In This Issue

• "THE SON OF MAN WILL BE BETRAYED"
• A "RECIPE" AND A STORY TO GO WITH IT
• HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN
• UPCOMING GOSPEL MEETING SCHEDULE
• MORE INFORMATION...

"THE SON OF MAN WILL BE BETRAYED"

In Matt. 20:17-19, the Bible says, "Then Jesus, going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, 'Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.'"

Some who misunderstand the nature of the kingdom Christ came to establish have taught that Jesus intended to set up a world empire with Jerusalem as its capital -- and that His rejection by the Jewish leaders was completely unforeseen, causing Him to drastically change His plans. That theory simply is not so. Jesus knew full well that He would be rejected and crucified. And He never intended His reign to be that of an earthly monarch over a carnal kingdom. His reign is spiritual, as it was always meant to be.

Our text shows Jesus knew He would be betrayed. He knew the Jewish leaders would reject Him. He knew He would be delivered to the Gentiles, who would mock, scourge, and crucify Him. He also knew that on the third day He would rise from the dead. Absolutely none of this was a surprise to Him. In fact, it was all a matter of prophecy, settled in heaven hundreds of years before it came to pass.

David had foretold the betrayal of Jesus a thousand years before it happened in Psalm 41:9. The crucifixion of Jesus was foretold about 1,000 B.C. by David in Psalm 22, and about 730 B.C. by Isaiah in chapter 53 of his prophecy, in so much detail that these prophecies almost sound like the eye witness accounts in the New Testament Scriptures.

Although there are numerous prophecies that show that it was His own nation who first rejected Him, David shows that the Gentiles, too, had a very active part in the crucifixion. In Psalm 2:1-2, he wrote, "Why do the nations [Gentiles] rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed..." In Psalm 22:16-18, he wrote, "For dogs [a common Jewish term when referring to Gentiles] have surrounded Me; the assembly of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots."

Again, both David and Isaiah foretold that Christ would rise from the dead. This is strongly implied in Isaiah 53, beginning with the last part of verse ten, and even more clearly indicated by David in Psalm 16:8-11. It is certain that none of these predicted events was a surprise to our Lord, who came to die as a sacrifice for our sins. 

--CRJ

A "RECIPE" AND A STORY TO GO WITH IT

I have a friend in west Texas that I’ve never met. Gaylene Blalock of Monahans, Texas is my internet friend. She frequently sends me various humorous and/or "inspirational" materials, gathered from various sources. As I write this, she just sent me an interesting "recipe" taken from a set of recipe cards from 1966, put together by the Missouri Ave. Baptist Church in Clearwater, Florida. I’ll share THAT with you first, then a story to go along with it.

"DEATH’S RECIPE"

Take 1 reckless, natural born fool

3 drinks of whiskey

1 fast automobile

Soak fool in whiskey, place in the automobile. Then let go. After due time, remove from wreckage, place in a satin box, and garnish with flowers.

Now, the story. When I responded to her e-mail by telling her I would probably use this "recipe" in this bulletin, she wrote back and told me this personal experience.

"In the summer of 1966 my parents, brother and I were in a real bad wreck in Texarkana. We were hit from the rear by an 18-wheeler! He had been drinking. It was the 18-wheeler hit us, we hit the car in front of us, and that car hit the car in front of them. Our car went out of control and skidded about 180 feet, landing in the ditch, upright. The car then caught on fire, and I was wedged (down in the floor) in between the front and back seats unconscious. How we all came out alive and without serious injury -- the good Lord! I was unconscious, but it seems to me to this day, I can hear someone praying to get me out before the car exploded. And that truck driver that hit us never even stopped to help. There was a bar across the highway. He was there, and sat and drank until the police came for him. In 1966, the penalty for drunk driving was not severe, like it is today. That recipe just reminded me of the wreck, for some reason."

Thanks, Gaylene. 

--CRJ

A number of times the prophet Isaiah foretold a pathway or highway to be opened, leading men to God. In Isa. 35:8, he wrote, "A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray."

In verse 16 of one of his most Messianic chapters, chapter 11, he foretells, "There will be a highway for the remnant of His people who will be left from Assyria, as it was for Israel in the day that he came up from the land of Egypt."

In another passage, he indicated that in this great highway the paths of Jews and Gentiles, even those who had been bitter enemies in the past, would converge. "In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be one of three with Assyria and Egypt, even a blessing in the midst of the land" (Isa. 19:23-24).

In all these passages, the prophet looks to a brighter day, an age when Jews and Gentiles would serve God together hand in hand.

In the New Testament, the apostle John shows us clearly the fulfillment of these great Old Testament promises--"Jesus said..., ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’" (John 14:6).

Jesus is the Way--the great Highway that Isaiah foretold. That is why we must serve and worship God through Jesus Christ today. That is why we must work and worship in His name. That is why we pray to the Father in Jesus’ name. Jesus is our Highway to heaven. 

--CRJ

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