Showing posts with label 24 HOURS That Changed the World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 24 HOURS That Changed the World. Show all posts

24 HOURS-Week 3: Pictures

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , , , | Posted On Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 7:05 PM

In Week 3 of our series, "24 HOURS That Changed the World," the settings and key players (besides Jesus) are the home of the high priest, Caiaphas, the Fortress of Antonia and Pilate, the Roman governor, and Herod and his palace. All these locations are in Jerusalem. My first post from Week 1 of this series includes a map of this area, with these locations marked.

We have no pictures of Caiaphas' house, but we know it had to be large to provide a meeting place for all seventy-one members of the Sanhedrin on the night Jesus was tried. Most likely, it was an opulent place befitting the high priest of the Jewish faith. We do, however, have a couple of pictures of a cell that Jesus was probably kept in at times during the night and his trial.



It is also believed that there was no opening at the floor level of this cell, so Jesus was lowered through a hole in the ceiling, as seen below.



After spending most of the night in the home and prison cell of Caiaphas, Jesus was taken to Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate usually lived in Caesarea, a Roman-built city on the Mediterranean coast. However, for special religious feasts, such as the Feast of the Passover, Pilate would often come to Jerusalem, usually staying at the Fortress of Antonia, built on the southwest corner of the Temple Mount. (The fortress, built by Herod the Great, served as the base for a legion of Roman troops.) The Feast of the Passover, in particular, stirred up feelings of Jewish nationalism as this feast remembered God leading the Israelites out of Egypt to freedom. It was also a time when as many as two-three million Jews were in the immediate area of Jerusalem for this feast, raising tensions even more. Below is a 1/50th scale model of what the fortress was believed to have looked like in the time of Jesus.



The Gospel of Luke tells us that Pilate, on discovering Jesus was from the region of Galilee, sent Jesus to Herod Antipas, who maintained a palace in Jerusalem, just northwest of the Temple Mount. Herod had been hoping to meet Jesus and see him perform a miracle. When Jesus refused to cooperate or respond, Herod and his court ridiculed Jesus and then sent him back to Pilate. Pictured below is a 1/50th scale model of what Herod's palace was believed to look like at the time he met Jesus.


24 HOURS-Week 3: Jesus the Suffering Servant

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , | Posted On at 6:56 PM

“Pilate asked Jesus, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Jesus replied, ‘You have said it.’” (Mark 15:2 NLT2)
Jesus’ response here is simply a restating of what Pilate has said. He’s not denying, but he’s not vigorously affirming it, leaving Pilate with little to go on, so the religious leaders pile on more claims.

“Then the leading priests kept accusing him of many crimes, and Pilate asked him, ‘Aren’t you going to answer them? What about all these charges they are bringing against you?’ But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate’s surprise.” (Mark 15:3-5 NLT2)

You get the sense that Pilate really doesn’t buy what the religious authorities are selling, but Jesus isn’t helping him out. In fact, Jesus knows this is now all part of God’s plan, and though he had prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane asking God to free him from this path, he knows this is why he is here and he is ready to fulfill God’s plan.

He very likely was living out the biblical role of Suffering Servant that Isaiah prophesied about seven hundred years earlier. The Suffering Servant songs of Isaiah spoke of one who through their suffering would bring liberation and freedom.

“All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:6-7 NLT2)

Jesus would not defend himself. He was silent before his accusers. Jesus knew his mission – to be the Lamb of God, the sacrificial lamb that takes away the sins of the world. Christ followers believe Jesus’ death on the cross redeems us from sin. He wasn’t simply a great teacher or a good man – he was the Savior of the world.

“Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5 NLT2)

Not all of those things have occurred yet in these last 24 hours of Jesus’ life, but they will...

24 HOURS-Week 3: The Sanhedrin

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , , | Posted On at 5:38 PM

“They took Jesus to the high priest’s home where the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law had gathered.” (Mark 14:53 NLT2)

Matthew tells us the high priest was Caiaphas, and his home was probably near the Upper Room. It must have been a large house befitting the high priest of the Jews.

