This was the Son of God’s last week on Earth before His arrest, sufferings, trials, death, burial and resurrection, and Yeshua, who was a prophet, knew it. He knew that He would die, overcome death, leave the planet, ascend to Heaven, which is a very real place, and then return to Earth to establish the Kingdom of God for 1,000 years here on Earth.
Rabbi Yeshua is the Most Important Person who ever lived. This is Messiah’s last week, and arguably the most important week of human history. We are in the most important week, and getting to the most important events connected to the most important day in the life of the Most Important Man who ever lived! Without these most important events, we would never be able to be reconciled to the God from whom the whole world is estranged. We would never be able to enter the Kingdom of God. We could never have eternal life. The life of every human being who ever lived would be a complete disaster and end in total failure and absolute catastrophe!
These important events are connected to a very special season – Spring, and to a very special holiday in the Spring – Passover, the time of Israel being set free from harsh slavery in Egypt, and nature being set free from the death-like state of winter. Spring and Passover are times of new beginnings and new life. Passover is an annual celebration of the supernatural rescuing of God’s people from slavery to the powerful and evil nation of Egypt. That first Passover forms a prophetic background to this greater Passover and greater Lamb who provides a greater deliverance, a greater rescue and salvation from darker and more powerful forces than those of Egypt!
Yeshua had just told His closest disciples that one of them would betray Him. On their own, the 11 disciples weren’t able to figure out who the betrayer was. Messiah knew who the betrayer was, and could have exposed him, but chose not too. Judas’ freewill would be respected. The plans of the adversaries of Messiah would be allowed to play themselves out and Messiah would die, so that the ultimate plan of God for our salvation could succeed. Fascinating! Deep. Wise!
At the Lord’s final meal, the disciples couldn’t figure out who would betray their Messiah and King; but they could figure out which one of them was the most important! And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors’. But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.
The disciples wanted to know who among them was the greatest. There is a way to tell who is the most important. But for the faithful remnant of Israel, the standard of greatness is not measured the same way the Gentiles measure greatness – greatness being determined by those who wield the most authority or have the most wealth. No, the Renewed Israel who have entered into the New Covenant are to determine greatness by having the standard of humility. It is the person who humbles himself the most, and serves the most, who is the most important.
Humbling ourselves and being willing to be a servant to others does not come to us naturally. It comes to us supernaturally. It takes faith to humble ourselves the way God wants us to. It takes faith to be that kind of servant-leader. It is the man who is strong – strong enough to be humble and use his strength to serve those who are weaker than he is, who is really great. It is the man who has faith, and uses his faith to humble himself and serve, who should be considered great among us.
Who is the greatest? That’s easy! Yeshua was that kind of humble, Servant-Leader. It is the Son of God and the Son of Man, the King of Israel, and also the King of Kings and the Lord of Lord, and yet came to serve His ruined creatures – you and me. How fantastic is that?
All of us have been ruined by sinned. All of us have let God down in various ways. Like Judas, all of us have betrayed the Lord in various ways. All of us have earned the condemnation of the Creator. Messiah is the One who is worthy – not us! He made the supreme contribution to make atonement possible. He alone paid the pride for our redemption from the satanic slave market of sin and death. He alone offers us salvation. On the other hand, even when we come to know the Lord, all of us continue to fall short. All of us fall short of being who we should be, and doing what we should do. All of us, even the best of us, are unworthy servants. Therefore Messiah alone is worthy to be the focus of our considerations of who is the greatest. He Himself is truly great. Because of who He is, and His love for us, He made our salvation possible. He created us. He redeemed us. He sends His Spirit into us to live in us and transform us. He sustains us. He continues to intercede for us. Compared to Him, the greatest of us is very insignificant. In our consideration of who is great, we don’t look to ourselves. We focus on Messiah, and His greatness, and point people to Messiah – not ourselves and our puny accomplishments. We humble ourselves and serve and point men and women to the Son of God. If we do, we will be amply honored and rewarded – but in God’s time.
We really can’t determine who is the greatest among us. Someone who is very gifted and yet doesn’t live up to his gifting may not be as great as someone who has less gifts, but is faithful to use them fully. Only the Lord knows who is truly great and who isn’t, and only He is capable of honoring them in the right way.
As it turns out, there are those who are greater and who are lesser, and those who will be given greater and lesser recognition and rewards by Messiah Yeshua Himself in the world to come. In spite of their failures, the Messiah’s twelve special representatives, who suffered much, and who remained faithful to their Rabbi, and who so well served the rest of us, are some of the very greatest human beings and will be uniquely honored and rewarded. Messiah made this wonderful and encouraging promise to them: You are those who have stood by Me in My trials; and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom (eating and drinking at Messiah’s table, closest to Him of all the millions of redeemed human beings, is a very special honor), and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (and that kind of authority over the future Renewed Israel is a very great reward indeed!).
