Time for Preaching ..heh

Poverty of Mankind vs Richness of His Glory

‘poor’ in Righteousness
Denial and betrayal was out of that weakness we have, being ‘poor’ in being righteous.
(looking at 3 ‘poor’ characters: the standards of ‘poor’/standard of ‘rich’)

-Judas’s Betrayal
Matthew 26:15: and said “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you? And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. (Zech 11:12And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear). So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.
Matthew 26:49: Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him. (Judas Iscariot stalked the night in the devil’s footsteps and appeared before the Lord with his accomplices, and arrested him).
Return to 26:15 On the surface, Judas betrayed Jesus for monetary benefits, so he wants to fill ‘a lack’ in the monetary sense, but on a deeper level, he was ‘poor’ in being righteous. In fact, He was very ‘poor’ as He has allowed Satan's entry his life. Luke has already offered the illustration of the Gerasene man (8:26-39)-demonized man, who wants nothing to do with Jesus.

Finally he gives the blood money back to Caiaphas and pleads for Jesus’s release. But even then he can’t accept responsibility for his betrayal which led to his tragic passage (hanged himself)

-Denial of Jesus by Peter
:Matthew 26:75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.
: Obvious parallel to Judas is Peter, who also betrays Jesus during the trial with Caiaphas, by denying that he even knows Him when some threatening bystanders. Peter’s denial came out of his weakness. He was surprised into it in a moment of confusion when his whole world was crumbling. He didn’t nurse it and coddle it and prepare for it as Judas had done. He just fell into it. But eventually Peter was able to recover unlike Judas.

Woman who poured the alabaster flask of fragrant oil on Jesus’s head.
Matthew 26:11 “For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.
Deut 15:11For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and you’re needy, in your land.'
Christ’s self-sacrifice provided the “bread of life” (John 6:35) that would relieve the spiritual famine created by original sin.

So you may ask: if Peter is ‘poorer’ or Judas? In fact, everyone can be Judas, and likewise everybody can be Peter. Peter’s denial was as heart-wrenching for Peter as Judas’s was for Judas. Good /Bad Guilt: Peter probably wept for that denial every day for the rest of his life. But Peter used it as a springboard to grow in love and trust. It taught him that he was weak, and he accepted the lesson, along with Christ’s forgiveness. Judas didn’t.

Without Resistance, He made himself ‘poor’

Without defending
Jesus offers no resistance when the multitudes seized Him, because He knows that defending Himself will place one out of God’s defense and put trust on ourselves.
Luke 6:29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.

Without words
Matthew 26:63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!"
Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
-High priests tore his clothes, ppl spat Him in the face and beat Him.-Roman soldiers stripped him, put a crown of thorns, spat at Him, and mocked Him.
-Gave him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.
The trial exposed a pitiless show of Jewish malice against one who was oppressed and afflicted. At Calvary, Jesus was fastened with nails and ropes onto the beam and lifted on to a post. Among those who looked on His crucifixion was His mother, disciples, the Jewish leaders, accusers, Roman soldiers and 2 criminals likewise crucified. Soldiers gambled for his torn garments. He replaced God in the very form of a servant, accepted human condition without protest. But unlike Peter and Judas, He was ‘poor’ physically for the richness that is to come in the resurrection.
Isaiah 53:4-5 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
It is God’s will that Truth was hidden from them 1 Corinthians 2: 8which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. God had clear view of the cross, and the person hung there hopelessly and lifelessly, all the works and thoughts of evil men Jesus bore it on the cross. He was a scapegoat for the community of mankind, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The Richness of His Glory

Like an unsurprising tragedy, a glory revealed in the Scriptures, and from His glory comes a love that comes so freely and richly, a richness of eternal implications.

The promise of His ascension
John 11:25 For Jesus said, ‘Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. The resurrection is the union of the body n the soul.

The rich truth is that His resurrection was that of revelation.
Matthew 27:63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
The Scriptures needed to be fulfilled and many prophecies culminated to reveal that Christ will pour out his life onto death. The ascension, As He blessed the people and indeed “into heaven and sat at the right hand of God” (Mathew 26:64) It held the promise of his imminent return. When He returns, the living and dead will be raised. And in this mystery where only God knows when will an apocalyptic episode to herald the eschatogical age.

The Great Commission to be ushered after the ascension
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
Matthew 27:63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
Matthew 26:35 Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: "They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots."