Trinity Fellowship

In taking a crown of thorns, by following Jonah into the heart of the earth for three days and three nights, by having His heel bruised as He crushes the head of the serpent, Christ is finalizing the war his grandfather David started. In experiencing the trauma of having body and soul torn apart, Jesus assumes every covenant curse that God ever threatened against His people. Because his payment was perfect, and because death and the men who sentenced Jesus to death couldn't have the final say, the Spirit vindicates Jesus by knitting His body and soul back together, resurrecting Him out of the grave. By stepping out of the world of sin and corruption, and into a garden of new life, Jesus establishes the new order in which death no longer reigns. He is pleased to work this new reality out gradually and slowly, starting with the new birth of the soul, and culminating in us following our older brother out of the grave and into a new heaven and new earth, body and soul knit back together, to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever.

The religious leaders tried to pin Christ as a political threat, but instead of defending himself, in order that He may lay His life down for us, He went willingly. Christ suffering under Pontius Pilate was no accident of history; the plan of redemption has Christ coming at the appointed time, to fulfill all that the prophets had spoken. Don't think too little of the price that has been paid for our sins. We are forgetful people who are quick to undervalue Christ and the significance of all that He went through in dying for His people. Christ's kingdom is not of this world. We don't spread the Word like Islam through forced surrender at the end of a sword, but we take part in the advance of the kingdom through the spreading of the gospel.

Study in the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith

Christ continues to advance redemptive history as He transforms the Passover meal into the Lord's Supper, a sacrament which continues to connect His people to both the past and the future. Christ feeds His people to prepare them for the night of testing, that they may prevail not because of their ability but because of His provision. In the story God tells, the way to life is through death. The way to day is through the night. The way to gathering is through scattering. There is no way for us to navigate this on our own; we will invariably lose heart and fail. In His kind pleasure, Christ's courage is more contagious than our cowardice, and He is able His people through. We must acknowledge our weakness and lay hold of Jesus Christ, who is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and redemption. Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord (1 Cor. 1:30, 31).

In the Passover meal, we see the building anticipation, the layering, and the rhyming of redemptive history. Passover reminded the people of God that they must be covered in the blood of the Lamb if they are to escape judgment, and that the old leaven must be purged so a fresh start can be made. Getting Israel out of Egypt proved to be much faster than getting Egypt out of Israel and so often this remains the case today. We too must be killed by God's law and brought to life by His gospel every Lord's Day. We have the solemn responsibility and the great honour to gather with His people and draw close Him. We too may struggle with a dark night of the soul, of questioning and doubting, but in due time, He comes to feed us, to strengthen us, and to finally remind us that He is ours, and that we are His.

Study in the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith

Study in the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith

Like us, no one in today's passage is exempt from having an evaluation of the worth of Christ. The Jewish leaders not only saw him as unworthy of their respect but worthy to be crucified. Judas tried to put a dollar amount on his worth. The disciples, while meaning well, still hadn't truly caught on to His worthiness as the one to usher in the new covenant. It is only the woman who saw him worthy and deserving of all her worship and adoration. We must also confess him as our only Saviour and King. Yet, His worth does not rest upon our opinion. One day His worth will be revealed to all men but only those who acknowledged it willingly will join together in worship of Him forever.

The highly charged controversy between Christ and the religious leaders on Tuesday of Holy Week is coming to a close at the end of Matthew 25. Jesus has used symbols, parables, and prophecy to outline the condemnation of the city for rejecting the Messiah, and now He is projecting His righteous judgment out to the end of history. Destruction still falls on those who reject the Saviour. The terms of life and death, heaven and hell, have been clearly laid out. Those who come to Jesus for pardon will be renewed with a living, fruitful faith that loves Christ and His sheep. Those who remain in their sin are dead while they still live, turned in on themselves and fruitless living. One way leads to an eternity of union, adoption, and inheritance; the other to isolation, outer darkness, and gnashing of teeth. The charge is this - today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts (Psalm 95:7, 8).

Study in the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith