Adonai,
my God having become my strength —
6 he has said, “It is not enough
that you are merely my servant
to raise up the tribes of Ya‘akov
and restore the offspring of Isra’el.
I will also make you a light to the nations,
so my salvation can spread to the ends of the earth.”
7 Here is what Adonai,
the Redeemer of Isra’el,
his Holy One, says to the one despised,
whom the nations detest, to the servant of tyrants:
“When kings see you, they will stand up;
princes too will prostrate themselves,
because of Adonai, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Isra’el, who has chosen you.”
Psalm 71:1 In you, Adonai, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness, rescue me;
and help me to escape.
Turn your ear toward me,
and deliver me.
3 Be for me a sheltering rock,
where I can always come.
You have determined to save me,
because you are my bedrock and stronghold.
4 My God, help me escape from the power of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and ruthless.
5 For you are my hope, Adonai Elohim,
in whom I have trusted since I was young.
6 From birth I have relied on you;
it was you who took me from my mother’s womb.
7 To many, I am an amazing example;
but you are strong protection for me.
8 My mouth is full of praise for you,
filled with your glory all day long.
9 Don’t reject me when I grow old;
when my strength fails, don’t abandon me.
10 For my enemies are talking about me,
those seeking my life are plotting together.
11 They say, “God has abandoned him;
go after him, and seize him,
because no one will save him.”
12 God, don’t distance yourself from me!
My God, hurry to help me!
13 May those who are opposed to me
be put to shame and ruin;
may those who seek to harm me
be covered with scorn and disgrace.
14 But I, I will always hope
and keep adding to your praise.
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message about the execution-stake is nonsense to those in the process of being destroyed, but to us in the process of being saved it is the power of God. 19 Indeed, the Tanakh says,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
and frustrate the intelligence of the intelligent.”[a]
20 Where does that leave the philosopher, the Torah-teacher, or any of today’s thinkers? Hasn’t God made this world’s wisdom look pretty foolish? 21 For God’s wisdom ordained that the world, using its own wisdom, would not come to know him. Therefore God decided to use the “nonsense” of what we proclaim as his means of saving those who come to trust in it. 22 Precisely because Jews ask for signs and Greeks try to find wisdom, 23 we go on proclaiming a Messiah executed on a stake as a criminal! To Jews this is an obstacle, and to Greeks it is nonsense; 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, this same Messiah is God’s power and God’s wisdom! 25 For God’s “nonsense” is wiser than humanity’s “wisdom.”
And God’s “weakness” is stronger than humanity’s “strength.” 26 Just look at yourselves, brothers — look at those whom God has called! Not many of you are wise by the world’s standards, not many wield power or boast noble birth. 27 But God chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise; God chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the strong; 28 and God chose what the world looks down on as common or regards as nothing in order to bring to nothing what the world considers important; 29 so that no one should boast before God. 30 It is his doing that you are united with the Messiah Yeshua. He has become wisdom for us from God, and righteousness and holiness and redemption as well! 31 Therefore — as the Tanakh says — “Let anyone who wants to boast, boast about Adonai.”[b][Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 1:19 Isaiah 29:14
1 Corinthians 1:31 Jeremiah 9:23(24)]
John 12:20 Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greek-speaking Jews. 21 They approached Philip, the one from Beit-Tzaidah in the Galil, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Yeshua.” 22 Philip came and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Yeshua. 23 Yeshua gave them this answer: “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Yes, indeed! I tell you that unless a grain of wheat that falls to the ground dies, it stays just a grain; but if it dies, it produces a big harvest. 25 He who loves his life loses it, but he who hates his life in this world will keep it safe right on into eternal life! 26 If someone is serving me, let him follow me; wherever I am, my servant will be there too. My Father will honor anyone who serves me.
27 “Now I am in turmoil. What can I say — ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason that I have come to this hour. I will say this: 28 ‘Father, glorify your name!’” At this a bat-kol came out of heaven, “I have glorified it before, and I will glorify it again!” 29 The crowd standing there and hearing it said that it had thundered; others said, “An angel spoke to him.” 30 Yeshua answered, “This bat-kol did not come for my sake but for yours. 31 Now is the time for this world to be judged, now the ruler of this world will be expelled. 32 As for me, when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” 33 He said this to indicate what kind of death he would die.
34 The crowd answered, “We have learned from the Torah that the Messiah remains forever. How is it that you say the Son of Man has to be ‘lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?” 35 Yeshua said to them, “The light will be with you only a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, or the dark will overtake you; he who walks in the dark doesn’t know where he’s going. 36 While you have the light, put your trust in the light, so that you may become people of light.” Yeshua said these things, then went off and kept himself hidden from them.
Wednesday of Holy Week
Isaiah 50:4 Adonai Elohim has given me
the ability to speak as a man well taught,
so that I, with my words,
know how to sustain the weary.
Each morning he awakens my ear
to hear like those who are taught.
5 Adonai Elohim has opened my ear,
and I neither rebelled nor turned away.
6 I offered my back to those who struck me,
my cheeks to those who plucked out my beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.
7 For Adonai Elohim will help.
This is why no insult can wound me.
This is why I have set my face like flint,
knowing I will not be put to shame.
8 My vindicator is close by;
let whoever dares to accuse me
appear with me in court!
Let whoever has a case against me step forward!
9 Look, if Adonai Elohim helps me,
who will dare to condemn me?
Here, they are all falling apart
like old, moth-eaten clothes.
Psalm 70: (0) For the leader. By David. As a reminder:
2 (1) God, rescue me!
Adonai, hurry and help me!
3 (2) May those who seek my life
be disgraced and humiliated.
May those who take pleasure in doing me harm
be turned back and put to confusion.
4 (3) May those who jeer, “Aha! Aha!”
withdraw because of their shame.
5 (4) But may all those who seek you
be glad and take joy in you.
May those who love your salvation say always,
“God is great and glorious!”
6 (5) But I am poor and needy;
God, hurry for me.
You are my helper and rescuer;
Adonai, don’t delay!
Hebrews 12:1 So then, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us, too, put aside every impediment — that is, the sin which easily hampers our forward movement — and keep running with endurance in the contest set before us, 2 looking away to the Initiator and Completer of that trusting,[a] Yeshua — who, in exchange for obtaining the joy set before him, endured execution on a stake as a criminal, scorning the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.[b] 3 Yes, think about him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you won’t grow tired or become despondent.[Footnotes:
Hebrews 12:2 Habakkuk 2:4
Hebrews 12:2 Psalm 110:1]
John 13:21 After saying this, Yeshua, in deep anguish of spirit, declared, “Yes, indeed! I tell you that one of you will betray me.” 22 The talmidim stared at one another, totally mystified — whom could he mean? 23 One of his talmidim, the one Yeshua particularly loved, was reclining close beside him. 24 So Shim‘on Kefa motioned to him and said, “Ask which one he’s talking about.” 25 Leaning against Yeshua’s chest, he asked Yeshua, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Yeshua answered, “It’s the one to whom I give this piece of matzah after I dip it in the dish.” So he dipped the piece of matzah and gave it to Y’hudah Ben-Shim‘on from K’riot. 27 As soon as Y’hudah took the piece of matzah, the Adversary went into him. “What you are doing, do quickly!” Yeshua said to him. 28 But no one at the table understood why he had said this to him. 29 Some thought that since Y’hudah was in charge of the common purse, Yeshua was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival,” or telling him to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as he had taken the piece of matzah, Y’hudah went out, and it was night.
31 After Y’hudah had left, Yeshua said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If the Son has glorified God, God will himself glorify the Son, and will do so without delay.
Holy Thursday
Exodus 12:1 Adonai spoke to Moshe and Aharon in the land of Egypt; he said, 2 “You are to begin your calendar with this month; it will be the first month of the year for you. 3 Speak to all the assembly of Isra’el and say, ‘On the tenth day of this month, each man is to take a lamb or kid for his family, one per household — 4 except that if the household is too small for a whole lamb or kid, then he and his next-door neighbor should share one, dividing it in proportion to the number of people eating it. 5 Your animal must be without defect, a male in its first year, and you may choose it from either the sheep or the goats.
6 “‘You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, and then the entire assembly of the community of Isra’el will slaughter it at dusk. 7 They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the two sides and top of the door-frame at the entrance of the house in which they eat it. 8 That night, they are to eat the meat, roasted in the fire; they are to eat it with matzah and maror. 9 Don’t eat it raw or boiled, but roasted in the fire, with its head, the lower parts of its legs and its inner organs. 10 Let nothing of it remain till morning; if any of it does remain, burn it up completely.
11 “‘Here is how you are to eat it: with your belt fastened, your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand; and you are to eat it hurriedly. It is Adonai’s Pesach [Passover]. 12 For that night, I will pass through the land of Egypt and kill all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both men and animals; and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt; I am Adonai. 13 The blood will serve you as a sign marking the houses where you are; when I see the blood, I will pass over [a] you — when I strike the land of Egypt, the death blow will not strike you.
14 “‘This will be a day for you to remember and celebrate as a festival to Adonai; from generation to generation you are to celebrate it by a perpetual regulation.[Footnotes:
Exodus 12:13 Hebrew: pasach]
Psalm 116:1 I love that Adonai heard
my voice when I prayed;
2 because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
12 How can I repay Adonai
for all his generous dealings with me?
13 I will raise the cup of salvation
and call on the name of Adonai.
14 I will pay my vows to Adonai
in the presence of all his people.
15 From Adonai’s point of view,
the death of those faithful to him is costly.
16 Oh, Adonai! I am your slave;
I am your slave, the son of your slave-girl;
you have removed my fetters.
17 I will offer a sacrifice of thanks to you
    and will call on the name of Adonai.
18 I will pay my vows to Adonai
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courtyards of Adonai’s house,
there in your very heart, Yerushalayim.
Halleluyah!
1 Corinthians 11:23 For what I received from the Lord is just what I passed on to you — that the Lord Yeshua, on the night he was betrayed, took bread; 24 and after he had made the b’rakhah he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this as a memorial to me”; 25 likewise also the cup after the meal, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant effected by my blood; do this, as often as you drink it, as a memorial to me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until he comes.
John 13:1 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.
6 He came to Shim‘on Kefa, who said to him, “Lord! You are washing my feet?” 7 Yeshua answered him, “You don’t understand yet what I am doing, but in time you will understand.” 8 “No!” said Kefa, “You will never wash my feet!” Yeshua answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 “Lord,” Shim‘on Kefa replied, “not only my feet, but my hands and head too!” 10 Yeshua said to him, “A man who has had a bath doesn’t need to wash, except his feet — his body is already clean. And you people are clean, but not all of you.” 11 (He knew who was betraying him; this is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”)
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. 16 Yes, indeed! I tell you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is an emissary greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
31 After Y’hudah had left, Yeshua said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If the Son has glorified God, God will himself glorify the Son, and will do so without delay. 33 Little children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and, as I said to the Judeans, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ now I say it to you as well.
34 “I am giving you a new command: that you keep on loving each other. In the same way that I have loved you, you are also to keep on loving each other. 35 Everyone will know that you are my talmidim by the fact that you have love for each other.”5
Good Friday
Isaiah 52:13 “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.”
53:1 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.
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.”
Psalm 22: (0) For the leader. Set to “Sunrise.” A psalm of David:
2 (1) My God! My God!
Why have you abandoned me?
Why so far from helping me,
so far from my anguished cries?
3 (2) My God, by day I call to you,
but you don’t answer;
likewise at night,
but I get no relief.
4 (3) Nevertheless, you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Isra’el.
5 (4) In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted, and you rescued them.
6 (5) They cried to you and escaped;
they trusted in you and were not disappointed.
7 (6) But I am a worm, not a man,
scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
8 (7) All who see me jeer at me;
they sneer and shake their heads:
9 (8) “He committed himself to Adonai,
so let him rescue him!
Let him set him free
if he takes such delight in him!”
10 (9) But you are the one who took me from the womb,
you made me trust when I was on my mother’s breasts.
11 (10) Since my birth I’ve been thrown on you;
you are my God from my mother’s womb.
12 (11) Don’t stay far from me, for trouble is near;
and there is no one to help.
13 (12) Many bulls surround me,
wild bulls of Bashan close in on me.
14 (13) They open their mouths wide against me,
like ravening, roaring lions.
15 (14) I am poured out like water;
all my bones are out of joint;
my heart has become like wax —
it melts inside me;
16 (15) my mouth is as dry as a fragment of a pot,
my tongue sticks to my palate;
you lay me down in the dust of death.
17 (16) Dogs are all around me,
a pack of villains closes in on me
like a lion [at] my hands and feet.[a]
18 (17) I can count every one of my bones,
while they gaze at me and gloat.
19 (18) They divide my garments among themselves;
for my clothing they throw dice.
20 (19) But you, Adonai, don’t stay far away!
My strength, come quickly to help me!
21 (20) Rescue me from the sword,
my life from the power of the dogs.
22 (21) Save me from the lion’s mouth!
You have answered me from the wild bulls’ horns.
23 (22) I will proclaim your name to my kinsmen;
right there in the assembly I will praise you:
24 (23) “You who fear Adonai, praise him!
All descendants of Ya‘akov, glorify him!
All descendants of Isra’el, stand in awe of him!
25 (24) For he has not despised or abhorred
the poverty of the poor;
he did not hide his face from him
but listened to his cry.”
26 (25) Because of you
I give praise in the great assembly;
I will fulfill my vows
in the sight of those who fear him.
27 (26) The poor will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek Adonai will praise him;
Your hearts will enjoy life forever.
28 (27) All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to Adonai;
all the clans of the nations
will worship in your presence.
29 (28) For the kingdom belongs to Adonai,
and he rules the nations.
30 (29) All who prosper on the earth
will eat and worship;
all who go down to the dust
will kneel before him,
including him who can’t keep himself alive,
31 (30) A descendant will serve him;
the next generation will be told of Adonai.
32 (31) They will come and proclaim
his righteousness
to a people yet unborn,
that he is the one who did it.[Footnotes:
Psalm 22:17 Or: “They pierced my hands and feet.” See Introduction, Section VIII, paragraph 6, and Section XIV, footnote 70.]
Hebrews 10:16 “ ‘This is the covenant which I will make
with them after those days,’ says Adonai:
‘I will put my Torah on their hearts,
and write it on their minds . . . ,’ ”[a]
17 he then adds,
“ ‘And their sins and their wickednesses
I will remember no more.’ ”[b]
18 Now where there is forgiveness for these, an offering for sins is no longer needed.
19 So, brothers, we have confidence to use the way into the Holiest Place opened by the blood of Yeshua. 20 He inaugurated it for us as a new and living way through the parokhet, by means of his flesh. 21 We also have a great cohen over God’s household. 22 Therefore, let us approach the Holiest Place with a sincere heart, in the full assurance that comes from trusting — with our hearts sprinkled clean from a bad conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.[c] 23 Let us continue holding fast to the hope we acknowledge, without wavering; for the One who made the promise is trustworthy. 24 And let us keep paying attention to one another, in order to spur each other on to love and good deeds, 25 not neglecting our own congregational meetings, as some have made a practice of doing, but, rather, encouraging each other.
And let us do this all the more as you see the Day approaching.[Footnotes:
Hebrews 10:16 Jeremiah 31:32(33)
Hebrews 10:17 Jeremiah 31:33(34)
Hebrews 10:22 Ezekiel 36:25]
John 18:1 After Yeshua had said all this, he went out with his talmidim across the stream that flows in winter through the Vadi Kidron, to a spot where there was a grove of trees; and he and his talmidim went into it. 2 Now Y’hudah, who was betraying him, also knew the place; because Yeshua had often met there with his talmidim. 3 So Y’hudah went there, taking with him a detachment of Roman soldiers and some Temple guards provided by the head cohanim and the P’rushim; they carried weapons, lanterns and torches. 4 Yeshua, who knew everything that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Whom do you want?” 5 “Yeshua from Natzeret,” they answered. He said to them, “I AM.” Also standing with them was Y’hudah, the one who was betraying him. 6 When he said, “I AM,” they went backward from him and fell to the ground. 7 So he inquired of them once more, “Whom do you want?” and they said, “Yeshua from Natzeret.” 8 “I told you, ‘I AM,’” answered Yeshua, “so if I’m the one you want, let these others go.” 9 This happened so that what he had said might be fulfilled, “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”
10 Then Shim‘on Kefa, who had a sword, drew it and struck the slave of the cohen hagadol, cutting off his right ear; the slave’s name was Melekh. 11 Yeshua said to Kefa, “Put your sword back in its scabbard! This is the cup the Father has given me; am I not to drink it?”
12 So the detachment of Roman soldiers and their captain, together with the Temple Guard of the Judeans, arrested Yeshua, tied him up, 13 and took him first to ‘Anan, the father-in-law of Kayafa, who was cohen gadol that fateful year. 14 (It was Kayafa who had advised the Judeans that it would be good for one man to die on behalf of the people.) 15 Shim‘on Kefa and another talmid followed Yeshua. The second talmid was known to the cohen hagadol, and he went with Yeshua into the courtyard of the cohen hagadol; 16 but Kefa stood outside by the gate. So the other talmid, the one known to the cohen hagadol, went back out and spoke to the woman on duty at the gate, then brought Kefa inside. 17 The woman at the gate said to Kefa, “Aren’t you another of that man’s talmidim?” He said, “No, I’m not.” 18 Now the slaves and guards had lit a fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it warming themselves; Kefa joined them and stood warming himself too.
19 The cohen hagadol questioned Yeshua about his talmidim and about what he taught. 20 Yeshua answered, “I have spoken quite openly to everyone; I have always taught in a synagogue or in the Temple where all Jews meet together, and I have said nothing in secret; 21 so why are you questioning me? Question the ones who heard what I said to them; look, they know what I said.” 22 At these words, one of the guards standing by slapped Yeshua in the face and said, “This is how you talk to the cohen hagadol?” 23 Yeshua answered him, “If I said something wrong, state publicly what was wrong; but if I was right, why are you hitting me?” 24 So ‘Anan sent him, still tied up, to Kayafa the cohen hagadol.
25 Meanwhile, Shim‘on Kefa was standing and warming himself. They said to him, “Aren’t you also one of his talmidim?” He denied it, saying, “No, I am not.” 26 One of the slaves of the cohen hagadol, a relative of the man whose ear Kefa had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you with him in the grove of trees?” 27 So again Kefa denied it, and instantly a rooster crowed.
28 They led Yeshua from Kayafa to the governor’s headquarters. By now it was early morning. They did not enter the headquarters building because they didn’t want to become ritually defiled and thus unable to eat the Pesach meal. 29 So Pilate went outside to them and said, “What charge are you bringing against this man?” 30 They answered, “If he hadn’t done something wrong, we wouldn’t have brought him to you.” 31 Pilate said to them, “You take him and judge him according to your own law.” The Judeans replied, “We don’t have the legal power to put anyone to death.” 32 This was so that what Yeshua had said, about how he was going to die, might be fulfilled.
33 So Pilate went back into the headquarters, called Yeshua and said to him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” 34 Yeshua answered, “Are you asking this on your own, or have other people told you about me?” 35 Pilate replied, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and head cohanim have handed you over to me; what have you done?” 36 Yeshua answered, “My kingship does not derive its authority from this world’s order of things. If it did, my men would have fought to keep me from being arrested by the Judeans. But my kingship does not come from here.” 37 “So then,” Pilate said to him, “You are a king, after all.” Yeshua answered, “You say I am a king. The reason I have been born, the reason I have come into the world, is to bear witness to the truth. Every one who belongs to the truth listens to me.” 38 Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”
Having said this, Pilate went outside again to the Judeans and told them, “I don’t find any case against him. 39 However, you have a custom that at Passover I set one prisoner free. Do you want me to set free for you the ‘king of the Jews’?” 40 But they yelled back, “No, not this man but Bar-Abba!” (Bar-Abba was a revolutionary.)
19:1 Pilate then took Yeshua and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted thorn-branches into a crown and placed it on his head, put a purple robe on him, 3 and went up to him, saying over and over, “Hail, ‘king of the Jews’!” and hitting him in the face.
4 Pilate went outside once more and said to the crowd, “Look, I’m bringing him out to you to get you to understand that I find no case against him.” 5 So Yeshua came out, wearing the thorn-branch crown and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Look at the man!” 6 When the head cohanim and the Temple guards saw him they shouted, “Put him to death on the stake! Put him to death on the stake!” Pilate said to them, “You take him out yourselves and put him to death on the stake, because I don’t find any case against him.” 7 The Judeans answered him, “We have a law; according to that law, he ought to be put to death, because he made himself out to be the Son of God.” 8 On hearing this, Pilate became even more frightened.
9 He went back into the headquarters and asked Yeshua, “Where are you from?” But Yeshua didn’t answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “You refuse to speak to me? Don’t you understand that it is in my power either to set you free or to have you executed on the stake?” 11 Yeshua answered, “You would have no power over me if it hadn’t been given to you from above; this is why the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” 12 On hearing this, Pilate tried to find a way to set him free; but the Judeans shouted, “If you set this man free, it means you’re not a ‘Friend of the Emperor’! Everyone who claims to be a king is opposing the Emperor!” 13 When Pilate heard what they were saying, he brought Yeshua outside and sat down on the judge’s seat in the place called The Pavement (in Aramaic, Gabta); 14 it was about noon on Preparation Day for Pesach. He said to the Judeans, “Here’s your king!” 15 They shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Put him to death on the stake!” Pilate said to them, “You want me to execute your king on a stake?” The head cohanim answered, “We have no king but the Emperor.” 16 Then Pilate handed Yeshua over to them to have him put to death on the stake.
So they took charge of Yeshua. 17 Carrying the stake himself he went out to the place called Skull (in Aramaic, Gulgolta). 18 There they nailed him to the stake along with two others, one on either side, with Yeshua in the middle. 19 Pilate also had a notice written and posted on the stake; it read,
YESHUA FROM NATZERET
THE KING OF THE JEWS
20 Many of the Judeans read this notice, because the place where Yeshua was put on the stake was close to the city; and it had been written in Hebrew, in Latin and in Greek. 21 The Judeans’ head cohanim therefore said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but ‘He said, “I am King of the Jews.”’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 When the soldiers had nailed Yeshua to the stake, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier, with the under-robe left over. Now the under-robe was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom; 24 so they said to one another, “We shouldn’t tear it in pieces; let’s draw for it.” This happened in order to fulfill the words from the Tanakh,
“They divided my clothes among themselves
and gambled for my robe.”[a]
This is why the soldiers did these things.
25 Nearby Yeshua’s execution stake stood his mother, his mother’s sister Miryam the wife of K’lofah, and Miryam from Magdala. 26 When Yeshua saw his mother and the talmid whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Mother, this is your son.” 27 Then he said to the talmid, “This is your mother.” And from that time on, the talmid took her into his own home.
28 After this, knowing that all things had accomplished their purpose, Yeshua, in order to fulfill the words of the Tanakh, said, “I’m thirsty.” 29 A jar full of cheap sour wine was there; so they soaked a sponge in the wine, coated it with oregano leaves and held it up to his mouth. 30 After Yeshua had taken the wine, he said, “It is accomplished!” And, letting his head droop, he delivered up his spirit.
31 It was Preparation Day, and the Judeans did not want the bodies to remain on the stake on Shabbat, since it was an especially important Shabbat. So they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed. 32 The soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been put on a stake beside Yeshua, then the legs of the other one; 33 but when they got to Yeshua and saw that he was already dead, they didn’t break his legs. 34 However, one of the soldiers stabbed his side with a spear, and at once blood and water flowed out. 35 The man who saw it has testified about it, and his testimony is true. And he knows that he tells the truth, so you too can trust. 36 For these things happened in order to fulfill this passage of the Tanakh:
“Not one of his bones will be broken.”[b]
37 And again, another passage says,
“They will look at him whom they have pierced.”[c]
38 After this, Yosef of Ramatayim, who was a talmid of Yeshua, but a secret one out of fear of the Judeans, asked Pilate if he could have Yeshua’s body. Pilate gave his consent, so Yosef came and took the body away. 39 Also Nakdimon, who at first had gone to see Yeshua by night, came with some seventy pounds of spices — a mixture of myrrh and aloes. 40 They took Yeshua’s body and wrapped it up in linen sheets with the spices, in keeping with Judean burial practice. 41 In the vicinity of where he had been executed was a garden, and in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had ever been buried. 42 So, because it was Preparation Day for the Judeans, and because the tomb was close by, that is where they buried Yeshua.[Footnotes:
John 19:24 Psalm 22:19(18)
John 19:36 Psalm 34:21(20); Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12
John 19:37 Zechariah 12:10]
Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil
Job 14:1 “A human being, born from a woman,
lives a short, trouble-filled life.
2 He comes up like a flower and withers away,
flees like a shadow, doesn’t last.
3 You fix your eyes on a creature like this?
You drag him to court with you?
4 Who can bring what is pure from something impure?
No one!
5 Since his days are fixed in advance,
the number of his months is known to you,
and you have fixed the limits which he can’t cross;
6 look away from him, and let him be;
so that, like a hired worker,
he can finish his day in peace.
7 “For a tree, there is hope
that if cut down, it will sprout again,
that its shoots will continue to grow.
8 Even if its roots grow old in the earth
and its stump dies in the ground,
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth branches like a young plant.
10 But when a human being grows weak and dies,
he expires; and then where is he?
11 Just as water in a lake disappears,
as a river shrinks and dries up;
12 so a person lies down and doesn’t arise —
until the sky no longer exists;
it will not awaken,
it won’t be roused from its sleep.
13 “I wish you would hide me in Sh’ol,
conceal me until your anger has passed,
then fix a time and remember me!
14 If a man dies, will he live again?
I will wait all the days of my life
for my change to come.
Psalm 31: (0) For the leader. A psalm of David:
2 (1) In you, Adonai, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
in your justice, save me!
3 (2) Turn your ear toward me,
come quickly to my rescue,
be for me a rock of strength,
a fortress to keep me safe.
4 (3) Since you are my rock and fortress,
lead me and guide me for your name’s sake.
15 (14) But I, I trust in you, Adonai;
I say, “You are my God.”
16 (15) My times are in your hand;
rescue me from my enemies’ power,
from those who persecute me.
1 Peter 4:1 Therefore, since the Messiah suffered physically, you too are to arm yourselves with the same attitude. For whoever has suffered physically is finished with sin, 2 with the result that he lives the rest of his earthly life no longer controlled by human desires, but by God’s will. 3 For you have spent enough time already living the way the pagans want you to live — in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, wild parties and forbidden idol-worship. 4 They think it strange that you don’t plunge with them into the same flood of dissoluteness, and so they heap insults on you. 5 But they will have to give an account to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 This is why he was proclaimed to those who have died; it was so that, although physically they would receive the judgment common to all humanity, they might live by the Spirit in the way that God has provided.
7 The accomplishing of the goal of all things is close at hand. Therefore, keep alert and self-controlled, so that you can pray. 8 More than anything, keep loving each other actively; because love covers many sins.[a][
Footnotes:
1 Peter 4:8 Proverbs 10:12]
Easter Sunday
Acts 10:34 Then Kefa addressed them: “I now understand that God does not play favorites, 35 but that whoever fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him, no matter what people he belongs to.
36 “Here is the message that he sent to the sons of Isra’el announcing shalom through Yeshua the Messiah, who is Lord of everything. 37 You know what has been going on throughout Y’hudah, starting from the Galil after the immersion that Yochanan proclaimed; 38 how God anointed Yeshua from Natzeret with the Ruach HaKodesh and with power; how Yeshua went about doing good and healing all the people oppressed by the Adversary, because God was with him.
