The Judas kiss.

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A crowd suddenly arrived while Jesus was speaking. Jesus’ disciple Judas was leading them. He knew where Jesus would be because Jesus often met there with his disciples. Judas lead priests, scribes, and elders from the Temple along with soldiers carrying lanterns, torches, swords and clubs.

Judas had given them a sign, saying “The one I kiss is the one you want to arrest.” Judas immediately went up to Jesus and said “Teacher!” and kissed him. Jesus said to him, “Friend, are you here to betray me with a kiss? Do what you have come to do.”

Jesus, knowing what was about to happen, said to the crowd “Who are you looking for?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered.

“I am.” Jesus responded.

Judas was standing with the accusers at this point. When Jesus admitted he was the one they were looking for, they all fell to the ground.

Again he asked them “Who are you looking for?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.

“I’ve already told you I am. Since you are looking for just me, let these others go.” This fulfilled Jesus’ words “I have not lost a single person that God has given me.”

Then the Temple authorities and soldiers seized him to arrest him.

One of the disciples asked “Lord, should we attack them with their swords?” Without waiting for an answer, Simon Peter drew his sword and cut off the right ear of the high priest’s slave, whose name was Malchus.

Jesus said “No more violence! Put your sword away! Everyone who takes up the sword will die in the same way. Do you not think that I can call on my Father who will immediately provide me with more than a dozen legions of angels? The Scriptures must be fulfilled that say it has to happen this way. I must drink the cup which my Father has given me.”

Jesus then touched the slave’s ear and healed him.

Speaking to the crowd, Jesus said “Have you come with weapons to arrest me like I’m a criminal? I used to teach every day in the Temple – you could have arrested me there. Yet all of this happened so that the words of the prophets would be fulfilled. But this is your time, and a time when darkness reigns.”

Then all of his disciples ran away.

A young man who was following Jesus was there, wearing just a linen cloth. The crowd tried to grab him as he ran away, but he slipped away naked, leaving his cloth behind.

MT 26:47-56, MK 14:43-52, LK 22:47-53, JN 17:1-11

Poem – every bad thing

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Every bad thing God gives me
is my medicine, not my poison.
Each is carefully titrated, dosed
just for me, at that moment.

But they taste bad, have
unpleasant side effects
so I sometimes refuse,
sticking my tongue out.

So God gives it to me again
later, in a different form
so maybe I won’t recognize it
but this time
it is stronger,
because I’m sicker.

What does “covenant” mean?

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What is the word “covenant”? You know when you’ve heard a word so often that you take it for granted, and you don’t really know what it means? I feel that this word is important enough to slow down with and try to really understand it

Jesus speaks about his blood being the blood of a new covenant in the story of the first Lord’s Supper. This takes place in MT 26:26-30, MK 14:22-26, and LK 22:14-20.

Matthew 26:28 (HCSB)

28 For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.

I tried a different translation to see if I could get more meaning out of the word “covenant”.

28 for this is my blood, sealing the new covenant. It is poured out to forgive the sins of multitudes. (TLB)

Then I looked at the other Gospels to see if they said it any differently, looking at both translations.

Mark 14:24

24 And he said to them, “This is my blood, poured out for many, sealing the new agreement between God and man. (TLB)

24 He said to them, “This is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many. (HCSB)

Luke 22:20

(TLB)

20 After supper he gave them another glass of wine, saying, “This wine is the token of God’s new agreement to save you—an agreement sealed with the blood I shall pour out to purchase back your souls. (TLB)

20 In the same way He also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant established by My blood; it is shed for you. (HCSB)

I still wasn’t getting very far.

According to Google, “covenant” is defined as an agreement. Synonyms include – contract, undertaking, commitment, pledge, pact, arrangement, and understanding.

What is the first covenant? God promises to not destroy the earth by flood. He says this to Noah after the waters have gone away.

Genesis 9:8-17 (HCSB)

8 Then God told Noah and his sons, 9-11 “I solemnly promise you and your children and the animals you brought with you—all these birds and cattle and wild animals—that I will never again send another flood to destroy the earth. 12 And I seal this promise with this sign: 13 I have placed my rainbow in the clouds as a sign of my promise until the end of time, to you and to all the earth. 14 When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the clouds, 15 and I will remember my promise to you and to every being, that never again will the floods come and destroy all life. 16-17 For I will see the rainbow in the cloud and remember my eternal promise to every living being on the earth.

