Events 10 to 6 Days Before the Crucifixion

INTRODUCTION

1. Open your bibles please to Matt. 20:17&ff.

2. Do we have anyone present that has ever ridden a donkey?

(1) Maybe Heather Walton! Or maybe Joshua or Caleb or Paul? I think that they are the only ones that own donkeys.

(2) Misty used to ride a barrel racing horse. Most of you have ridden a horse, but our main interest this morning has to do with someone who has ridden a donkey.

3. How does Matt. 20:17&ff and someone riding a donkey have any connection?

(1) Matt. 20:17&ff begin to inform us of things happening about 9 or 10 days before Jesus was crucified and about 12 or 13 days before Jesus was resurrected. Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday.

(2) The religious world, majority speaking, considers next Sunday being the Sunday Jesus was resurrected approximately 2,100 years ago.

(3) The events we read about in Matt. 20:17&ff may have started happening on a Wednesday or Thursday the week before Jesus was crucified on a Friday.

4. There is no scripture in the bible that teaches just which Sunday of the year Christ was resurrected.

(1) The bible does teach that Christ was resurrected on the 1st day of the week – on what we call Sunday.

(2) The bible does not teach Christians to celebrate the resurrection of Christ on one particular Sunday each year.

(3) The bible does teach Christians to have the Lord’s Supper as a memorial for the death of Christ on the first day of every week (Acts 20:7, Acts 2:42; 1 Cor. 11:23-29). 52 times each year!

5. As we read Matt. 17&ff and other passages of Jesus doing things during the few days right ahead of Christ’s crucifixion we will be impressed with Christ’ courage and love.
6. We will find out that Christ knew ahead of time that he was going to soon be crucified.

(1) Christ’s knowledge of the soon to experience crucifixion did not cause Christ to start thinking only of Himself and His personal problems.

(2) In spite of Christ’s soon to be experienced crucifixion Christ repeatedly showed love and extended help to others.

7. In this lesson we will discuss some of the ways that Christ demonstrated His love and concern for others and yet at a time when He could have exercised self pity!

DISCUSSION

I. FIRST, MATT. 20:17-19 REPORT THAT JESUS PREDICTED HIS OWN DEATH FOR THE THIRD TIME DURING HIS EARTHLY MINSISTRY.

1. Let’s read Matt. 20:17-19, “17 Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, 18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, 19 and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.”

2. Jesus was the Son of God, but Jesus also had the fears of the pain of the cross that He knew that he was going to have to face in nine or ten days.

3. Do you appreciate Christ for the courage He had, when at the same time He knew and understood the horrible pain that He was going to have to undergo and yet He calmly taught and went on toward the city of Jerusalem, knowing there would soon be the horrible and painful death on the cross?

4. Christ’s love for mankind is what gave him the strength to put one foot before the other and walk on toward the city of Jerusalem. We sing the song, “Oh,