Saturday, January 30
Read Matthew 26
Think About It:
- There’s so much in this chapter…Jesus knew what was coming for Him (verse 2). He knew He was the fulfillment of the Passover. He was the lamb to be slain for the sins of the world. Things were happening all around Him. Nobody else knew the significance of the hour. The woman who anointed Him with the expensive ointment was an encouragement to Him – even though nobody else recognized that. Judas betrayed Him. Holy communion was celebrated, and we are directed to continue to celebrate it in remembrance of Him.
- Peter declared his loyalty to Jesus even when Jesus told him he would deny Him three times before morning. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed while His disciples slept. He asked them why they couldn’t even pray with Him for one hour. I think this is where the term ‘sweet hour of prayer’ came from. Peter, full of his own zeal for Jesus tried to defend Him against the mob who came to arrest Him. He boldly lashed out with his sword, putting his own life in danger, but Jesus stopped him. It wasn’t the first time Peter missed God’s will for Jesus. I’m sure Peter was confused by it all. He didn’t know what God had planned—nobody did (except for Jesus Himself). After his bold (but misguided) actions in the garden, he did end up denying Jesus. It’s easy, too easy, to be misguided by our own thoughts. How strongly did Peter deny knowing Jesus? (verse 74)
Family Time:
- FUN FACT: Alabaster was a type of marble stone. Which means it is a hard stone with all kinds of colors running through it. Maybe you can look up pictures of alabaster flasks (vases). Alabaster comes from Egypt. It is very expensive. The oil was worth a whole year’s wage (see Mark). The woman broke the flask, also (see Mark again). This was an extremely expensive way to worship Jesus.
- The Lord’s Supper is described in verses 26-29. What is the Lord’s Supper? What do we call it today? Have you ever participated in the Lord’s Supper? Talk to your parents about the meaning of the Lord’s Supper and have them help you decide if you should participate if you haven’t already.
Parents: Make sure your children understand why we do communion. Sometimes kids just copy everyone else or do it out of habit (adults too!). Keep the meaning fresh in their minds.
- Do you think you would betray Jesus like Peter did? Have you ever done something without thinking and then realized you made a bad choice? That’s kind of what happened to Peter. Even when we are warned, we don’t always do the right thing. That’s not an excuse to be careless, but a reminder to be careful in our words and actions!