So why is it significant that God makes a new covenant through Jesus? He promises not only not to destroy the world, but to save it. Instead of being a negative, it is a positive. While it is good for someone to promise to not hit you while you are in a pit, it is better if they promise to hand you a ladder to get out of that pit.

Let us look at more examples of God making covenants with people.

God made a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17:1-22 (CEB)

When Abram was 99 years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Walk with me and be trustworthy. 2 I will make a covenant between us and I will give you many, many descendants.” 3 Abram fell on his face, and God said to him, 4 “But me, my covenant is with you; you will be the ancestor of many nations. 5 And because I have made you the ancestor of many nations, your name will no longer be Abram but Abraham.6 I will make you very fertile. I will produce nations from you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will set up my covenant with you and your descendants after you in every generation as an enduring covenant. I will be your God and your descendants’ God after you. 8 I will give you and your descendants the land in which you are immigrants, the whole land of Canaan, as an enduring possession. And I will be their God.” 9 God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants in every generation. 10 This is my covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Circumcise every male.11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it will be a symbol of the covenant between us. 12 On the eighth day after birth, every male in every generation must be circumcised, including those who are not your own children: those born in your household and those purchased with silver from foreigners. 13 Be sure you circumcise those born in your household and those purchased with your silver. Your flesh will embody my covenant as an enduring covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male whose flesh of his foreskin remains uncircumcised will be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.” 15 God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you will no longer call her Sarai. Her name will now be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and even give you a son from her. I will bless her so that she will become nations, and kings of peoples will come from her. 17 Abraham fell on his face and laughed. He said to himself, Can a 100-year-old man become a father, or Sarah, a 90-year-old woman, have a child? 18 To God Abraham said, “If only you would accept Ishmael!”19 But God said, “No, your wife Sarah will give birth to a son for you, and you will name him Isaac. I will set up my covenant with him and with his descendants after him as an enduring covenant. 20 As for Ishmael, I’ve heard your request. I will bless him and make him fertile and give him many, many descendants. He will be the ancestor of twelve tribal leaders, and I will make a great nation of him.21 But I will set up my covenant with Isaac, who will be born to Sarah at this time next year.” 22 When God finished speaking to him, God ascended, leaving Abraham alone.

God made a covenant with Israel as a whole in Deuteronomy 30:1-10 (HCSB)

“When all these things happen to you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you, 2 and you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey Him with all your heart and all your soul by doing everything I am giving you today, 3 then He will restore your fortunes, have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. 4 Even if your exiles are at the ends of the earth, He will gather you and bring you back from there. 5 The LORD your God will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply you more than He did your fathers. 6 The LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and all your soul so that you will live. 7 The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 Then you will again obey Him and follow all His commands I am giving you today. 9 The LORD your God will make you prosper abundantly in all the work of your hands with children, the offspring of your livestock, and your land’s produce. Indeed, the LORD will again delight in your prosperity, as He delighted in that of your fathers, 10 when you obey the LORD your God by keeping His commands and statutes that are written in this book of the law and return to Him with all your heart and all your soul.

There are a lot of conditions there! If you do this, then I will do this. This is known in legal terms as quid pro quo, (this for that). This doesn’t sound very mature or healthy.

Jacob makes a covenant with God in Genesis 28:18-22. This is right after he’s had the dream of angels ascending and descending to and from heaven on a ladder where he is sleeping in the desert.

18 Early in the morning Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker. He poured oil on top of it 19 and named the place Bethel, though previously the city was named Luz. 20 Then Jacob made a vow: “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, if He provides me with food to eat and clothing to wear, 21 and if I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God. 22 This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God’s house, and I will give to You a tenth of all that You give me.” (HCSB)

Once again, quid pro quo. I’ll do this if you do that. It is kind of like saying “you first”. I’ll serve you as God if you prove that you are God.

I’m getting somewhere with this, but it still doesn’t synch up with Jesus at the Lord’s Supper.

What is the “new covenant” that Jesus speaks about? The prophet Jeremiah speaks of a new covenant that God is to make in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Jesus would have known this writing, and expected his disciples to know it too.