39 “As for us, we are witnesses of everything he did, both in the Judean countryside and in Yerushalayim. They did away with him by hanging him on a stake;[a] 40 but God raised him up on the third day and let him be seen, 41 not by all the people, but by witnesses God had previously chosen, that is, by us, who ate and drank with him after he had risen again from the dead.
42 “Then he commanded us to proclaim and attest to the Jewish people that this man has been appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets bear witness to him, that everyone who puts his trust in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”[Footnotes:
Acts 10:39 Deuteronomy 21:23]
Psalm 118:1 Give thanks to Adonai; for he is good,
for his grace continues forever.
2 Now let Isra’el say,
“His grace continues forever.”
14 Yah is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.
15 The sound of rejoicing and victory
is heard in the tents of the righteous:
“Adonai’s right hand struck powerfully!
16 Adonai’s right hand is raised in triumph!
Adonai’s right hand struck powerfully!”
17 I will not die; no, I will live
and proclaim the great deeds of Yah!
18 Yah disciplined me severely,
but did not hand me over to death.
19 Open the gates of righteousness for me;
I will enter them and thank Yah.
20 This is the gate of Adonai;
the righteous can enter it.
21 I am thanking you because you answered me;
you became my salvation.
22 The very rock that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone!
23 This has come from Adonai,
and in our eyes it is amazing.
24 This is the day Adonai has made,
a day for us to rejoice and be glad.
1 Corinthians 15:1 Now, brothers, I must remind you of the Good News which I proclaimed to you, and which you received, and on which you have taken your stand, 2 and by which you are being saved — provided you keep holding fast to the message I proclaimed to you. For if you don’t, your trust will have been in vain. 3 For among the first things I passed on to you was what I also received, namely this: the Messiah died for our sins, in accordance with what the Tanakh says; 4 and he was buried; and he was raised on the third day, in accordance with what the Tanakh says; 5 and he was seen by Kefa, then by the Twelve; 6 and afterwards he was seen by more than five hundred brothers at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Later he was seen by Ya‘akov, then by all the emissaries; 8 and last of all he was seen by me, even though I was born at the wrong time. 9 For I am the least of all the emissaries, unfit to be called an emissary, because I persecuted the Messianic Community of God. 10 But by God’s grace I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in vain; on the contrary, I have worked harder than all of them, although it was not I but the grace of God with me. 11 Anyhow, whether I or they, this is what we proclaim, and this is what you believed.
John 20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Miryam from Magdala went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she came running to Shim‘on Kefa and the other talmid, the one Yeshua loved, and said to them, “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him!”
3 Then Kefa and the other talmid started for the tomb. 4 They both ran, but the other talmid outran Kefa and reached the tomb first. 5 Stooping down, he saw the linen burial-sheets lying there but did not go in. 6 Then, following him, Shim‘on Kefa arrived, entered the tomb and saw the burial-sheets lying there, 7 also the cloth that had been around his head, lying not with the sheets but in a separate place and still folded up. 8 Then the other talmid, who had arrived at the tomb first, also went in; he saw, and he trusted. 9 (They had not yet come to understand that the Tanakh teaches that the Messiah has to rise from the dead.)
10 So the talmidim returned home, 11 but Miryam stood outside crying. As she cried, she bent down, peered into the tomb, 12 and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Yeshua had been, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 “Why are you crying?” they asked her. “They took my Lord,” she said to them, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
14 As she said this, she turned around and saw Yeshua standing there, but she didn’t know it was he. 15 Yeshua said to her, “Lady, why are you crying? Whom are you looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you’re the one who carried him away, just tell me where you put him; and I’ll go and get him myself.” 16 Yeshua said to her, “Miryam!” Turning, she cried out to him in Hebrew, “Rabbani!” (that is, “Teacher!”) 17 “Stop holding onto me,” Yeshua said to her, “because I haven’t yet gone back to the Father. But go to my brothers, and tell them that I am going back to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” 18 Miryam of Magdala went to the talmidim with the news that she had seen the Lord and that he had told her this.
Mark 16:1 When Shabbat was over, Miryam of Magdala, Miryam the mother of Ya‘akov, and Shlomit bought spices in order to go and anoint Yeshua. 2 Very early the next day, just after sunrise, they went to the tomb. 3 They were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?” 4 Then they looked up and saw that the stone, even though it was huge, had been rolled back already. 5 On entering the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right; and they were dumbfounded. 6 But he said, “Don’t be so surprised! You’re looking for Yeshua from Natzeret, who was executed on the stake. He has risen, he’s not here! Look at the place where they laid him. 7 But go and tell his talmidim, especially Kefa, that he is going to the Galil ahead of you. You will see him there, just as he told you.” 8 Trembling but ecstatic they went out and fled from the tomb, and they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
John Wesley's Notes-Commentary for 
Monday of Holy week
Isaiah 42:1-9
Verse 1
[1] Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
Behold — The prophet having given one eminent instance of God's certain fore-knowledge, in the deliverance of the Jews by Cyrus, now adds another more eminent example of it, by foretelling the coming of the Messiah. This place therefore is expressly interpreted of Christ, Matthew 12:18, etc. And to him, and to him only, all the particulars following, truly and evidently belong.
Whom — Whom I will enable to do and suffer all those things which belong to his office.
Elect — Chosen by me to this great work.
Delighteth — Both for himself and for all his people, being fully satisfied with that sacrifice, which he shall offer up to me.
Bring forth — Shall publish or shew, as this word is translated, Matthew 12:18.
Judgment — The law, and will, and counsel of God, concerning man's salvation.
Gentiles — Not only to the Jews, but to the Heathen nations.
Verse 2
[2] He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
Cry — In a way of contention, or ostentation.
Lift — His voice.
Heard — As contentious and vain-glorious persons frequently do.
Verse 3
[3] A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
Break — Christ will not deal rigorously with those that come to him, but he will use all gentleness, cherishing the smallest beginnings of grace, comforting and healing wounded consciences.
Quench — That wick of a candle which is almost extinct, he will not quench, but revive and kindle it again.
Judgment — The law of God, or the doctrine of the gospel, which he will bring forth, unto, with, or according to truth, that is, truly and faithfully.
Verse 4
[4] He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
'Till — 'Till he has established his law or doctrine, among the nations of the earth.
Isles — The countries remote from Judea, shall gladly receive his doctrine.
Verse 5
[5] Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
He — This description of God's infinite power, is seasonably added, to give them assurance of the certain accomplishment of his promises.
Verse 6
[6] I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
Called thee — To declare my righteousness, or faithfulness.
With-hold — Will give thee counsel and strength for the work.
Give thee — To be the mediator in whom my covenant of grace is confirmed with mankind.
The people — Of all people, not only of Jews but Gentiles.
A light — To enlighten them with true and saving knowledge.
Verse 8
[8] I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
The Lord — Heb. Jehovah: who have all being in and of myself, and give being to all my creatures. The everlasting, and unchangeable, and omnipotent God, who therefore both can, and will fulfil all my promises.
Verse 9
[9] Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
I tell you — That when they come to pass, you may know that I am God, and that this is my work.
Psalm 36:5-11
Verse 5
[5] Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
Thy mercy — Mine enemies are cruel and perfidious, but thou art infinite in mercy, and faithfulness.
Heavens — Is infinite and incomprehensible.
Faithfulness — The truth both of thy threatenings against thine enemies, and of thy promises made to good men.
The clouds — Is far above our reach, greater and higher than we can apprehend.
Verse 6
[6] Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.
Mountains — Stedfast and unmoveable: eminent and conspicuous to all men.
Judgments — The executions of thy counsels.
Deep — Unsearchable, as the ocean.
Man — The worst of men; yea, the brute-beasts have experience of thy care and kindness.
Verse 7
[7] How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
Loving-kindness — Though all thine attributes be excellent, yet, above all, thy mercy is most excellent, or precious and amiable.
Verse 8
[8] They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
Satisfied — Who trust in thee, as he now said.
Fatness — With those delightful provisions, which thou hast prepared for them in heaven.
The river — Which denotes both their plenty, and their perpetuity.
Verse 9
[9] For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
Life — It is in God as in a fountain, and from him is derived to us.
But — Of that glorious and blessed, and endless life, which alone is worthy of the name.
Light — In the light of thy glorious presence, which shall be fully manifested, when we see thee face to face.
Light — Joy and comfort, and happiness: the word light is elegantly repeated in another signification; in the former clause it is light discovering, in this light, discovered or enjoyed.
Verse 11
[11] Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.
The foot — Of my proud and insolent enemies.
Come — So as to overthrow me.
Hebrews 9:11-15
Verse 11
[11] But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
An high priest of good things to come — Described, Hebrews 9:15. Entered through a greater, that is, a more noble, and perfect tabernacle - Namely, his own body.
Not of this creation — Not framed by man, as that tabernacle was.
Verse 12
[12] Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
The holy place — Heaven.
For us — All that believe.
Verse 13
[13] For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
If the ashes of an heifer — Consumed by fire as a sin-offering, being sprinkled on them who were legally unclean.
Purified the flesh — Removed that legal uncleanness, and re-admitted them to the temple and the congregation. Numbers 19:17,18,19.
Verse 14
[14] How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
How much more shall the blood of Christ. — The merit of all his sufferings.
Who through the eternal Spirit — The work of redemption being the work of the whole Trinity. Neither is the Second Person alone concerned even in the amazing condescension that was needful to complete it. The Father delivers up the kingdom to the Son; and the Holy Ghost becomes the gift of the Messiah, being, as it were, sent according to his good pleasure.
Offered himself — Infinitely more precious than any created victim, and that without spot to God.
Purge our conscience — Our inmost soul.
From dead works — From all the inward and outward works of the devil, which spring from spiritual death in the soul, and lead to death everlasting.
To serve the living God — In the life of faith, in perfect love and spotless holiness.
Verse 15
[15] And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
And for this end he is the Mediator of a new covenant, that they who are called — To the engagements and benefits thereof. Might receive the eternal inheritance promised to Abraham: not by means of legal sacrifices, but of his meritorious death.
For the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant — That is, for the redemption of transgressors from the guilt and punishment of those sins which were committed in the time of the old covenant. The article of his death properly divides the old covenant from the new.
John 12:1-11
Verse 2
[2] There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.
It seems Martha was a person of some figure, from the great respect which was paid to her and her sister, in visits and condolences on Lazarus's death, as well as from the costly ointment mentioned in the next verse. And probably it was at their house our Lord and his disciples lodged, when he returned from Jerusalem to Bethany, every evening of the last week of his life, upon which he was now entered.
Verse 3
[3] Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.
Then Mary, taking a pound of ointment — There were two persons who poured ointment on Christ. One toward the beginning of his ministry, at or near Nain, Luke 7:37, etc. The other six days before his last passover, at Bethany; the account of whom is given here, as well as by St. Matthew and Mark.
Verse 7
[7] Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.
Against the day of my burial — Which now draws nigh.
Verse 10
[10] But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death;
The chief priests consulted, how to kill Lazarus also — Here is the plain reason why the other evangelists, who wrote while Lazarus was living, did not relate his story.
Tuesday of Holy Week
Isaiah 49:1-7
Verse 1
[1] Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.
Listen — God turns his speech to the Gentiles, and invites them to hearken to those counsels and doctrines which the Jews would reject.
Me — Unto Christ: Isaiah speaks these words in the name of Christ.
Verse 2
[2] And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;
A sword — As he made me the great teacher of his church, so he made my word, quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.
Hath he hid — He will protect me from all mine enemies.
Made me — Like an arrow, whose point is bright and polished; which therefore pierceth deeper.
Verse 3
[3] And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
O Israel — As the name of David is sometimes given to his successors, so here the name of Israel may not unfitly be given to Christ, not only because he descended from his loins; but also because he was the true and the great Israel, who, in a more eminent manner, prevailed with God, as that name signifies, of whom Jacob, who was first called Israel, was but a type.
Verse 4
[4] Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.
Then said I — Lord, thou sayest thou wilt be glorified by my ministry; but I find it otherwise.
In vain — Without any considerable fruit of my word and works among the Israelites.
My judgment — My right, the reward which by his promise, and my purchase, is my right.
Verse 5
[5] And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.
To bring — To convert the apostate Israelites to God.
Not gathered — Not brought home to God by my ministry.
Yet — God will not despise me for the unsuccessfulness of my labours, but will honour and glorify me.
My strength — To support and strengthen me under this and all other discouragements.
Verse 6
[6] And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
He — The Lord.
It is — This is but a small favour.
The tribes — That remnant of them which shall survive all their calamities.
My salvation — The great instrument and author of that eternal salvation which I will give to the Gentiles.
Verse 7
[7] Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.
His Holy One — The Holy One of Israel.
To him — To Christ, to whom, in the days of his flesh, this description fully agrees: for men, both Jews and Gentiles among whom he lived, did despise him from their hearts; and the nation, of which he was a member, abhorred both his person and his doctrine; and he was so far from being a temporal monarch, that he came in the form of a servant, and was a servant of rulers, professing subjection and paying tribute unto Caesar.
