The chapter opens with the leading priests and elders making plans to put Jesus to death. They bound Him and led Him to Pilate, the Roman governor. Judas realized that Jesus was condemned to death and felt remorse. So he returned those 30 pieces of silver to the leading priests and admitted that he had betrayed an innocent man. After that, Judas hang himself. Jesus stood trial before Pilate who knew the religious leaders were envious of Jesus and had no real charges to place against Him. He allowed the crowd to choose between him releasing Barabbas or Jesus, and they chose for Barabbas. They desired for Jesus to be crucified. Pilate allowed them to choose and accept responsibility for Jesus’ death because he knew Jesus was innocent. Everyone mocked Jesus for claiming to be the King of the Jews. They flogged Him, spit on Him, and beat Him before finally crucifying Him. And while He hung on that cross, they continued to mock Him telling Him to save Himself. Jesus gave up His Spirit. The Roman officer and soldiers realized that He was the Son of God after the events surrounding His death. He was placed in a tomb, and a stone was rolled over the entrance. But that wasn’t enough for the leading priests and Pharisees. They had remembered that Jesus had said He would rise from the dead in three days. So they went to Pilate and asked for the tomb to be sealed. Pilate abliged and ordered for guards to be placed at the tomb as well. Jesus placed our sins (that cross) on His shoulders and carried them to His death. He was nailed to our sins and released His Spirit as payment. Friend, Jesus died on that cross as an innocent man on a mission. That mission was for you and I to have eternal life. His death gave us access.

This chapter is the longest chapter, but it is essential to read. Topics within this chapter include the plot to kill Jesus, the woman anointing Jesus, Judas betraying Jesus, the last supper, Jesus praying in Gethsemane, Jesus arrested, Jesus being found guilty, and Peter denying Jesus.

All this time, the people had been trying to trap Jesus so that they could kill Him. They missed recognizing the Messiah due to their eyesight being focused on the wrong things. Their desires to understand who Jesus was, how He was performing such miracles, how He was so brilliant, who His power came from amongst other things blinded them. But they would soon come to know that He was exactly who He professed to be. I can only imagine Jesus relaxing when this woman comes to Him with an alabaster jar and began to anoint Him. She took her expensive perfumes and poured them all over Jesus for what He explained was for the preparation for His burial. At the last supper, Jesus revealed to all of the disciples that Judas would betray Him. It is also during this setting that the disciples partake in what we call communion. After leaving the last supper and being on their way to the Mount of Olives, Jesus revealed that Peter would deny Him three times. Despite that fact, Jesus took Peter, James and John into Gethsamane to pray. He left them at a certain spot to keep watch, and He went a little further. Jesus came back to that spot twice to see if they were keeping watch, but He found them sleeping. Jesus prayed three times in Gethsamane, and as soon as He was done, Judas handed Him over in exchange for 30 pieces of silver. Peter trailed Jesus to the high priest’s house to hear of the verdict from the council. After He was found guilty, Peter denied Jesus to three different people. The rooster crowed, and Peter remembered Jesus’ prophesy. He went away weeping bitterly. A few points that I gathered: stop trying to figure Jesus’ next move out and just focus on ensuring that I am in right standing with Him; never allow the expense to detour me from honoring the Messiah; keep watch; always reference the One that I serve; nothing is more precious than His presence so stay locked in. Stay focused on Him!

This chapter opens up with the very familiar parable of the ten virgins (bridesmaids) (verses one through 12). There were 5 foolish virgins and 5 wise virgins; the foolish ones were not prepared and the wise ones were prepared. When the bridegroom came to get the bridesmaids, the five foolish were left behind and locked out of the wedding. When they got back to the waiting area, they attempted to get in but were denied access. Verse 13 is the key verse for this parable; Jesus said, “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return”. We must be ready for Jesus’ return. We will not have time to get ourselves together for as the previous chapter mentioned the moment will be as quick as a lightening flash. Friend, will you be ready?

In verses 14 through 29, we read about the parable of the three servants. The master was going on a long trip and left his servants behind to tend the his affairs. He distributed his money to each of the for the amount of time he would be gone and according to each servant’s ability. When he returned, two of the servants had doubled what they received, but the one that received the least earned nothing in addition to it. The master was pleased with the two who doubled what they received and gave them additional responsibilities as they had stewarded their talents well. But the one who didn’t gain interest was condemned and sent away. As mentioned in chapter 24, we must steward what God gives us well. God gives us talents according to our individual abilities. He expects multiplication just as the master did. Our gifts and talents are not for our personal gain, but instead, they are for His glory and the saving of souls. Don’t be like the one who sat on his talent and offered no return when his master called him forth.