This gathering of the Jewish high council of priests, elders and teachers was called the Sanhedrin. More precisely, it was composed of Sadducees, Elders and Pharisees.

The Sadducees made up the priestly class of the Sanhedrin. All high priests came from this group. They were the favored party to the Romans, highly political, and since they were satisfied with the way things were, did not look ahead to a future messianic age. They held strictly to the written law and rejected the traditions of the Pharisees. They did not believe in the resurrection of the body or any real kind of afterlife. They denied the existence of angels and demons. They were not particularly popular with the people and, strangely enough, were somewhat indifferent to religion.

The second group of the Sanhedrin was the Elders. The elders were the tribal and family heads of the people and the priesthood, mostly the secular nobility of Jerusalem.

The third and final group making up the Sanhedrin was the Pharisees. They were by far the most influential and popular of the three groups. They were highly legalistic and religious. They, along with the Scribes, protected and interpreted the Jewish Law and were the Jewish religious leaders. In fact, their interpretations of the Law took on equal or greater weight than the Law itself. They were sticklers for living out even the smallest details of the Law and traditions. They believed in the eternal soul and a spirit life. They looked forward to the coming of the Messiah and were the opposites in many ways to beliefs to the Sadducees. Jesus often opposed the Pharisees because of their legalistic emphasis on good works, their hypocrisies and their general lack of love.

The Sanhedrin evolved into existence in the years after the Jews returned from the Exile in Babylonia. They came into their own as the ruling body perhaps a century or more before the time of Jesus. The idea of the council is based on an event in the time of Moses, when he complained to God that he could not carry the full load of leading the Israelites in the wilderness.

“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Gather before me seventy men who are recognized as elders and leaders of Israel. Bring them to the Tabernacle to stand there with you. I will come down and talk to you there. I will take some of the Spirit that is upon you, and I will put the Spirit upon them also. They will bear the burden of the people along with you, so you will not have to carry it alone.’” (Numbers 11:16-17 NLT2)

The seventy-one members of the Sanhedrin represented the seventy elders plus Moses.

By the First Century these men had little authority over civil matters, since that was left largely to the Romans, but they completely ruled over the religious matters for the Jews. They controlled the Temple and surrounding areas and had some power to police religious affairs. They certainly did not have the authority to impose the death penalty on their own – they would need the Romans to do that.

The Sanhedrin could only meet during the day in the Temple courts, and never during religious feasts, and no decisions reached by this body outside their designated meeting place was considered valid. Evidence was taken from separate witnesses individually, and all testimony had to agree on every detail. Each member of the Sanhedrin was required to give their verdict separately, beginning with the youngest and proceeding to the oldest.

Yet, for the trial of Jesus, they were gathering not at the Temple but in Caiaphas’ home sometime after midnight on the Day of the Passover Feast. Clearly, the Sanhedrin was breaking several of their own rules in order to railroad Jesus, now that they had him in their hands, in the middle of the night, in secret, away from crowds who might oppose their arrest of him. Now, all they had to do was come up with evidence that Jesus was guilty of a crime that would bring from the Romans the death sentence. Yet even that was a challenge, until the high priest asked the crucial question...

“…Then the high priest asked him, ‘Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?’ Jesus said, ‘I AM. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.’” (Mark 14:61-62 NLT2)

24 HOURS-Week 2: Pictures

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , | Posted On at 4:40 PM

I've been on Spring Break and didn't get a chance to post some pictures I wanted to make available that went along with my Week 2 message. You can view a map outlining Jerusalem in the time of Jesus in my first Week 1 post in this series. By the way, you can listen to the messages of this series online at this web address: www.gateway-community.org/live.html


Above is a modern-day view of the site where the holiest of all Jewish sites, the Temple, was located. The whole elevated area, enclosed now by walls, is called the Temple Mount. The gold dome you see there is not a Jewish structure but a Muslim structure called The Dome of the Rock. The second Temple (finished in 516 BC) was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD (The first Temple, built by Solomon, was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC). In 637 AD Jerusalem was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate army. A few decades later the Dome of the Rock was built, in the late Seventh Century, and is considered the third holiest site in Islam because it is believed to be the site where Muhammad ascended to heaven. To the right of the Dome of the Rock, barely visible in this picture, is also the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In the center of the picture, below a stand of trees just to the lower right of the Dome of the Rock is what is today called the Western or Wailing Wall (see below). It is believed this is the only site remaining in which some of the ancient wall surrounding the second Temple is still evident. It has become a very holy site and a place of pilgrimage for Jews. When we understand the religious significance to both Jews and Muslims, as well as Christians, we begin to understand why there is so much tension and war in and around Israel and Jerusalem.