Kings — Though for a time thou shalt be despised, yet after a while thou shalt be advanced to such glory, that kings shall look upon thee with reverence.
Arise — From their seats to worship thee.
Faithful — Because God shall make good his promises to thee.
Chuse thee — And although thou shalt be rejected by thine own people, yet God will manifest to the world, that thou, and thou only, art the person whom he hath chosen to be the Redeemer of mankind.
Psalm 71:1-14
Verse 7
[7] I am as a wonder unto many; but thou art my strong refuge.
A wonder — For my many and sore calamities.
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Verse 18
[18] For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
To them that perish — By obstinately rejecting the only name whereby they can be saved.
But to us who are saved — Now saved from our sins, and in the way to everlasting salvation, it is the great instrument of the power of God.
Verse 19
[19] For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
For it is written — And the words are remarkably applicable to this great event. Isaiah 29:14
Verse 20
[20] Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
Where is the wise? etc.-The deliverance of Judea from Sennacherib is what Isaiah refers to in these words; in a bold and beautiful allusion to which, the apostle in the clause that follows triumphs over all the opposition of human wisdom to the victorious gospel of Christ. What could the wise men of the gentiles do against this? or the Jewish scribes? or the disputers of this world? - Those among both, who, proud of their acuteness, were fond of controversy, and thought they could confute all opponents.
Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world — That is, shown it to be very foolishness. Isaiah 33:18
Verse 21
[21] For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
For since in the wisdom of God — According to his wise disposals, leaving them to make the trial.
The world — Whether Jewish or gentile, by all its boasted wisdom knew not God - Though the whole creation declared its Creator, and though he declared himself by all the prophets; it pleased God, by a way which those who perish count mere foolishness, to save them that believe.
Verse 22
[22] For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
For whereas the Jews demand of the apostles, as they did of their Lord, more signs still, after all they have seen already; and the Greeks, or gentiles, seek wisdom - The depths of philosophy, and the charms of eloquence.
Verse 23
[23] But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
We go on to preach, in a plain and historical, not rhetorical or philosophical, manner, Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumblingblock - Just opposite to the "signs" they demand.
And to the Greeks foolishness — A silly tale, just opposite to the wisdom they seek.
Verse 24
[24] But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
But to them that are called — And obey the heavenly calling.
Christ — With his cross, his death, his life, his kingdom. And they experience, first, that he is the power, then, that he is the wisdom, of God.
Verse 25
[25] Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Because the foolishness of God — The gospel scheme, which the world judge to be mere foolishness, is wiser than the wisdom of men; and, weak as they account it, stronger than all the strength of men.
Verse 26
[26] For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
Behold your calling — What manner of men they are whom God calls.
That not many wise men after the flesh — In the account of the world.
Not many mighty — Men of power and authority.
Verse 28
[28] And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
Things that are not — The Jews frequently called the gentiles, "Them that are not," 2 Esdras vi. 56, 57. In so supreme contempt did they hold them.
The things that are — In high esteem.
Verse 29
[29] That no flesh should glory in his presence.
That no flesh — A fit appellation. Flesh is fair, but withering as grass.
May glory before God — In God we ought to glory.
Verse 30
[30] But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
Of him — Out of his free grace and mercy. Are ye Engrafted into Christ Jesus, who is made unto us that believe wisdom, who were before utterly foolish and ignorant.
Righteousness — The sole ground of our justification, who were before under the wrath and curse of God.
Sanctification — A principle of universal holiness, whereas before we were altogether dead in sin.
And redemption — That is, complete deliverance from all evil, and eternal bliss both of soul and body.
Verse 31
[31] That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
Let him glory in the Lord — Not in himself, not in the flesh, not in the world. Jeremiah 9:23,24John 12:20-36
Verse 20
[20] And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast:
Certain Greeks — A prelude of the Gentile Church. That these were circumcised does not appear. But they came up on purpose to worship the God of Israel.
Verse 21
[21] The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.
These came to Philip of Bethsaida in Galilee — Perhaps they used to lodge there, in their journey to Jerusalem. Or they might believe, a Galilean would be more ready to serve them herein, than a Jew.
Sir — They spake to him, as to one they were little acquainted with.
We would see Jesus — A modest request. They could scarce expect that he would now have time to talk with them.
Verse 23
[23] And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.
The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified — With the Father and in the sight of every creature. But he must suffer first.
Verse 24
[24] Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Unless a grain of wheat die — The late resurrection of Lazarus gave our Lord a natural occasion of speaking on this subject. And agreeable to his infinite knowledge, he singles out, from among so many thousands of seeds, almost the only one that dies in the earth: and which therefore was an exceeding proper similitude, peculiarly adapted to the purpose for which he uses it. The like is not to be found in any other grain, except millet, and the large bean.
Verse 25
[25] He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
He that loveth his life — More than the will of God; shall lose it eternally: and he that hateth his life - In comparison of the will of God, shall preserve it. Matthew 10:39.
Verse 26
[26] If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
Let him follow me — By hating his life: and where I am - In heaven.
If any man serve me — Thus, him will the Father honour.
Verse 27
[27] Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
Now is my soul troubled — He had various foretastes of his passion.
And what shall I say? — Not what shall I choose? For his heart was fixed in choosing the will of his Father: but he laboured for utterance. The two following clauses, Save me from this hour - For this cause I came - Into the world; for the sake of this hour (of suffering) seem to have glanced through his mind in one moment. But human language could not so express it.
Verse 28
[28] Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
Father, glorify thy name — Whatever I suffer. Now the trouble was over.
I have glorified it — By thy entrance into this hour.
And I will glorify it — By thy passing through it.
Verse 29
[29] The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.
The multitude who stood and heard — A sound, but not the distinct words - In the most glorious revelations there may remain something obscure, to exercise our faith.
Said, It thundered — Thunder did frequently attend a voice from heaven. Perhaps it did so now.
Verse 31
[31] Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Now — This moment. And from this moment Christ thirsted more than ever, till his baptism was accomplished.
Is the judgment of this world — That is, now is the judgment given concerning it, whose it shall be.
Now shall the prince of this world — Satan, who had gained possession of it by sin and death, be cast out - That is, judged, condemned, cast out of his possession, and out of the bounds of Christ's kingdom.
Verse 32
[32] And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Lifted up from the earth — This is a Hebraism which signifies dying. Death in general is all that is usually imported. But our Lord made use of this phrase, rather than others that were equivalent, because it so well suited the particular manner of his death.
I will draw all men — Gentiles as well as Jews. And those who follow my drawings, Satan shall not be able to keep.
Verse 34
[34] The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?
How sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? — How can these things be reconciled? Very easily. He first dies, and then abideth for ever.
Who is this Son of man? — Is he the Christ? Psalms 110:4.
Verse 35
[35] Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
Then Jesus said to them — Not answering them directly, but exhorting them to improve what they had heard already.
The light — I and my doctrine.
Verse 36
[36] While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.
The children of light — The children of God, wise, holy, happy.
Wednesday of Holy Week
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Verse 4
[4] The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.
Given me — This and the following passages may be in some sort understood of the prophet Isaiah, but they are far more evidently and eminently verified in Christ, and indeed seem to be meant directly of him.
The tongue — All ability of speaking plainly, and convincingly, and persuasively.
Weary — Burdened with the sense of his, deplorable condition.
Wakeneth — Me, from time to time, and continually.
To hear — He by his Divine power assists me to the practice of all his commands and my duties, with all attention and diligence.
Verse 6
[6] I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
I gave — I patiently yielded up myself to those who smote me.
Verse 8
[8] He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.
Justifieth — God will clear up my righteousness, and shew by many and mighty signs and wonders, that I lived and died his faithful servant.
Let him come — l am conscious of mine own innocency, and I know that God will give sentence for me.
Verse 9
[9] Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.
They — Mine accusers and enemies.
The moth — Shall be cut off and consumed by a secret curse.Psalm 70
(Read all of Psalm 70)
This psalm is copied almost word for word from the eleventh psalm, and perhaps is for that reason entitled, A psalm to bring remembrance. For it may sometimes be of use to pray over again the prayers we have formerly made to God on like occasions. David here prays, that God would send help to him, shame to his enemies, and joy to his friends. To the chief musician, a psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.
Hebrews 12:1-3
Verse 1
[1] Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Wherefore, being encompassed with a cloud — A great multitude, tending upward with a holy swiftness.
Of witnesses — Of the power of faith.
Let us lay aside every weight — As all who run a race take care to do. Let us throw off whatever weighs us down, or damps the vigour of our Soul.
And the sin which easily besetteth us — As doth the sin of our constitution, the sin of our education, the sin of our profession.
Verse 2
[2] Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Looking — From all other things.
To Jesus — As the wounded Israelites to the brazen serpent. Our crucified Lord was prefigured by the lifting up of this; our guilt, by the stings of the fiery serpents; and our faith, by their looking up to the miraculous remedy.
The author and finisher of our faith — Who begins it in us, carries it on, and perfects it.
Who for the joy that was set before him — Patiently and willingly endured the cross, with all the pains annexed thereto.
And is set down — Where there is fulness of joy.
John 13:21-32
Verse 21
[21] When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
One of you — The speaking thus indefinitely at first was profitable to them all.
Verse 23
[23] Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.
There was lying in the bosom of Jesus — That is, sitting next to him at table. This phrase only expresses the then customary posture at meals, where the guests all leaned sidewise on couches. And each was said to lie in the bosom of him who was placed next above him.
One of the disciples whom Jesus loved — St. John avoids with great care the expressly naming himself. Perhaps our Lord now gave him the first proof of his peculiar love, by disclosing this secret to him.
Verse 24
[24] Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.
Simon Peter — Behind Jesus, who lay between them.
Verse 25
[25] He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?
Leaning down, and so asking him privately.
Verse 26
[26] Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
Jesus answered — In his ear. So careful was he not to offend (if it had been possible) even Judas himself.
The sop — Which he took up while he was speaking.
He giveth it to Judas — And probably the other disciples thought Judas peculiarly happy! But when even this instance of our Lord's tenderness could not move him, then Satan took full possession.
Verse 27
[27] And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
What thou doest, do quickly — This is not a permission, much less a command. It is only as if he had said, If thou art determined to do it, why dost thou delay? Hereby showing Judas, that he could not be hid, and expressing his own readiness to suffer.
Verse 28
[28] Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him.
None knew why he said this — Save John and Judas.
Verse 30
[30] He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.
He went out — To the chief priests. But he returned afterward, and was with them when they ate the passover, Matthew 26:20, though not at the Lord's Supper.
Verse 31
[31] Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
Jesus saith — Namely, the next day; on Thursday, in the morning. Here the scene, as it were, is opened, for the discourse which is continued in the following chapters.
Now — While I speak this, the Son of man is glorified - Being fully entered into his glorious work of redemption. This evidently relates to the glory which belongs to his suffering in so holy and victorious a manner.
Holy Thursday
Exodus 12:1-14
Verse 1
[1] And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
The Lord spake — Had spoken, before the three days darkness. But the mention of it was put off to this place, that the history of the plagues might not be interrupted.
Verse 2
[2] This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
This shall be to you the beginning of months — They had hitherto begun their year from the middle of September, but hence-forward they were to begin it from the middle of March, at least in all their ecclesiastical computations. We may suppose that while Moses was bringing the ten plagues upon the Egyptians, he was directing the Israelites to prepare for their departure at an hour's warning. Probably he had, by degrees, brought them near together from their dispersions, for they are here called the congregation of Israel; and to them, as a congregation, orders are here sent.
Verse 3
[3] Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
