Matthew 28:18-20
The Great Commission.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you"
The great and first commandment:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
And a second is like it:
You shall love your neighbour as yourself.
Matthew 22:35-40
Luke 13:29-30
And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.
Some are last who will be first,
and some are first who will be last.
This lesson is one which I find extraordinarily deep. Particularly the application in Matthew 20:16, which always confused me as a child.
Faith; not works.
Luke 24:18,25-27
Jesus meets two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
"Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?"
Psalm 22:29-31
Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it.
Isaiah 52:13–53:12. The Suffering Servant
He was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
Christ Stripped of His Clothes, 1909
Jean-Louis Forain (French, 1852-1931)
"Take, eat; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
The Last Supper
Pascal Dagnan Bouveret (French,1852-1929)
Matthew 21:19-21
Like the empty worship of the temple - a leafy fig tree promising fruit, but bearing none to eat.
With just a few words, Jesus gave His disciples a lesson in God's power, when we put our faith in Him.
John 12:13
So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!"
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem the people wanted liberation. Crying 'hosanna' - 'please save us'. But as he entered the city gate he turned towards the Temple, not the Roman garrison. He would bring them salvation, but not in the way they expected.
Christ's humiliation on the cross confounded Jewish expectations of a triumphant Messiah, and for the Greeks what hope was there in a man who could not save himself. But for believers, the Cross's saving grace is beyond measure.
Micah 4:1
It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it...
Micah 3:11
"Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us."
Just as the Temple was no protection to Israel when it turned it's back on The Lord, it is our hearts not the symbols and outward signs of piety, that justify us.
Joel 2:28-29
No priests in the future Kingdom... all God's people will prophesy, dream dreams, and see visions.
Kings and servants, sons and daughters, old and young.
As Luther paraphrased 1 Peter 2:9: You are a royal priesthood and a priestly kingdom.
"Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord, "when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it."
The Harrower, c.1890-95
Horatio Walker (American, 1858-1938)
Joel 2:25 (ESV)
I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.
God's promise to those who turn to Him -
He will restore to you the years which the locusts have eaten.
Hosea 6:1-2
Let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.
Hosea 5:11-13
Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, because he was determined to go after vanity.
Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah.
When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound.
Daniel 12:2
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Daniel 12:3
And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
Daniel 7:13-14
"I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed."
Daniel 4:30
The king reflected and said, 'Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?'
Daniel 4:33
Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.
Nebuchadnezzar's hubris is rewarded.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Judges 13:17-18
Then Manoah enquired of the angel of the Lord, ‘What is your name, so that we may honour you when your word comes true?’
He replied, ‘Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.’
Ecclesiastes 1:18
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.
Luke 12:48
Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.