But, not just the greatest will in due time be amply rewarded. All of us, even the least important person in the Kingdom of God, will be incredibly blessed and happy! Yes, Messiah is going to reward us – in spite of our failures. Even the greatest among us can fail spectacularly – like Peter was about to. But, because of God’s love and grace and mercy, and ability to save and redeem, and Messiah’s ongoing prayers and intercession for us, our failures don’t have to be the end of our story, or the thing we get fixated on. With God and Messiah, we can move beyond failure. Simon, one of the very greatest human beings, is an example of very serious failure, but also of overcoming failure – and Yeshua knew it. And, this is what He predicted would happen to one of His closest disciples.
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat (and it seems like God gave the Adversary that permission he demanded to seriously shake up Simon’s life. But, Simon’s very serious failure would not be the end of Simon. His life would not end in failure, but in victory and a very great reward. Why? Because greater than the demands of the Adversary for our harm, are the prayers and intercessions of the mighty Son of God for our victory!); but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers”.
And that same Messiah is your High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of God the Father, and He is praying for you – that in spite of the mighty power of the Adversary and his allies, and in spite of your many weaknesses, that your faith will not fail, and that you will be faithful to the end. How great is that?
But Simon Peter didn’t like what his Rabbi had predicted was about to happen. Peter was one of the inner circle of Yeshua’s disciples, and one of the leaders of this very special group. Peter’s loyalty to His King would be shaken, and he would fail, and then be restored? No way! He was strong. He was loyal. But he said to Him, “Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death”! But, Simon was not as strong as he thought. He was capable of spectacular failure. And He said, “I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me”. Before this first day of Passover was over, within 24 hours, bold Peter would deny his Lord not once – which might be a simple mistake, not twice, but three times! But again, that failure would not be the end of Simon Peter’s story. He would turn back to Yeshua with greater faith and faithfulness than ever before, and he would use his faith and strength to build up and strengthen the faith of the rest of us – which he did.
Maybe you consider your life a failure. You have failed yourself, failed others, failed God more times than you like thinking about. Your life does not have to end in failure! Like Peter who failed spectacularly, turn back to God! Turn back to Messiah! He is praying for you. Return to faithfulness! Make the necessary changes. Practice your spiritual disciplines. Be a disciple. Pray. Read the Bible. Witness what you know of the truth to those on the outside, and build up and strengthen those on the inside. Tell others what you know about Messiah the Savior! Get fully involved in our community. Help out. Serve. Do something.
This was a very special day, and coming up was a very special time, and the disciples needed to be prepared for it. The beginning of the righteous Messiah’s redemptive and atoning and yet still terrible trials and sufferings were about to begin. The King of Israel was about to be arrested – and He knew it. And, He wanted to prepare His disciples for His arrest. The eleven needed some new instructions. And He said to them, “When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you”? They said, “No, nothing”. That prior period was a time of relative peace. As they were going and declaring the Good News, they had the time to wait on God to supply their daily needs. But things were about to change. They were about to enter a period of great tumult, and they needed to be prepared. And He said to them, “But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one. An intense and dangerous time was approaching, and a little money and maybe even a sword would be in order.
Why? What was the reason for the change that was coming? Messiah, the greatest of the prophets, knew the reason. For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘And He was numbered with transgressors’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment”. I love this! Rabbi Yeshua, quoting Isaiah 53, one of my very favorite parts of the Word of God, describing the coming and the rejection and the suffering and judgment and the death of the Messiah, and also His resurrection from the dead, and applying the words of Isaiah to Himself! Specifically, the majority of Israel would be so far from God that they would not recognize the Messiah, but would actually consider God’s Greatest Servant to be a great sinner, and treat Him as an evildoer, and put Him to death! That was what was about to happen. The disciples should expect it, and be prepared.
I don’t know if the disciples had much money with them – Judas was the treasurer, and he was gone. But they did have a couple of swords. They said, “Lord, look, here are two swords”. What could two swords do against the combined power of Jerusalem and Rome that had determined to eliminate Yeshua? Not much, and Yeshua didn’t intend that His disciples actually use their two swords to defend Him. His words to sell their clothes and buy weapons was not meant to be taken literally. Their real defense was the plan and providence and grace of God, and the prayers of the Son of God. And He said to them, “It is enough”. And, I am confident that the plan and providence and grace of God, and the prayers of the Son of God will prove to be enough for us too!