Matthew26:17-25 is about THE PASSOVERwhich is divided into two as follows:
Matthew26:17-19
26:17. Now on the first day of the Feastof the Unleavened Breadthe disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"
26:18 And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man,and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"
26:19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.
The Feast of the Unleavened Bread equals to the Passover feast.
In Old Testament, the Passover meant the deliverance of Israelites from Egypt.
In New Testament (for us now), the Passover means the deliverance of us from sins which bind our body, spirit, and soul.
I Corinthians5:7-8, 11
5:7. Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened breadof sincerity and truth.
5:11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral(1), or covetous(2), or an idolater(3), or a reviler(4), or a drunkard(5), or an extortioner(6)—not even to eat with such a person.
There are six sins (six is the flesh number) which bind our body, spirit, and soul as follows:
Being shepherded or not depends on the heart!
Shepherdingis the place to stabilize righteousness.
Proverbs12:26
12:26. The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray.
THE PRACTICES of living in righteousness are as follows:
Isaiah33:15
33:15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,He who despises the gain of oppressions, Who gestures with his hands,refusing bribes, Who stops his earsfrom hearing of bloodshed, And shuts his eyesfrom seeing evil:
Isaiah33:16
33:16 He will dwellon high; His place of defense will bethe fortress of rocks; Bread will be given him, His water will besure.
THE RESULTS are as follows:
Revelation19:9
19:9 Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed arethose who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!'" And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God."
The marriage supper of the Lamb of God is the deliverance of us from all the sins and the world to welcome Jesus on the glorious clouds. It equals to the meeting between Jesus (Heavenly bridegroom) with His perfect church (Heavenly bride).
The Israelites have been well shepherded in the land of Goshen, but they still have to go to the land of Canaan.
We have been protected and cared in shepherding, but it must be continued and must peak on our deliverance from this world.
If we are left on the marriage supper of the Lamb of God (not being lifted on Jesus' second coming), everything we get in this world, everything we are proud of will be destroyed and in vain.
Matthew26:18
26:18 And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man,and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"
"A certain man" means everybody.
It means that everybody (all of us) gets the same opportunity to enter the Passover feast up to the marriage supper of the Lamb of God, provided that we are PREPARING OUR HEARTS to receive Jesus as the Lamb of God.
We must receive Jesus as the Lamb of God means receiving the revelation of the Word.
Revelation5:4-7
5:4 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it.
5:5 But one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals."
5:6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
5:7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
We have welcomed Jesus' first coming through the Gospel Word such that we were saved.
But, can we welcome Jesus' second coming?
Jesus' second coming is in glory and perfection, there should be no sins at all.
We need the Word sword.
We must prepare meek heartto receive the revelation of the Word, one verse is explained by another verse, the true teaching Word which is sharper than any two-edged sword.
Thus, the preparation of the Passoveris as follows:
In the past the disciples prepared the Passover by slaughtering sheep, etc. Now, we are preparing our heart to receive the revelation of the true teaching Word, getting free from sins, until we are able to welcome Jesus' second coming.
Matthew26:19
26:19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.
THE STEPS of preparing the Passover are as follows:
- Verse 17-19 is the preparation of Passover.
- Verse 20-25 is eating the Passover.
Matthew26:17-19
26:17. Now on the first day of the Feastof the Unleavened Breadthe disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"
26:18 And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man,and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"
26:19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.
The Feast of the Unleavened Bread equals to the Passover feast.
In Old Testament, the Passover meant the deliverance of Israelites from Egypt.
In New Testament (for us now), the Passover means the deliverance of us from sins which bind our body, spirit, and soul.
I Corinthians5:7-8, 11
5:7. Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened breadof sincerity and truth.
5:11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral(1), or covetous(2), or an idolater(3), or a reviler(4), or a drunkard(5), or an extortioner(6)—not even to eat with such a person.
There are six sins (six is the flesh number) which bind our body, spirit, and soul as follows:
- Sins which bind bodyare sexual immorality (sexuality sins, wrong marriage) and drunkard (including smoking, getting drunk, consuming drugs).
- Sins which bind soulare covetous (having many calculations with God, cannot give to the others who need), reviler, extortioner (liar, thief of God's own, that is the tithe and special offering).
- Sin which binds spiritis idolater.
- We confess our sins to God and the others, and we should not repeat them if we are forgiven. It equals to dying from sins or REPENTANCE.
The blood of Jesus will forgive and purify us from all sins. - BEING NEWLY BORN, through water and spirit.
The true baptismis burying the people who have repented or died from sins in water with Jesus, and then they will be raised in new life (Heavenly life).
Romans6:2, 4
6:2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
6:4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
After water baptism, we will receive the Holy Spirit baptism, which equals to the fullness of Holy Spirit.
One of the signs of Holy Spirit fullness is speaking with other tongues, as the Spirit gave us utterance.
Acts2:4
2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Birth from physical mother will result in physical life which does not inherit the Heaven (cannot enter the Heaven). We need to experience new birth.
New life is life in RIGHTEOUSNESS and PURITY.
Purity means without leaven(sins, false teaching) and comes from sincere/honest heart.
Being shepherded or not depends on the heart!
Shepherdingis the place to stabilize righteousness.
Proverbs12:26
12:26. The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray.
THE PRACTICES of living in righteousness are as follows:
Isaiah33:15
33:15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,He who despises the gain of oppressions, Who gestures with his hands,refusing bribes, Who stops his earsfrom hearing of bloodshed, And shuts his eyesfrom seeing evil:
- Right lip, speaking uprightly.
- Right hands (every deeds, works, and study).
- Right ears, not listening to strange voice or gossips which generate conflicts, etc.
- Eyes only see right things.
Isaiah33:16
33:16 He will dwellon high; His place of defense will bethe fortress of rocks; Bread will be given him, His water will besure.
THE RESULTS are as follows:
- There is always God's protection from all distress, accident, up to the death and perdition cannot touch us.
It is true that we cannot one hundred percent live in righteousness now, but there must be heart's intention to throw away all wrong things.
If our heart's intention is right and pure, the Great Shepherd will always be there to protect and lift us up although we are careless and fall.
The example is King David who should be executed when he did adultery with Bathsheba.
But because David was respecting shepherding, the Great Shepherd forgave him and lifted him up. - There is sure care guarantee from the Great Shepherd.
Revelation19:9
19:9 Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed arethose who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!'" And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God."
The marriage supper of the Lamb of God is the deliverance of us from all the sins and the world to welcome Jesus on the glorious clouds. It equals to the meeting between Jesus (Heavenly bridegroom) with His perfect church (Heavenly bride).
The Israelites have been well shepherded in the land of Goshen, but they still have to go to the land of Canaan.
We have been protected and cared in shepherding, but it must be continued and must peak on our deliverance from this world.
If we are left on the marriage supper of the Lamb of God (not being lifted on Jesus' second coming), everything we get in this world, everything we are proud of will be destroyed and in vain.
Matthew26:18
26:18 And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man,and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'"
"A certain man" means everybody.
It means that everybody (all of us) gets the same opportunity to enter the Passover feast up to the marriage supper of the Lamb of God, provided that we are PREPARING OUR HEARTS to receive Jesus as the Lamb of God.
We must receive Jesus as the Lamb of God means receiving the revelation of the Word.
Revelation5:4-7
5:4 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it.
5:5 But one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals."
5:6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
5:7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
We have welcomed Jesus' first coming through the Gospel Word such that we were saved.
But, can we welcome Jesus' second coming?
Jesus' second coming is in glory and perfection, there should be no sins at all.
We need the Word sword.
We must prepare meek heartto receive the revelation of the Word, one verse is explained by another verse, the true teaching Word which is sharper than any two-edged sword.
Thus, the preparation of the Passoveris as follows:
In the past the disciples prepared the Passover by slaughtering sheep, etc. Now, we are preparing our heart to receive the revelation of the true teaching Word, getting free from sins, until we are able to welcome Jesus' second coming.
Matthew26:19
26:19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.
THE STEPS of preparing the Passover are as follows:
- Exodus12:3, 5
12:3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of hisfather, a lamb for a household. 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take itfrom the sheep or from the goats.
Taking a blemish lamb.
To take a blemish lamb in a shepherding is not difficult. It is different from taking a lamb in the forest.
Deuteronomy30:11-14
30:11. "For this commandment which I command you today isnot toomysterious for you, nor isit far off.
30:12 It isnot in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'
30:13 Nor isit beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'
30:14 But the word isvery near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
It means taking the true teaching Word in the shepherding.
Without blemish means there should be no difference at all.
We should choose the Word! Do not be careless!