31 “Look, the days are coming”—this is the LORD’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke even though I had married them”—the LORD’s declaration. 33 “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the LORD’s declaration. “I will put My teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. 34 No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the LORD’s declaration. “For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin.” (HCSB)

This is what Jesus is referring to when he speaks about his blood being the blood of the new covenant. His blood was like an offering on the altar in the Temple that was used to atone (pay for) sins. People would bring bulls, sheep, and other prescribed animals if they had broken a commandment. The animal would be ritually slaughtered by the priest and the blood poured out on the altar. The animal would die, and their sins would be erased.

If we accept the blood offering of Jesus as paying for our sins, then God will forgive them. Everyone in the world who accepts Jesus’ offering will know the Lord in their hearts, completely, without having to be taught. All sins will be erased.

Jesus and John the Baptist

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Jesus traveled out to the Judean countryside with his disciples. They stayed for a while there and baptized people.

John had not been imprisoned by this point. He was baptizing in Aenon, near Salim because there was a lot of water there.

Then John’s disciples and the Jews began to argue about the ritual of purification. They told John “Teacher, the one who you said was the Messiah, who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, is baptizing too, and everyone is going to him.”

John answered, “Nothing can be received unless God gives it to you. You know that I said I am not the Messiah, but that I’ve been sent to prepare the way for him. The groom has the bride, but the groom’s friend simply stands by and waits on him, celebrating when he hears him. My joy is complete. He must increase in greatness, but I must become lesser.”

JN 3:22-30

Prayer in the Garden

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Jesus went with his disciples to a part of the Mount of Olives called Gethsemane. He told them “Stay here while I go a little further away to pray. Pray that you will not be tempted.”

Walking a little further away, he took Peter and James and John (the sons of Zebedee) with him. He was overcome with a sense of immense sorrow and anxiety. He told them “My soul is full of sadness to the point of grief. Stay here and remain awake with me.”

He walked about a stone’s throw away from them, fell facedown on the ground, and began to pray that he would not have to undergo the upcoming trial. “Father, everything is possible for you. If it is your will, let this cup pass by me. However, it isn’t what I want, but what you want that is important.”

Returning to where the three disciples were, he found them sleeping. “Why are you asleep? Couldn’t you all stay awake for just one hour? Keep awake and pray so that temptation will not overpower you. The soul is willing, but the body is weak.”

He went away a second time and prayed as before. “Father, if this cup cannot pass by me unless I drink it, let it be so because that is your will.” He returned again to where the three were and again found them sleeping because their eyes were heavy with grief. They didn’t know what to say.

He went away a third time, praying in the same way. An angel appeared before him and gave him strength. He prayed even more fervently because he was in despair, and his sweat fell like drops of blood upon the ground. Returning to his disciples, he said “Are you still sleeping? It is time to get up and go! Look, the hour has come. The Son of Man is about to be handed over to sinners. See? My betrayer is very close.”

MT 26:36-46, MK 14:32-42, LK 22:39-46

What does “new wine” mean?

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What is Jesus talking about when he is talking about drinking wine in a new way in his Father’s kingdom with his disciples? This is at the first Lord’s Supper and is right after he has offered them the cup of wine, transforming the idea of the wine into something more by saying that it represents his blood. This verse is in three different Gospels, so I’ve put them here for you. This translation is HCSB.

Matthew 26:29
29 But I tell you, from this moment I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it in a new way in My Father’s kingdom with you.”

Mark 14:25
25 I assure you: I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it in a new way in the kingdom of God.”

Luke 22:18
18 For I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

The notes for this line in the HCSB offer this different translation – “drink new wine” and then add that the original literally says “drink it new”.

I thought about this and prayed about it while trying to rewrite it. Asking Jesus into it, I asked for him to tell me a new way to say this so that it means something to today’s readers. This is the result.

“Truly, from now on I will not drink the fruit of the vine until when we will drink it together in the kingdom of my Father.”

One thing I tried was

“I will drink it for the first time with you in the kingdom of God.”

And yet another was

“..until the time when I will drink new wine in the kingdom of God with you.”

I find it significant that in the Gospel of Luke, there is something that Jesus says about eating bread, which came out as –

“I will reveal to you now that I won’t eat it again until what it represents has come to fruition in the kingdom of God.”

LK 22:14-16

I have rendered it as “fruit of the vine” rather than wine, because the Hebrew blessing is made over wine or grape juice. This also is in reference to the vow of the Nazarene. John was one since birth, and Samson was one. They were not allowed to have “the fruit of the vine” – to consume grapes in any form during the time of their vow.