Below is a modern-day picture of the Kidron Valley which runs between the Temple Mount and the Mount of Olives. The top wall visible in this picture is not from the original Temple but was built by Crusaders. However, behind this wall, and somewhat to the right, is the original site of the Temple and the present-day site of the Dome of the Rock (see above). Jesus and his followers would have crossed this valley to reach the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane, where he went to pray on his last night before his crucifixion. In this picture below are olive trees across the floor of the Kidron Valley.


Below is a series of steps that are from the time of Jesus and were very likely used by him and his disciples as they descended into the Kidron Valley heading toward the Garden of Gethsemane.


Finally, below is a modern-day picture of the Temple Mount, as seen from the Mount of Olives. Visible in the center of the picture, behind the wall, is the Dome of the Rock (see above).



24 HOURS-Week 2: What Happened to Judas?

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , , , | Posted On Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 7:58 PM

One of the key characters in the last 24 hours of Jesus' life is the disciple Judas. There were actually two disciples named Judas, but the Gospel writers always distinguish the one who betrayed Jesus as Judas Iscariot (with Iscariot probably meaning, "a man of Keiroth," a small town in the south of Judah).

Matthew, Mark and Luke all list Judas among Jesus' twelve disciples, but he is listed last in each list with a comment indicating he later betrayed Jesus (John has no list). John tells us Judas' heart is clearly not in the right place. When Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus, poured expensive perfume on Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair, Judas objected. "That perfume was worth a year's wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor." (John 12:5 NLT2) But his motivation wasn't the poor, as John tells us: "Not that he cared for the poor - he was a thief, and...he often stole some for himself." (John 12:6 NLT2)

We know that at the Last Supper, after Jesus prophesied that one of his disciples would betray him, Judas quietly left the meal. John tells us the other disciples just assumed he was going out to pay for their meal or give money to the poor. But both Luke and John indicate that Satan prompts Judas to betray Jesus. However, the fact that Satan could enter into Judas indicated at that time he really wasn't a true follower of Christ. Had he been in the beginning? None of the Gospels tell us.

So, why did Judas betray Jesus? This is a question people have wrestled with down through the centuries. Was it for the 30 coins of silver? Possibly, since we know he was a thief and very interested in money. Matthew tells us Judas went to the authorities and asked how much they were willing to pay to have Jesus betrayed into their hands (Matthew 26:14-16). But could there be another reason?

Some have suggested Judas was driven by ambition. Judas was almost certainly an extreme Jewish nationalist or zealot. In Jesus he believed he had found the Messiah, the anointed one of God, who would liberate his people. Perhaps Judas was looking forward to the day when Jesus would be crowned king and lead the Jews to victory over the Romans. Then Judas would take his place alongside Jesus in his new kingdom, with more power and wealth than he could even dream of.

As Jesus entered Jerusalem that last week, on Sunday, to the crowds waving palm branches and shouting out "Hosanna," Judas thought the time had finally come. What better time to announce he was the Messiah than at the Feast of the Passover, when Jerusalem would be crowded with 2-3 million Jews and national fervor was already running high (remembering when God had liberated Israel from the Egyptians). The Roman garrison in Jerusalem would be no match for them, and with the Messiah leading the way, they would quickly expel the Romans from their borders and set up a new Israel, with God's own power protecting them through the Messiah Jesus.

But, as the week went on and Judas realized Jesus wasn't going to confront the Romans, wasn't going to declare himself king, wasn't going to raise up an army to expel the Romans, he became disillusioned with Jesus. Perhaps he felt he had been a fool for thinking this Jesus would really be the Messiah, and now he was angry and bitter. But he would show Jesus. He would betray him and at least get some silver out of the deal.