The teaching Word arranges our job, marriage, and our service.
If there is little difference, it means it is already wrong!
The practice islistening the true teaching Word in shepherding system, until we understand the Word (it is not difficult since the shepherding Word is repeated). - Exodus12:6a
12:6a Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month.
The lamb of Passover must be kept for four days(starting from the tenth until the fourteenth day of the same month). It equals to the four thousand years preparation (two thousand years the era from Adam to Abraham, two thousand years the era from Abraham to Jesus' first coming).
It means thatwe must keep the true teaching Word inside our heart. It equals to believing and getting sure to the true teaching Word, the teaching Word becomes faith or it is written in our heart.
The things that have been written and have become faith in our heart should not be changed or added or subtracted any little up to Jesus' second coming.
We should hold on one true teaching Word.
The result is as follows:
Hebrews10:16-17
10:16 "Thisisthe covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,"
10:17 then He adds,"Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."
With heart people believe and are justified. With lip people confess and are saved.
Who does not have any sin?
But if we want to confess our sins and all our conditions, God will forgive and save us, erase all our sins.
If sin (human's heaviest burden) is solved, every problem will also be solved by God. - Exodus12:6b-8
12:6bThen the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.
12:7 And they shall take someof the blood and put iton the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.
12:8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread andwith bitter herbsthey shall eat it.
The lamb of Passover is killed and eaten.
It means that the true teaching Word must be practiced, such that it is written in our lips and hands.- The Word is written in lip means that our words are only testimonial words about the true teaching Word.
There should be no enervating words, vain words, lies, etc.!
Testimonial words beat Satan.
On the contrary, with the words outside the Word, we are still beaten by Satan.
Unkind words must be revoked or reconciled! - The Word is written in hands means that our deeds are according to the true teaching Word.
Exodus12:7
12:7 And they shall take someof the blood and put iton the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.
The result isthe blood is put on the door. It means as follows:- Our marriage (household door) is purified by the Word.
We must become watchful from the beginning of marriage!
"Hunting" system outside the shepherding is the system of the forest. There is no love but flesh desire. That marriage will be destroyed!
Man hunts woman is not good; moreover if woman hunts man, it cannot be said anymore.
If we have been wrong in marriage, we should ask forgiveness from God!
For the people who have not married yet, we must not try it, such that our marriage will not be destroyed!
Our marriage journey must be right according to the right structure (husband, wife, children), until our marriage may reach the perfect marriage. - Our heart is purified by the Word.
Mark 7:21-23
7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
7:22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.
7:23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man."
It is true that in order to be purified, we must experience suffering (as bleeding). But if we are purified, we will get joy, our eyes can see God. It equals to worshipping God, believing and fully surrendering to God.
Matthew5:8
5:8 Blessed arethe pure in heart, For they shall see God.
We only put our hope on God's mercy.
We should not stop seeing God before His mercy is poured!
The result isGod sees us with His merciful and graceful look, as the Great Shepherd and King of kings.- Mark 6:34-35, 41-42
6:34 And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things.
6:35 When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a deserted place, and already the hour islate.
6:41 And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave themto His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among themall.
6:42 So they all ate and were filled.- God's merciful and graceful hands are able to care our life physicallyin the middle of difficulties in this world, in the middle of all our limitations.
- God's merciful and graceful hands are able to care our life spiritually.We will experience satisfaction/ peace. Everything becomes easy and light (there is no more weariness and heavy burden).
- God's merciful and graceful hands are able to care our life physicallyin the middle of difficulties in this world, in the middle of all our limitations.
- Luke22:60-62
22:60 But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying!" Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
22:61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."
22:62 So Peter went out and wept bitterly.
Peter denied Jesus three times and actually Jesus has turned from Peter (no longer looked at Peter).
But, although we have fallen, if we still want to listen to the Word and be shepherded (pay attention to the rooster's crow), God's merciful look is able to lift us up.
God's lifting is we are able to confess our sins and no longer do the sins. - John11:32-33, 35
11:32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
11:33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.
11:35 Jesus wept.
God's merciful look is able to erase all impossibilities.
Mary only saw Jesus and not the others.
God's merciful and graceful hands will be stretched out; Lazarus who had died and been rotten (being rotten in sins) could be raised, recovered, even used as God's witness.
- The Word is written in lip means that our words are only testimonial words about the true teaching Word.