Take every man a lamb — In each of their families, or two or three families, if they were small, join for a lamb. The lamb was to be got ready four days before. and that afternoon they went, they were to kill it, ( Exodus 12:6,) as a sacrifice, not strictly, for it was not offered upon the altar, but as a religious ceremony, acknowledging God's goodness to them, not only in preserving them from, but in delivering them by the plagues inflicted on the Egyptians. The lamb so slain they were to eat roasted (we may suppose in its several quarters) with unleavened bread and bitter herbs; they were to eat it in haste, Exodus 12:11, and to leave none of it until the morning; for God would have them to depend upon him for their daily bread. Before they eat the flesh of the lamb, they were to sprinkle the blood upon the door-posts; by which their houses were to be distinguished from the houses of the Egyptians, and so their first-born secured from the sword of the destroying angel. Dreadful work was to be made this night in Egypt; all the first-born both of man and beast were to be slain; and judgment executed upon the gods of Egypt,Numbers 33:4. It is probable the idols which the Egyptians worshipped were defaced, those of metal melted, those of wood consumed, and those of stone broke to pieces. This was to be annually observed as a feast of the Lord in their generations, to which the feast of unleavened bread was annexed, during which, for seven days, they were to eat no bread but what was unleavened, in remembrance of their being confined to such bread for many days after they came out of Egypt,Exodus 12:14-20. There was much of the gospel in this ordinance: (1.) The paschal lamb was typical. Christ is our passover, 1 Corinthians 5:7, and is the Lamb of God, John 1:29. 2. It was to be a male of the first year; in its prime. Christ offered up himself in the midst of his days. It notes the strength and sufficiency of the Lord Jesus, on whom our help was laid. 3. It was to be without blemish, noting the purity of the Lord Jesus, a lamb without spot, 1 Peter 1:19. 4. It was to be set apart four days before, noting the designation of the Lord Jesus to be a Saviour, both in the purpose and in the promise. It is observable, that as Christ was crucified at the passover, so he solemnly entered into Jerusalem four days before, the very day that the paschal lamb was set apart. 5. It was to be slain and roasted with fire, noting the exquisite sufferings of the Lord Jesus, even unto death, the death of the cross. 6. It was to be killed by the whole congregation between the two evenings, that is, between three o'clock and six. Christ suffered in the latter end of the world, Hebrews 9:26, by the hand of the Jews, the whole multitude of them,Luke 23:18. 7. Not a bone of it must be broken, Exodus 12:46, which is expressly said to be fulfilled in Christ, John 19:33,36. (2.) The sprinkling of the blood was typical. 1st, It was not enough that the blood of the lamb was shed, but it must be sprinkled, noting the application of the merits of Christ's death to our souls; 2dly, It was to be sprinkled upon the door-posts, noting the open profession we are to make of faith in Christ, and obedience to him. The mark of the beast may be received in the forehead, or in the right hand, but the seal of the lamb is always in the forehead, Revelation 7:3. 3dly, The blood thus sprinkled was a means of the preservation of the Israelites from the destroying angel. If the blood of Christ be sprinkled upon our consciences, it will be our protection from the wrath of God, the curse of the law, and the damnation of hell. (3.) The solemn eating of the lamb was typical of our gospel duty to Christ. 1st, The paschal lamb was killed not to be looked upon only, but to be fed upon; so we must by faith make Christ ours, as we do that which we eat, and we must receive spiritual strength and nourishment from him, as from our food, and have delight in him, as we have in eating and drinking when we are hungry or thirsty. 2dly, It was to be all eaten: those that, by faith, feed upon Christ, must feed upon a whole Christ. They must take Christ and his yoke, Christ and his cross, as well as Christ and his crown. 3dly, It was to be eaten with bitter herbs, in remembrance of the bitterness of their bondage in Egypt; we must feed upon Christ with brokenness of heart, in remembrance of sin. 4thly, It was to be eaten in a departing posture Exodus 12:11, when we feed upon Christ by faith, we must sit loose to the world, and every thing in it. (4.) The feast of unleavened bread was typical of the Christian life, 1 Corinthians 5:7,8. Having received Christ Jesus the Lord, 1st. We must keep a feast, in holy joy, continually delighting ourselves in Christ Jesus; If true believers have not a continual feast, it is their own fault. 2dly, It must be a feast of unleavened bread, kept in charity, without the leaven of malice, and in sincerity, without the leaven of hypocrisy. All the old leaven of sin must be put far from us, with the utmost caution, if we would keep the feast of a holy life to the honour of Christ. 3dly, It was to be an ordinance forever. As long as we live we must continue feeding upon Christ, and rejoicing in him always, with thankful mention of the great things he has done for us.
Verse 9
[9] Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.
Raw — Half roasted, but throughly drest.
Verse 10
[10] And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.
Ye shall burn with fire — To prevent the profane abuse of it.
Verse 11
[11] And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD's passover.
The Lord's passover — A sign of his passing over you, when he destroyed the Egyptians.
Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
(Read all of Psalm 116)
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Verse 23
[23] For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
I received — By an immediate revelation.
Verse 24
[24] And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
This is my body, which is broken for you — That is, this broken bread is the sign of my body, which is even now to be pierced and wounded for your iniquities. Take then, and eat of, this bread, in an humble, thankful, obediential remembrance of my dying love; of the extremity of my sufferings on your behalf, of the blessings I have thereby procured for you, and of the obligations to love and duty which I have by all this laid upon you.
Verse 25
[25] After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
After supper — Therefore ye ought not to confound this with a common meal.
Do this in remembrance of me — The ancient sacrifices were in remembrance of sin: this sacrifice, once offered, is still represented in remembrance of the remission of sins.
Verse 26
[26] For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
Ye show forth the Lord's death — Ye proclaim, as it were, and openly avow it to God, and to all the world.
Till he come — In glory.John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Read all of John 13)
Verse 2
[2] And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;
Having now — Probably now first.
Verse 3
[3] Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;
Jesus knowing — Though conscious of his own greatness, thus humbled himself.
Verse 4
[4] He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
Layeth aside his garments — That part of them which would have hindered him.
Verse 5
[5] After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
Into the basin — A large vessel was usually placed for this very purpose, wherever the Jews supped.
Verse 7
[7] Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.
What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter — We do not now know perfectly any of his works, either of creation, providence, or grace. It is enough that we can love and obey now, and that we shall know hereafter.
Verse 8
[8] Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
If I wash thee not — If thou dost not submit to my will, thou hast no part with me - Thou art not my disciple. In a more general sense it may mean, If I do not wash thee in my blood, and purify thee by my Spirit, thou canst have no communion with me, nor any share in the blessings of my kingdom.
Verse 9
[9] Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
Lord, not my feet only — How fain would man be wiser than God! Yet this was well meant, though ignorant earnestness.
Verse 10
[10] Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.
And so ye, having been already cleansed, need only to wash your feet - That is, to walk holy and undefiled.
Verse 14
[14] If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
Ye ought also to wash one another's feet — And why did they not? Why do we not read of any one apostle ever washing the feet of any other? Because they understood the Lord better. They knew he never designed that this should be literally taken. He designed to teach them the great lesson of humble love, as well as to confer inward purity upon them. And hereby he teaches us, 1. In every possible way to assist each other in attaining that purity; 2. To wash each other's feet, by performing all sorts of good offices to each other, even those of the lowest kind, when opportunity serves, and the necessity of any calls for them.
Verse 16
[16] Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
The servant is not greater than his lord — Nor therefore ought to think much of either doing or suffering the same things.
Verse 31
[31] Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
Jesus saith — Namely, the next day; on Thursday, in the morning. Here the scene, as it were, is opened, for the discourse which is continued in the following chapters.
Now — While I speak this, the Son of man is glorified - Being fully entered into his glorious work of redemption. This evidently relates to the glory which belongs to his suffering in so holy and victorious a manner.
Verse 33
[33] Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.
Ye cannot come — Not yet; being not yet ripe for it. John 7:34.
Verse 34
[34] A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
A new commandment — Not new in itself; but new in the school of Christ: for he had never before taught it them expressly. Likewise new, as to the degree of it, as I have loved you.
Good Friday
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Verse 13
[13] Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
Behold — This is the beginning of a new prophecy, which is continued from hence to the end of the next chapter.
My servant — That it is Christ who is here spoken of, is so evident, that the Chaldee paraphrast, and other ancient, and some later Hebrew doctors, understand it directly of him, and that divers Jews have been convinced and converted to the Christian faith, by the evidence of this prophecy.
Prosper — This is fitly put in the first place to prevent those scandals which otherwise might arise from the succeeding passages, which describe his state of humiliation.
Very high — Here are three words signifying the same thing to express the height and glory of his exaltation.
Verse 14
[14] As many were astoished at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:
Astonished — At his humiliation.
Thee — At thee, O my servant.
His form — Christ, in respect of his birth, breeding, and manner of life, was most obscure and contemptible. His countenance also was so marred with frequent watchings, and fastings, and troubles, that he was thought to be near fifty years old when he was but about thirty, John 8:57, and was farther spoiled with buffetings, and crowning with thorns, and other cruel and despiteful usages.
Verse 15
[15] So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
So — His exaltation shall be answerable to his humiliation.
Sprinkle — With his word or doctrine; which being often compared to rain or water, may be said to be sprinkled, as it is said to be dropped, Deuteronomy 32:2;Ezekiel 20:46.
Kings — Shall be silent before him out of profound humility, reverence, and admiration of his wisdom.
For — They shall hear from his mouth many excellent doctrines, which will be new and strange to them. And particularly that comfortable doctrine of the salvation of the Gentiles, which was not only new to them, but strange and incredible to the Jews themselves.
Verse 1
[1] Who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
Who — Who, not only of the Gentiles, but even of the Jews, will believe the truth of what I say? And this premonition was highly necessary, both to caution the Jews that they should not stumble at this stone, and to instruct the Gentiles that they should not be seduced with their example.
The arm — The Messiah, called the arm or power of God, because the almighty power of God was seated in him.
Revealed — Inwardly and with power.
Verse 2
[2] For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
As a root — And the reason why the Jews will generally reject their Messiah, is, because he shall not come into the world with secular pomp, but he shall grow up, (or spring up, out of the ground) before him, (before the unbelieving Jews, of whom he spake verse 1, and that in the singular number, as here, who were witnesses of his mean original; and therefore despised him) as a tender plant (small and inconsiderable) and as a root, or branch, grows out of a dry, barren ground.
No form — His bodily presence shall be mean and contemptible.
No beauty — This the prophet speaks in the person of the unbelieving Jews.
We — Our people, the Jewish nation.
Verse 3
[3] He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
We hid — We scorned to look upon him.
Verse 4
[4] Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Yet — Our people believed that he was thus punished by the just judgment of God.
Verse 5
[5] But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Wounded — Which word comprehends all his pains and punishments.
For our iniquities — For the guilt of their sins, which he had voluntarily taken upon himself, and for the expiation of their sins, which was hereby purchased.
The chastisement — Those punishments by which our peace, our reconciliation to God, was to be purchased, were laid upon him by God's justice with his own consent.
Healed — By his sufferings we are saved from our sins.
Verse 6
[6] All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
We — All mankind.
Astray — From God.
Have turned — In general, to the way of sin, which may well be called a man's own way, because sin is natural to us, inherent in us, born with us; and in particular, to those several paths, which several men chuse, according to their different opinions, and circumstances.
Hath laid — Heb. hath made to meet, as all the rivers meet in the sea.
The iniquity — Not properly, for he knew no sin; but the punishment of iniquity, as that word is frequently used. That which was due for all the sins of all mankind, which must needs be so heavy a load, that if he had not been God as well as man, he must have sunk under the burden.
Verse 7
[7] He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
He opened not — He neither murmured against God, nor reviled men.
Verse 8
[8] He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Taken away — Out of this life.
By distress and judgment — By oppression and violence. and a pretence of justice.
His generation — His posterity. For his death shall not be unfruitful; when he is raised from the dead, he shall have a spiritual seed, a numberless multitude of those who shall believe in him.
Cut off — By a violent death. And this may be added as a reason of the blessing of a numerous posterity conferred upon him, because he was willing to be cut off for the transgression of his people.
Verse 9
[9] And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
With the wicked — This was a farther degree of humiliation. He saith, he made his grave, because this was Christ's own act, and he willingly yielded up himself to death and burial. And that which follows, with the wicked, does not denote the sameness of place, as if he should be buried in the same grave with other malefactors, but the sameness of condition.
Verse 10
[10] Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
He — God was the principal cause of all his sufferings, tho' mens sins were the deserving cause.
When — When thou, O God, shalt have made, thy son a sacrifice, by giving him up to death for the atonement of mens sins. His soul is here put for his life, or for himself.
Shall see — He shall have a numerous issue of believers reconciled by God, and saved by his death.
Prolong — He shall live and reign with God for ever.
The pleasure — God's gracious decree for the salvation of mankind shall be effectually carried on by his ministry and mediation.
Verse 11
[11] He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Shall see — He shall enjoy.
The travel — The blessed fruit of all his labours, and sufferings.
Satisfied — He shall esteem his own and his father's glory, and the salvation of his people, an abundant recompence.
By his knowledge — By the knowledge of him.
Justify — Acquit them from the guilt of their sins, and all the dreadful consequences thereof. And Christ is said to justify sinners meritoriously, because he purchases and procures it for us.
Many — An innumerable company of all nations.
For — For he shall satisfy the justice of God, by bearing the punishment due to their sins.
Verse 12
[12] Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
I — God the father.
A portion — Which is very commodiously supplied out of the next clause.
With the strong — God will give him happy success in his glorious undertaking: he shall conquer all his enemies, and set up his universal and everlasting kingdom in the world.
Because — Because he willingly laid down his life.
Transgressors — He prayed upon earth for all sinners, and particularly for those that crucified him, and in heaven he still intercedes for them, by a legal demand of those good things which he purchased; by the sacrifice of himself, which, though past, he continually represents to his father, as if it were present.
Psalm 22