Jesus said, in verse 29, “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” This verse reiterates precious points. Friend, don’t be a useless, hell-bound servant due to sitting on your talent.

In verses 31 through 40, Jesus talked about the final judgment. Jesus will sit upon His thrown with His angels. All the people will be gathered; the sheep will stand to His right and the goats to His left. Jesus will say to the sheep, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. Thirsty, you gave me drink. A stranger, you invited me into your home. Naked, you clothed me. Sick, you cared for me. In prison, you visited me”. They will reply, “When did we do all these things”. Jesus will reply, “When you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters, you were doing it for Me”. But in verses 41 through 46, we read of the goats being sent away for refusing to do the things the sheep had done. They are destined for eternal punishment while the sheep are destined for eternal life. Are you a sheep or a goat? Where will you spend eternity?

In this entire chapter, Jesus teaches about the future. When reading this chapter, consider it a prophecy. We have all heard of the Anti-Christ, false prophets, etc. In verses three through five, Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives when His disciples came to Him asking about the signs of His return and the end of the world. Jesus told them to not be deceived for many people will come claiming to be the Messiah. In verses six through 12, signs are detailed. But there is hope in verses 13 and 22. Verse 13 (NLT) reads, “But the one who endures to the end will be saved”. Friend, ENDURE! Do not give up and do not give in! Verse 22 (NLT) reads “In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened FOR THE SAKE OF GOD’S CHOSEN ONES. Friend, MAKE SURE YOU ARE A PART OF THE REMNANT…God’s chosen ones. For even during the times of calamity, He will be looking after those that are His. As followers of Christ, we have no worries when it comes to the end times if we remain in God.

In verse 24, Jesus told the disciples false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders to deceive even God’s chosen ones. Even God’s chosen ones? YES! We must remain ready and vigilant while keeping watch over our temples as mentioned in verses 42 through 44 so that we will not be deceived.

Verses 27 through 41 continue to describe the end of times and Jesus’ coming. In verses 45 through 47, Jesus describes a faithful, sensible servant as one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. When the master returns and finds the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward; the master will put the servant in charge of all he owns. This is encouragement for us; we must steward whatever God gives you well. We have to prove that we have the capacity and ability to manage what He gives us well before He promotes us over more. Learn to steward all things well!

In verses one through 36, Jesus criticized the religious leaders. You remember the ones who were attempting to trap Him with their questions? Yeah…them. I would like to point out a few of the verses. In verses one through five, Jesus told the crowds that they should practice and obey the teachings of the religious leaders and Pharisees; but they should not follow their examples as they do not practice what they teach. He also told them that everything they did was for show and called them hypocrites. I am not sure about you, but when I was growing up, I heard a certain phrase many times. That phrase was, “Do as I say and not as I do”. This is basically what Jesus was telling the crowd regarding the religious leaders. It’s a shame that the leaders of that time taught right and enforced what they taught, but they decided against living what they taught. Unfortunately, we have the same issue within the body of Christ now. Friend, be the example. Don’t just know the word of God; abide by it. Don’t be a hypocrite as the religious leaders and Pharisees were.

In verses 11 and 12, Jesus mentions the greatest in the kingdom is a servant. He also said that those who are humbled will be exalted while those who exalt themselves will be humbled. SERVE! We are called to serve! Servitude does not require a title or a platform. It requires love and compassion for God’s people. Make those prayer points every single day of your life. I don’t know about you, but God has had to humble me a few times when I climbed up on my high horse. We are nothing without Him, and we should keep that in mind anytime we even think about exalting ourselves.

I have always searched the New Testament for verses on tithing. Well, I found one. Verse 23 in the NLT version says, “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from the herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things”. You should tithe AND exhibit righteousness, mercy, and faith.

In verses 25 and 26, Jesus calls the religious leaders out for attempting to clean their outer appearances but leaving their internal states unclean. He told them that if they cleaned their internal states first, their outer appearances would be cleaned too. Outwardly, they looked righteous but inwardly, their hearts were filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. I know you’ve heard the phrase “Come as you are”. Well my friend, these verses remind me of that phrase. We are filthy, but God can clean us up from the inside out. We need His power and presence to be cleaned and transformed. It is not something that we ourselves can do.

In verse 37, Jesus expressed grief for Jerusalem calling it the city that killed prophets and stoned God’s messengers. Even after saying that, Jesus said He desired to save them by gathering them under His wings; but they wouldn’t let Him. And that is exactly how He is with us. Although we have been hypocrites, lawless, and sinful, He still desires to forgive us and save us. Allow Him to take you under His wings.

In verses one through fourteen, we read the parable of the great feast. Jesus referenced the Kingdom of Heaven to be like a king who organized a great feast for his son. When everything was prepared for the feast, the king sent his servants out to gather the guests, but they refused to come. So he sent them out again, and once again, they refused to come. The king ended up telling the servants that the invited guests were not worthy to come to the feast. So he instructed them to gather people from the street corners and bring them to the feast. He told his servants that it did not matter if the people were good or bad. So the servants gathered many people from the street corners to come to the feast. When the king came into the feast, he noticed a man there that was out of dress code. When asked why he was out of dress code, he did not reply to the king so he was bond and cast into darkness. Let me break this parable down, God is preparing His kingdom. He is inviting all of us into the kingdom, but we are refusing to walk with Him, obey Him, be led by Him, surrender to Him, etc. He keeps inviting us in, but we keep refusing the invitation. Eventually, God deems us unworthy to join the Kingdom so He begins to seek out people from the street corners who are willing to come to the kingdom. Those people come due to His invitation to be a part of the kingdom, but many may not be one of God’s chosen ones due to being unholy, unrighteous, etc.

In verses 15 the 40, the Pharisees and Sadducees attempt to trap Jesus into saying something that could get Him arrested. But of course, Jesus already knew this and shut the mouths of both groups each time. I would like to point out verses 36 through 40. The Pharisees asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment in the law of Moses. Jesus replied for them to love the Lord with all their heart, mind and soul; He stated the second one was to love their neighbor as themselves. Those verses are self-explanatory, but I would like to drop a small nugget here. We cannot effectively love ourselves ad others until we know and fully accept God’s unconditional love for us. Once He fills us up with His love, we can spread it!

In verses one through eleven, we read about Jesus’ grand entrance into Jerusalem. He rode into the town on a colt with palm branches being laid before Him. The people praised Him as He came through. Some questioned who He was, and the crowds responded that He was Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth. When Jesus arrived to the Temple and saw people buying and selling things, He began to knock over tables and drive the people out. He declared that the Temple was to be a house of prayer, but they had turned it into a den of thieves (verses 12 and 13). Friend, just as those people praised Jesus, we should be praising Him daily. Also, we must ensure that we honor God’s Temple, the buildings as well as our bodies.

The theme of faith is mentioned in reference to the fig tree in verses 18 through 22. Jesus was hungry, saw the fig tree, and approached it to obtain fruit from it. But there were only leaves on the tree, so He cursed it. The tree withered away immediately. Friend, we are supposed to be producing fruit just like that fig tree was supposed to be. Don’t allow our Heavenly Father to find your life to be unproductive or producing bad fruit; it may cause you to be cursed and wither away. The disciples were amazed by the speed at which the tree withered so they asked Jesus about it. Jesus told them if they had faith instead of doubt, they would be able to do similar; they would also be able to pray for anything in faith, and they would receive what they prayed for. Get your faith up, friend!!

In verses one through sixteen, we read about the parable of the vineyard workers. Verse one compares the Kingdom of Heaven to the landowner who went and hired workers for the vineyard. He went out early one morning to find workers, agreed to pay them a full day’s wage, and sent them into the vineyard to work. At different times during the day, the landowner found and sent more workers into the vineyard; the last group was found and sent to work only one hour before the day was over. At closing, he called all of the workers to him to be paid. He paid them all the same wage, a full day’s wage. The workers that were there all day protested out of jealousy because they felt as if they should’ve been paid more than the others. BUT they had agreed to their pay at the beginning of the day. Friend, Jesus paid the ultimate wage for our lives. We all are workers within the Kingdom of God and our wage for the work that we do is the same wage, eternal life. We need to tend to our own work and our own wage.

In verses 17 through 19, we read that Jesus and the disciples were headed to Jerusalem. Jesus spoke with them privately telling them that He would be betrayed, sentenced to death, handed over to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified. BUT on the third day, He would be raised from the dead. I believe this is the third prophecy of His death and resurrection within this chapter.

In verses 25 through 28, we read that Jesus called the disciples together and explained the significance of serving others. He told them that whoever wanted to be a leader among them must be a servant, and whoever wanted to be first among them must become a slave. He ended this by saying even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many. Friend, we are called to serve others not to be served. We dare not think more highly of ourselves.