A somewhat different version of the above scenario starts out the same, with Judas believing in the cause for Israel and believing Jesus was the Messiah. Again, as they entered Jerusalem, it appeared the time had come. But instead of rallying the Jews, Jesus was simply antagonizing the religious authorities more and more. Perhaps Judas saw an inevitable conflict looming between Jesus and the authorities that would leave the Jews divided rather than united. So, some have suggested, Judas betrayed Jesus in order to force his hand, to make him proclaim that he was the Messiah and take his rightful place in leadership of the Jewish people. Perhaps he believed Jesus, as he was delivered to the authorities, would be compelled to act in order to save himself. And thus, the campaign would begin.

Something interesting happens in Judas' very act of betrayal of Jesus. In the dark at the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas would greet Jesus with a kiss, a customary greeting of a Jewish rabbi. It was a sign of respect and affection. Then the arresting mob would know for sure which one to grab. The Greek word used for this "kiss" sign was philein, which is the typical word for this act. However, when it comes time for Judas to actually kiss Jesus, Mark uses the word kataphilein, which carries a much more intense sense of deep affection and love (Mark 14:44-45).

We don't see this significant difference in the English, but it's there in the Greek. Why does Mark use the different, more intense word? Could it be that Judas has begun to reflect on what he's done, that he's starting to feel remorse or regret or even guilt? Of course, we don't actually know, but the choice of these two words by Mark might indicate there was more turmoil going on within Judas than is obvious.

Mark doesn't tell us what happens to Judas, but Matthew and Luke give us the tragic ending. Matthew tells us, in Matthew 27:3-5, that when it became obvious to Judas that Jesus was going to die, he really was filled with remorse. Early on that Friday morning he takes the money back to the religious authorities and says, "'I have sinned, for I have betrayed an innocent man.'" (vs. 4 NLT2) But the religious authorities have Jesus now, and they could care less if Judas has developed a conscience. So, Judas threw the money down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself.

Luke tells us in Acts 1:18 that Judas bought a field with the money. Though Luke isn't clear, most scholars think Judas still hung himself, but either the tree limb or rope broke, and his already dead body fell and "spilt open." Either way, in Matthew or Luke, Judas' life comes to a sad and tragic ending.

William Barclay puts it this way:
"Both Luke and John say simply that the devil entered into Judas. In the last analysis that is what happened. Judas wanted Jesus to be what he wanted him to be and not what Jesus wanted to be. In reality Judas attached himself to Jesus, not so much to become a follower as to use Jesus to work out the plans and desires of his own ambitious heart. So far from surrendering to Jesus, he wanted Jesus to surrender to him..." (p. 330)

Perhaps the message and caution for all of us is that there is some of Judas in each one of us. We're all capable of self-serving sin to get our own way, to even use Jesus for our purposes instead of being used by Jesus for his. I know I have to often check my intentions to see if I'm serving Jesus or trying to get him to serve me. In the end, it's my prayer that I am serving Jesus.

24 HOURS-Week 1: Passover, Jerusalem and Messianic Hopes

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , , | Posted On Saturday, March 6, 2010 at 7:13 PM

The Feast of the Passover was the single biggest and most important of the Jewish feasts. The Passover event is found in Exodus 12 and the celebration to remember this event was declared by God in Exodus 12:14 (NLT2): "This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the LORD. This is a law for all time." God confirms this in Leviticus 23:4-8.

The Passover was one of Judaism's three major feasts. All Jewish adult males living within 15 miles of Jerusalem were required to attend yearly. Those who lived further away tried to attend if at all possible. It was the desire of every Jew to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem at least once in their lifetime. So, the days leading up to the Passover saw Jews arriving from across the known western world. Jerusalem was packed.

An account by the Jewish historian Josephus gives us some insight into the number of Jews who were in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover. In 65 A.D. the Jewish High Priest took a census of the number of lambs slain that year at the request of the Roman governor of Palestine. According to Josephus, the number was 256,000. The law said each lamb had to be used by a minimum of ten people, meaning there must have been between 2.5 and 3 million Jews in Jerusalem for Passover that year.