Verse 1
[1] My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
My God — Who art my friend and father, though now thou frownest upon me. The repetition denotes, the depth of his distress, which made him cry so earnestly.
Forsaken — Withdrawn the light of thy countenance, the supports and comforts of thy spirit, and filled me with the terrors of thy wrath: this was in part verified in David, but much more fully in Christ.
Roaring — My out-cries forced from me, by my miseries.
Verse 3
[3] But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
But thou art — Just and true in all thy ways, this he adds to strengthen his faith, and to enforce his prayers, and prevail with God for the honour of his holy name, to hear and help him.
Inhabitest — Whom thy people are perpetually praising.
Verse 6
[6] But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
A worm — Neglected and despised.
People — Not only of the great men, but also of the common people. Which doth not so truly agree to David as to Christ.
Verse 7
[7] All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
Shoot out — They gape with their mouths, in mockery. This and the next verse are applied to Christ, Matthew 27:39,43.
Verse 12
[12] Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
Bulls — Wicked and violent, and potent enemies; for such are so called, Ezekiel 39:18; Amos 4:1.
Of Bashan — As the cattle there bred were, and therefore fierce and furious.
Verse 14
[14] I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
Water — My spirits are spent and gone like water which once spilt can never be recovered; my very flesh is melted within me, and I am become as weak as water.
Bones — I am as unable to help myself, and as full of torment, as if all my bones were disjointed.
Wax — Melted, through fear and overwhelming grief.
Verse 15
[15] My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
Dried — I have in a manner no more moisture left in me, than is in a dry potsherd.
Cleaveth — Through excessive thirst and drought.
Death — Thy providence, delivering me into the power of mine enemies, and by thy terrors in my soul.
Verse 16
[16] For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
Dogs — So he calls his enemies for their insatiable greediness, and implacable fierceness against him.
Pierced — These words cannot with any probability be applied to David, but were properly and literally verified in Christ.
Verse 17
[17] I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
May tell — By my being stretched out upon the cross.
Verse 18
[18] They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
They part — This also cannot be applied to David, but was literally fulfilled in Christ, Matthew 27:35; John 19:24.
Verse 20
[20] Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
Darling — Heb. my only one; his soul, which he so calls, because it was left alone and destitute of friends and helpers.
Verse 21
[21] Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
Heard — Answered and delivered me.
Verse 22
[22] I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
Declare — When thou hast delivered me.
Thy name — that power and faithfulness and goodness, which thou hast manifested on my behalf.
Congregations — The same whom he calls the congregation, and the seed of Jacob and Israel: which also does not so fitly agree to David, who never gives this title to any, but such as were near a-kin to him, as it does to Christ, who extends this name to all his disciples, Matthew 12:48,49, and to whom this very text is applied,Hebrews 2:11,12.
Verse 24
[24] For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
Abhorred — He did not turn away his face from it, as men do from things which they abhor.
From him — For ever: tho' he did so for a time.
Verse 25
[25] My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
Great congregation — In the universal church, of Jews and Gentiles.
Verse 26
[26] The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
Satisfied — This is doubtless to be understood, of those spiritual blessings, that grace and peace, and comfort, which all believing souls have in the sense of God's love, the pardon of their sins, and the influences of God's spirit.
Seek him — That seek his favour.
Your heart — He speaks of the same persons still, though there be a change from the third to the second person, as is usual in these poetical books.
For ever — Your comfort shall not be short and transitory, as worldly comforts are, but everlasting.
Verse 27
[27] All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
The world — All nations from one end of the world to the other. So this is an evident prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles, and a clear proof, that this psalm immediately speaks of Christ; to whom alone, this and divers other passages of it, belong.
Remember — They shall remember their former wickedness with grief and shame, and fear; particularly in worshiping dead and impotent idols. They shall remember their great and manifold obligation to God, which they had quite forgotten, his patience in sparing them so long, in the midst of all their impieties, and in giving his son for them: they shall remember the gracious words and glorious works of Christ, what he did, and suffered for them; which possibly divers of them had been eye and ear-witnesses of.
The Lord — Into the only true God, and unto Jesus Christ, to whom this name of Jehovah is often ascribed in scripture.
Verse 28
[28] For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations.
For — This is added as a reason, why the Gentiles should be converted, because God is not only God and the Lord of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles, and of all nations.
Verse 29
[29] All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
Fat — Kings and princes, and the great men of the world.
Shall eat — Shall feed upon the bread of life, Christ and all his benefits.
Worship — This is added to shew what kind of eating he spoke of.
Go down — That is, all mankind, for none can escape death.
Verse 30
[30] A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
A seed — Christ shall not want a seed or posterity, for though the Jewish nation will generally reject him, the Gentiles shall come in their stead.
A generation — That believing seed shall be reputed both by God and men, The generation, or people of the Lord, as the Jews formerly were.
Verse 31
[31] They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
They — The seed last mentioned.
Come — From Judea and Jerusalem (from whence the gospel was first to go forth) to the Gentile world, to the several parts whereof the apostles went upon this errand.
His — God's righteousness: his wonderful grace and mercy unto mankind, in giving them Christ and the gospel; for righteousness is often put for mercy or kindness.
Unto — Unto succeeding generations. Whereby David gives us a key to understand this psalm, and teaches us that he speaks not here of himself, but of things which were to be done in after-ages, even of the spreading of the gospel among the Gentiles, in the time of the New Testament.
That he — They shall declare that this is the work of God, and not of man.
Hebrews 10:16-25
Verse 16
[16] This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
Jeremiah 31:33, etc.
Verse 19
[19] Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Having finished the doctrinal part of his epistle, the apostle now proceeds to exhortation deduced from what has been treated of Hebrews 5:4, which he begins by a brief recapitulation.
Having therefore liberty to enter, —
Verse 20
[20] By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
By a living way — The way of faith, whereby we live indeed.
Which he hath consecrated — Prepared, dedicated, and established for us.
Through the veil, that is, his flesh — As by rending the veil in the temple, the holy of holies became visible and accessible; so by wounding the body of Christ, the God of heaven was manifested, and the way to heaven opened.
Verse 22
[22] Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us draw near — To God.
With a true heart — In godly sincerity.
Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience — So as to condemn us no longer And our bodies washed with pure water - All our conversation spotless and holy, which is far more acceptable to God than all the legal sprinklings and washings.
Verse 23
[23] Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
The profession of our hope — The hope which we professed at our baptism.
Verse 25
[25] Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Not forsaking the assembling ourselves — In public or private worship.
As the manner of some is — Either through fear of persecution, or from a vain imagination that they were above external ordinances.
But exhorting one another — To faith, love, and good works.
And so much the more, as ye see the day approaching — The great day is ever in your eye.
John 18:1-19:42
Verse 2
[2] And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples.
Mark 14:43; Luke 22:47.
Verse 3
[3] Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.
A troop of soldiers — A cohort of Roman foot.
Verse 6
[6] As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.
As soon as he said, I am he, they went backward and fell to the ground — How amazing is it, that they should renew the assault, after so sensible an experience both of his power and mercy! But probably the priests among them might persuade themselves and their attendants, that this also was done by Beelzebub; and that it was through the providence of God, not the indulgence of Jesus, that they received no farther damage.
Verse 8
[8] Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way:
If ye seek me, let these (my disciples) go - It was an eminent instance of his power over the spirits of men, that they so far obeyed this word, as not to seize even Peter, when he had cut off the ear of Malchus.
Verse 9
[9] That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.
John 17:12.
Verse 10
[10] Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.
Then Simon Peter — No other evangelist names him. Nor could they safely. But St. John, writing after his death, might do it without any such inconvenience.
Verse 13
[13] And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.
Annas had been high priest before his son-in-law Caiaphas. And though he had for some time resigned that office, yet they paid so much regard to his age and experience, that they brought Christ to Annas first. But we do not read of any thing remarkable which passed at the house of Annas; for, which reason, his being carried thither is omitted by the other evangelists. Matthew 26:57; Mark 14:53; Luke 22:54.
Verse 17
[17] Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not.
Art thou also — As well as the others, one of this man's disciples - She does not appear to have asked with any design to hurt him.
Verse 20
[20] Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.
I spake openly — As to the manner: continually - As to the time: in the synagogue and temple - As to the place.
In secret have I said nothing — No point of doctrine which I have not taught in public.
Verse 21
[21] Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said.
Why askest thou me — Whom thou wilt not believe?
Verse 22
[22] And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so?
Answerest thou the high priest so? — With so little reverence?
Verse 24
[24] Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest.
Now Annas had sent him to Caiaphas — As is implied John 18:13.
Bound — Being still bound, John 18:12.
Verse 28
[28] Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.
They went not into the palace themselves, lest they should be defiled — By going into a house which was not purged from leaven, Deuteronomy 16:4. Matthew 27:2; Mark 15:1; Luke 23:1.
Verse 31
[31] Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:
It is not lawful for us to put any man to death — The power of inflicting capital punishment had been taken from them that very year. So the sceptre was departed from Judah, and transferred to the Romans.
Verse 32
[32] That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die.
Signifying what death he should die — For crucifixion was not a Jewish, but a Roman punishment. So that had he not been condemned by the Roman governor, he could not have been crucified. John 3:14.
Verse 36
[36] Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
My kingdom is not of this world — Is not an external, but a spiritual kingdom; that I might not be delivered to the Jews - Which Pilate had already attempted to do, John 18:31, and afterward actually did, John 19:16.
Verse 37
[37] Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
Thou sayest — The truth.
To this end was I born — Speaking of his human origin: his Divine was above Pilate's comprehension. Yet it is intimated in the following words, I came into the world, that I might witness to the truth - Which was both declared to the Jews, and in the process of his passion to the princes of the Gentiles also.
Every one that is of the truth — That is, a lover of it, heareth my voice - A universal maxim. Every sincere lover of truth will hear him, so as to understand and practise what he saith.
Verse 38
[38] Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
What is truth? — Said Pilate, a courtier; perhaps meaning what signifies truth? Is that a thing worth hazarding your life for? So he left him presently, to plead with the Jews for him, looking upon him as an innocent but weak man.
Verse 7
[7] The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
By our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God — Which they understood in the highest sense, and therefore accounted blasphemy.
Verse 8
[8] When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
He was the more afraid — He seems to have been afraid before of shedding innocent blood.
Verse 9
[9] And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
Whence art thou? — That is, whose son art thou?
Verse 11
[11] Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
Thou couldst have no power over me — For I have done nothing to expose me to the power of any magistrate. Therefore he that delivered me to thee, namely, Caiaphas, knowing this, is more blamable than thou.
Verse 13
[13] When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
Pilate sat down on the judgment seat — Which was then without the palace, in a place called, in Greek, the pavement, on account of a beautiful piece of Mosaic work, with which the floor was adorned: but in Hebrew, Gabbatha - Or the high place, because it stood on an eminence, so that the judge sitting on his throne might be seen and heard by a considerable number of people.
Verse 14
[14] And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
It was the preparation of the passover — For this reason both the Jews and Pilate were desirous to bring the matter to a conclusion. Every Friday was called the preparation, (namely, for the Sabbath.) And as often as the passover fell on a Friday, that day was called the preparation of the passover.
Verse 17
[17] And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:
Bearing his cross — Not the whole cross, (for that was too large and heavy,) but the transverse beam of it, to which his hands were afterward fastened. This they used to make the person to be executed carry. Matthew 27:31; Mark 15:20; Luke 23:26.
Verse 19
[19] And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews — Undoubtedly these were the very words, although the other evangelists do not express them at large.
Verse 20
[20] This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.
It was written in Latin — For the majesty of the Roman empire; in Hebrew - Because it was the language of the nation; and in Greek - For the information of the Hellenists, who spoke that language, and came in great numbers to the feast.
Verse 22
[22] Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.
What I have written, I have written — That shall stand.
Verse 23
[23] Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.
The vesture — The upper garment.
Verse 24
[24] They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.
They parted my garments among them — No circumstance of David's life bore any resemblance to this, or to several other passages in the 22d Psalm. So that in this scripture, as in some others, the prophet seems to have been thrown into a preternatural ecstacy, wherein, personating the Messiah, he spoke barely what the Spirit dictated, without any regard to himself. Psalms 22:18.
Verse 25
[25] Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
His mother's sister — But we do not read she had any brother. She was her father's heir, and as such transmitted the right of the kingdom of David to Jesus: Mary, the wife of Cleopas - Called likewise Alpheus, the father, as Mary was the mother of James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas.
Verse 27
[27] Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
Behold thy mother — To whom thou art now to perform the part of a son in my place, a peculiar honour which Christ conferred on him.
From that hour — From the time of our Lord's death.
Verse 29
[29] Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.
A stalk of hyssop — Which in those countries grows exceeding large and strong. Psalms 69:21.
Verse 30
[30] When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
It is finished — My suffering: the purchase of man's redemption.
He delivered up his spirit — To God, Matthew 27:50.
Verse 31
[31] The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
Lest the bodies should remain on the cross on the Sabbath — Which they would have accounted a profanation of any Sabbath, but of that in particular.
For that Sabbath was a great day — Being not only a Sabbath, but the second day of the feast of unleavened bread (from whence they reckoned the weeks to pentecost:) and also the day for presenting and offering the sheaf of new corn: so that it was a treble solemnity.
Verse 34
[34] But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
Forthwith there came out blood and water — It was strange, seeing he was dead, that blood should come out; more strange, that water also; and most strange of all, that both should come out immediately, at one time, and yet distinctly. It was pure and true water, as well as pure and true blood. The asseveration of the beholder and testifier of it, shows both the truth and greatness of the miracle and mystery.
Verse 35