In verses 30 through 34, two blind men heard that Jesus was coming through their area so they began to cry out for Him to have mercy on them. The people attempted to silence them, but they kept calling out to Jesus. He stopped and asked them what they wanted to which they responded to see. Jesus had compassion for them and touched their eyes; instantly, they were healed. That’s not all. After being healed, they followed Him. Friend, I believe that God has done more than enough for us to seek the Healer and follow Him.

The setting is the region of Judea east of the Jordan River as large crowds continued to follow Jesus and be healed of sickness. In verses three through nine, some Pharisees came to Jesus attempting to trap Him once again with their questions. They questioned Him regarding grounds for divorce. Jesus’ responded mentioning the intent for God’s creation of male, female, and marriage; He also expressed how marriage is meant to be permanent. After more questioning, He stated that a divorce is acceptable on grounds of adultery. The disciples responded in verse 10 stating it was better to not marry at all than to marry and divorce. Jesus agreed with this statement and stated that not everyone can accept that. He explained that some people are born eunuchs, some made eunuchs by others, and some choose for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Pharisees were questioning Jesus only to find fault in His answers so that they could have Him arrested. Don’t be a Pharisee. I am not elaborating on divorce, go back and read what Jesus had to say.lol But I will elaborate on the eunuch part. A eunuch is someone who abstains from marriage and sex. When Jesus said that some people are born eunuchs, He was referencing someone who had been born with a defect in hormones or physical characteristics necessary from reproduction. When He said made eunuchs by others, He was referencing those that were castrated due to cultural practices. When He said choose to be eunuchs, He was referencing someone who commits to celibacy and singleness so they can be totally committed to the Kingdom of God.

In verses 16 through 22, we read about the rich man who came to Jesus asking what good deed must he perform to have eternal life. Jesus mentioned obeying the commandments; the man replied that he already obeys the commandments. So Jesus told him to go sell his possessions, give the money to the poor, come and follow Him. The man walked away sad because he had many possessions that he was not willing to give up. Just as the disciples had left their families, jobs and businesses, God expects up to do the same in order to be His disciples.

In verse 27, Peter stated they had given up everything to follow Jesus before asking what would they get in return. Jesus told them what they would inherit in verse 28. To add some icing to the cake, in verse 29, Jesus revealed what we would receive if we were to give up our possessions and leave our families behind to follow Him. That reward includes receiving 100 times as much in return and inheriting eternal life. God has so much more in store for each of us. But obtaining that so much more can be costly for us due to our desires, wills, and inability to “sell our things, give to the poor, and follow Him”. But friend, just imagine the 100 fold return you will receive as well as eternal life. For what profits a man to gain the world but lose his soul? What are you willing to give up in order to inherit eternal life?

In verses one through four, Jesus tells the disciples the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven is humble like a little child. He also told them in order to see the Kingdom of Heaven, they must turn from their sin and become like a child. Although a child is referenced within these verses, we can interpret it as someone that is new to the faith or “a babe in Christ”. This reference is solidified in verses five and six which tell us that welcoming a child in the name of Jesus is welcoming Him; and anyone who causes the child to sin is better off dead. Friend, we must welcome the babes in Christ with open arms by showing them Him and leading them to Him. We must also be very intentional in our walks with Christ when claiming to be His children. We have to be careful not to allow our lifestyles to cause people to sin and/or abandon/reject God. There should be no confusion as to whether you serve God or Satan when people analyze you and your lifestyle.

In verses 12 through 14, we read the parable of the lost sheep. Just as the shepherd left his entire flock to seek out that one lost sheep, our Shepherd seeks out the lost sheep. He brings us back into His Kingdom. God does not give up on us; He does not leave us lonely. He cares about His children and is willing to come after us. {Side note: when you hear the phrase, “He left the 99 to find the one”, this is the parable that is being referenced.}

The topic for verses 15 through 35 is forgiveness. Friend, forgiveness is not a suggestion, but it is a command from God. We, as believers, must forgive instead of holding grudges. Why do we carry around hurt and pain from past situations for so long instead of seeking forgiveness? When approaching someone so that you can forgive them, it is not a time to blame, shame, or “let it all out”. It is a time to let your heart speak, release the emotions/pain, and free yourself! I want to encourage you to search your heart for any unforgiveness that resides within it. We tend to think that we are always right when in all actuality, we are wrong at times. Apologies are not just for people who have committed the wrong; they are freeing agents for the people who were wronged. Apologize even if it wasn’t fully “your fault”. Forgive, Be free. And move forward.

We must live with humility, sensitivity, compassion, discipline, and forgiveness.