From the picture below of a 1/50th scale model of Jerusalem from the First Century, you can see the city and the whole neighboring countryside had to be packed.

Passover also created political problems for the Romans. Since the very event recalled Israel's deliverance from Egypt, Jewish nationalism ran high during this Feast. Jews continued to long for the restoration of their Jewish nation of Israel by the Messiah (Christ in Greek), which means anointed one or king.

As Jesus entered Jerusalem a few days before the Feast of the Passover ( on what we call Palm Sunday), he was greeted by crowds.

"Many in the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the fields. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting, 'Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD! Blessings on the coming Kingdom of our ancestor David! Praise God in highest heaven!'" (Mark 11:8-10 NLT2)


It would have been clear to any Jew observing this procession that the crowd was proclaiming Jesus the coming Messiah. He entered into a city packed with people whose nationalistic hopes were running high. It was a powder keg waiting to explode.

The religious leaders were often more pragmatic than spiritual, and they believed they had to try to keep a lid on things if they wanted to keep the Romans from exerting their military might. As Jesus entered Jerusalem and taught daily at the Temple, the crowds and his presence and teachings increasingly frustrated these Jewish religious leaders.

Jesus was the Messiah, but it was also obvious that no one understood just what kind of Messiah he would be. However, within the week everything would change...
(Some of this information from William Barclay's The Gospel of Mark commentary)

24 HOURS-Week 1: Jerusalem Area Map and Upper Room

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , | Posted On at 6:33 PM


Above is a map of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus' ministry, and in particular, the last 24 hours of his life (slightly modified from 24 Hours That Changed the World by Adam Hamilton, page 14). The events of Week 1 of this message primarily take place in the site marked as "Upper Room?" and the Temple (see model below).

The question mark in "Upper Room?" is there because scholars believe this is the correct location, but they are not absolutely certain. The structure on that site was destroyed and rebuilt several times through the centuries, but the present building and Upper Room dates to the 12th - 14th Centuries and was probably built by the Crusaders to commemorate this site. Below is a picture of that structure today.

Below is 1/50th scale model of what the Temple and its courts looked like at the time of Jesus. (Photo taken from Accordance PhotoGuide)

24 HOURS That Changed the World

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , | Posted On at 6:07 PM

Jesus died at the age of 33. However, of those 33 years, the Gospel writers devoted over 95% of their writings to his last three years, and nearly 30% to the last week. But nearly 15% of the four Gospels is centered on the last 24 hours of his life – clearly Matthew, Mark, Luke and John believed something extraordinary happened in those 24 hours.

The writers focused on the period beginning with sunset on Thursday, which for the Jews marked the beginning of a new day, through his Last Supper with his disciples, his time of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, his arrest and trial before the religious and Roman authorities, his torture by the Romans and march to the cross, culminating in his crucifixion, death and burial.

The four Gospel writers, inspired by the Holy Spirit, believed that everything that had happened in Jesus’ life drove to these crucial 24 hours that changed the world. In fact, the Apostle Paul some 25 years later summed up the Gospel to the church at Corinth in Greece, writing: “…I made up my mind to forget everything except Jesus Christ and especially his death on the cross.” (1 Corinthians 2:2 TEV)

To help us understand what happened and why it's still important to us today, during the month of March we'll be focusing on Jesus' last 24 hours here on earth. I'll be working primarily from the Gospel of Mark, but I'll be drawing on information from all four Gospels as well as the rest of the Bible. I'll be using various commentaries, photos, maps, and in particular, a book by Adam Hamilton entitled, 24 Hours That Changed the World. (I'm grateful to Adam's book for some ideas and the title, but this series itself is my work.)

As I began preparing for this series, I realized there was no way I could share in a Sunday morning message everything I was learning. So, for those who want to dig deeper and learn more, I'll be adding extra posts tied to each week's message. I'll be including the week number for each of these posts so you'll know where these additional posts fit in our 24 hour journey.

I'm excited about what I believe God is going to do through this series, and I hope and pray you will, too. And pray for me, so that I can communicate clearly the events and significance for us today of these 24 HOURS that Changed the World!
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