As we head into what is called Lent, and the time leading up to Passover, I have to think about what our Saviour was thinking and how he must have agonized over those who rejected His message of salvation.  Those who rejected Him as the Messiah.  How he must have agonized.  I can only imagine what the Disciples felt as they realized that their time with the Messiah was growing short.  John the Baptist had been jailed and Beheaded, and they must have been greatly disturbed, knowing that their blessed friend, teacher, and Messiah would be next.  How confused they must have felt at first.  Right before Passover, after they had left the Temple , His disciples marveled at the beauty of the Temple and Jesus told them “Not one stone will be left unturned.”  And then they asked Him, What will be the signs of your coming and the end of the age? Remember, Jesus came at a time much like ours today.  A time when Jerusalem was controlled by corrupt religious officials and an evil Roman empire.  There was sexual immorality, there was persecution of the Jewish people, and thieves and murderers abounded.  Mathew, Mark, and Luke all tell the signs of the times.  But I want to concentrate on the time before Jesus’s death and Resurrection.

Jesus was a Jew.  He celebrated all the Jewish holidays and festivals.  He spent a lot of time preparing His disciples for His departure.  He told many parables that related to the end of time and His second coming, I want to concentrate on what He told them after he gave them the signs to watch for.

Mathew 24:42-51

• Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
• But understand this:  If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
• So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
• Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?
• It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.
• I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
• But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’
• and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.
• The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.
• He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

So Jesus wanted His disciples to know that they shouldn’t get discouraged if He took a long time in returning.  They were to go about their Father’s business, feeding and caring for His servants.  The last 3 parables told in Mathew before Jesus’s death and resurection  dealt with this same thing.  The Parable of the ten virgins, and the Parable of the talents,and then the Parable of the Sheep and Goats.

Jesus knew what He was facing, and He knew what he was entrusting to His disciples.  He knew the agonizing death he was facing.  He knew the humiliation He was facing, yet He spent His last days comforting and preparing His disciples for His departure and Return.

I don’t think they fully understood what a gift He gave them until it was over.  Jesus went as a spotless Lamb, the perfect Passover Lamb, quietly to slaughter.  He gave His life so that we might have eternal life.  His last days were spent praying for His followers, and trying to prepare them.  When He returns, He will not be the same quiet Lamb that was led to slaughter.  He is returning a mighty King.  The King of Kings, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, John describes Him when returning.

Revelation 19:11-16

• I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True.  With Justice He judges and makes war.
• His eyes are like blazing fire, and on His head are many crowns.  He has a name written on Him that no one knows but He Himself.
• He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is the Word of God.
• The armies of heaven were following Him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
• Out of His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.  He will rule them with an iron scepter.  He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.  On His robe and on His thigh he has this name written:
• King of Kings And Lord of Lords.

His robe is dipped in blood.  Isaiah 63 tells of this as God’s Day of Vengeance and Redemption.  

Isaiah 63

• Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson?  
• Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength?
• It is I speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.
• Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress?
• I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with me.  I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments and I stained all my clothing.
• For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come.
• I looked, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that no one gave support; so my own arm worked salvation for me, and my own wrath sustained me.
• I trampled the nations in my anger; in my wrath I made them drunk and poured their blood on the ground.

Well, this pretty much tells us the same thing in Revelation.  It also describes what shape the world will be in when He returns.  He couldn’t find anyone to help.  That means there were no nations who were righteous, and willing to fight evil.  We are right at the door of that now.  It’s an amazing time to be alive.  We were put here at this time for a reason.  To help ready and prepare.   So as we remember the death and resurrection of our Savior let’s also remember the last instructions given by Him to His Disciples.  Let us keep watch and be ready, let Him find us going about His business, taking a stand against Evil and feeding His servants.  He’s coming, He’s Close, Can You Feel Him?

Categories: gospel of Christ, Prophecy

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