[35] And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.
His testimony is true — Valid, unexceptionable.
And he knoweth — And his conscience beareth him witness, that he testifieth this for no other end, than that ye may believe.
Verse 36
[36] For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.
A bone of it shall not be broken — This was originally spoken of the paschal lamb, an eminent type of Christ. Exodus 12:46.
Verse 37
[37] And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.
They shall look on him whom they have pierced — He was pierced by the soldier's spear. They who have occasioned his sufferings by their sins (and who has not?) shall either look upon him in this world with penitential sorrow: or with terror, when he cometh in the clouds of heaven, Revelation 1:7. Zechariah 12:10.
Verse 38
[38] And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.
Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate — And Nicodemus also came - Acknowledging Christ, when even his chosen disciples forsook him. In that extremity Joseph was no longer afraid, Nicodemus no longer ashamed.
Verse 41
[41] Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.
In the place where he was crucified — There was a garden in the same tract of land: but the cross did not stand in the garden.
Verse 42
[42] There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.
Because of the preparation — That is, they chose the rather to lay him in that sepulchre which was nigh, because it was the day before the Sabbath, which also was drawing to an end, so that they had no time to carry him far.
Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil
Job 14:1-14
Verse 1
[1] Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
Man — A weak creature, and withal corrupt and sinful, and of that sex by which sin and all other calamity was brought into the world.
Verse 2
[2] He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
Flower — The flower is fading, and all its beauty soon withers and is gone. The shadow is fleeting, and its very being will soon be lost in the shadows of night. Of neither do we make any account, in neither do we put any confidence.
Verse 4
[4] Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
Not one — No man. This is the prerogative of thy grace, which therefore I humbly implore.
Verse 5
[5] Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
Determined — Limited to a certain period.
With thee — In thy power and disposal. Thou hast appointed a certain end of his days, beyond which he cannot prolong his life.
Verse 6
[6] Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.
Turn — Withdraw thine afflicting hand from him, that he may have some present ease.
'Till — He come to the period of his life, which thou hast allotted to him, as a man appoints a set time to an hired servant.
Verse 8
[8] Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;
Die — To outward appearance.
Verse 9
[9] Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.
Scent — By means of water. Scent or smell, is figuratively ascribed to a tree.
Verse 10
[10] But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?
Man — Two words are here used for man. Geber, a mighty man, tho' mighty, dies. Adam, a man of earth, returns to it. Before death, he is dying daily, continually wasting away. In death, he giveth up the ghost, the spirit returns to God that gave it. After death, where is he? Not where he was: his place knows him no more. But is he nowhere? Yes, he is gone to the world of spirits, gone into eternity, gone, never to return to this world!
Verse 11
[11] As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:
As — So it is with man. Or thus, as when the waters fail from the sea, when the sea forsakes the place into which it used to flow, the river which was fed by it, decayeth and drieth up without all hopes of recovery.
Verse 12
[12] So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.
Lieth — In his bed, the grave.
'Till — Until the time of the general resurrection, when these visible heavens shall pass away.
Verse 13
[13] O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
The grave — The grave is not only a resting-place, but an hiding-place to the children of God. He hides them in the grave, as we hide our treasure in a place of secrecy and safety. Hide me there, not only from the storms of this life, but for the glory of a better.
Until thy wrath be past — As long as our bodies lie in the grave, there are some fruits of God's wrath against sin: until the set time comes, for their being remembered, as Noah was remembered in the ark, Genesis 8:1. Our bodies shall not be forgotten in the grave, there is a time set for their being enquired after.
Verse 14
[14] If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
Shall he live? — He shall not in this world. Therefore I will patiently wait 'till that change comes, which will put a period to my calamities.
Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16
Verse 1
[1] In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
Ashamed — Of my confidence in thy promise.
Deliver me — According to thy faithfulness and goodness.
Verse 15
[15] My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
My times — All the affairs and events of my life, are wholly in thy power.
1 Peter 4:1-8
Verse 1
[1] Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
Arm yourselves with the same mind — Which will be armour of proof against all your enemies.
For he that hath suffered in the flesh — That hath so suffered as to he thereby made inwardly and truly conformable to the sufferings of Christ.
Hath ceased from sin — Is delivered from it.
Verse 2
[2] That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
That ye may no longer live in the flesh — Even in this mortal body.
To the desires of men — Either your own or those of others. These are various; but the will of God is one.
Verse 3
[3] For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
Revellings, banquetings — Have these words any meaning now? They had, seventeen hundred years ago. Then the former meant, meetings to eat; meetings, the direct end of which was, to please the taste: the latter, meetings to drink: both of which Christians then ranked with abominable idolatries.
Verse 4
[4] Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
The same — As ye did once.
Speaking evil of you — As proud, singular, silly, wicked and the like.
Verse 5
[5] Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.
Who shall give account — Of this, as well as all their other ways.
To him who is ready — So faith represents him now.
Verse 6
[6] For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
For to this end was the gospel preached — Ever since it was given to Adam.
To them that are now dead — In their several generations.
That they might be judged — That though they were judged. In the flesh according to the manner of men - With rash, unrighteous judgment. They might live according to the will and word of God, in the Spirit; the soul renewed after his image.
Verse 7
[7] But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
But the end of all things — And so of their wrongs, and your sufferings.
Is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer — Temperance helps watchfulness, and both of them help prayer. Watch, that ye may pray; and pray, that ye may watch.
Verse 8
[8] And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
Love covereth a multitude of sins — Yea, "love covereth all things." He that loves another, covers his faults, how many soever they be. He turns away his own eyes from them; and, as far as is possible, hides them from others. And he continually prays that all the sinner's iniquities may be forgiven and his sins covered. Meantime the God of love measures to him with the same measure into his bosom.
Easter Sunday
Acts 10:34-43
Verse 34
[34] Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
I perceive of a truth — More clearly than ever, from such a concurrence of circumstances.
That God is not a respecter of persons — Is not partial in his love. The words mean, in a particular sense, that he does not confine his love to one nation; in a general, that he is loving to every man, and willeth all men should be saved.
Verse 35
[35] But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
But in every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness — He that, first, reverences God, as great, wise, good, the cause, end, and governor of all things; and secondly, from this awful regard to him, not only avoids all known evil, but endeavours, according to the best light he has, to do all things well; is accepted of him - Through Christ, though he knows him not. The assertion is express, and admits of no exception. He is in the favour of God, whether enjoying his written word and ordinances or not. Nevertheless the addition of these is an unspeakable blessing to those who were before in some measure accepted. Otherwise God would never have sent an angel from heaven to direct Cornelius to St. Peter.
Verse 36
[36] The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
This is the word which God sent — When he sent his Son into the world, preaching - Proclaiming by him-peace between God and man, whether Jew or Gentile, by the God-man. He is Lord of both; yea, Lord of and over all.
Verse 37
[37] That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;
Ye know the word which was published — You know the facts in general, the meaning of which I shall now more particularly explain and confirm to you.
The baptism which John preached — To which he invited them by his preaching, in token of their repentance. This began in Galilee, which is near Cesarea.
Verse 38
[38] How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
How God anointed Jesus — Particularly at his baptism, thereby inaugurating him to his office: with the Holy Ghost and with power - It is worthy our remark, that frequently when the Holy Ghost is mentioned there is added a word particularly adapted to the present circumstance. So the deacons were to be full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, Acts 6:3. Barnabas was full of the Holy Ghost and faith, Acts 11:24. The disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost, Acts 13:52. And here, where his mighty works are mentioned, Christ himself is said to be anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power. For God was with him-He speaks sparingly here of the majesty of Christ, as considering the state of his hearers.
Verse 41
[41] Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.
Not now to all the people — As before his death; to us who did eat and drink with him - That is, conversed familiarly and continually with him, in the time of his ministry.
Verse 42
[42] And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
It is he who is ordained by God the Judge of the living and the dead — Of all men, whether they are alive at his coming, or had died before it. This was declaring to them, in the strongest terms, how entirely their happiness depended on a timely and humble subjection to him who was to be their final Judge.
Verse 43
[43] To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
To him give all the prophets witness — Speaking to heathens he does not quote any in particular; that every one who believeth in him - Whether he be Jew or Gentile; receiveth remission of sins - Though he had not before either feared God, or worked righteousness.
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
Verse 14
[14] The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.
Salvation — My Saviour.
Verse 15
[15] The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
Doth valiantly — These are the words of that song of praise now mentioned.
Verse 16
[16] The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
Exalted — Hath appeared evidently, and wrought powerfully and gloriously.
Verse 19
[19] Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:
Open — O ye porters, appointed by God for this work.
The gates — Of the Lord's tabernacle: where the rule of righteousness was kept and taught, and the sacrifices of righteousness were offered.
Verse 20
[20] This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.
The righteous — As David was a type of Christ and the temple of heaven, so this place hath a farther prospect than David, and relates to Christ's ascending into heaven, and opening the gates of that blessed temple, both for himself and for all believers.
Verse 22
[22] The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
The builders — The commonwealth of Israel and the church of God are here and elsewhere compared to a building, wherein, as the people are the stones, so the princes and rulers are the builders. And as these master-builders rejected David, so their successors rejected Christ.
Head stone — The chief stone in the whole building, by which the several parts of the building are upheld and firmly united together. Thus David united all the tribes and families of Israel: and thus Christ united Jews and Gentiles together. And therefore this place is justly expounded of Christ, Mark 12:10; Acts 4:11;Romans 9:32; Ephesians 2:20. And to him the words agree more properly than to David.
Verse 24
[24] This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Made — Or sanctified as a season never to be forgotten.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Verse 2
[2] By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
Ye are saved, if ye hold fast — Your salvation is begun, and will be perfected, if ye continue in the faith.
Unless ye have believed in vain — Unless indeed your faith was only a delusion.
Verse 3
[3] For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
I received — From Christ himself. It was not a fiction of my own. Isaiah 53:8,9.
Verse 4
[4] And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
According to the scriptures — He proves it first from scripture, then from the testimony of a cloud of witnesses.Psalms 16:10.
Verse 5
[5] And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
By the twelve — This was their standing appellation; but their full number was not then present.
Verse 6
[6] After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
Above five hundred — Probably in Galilee. A glorious and incontestable proof! The greater part remain - Alive.
Verse 7
[7] After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
Then by all the apostles — The twelve were mentioned 1 Corinthians 15:5. This title here, therefore, seems to include the seventy; if not all those, likewise, whom God afterwards sent to plant the gospel in heathen nations.
Verse 8
[8] And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
An untimely birth — It was impossible to abase himself more than he does by this single appellation. As an abortion is not worthy the name of a man, so he affirms himself to be not worthy the name of an apostle.
Verse 9
[9] For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
I persecuted the church — True believers are humbled all their lives, even for the sins they committed before they believed.
Verse 10
[10] But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
I laboured more than they all — That is, more than any of them, from a deep sense of the peculiar love God had shown me. Yet, to speak more properly, it is not I, but the grace of God that is with me - This it is which at first qualified me for the work, and still excites me to zeal and diligence in it.
Verse 11
[11] Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.
Whether I or they, so we preach — All of us speak the same thing.
John 20:1-18
Verse 3
[3] Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.
Peter went out — Of the city.
Verse 6
[6] Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
Peter seeth the linen clothes lie — and the napkin folded up - The angels who ministered to him when he rose, undoubtedly folded up the napkin and linen clothes.
Verse 8
[8] Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.
He saw — That the body was not there, and believed - That they had taken it away as Mary said.
Verse 9
[9] For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
For as yet — They had no thought of his rising again.
Verse 10
[10] Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.
They went home — Not seeing what they could do farther.
Verse 11
[11] But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,
But Mary stood — With more constancy. Mark 16:9.
Verse 16
[16] Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
Jesus saith to her, Mary — With his usual voice and accent.
Verse 17
[17] Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
Touch me not — Or rather, Do not cling to me (for she held him by the feet,) Matthew 28:9. Detain me not now. You will have other opportunities of conversing with me. For I am not ascended to my Father - I have not yet left the world. But go immediately to my brethren - Thus does he intimate in the strongest manner the forgiveness of their fault, even without ever mentioning it. These exquisite touches, which every where abound in the evangelical writings, show how perfectly Christ knew our frame.
I ascend — He anticipates it in his thoughts, and so speaks of it as a thing already present. To my Father and your Father, to my God and your God - This uncommon expression shows that the only - begotten Son has all kind of fellowship with God. And a fellowship with God the Father, some way resembling his own, he bestows upon his brethren. Yet he does not say, Our God: for no creature can be raised to an equality with him: but my God and your God: intimating that the Father is his in a singular and incommunicable manner; and ours through him, in such a kind as a creature is capable of.or
Mark 16:1-8
Verse 2
[2] And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
At the rising of the sun — They set out while it was yet dark, and came within sight of the sepulchre, for the first time, just as it grew light enough to discern that the stone was rolled away, Matthew 28:1; Luke 24:1; John 20:1. But by the time Mary had called Peter and John, and they had viewed the sepulchre, the sun was rising.
Verse 3
[3] And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
Who shall roll us away the stone — This seems to have been the only difficulty they apprehended. So they knew nothing of Pilate's having sealed the stone, and placed a guard of soldiers there.
Verse 7
[7] But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.
And Peter — Though he so oft denied his Lord. What amazing goodness was this!