The dispute over greatness

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Then the disciples began to argue among themselves as to which one of them was the best. Jesus said to them “The Gentiles have kings that rule over them and they are granted the honorific title of ‘Benefactor’, but this should not happen with you. Instead, whoever is the most important among you should act like the youngest, and the leader should act like a servant. Who is more important – the one who sits at the table or the one who serves him? Normally it is the one at the table. But here I am being a servant. You are the ones who supported me when I was tested. I have granted you a kingdom, in the same way that my Father granted one to me, so that we may dine at the same table in the kingdom of God. You will all sit on thrones and judge the 12 tribes of Israel.”

LK 22:24-30

Peter’s denial predicted

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Then Jesus said to them “All of you will falter because of me tonight, because it is written ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep and his flock will be scattered.’ But after I have been resurrected, I will travel ahead of you to Galilee.”

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where you going?” Jesus answered him, “You cannot follow me where I am going right now, but you will go there later.”

Then he added “Simon Simon, be on your guard! Satan has asked to be able to sift all of you like wheat. But I have prayed for you personally that your faith will be strong. I hope that when you have turned back, you will strengthen your brothers.”

Peter said “I will not run away even if everyone else does! Lord, I am ready to follow you to prison and even to death!”

Jesus replied “Will you die for me? Truly, you will deny that you know me three times before the rooster crows this very day!”

Peter told him “Even if I have to lay down my life for you, I will never deny that I know you.”

And all the disciples repeated his words.

MT 26:31-35, MK 14:27-31, LK 22:31-34, JN 13:36-38

The first Lord’s Supper

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When it came time to eat, Jesus reclined at the table with his apostles. He said to them, “I have looked forward to sharing this Passover meal with you before my suffering starts. I will reveal to you now that I won’t eat it again until what it represents has come to fruition in the kingdom of God.”

LK 22:14-16

Jesus then took unleavened bread, and after offering a blessing for it and breaking it into pieces, gave it to his disciples, saying “Take and eat, this is my body, which is offered for you. Do this to remember me.”

Then he took a cup of wine and, after offering a blessing for it, gave it to them and they all shared in drinking from it. He said “This is my blood of the new covenant. It is poured out for you and for many so that sins may be forgiven. Truly, from now on I will not drink the fruit of the vine until when we will drink it together in the kingdom of my Father.”

After singing psalms, they all went to the Mount of Olives.

MT 26:26-30, MK 14:22-26, LK 22:17-20

Jesus speaks with Nicodemus

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Nicodemus was a Jewish leader and member of the Pharisees. He came to Jesus secretly at night and said “Teacher, we know that God has sent you as a teacher, because only those who God is with can do the signs you have performed.”

Jesus told him, “Truly I say to you, unless you have been reborn, you can never enter into the kingdom of God.”

“How can anyone be born again?” Nicodemus exclaimed. “How can an old person enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time?”

“This is the truth – Unless you are born by the way of water and of the Holy Spirit, you will never enter the kingdom of God. Whoever is born by the way of the flesh is just flesh, but if you are born by the way of the Spirit, you are so much more. Don’t be amazed when I tell you that you must be born a second time. You can hear the wind blow but you don’t know where it came from or where it will go. The same is true of everyone who is born by the way of the Spirit.”

“How is this possible?” asked Nicodemus.

“You, a respected teacher of the Law of Moses, and you don’t understand this? Truly, I’m telling you what God reveals to me, but you don’t accept it. If you don’t believe me when I tell you about the earthly things that happen, then how will you believe me when I tell you about heavenly things? The only one who has been raised up into heaven is the same one who came down from heaven, and that is the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses raised up an image of a serpent to heal people in the wilderness, the Son of Man must be raised up, so that everyone who believes in him will be saved from death.

God loves the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him will not die but have eternal life. God didn’t send his Son here to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved because of him. Anyone who believes in him is saved, but those who don’t believe are lost, because they don’t believe in the only Son of God.

Those who are lost have made themselves that way, because the Light has come into the world and they loved the darkness more because they did evil things. Everyone who does evil things hates to have them exposed to the Light. But everyone who lives truthfully comes to the Light so that God’s glory may be revealed.”

JN 3:1-21