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Upper Room Ministries, a ministry of Global Board of Discipleship
PO Box 340004
Nashville, Tennessee 37203-0004 United States
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Sermon Story "He Is Risen, He Is Risen Indeed" by Gary Lee Parker for  Sunday, 29 March 2015 with Scripture Text: Mark 16:1 When Shabbat was over, Miryam of Magdala, Miryam the mother of Ya‘akov, and Shlomit bought spices in order to go and anoint Yeshua. 2 Very early the next day, just after sunrise, they went to the tomb. 3 They were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?” 4 Then they looked up and saw that the stone, even though it was huge, had been rolled back already. 5 On entering the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right; and they were dumbfounded. 6 But he said, “Don’t be so surprised! You’re looking for Yeshua from Natzeret, who was executed on the stake. He has risen, he’s not here! Look at the place where they laid him. 7 But go and tell his talmidim, especially Kefa, that he is going to the Galil ahead of you. You will see him there, just as he told you.” 8 Trembling but ecstatic they went out and fled from the tomb, and they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
As I was sitting in the synagogue and worshipping God, I heard the Scriptures read from the Tanakh and could not help remember after Jesus was dead from crucifixion and buried in a borrowed tomb and the reponse of the women who went to the tomb to annoint Jesus body for proper burial according to the Jewish rites of burial. At first, they came back and told us that the body was not in the tomb, but was gone. I remember Peter and John running to the tomb to check out what the women told them while the women were going back to the tomb, at least Mary Magdalene did, Peter and John returned and repeted that His body was not there, but was risen as He said He would. Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene went back to the tomb and so two Angels where Jesus' body should have been asking them where Jesus' body was and they responded that He was not there but was rsen from the grave. As Mary Magdalene turned, she saw a man who she thought was a gardener. She asked the man if he took Jesus body please tell her where it is and she would bring it back to the tomb. The man spoke Mary's name and Mary recognized the voice of Jesus and called Him Teacher and clung to Him. Jesus responded to Mary to not cling or touch Him because He has not ascended to the Father because there would be other times that she could touch Him. Jesus, then, asked her to go to His brothers and Galilee and tell them that He would meet them there. When she returned to the Upper room, we were excited that Jesus truly arose from the dead. There were other stories like the two men who walked to Emmaus and met a stranger on the road who asked them what wrong. They told the stranger about what happened to Jesus from Nazareth and what the women saw3 as well as Peter. As they came to their house in Emmaus, they invited the stranger in and he broke bread telling him from the Tanakh what Jesus had to go through and be raised from the dead on the third day. As He broke the bread and gave to them, there eyes were opened and they realized the stranger was Jesus but He disappeared from them. They went back to Jerusalem and told everybody what happened and Jesus appeared to them and ate fish while a few days later He appeared to them when Thomas was with them. He appeared by the lake after a long night of fishing with no luck with fish frying on the fire and He commanded and many fish appeared and He called them in restoring Peter to the fellowship by asking Peter three times if he love Him. Then, Jesus told Peter how he would die. Then on a mountain He ascended to Heaven and the Father when two men standing in the clouds saying do down stare up but go and obey His commands to you because He will return just as He left. How would have responded to what you saw and heard? What character in this story do you relate to? How do you understand His teachings these 2000 years later? May we come and receive His grace as we take and eat His Body and drink His blood through the participation of the bread and wine of the Holy Eucharist singing the Hymn "He Lives, I Serve a Risen Savior" by Alfred Ackley

1. I serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today;

I know that He is living whatever men may say;

I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer,

And just the time I need Him, He's always near. 

Refrain:

He lives, He lives,

Christ Jesus lives today!

He walks with me and talks with me

Along life's narrow way.

He lives, He lives,

Salvation to impart!

You ask me how I know He lives?

He lives within my heart.

2. In all the world around me I see His loving care,

And tho' my heart grows weary I never will despair;

I know that He is leading thro' all the stormy blast,

The day of His appearing will come at last.

Refrain:

He lives, He lives,

Christ Jesus lives today!

He walks with me and talks with me

Along life's narrow way.

He lives, He lives,

Salvation to impart!

You ask me how I know He lives?

He lives within my heart.

3. Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian, lift up your voice and sing

Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King!

The hope of all who seek Him, the help of all who find,

None other is so loving, so good and kind.

Refrain:

He lives, He lives,

Christ Jesus lives today!

He walks with me and talks with me

Along life's narrow way.

He lives, He lives,

Salvation to impart!

You ask me how I know He lives?

He lives within my heart.

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Gary Lee Parker
4147 Idaho Street, Apt. 1
San Diego, California 92104-1844
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