Hi and welcome to the Books
of the Book series here on 3ABN.
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We're exploring
the Gospel of Mathew.
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I'm Glenn Russell, Professor
at the Religion Department
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at Andrews
University with my good friend
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and colleague,
Dr. Ranko Stefanovic.
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You teach over in the
seminary across campus.
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And it's been a
joy to work together
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with you for many years.
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Yes, Glenn, we were in the
same department for many years.
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It was great
enjoyment to shape the minds
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of those young people
and lead them to Christ.
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And also I enjoy
this taping here.
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We have a wonderful crew here.
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We-- I mean, they're really
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making this
recording very enjoyable event.
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And I'm so glad here to be.
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It's been a
wonderful atmosphere.
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We thank the folks at 3ABN.
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And if you have missed some
of the programs in the past,
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try to get the
opportunity to go back
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and catch this whole series.
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You'll find that it
will be a rich experience
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of walking with God.
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Let's pray that
God will direct us
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in our study together
this time also. Let's pray.
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Lord, we come into your presence
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recognizing that You are here,
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recognizing that
You are Lord of all.
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We ask that our hearts
may be turned towards You.
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We are so broken so
fallen so much in need of You.
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So Lord, we thank
You for your scriptures.
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This gift this picture
this revelation of Jesus.
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May we understand You more
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through the grace
of your Holy Spirit.
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In Jesus' name
we pray. Amen. Amen.
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Ranko, before we go
into our study for the today,
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could you please take us back
and help us get an overview?
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Many times we read
these parts of the Bible
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we don't recognize the timeframe
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when the last
week of Jesus' life
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would often call
the Passion Week. Yes.
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Walk us through the each
day, Sunday through Friday.
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What happened and
when it took place? Okay.
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So we want to make clear
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that we are dealing with
the last week of Jesus' life
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before the
crucifixion. So we started--
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okay, the last portion
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of the Gospel of
Mathew by reading about Jesus
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who riding the donkey
entered Jerusalem there.
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Okay. The triumphal entry.
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Actually that event
took place on Sunday.
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Most likely on
Monday the following day
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Jesus went there to the
temple to cleanse the temple.
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It was followed by the
cursing of the victory in which
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Jesus announced the destiny
of the leaders of the nations.
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And we had a long debate
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and controversies
with the Pharisees.
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You remember
that, they were chasing
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after Jesus
trying to confuse Him
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with the questions et cetera.
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And to trap him,
yeah. That was on Monday.
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Then on Tuesday
the following day
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probably few more
traps of the Pharisees.
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And on that day on
Tuesday Jesus made--
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okay, that speech against
the Pharisees and telling them,
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"Now your house will be
left desolate on that day."
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For the last time Jesus
walked out of the temple,
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went to the Mount of Olives.
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The disciples
asked Him that question
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about the destruction
of the temple in Jerusalem
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and also about the
sign of His coming.
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All of these things
happened on Tuesday.
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After Tuesday
Jesus did not return
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to the city or to the temple.
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By the way, Glenn, we
were in Jerusalem there.
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I myself, I was in the city
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and finally I
decided to go with my wife
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to walk to the
place called Bethany
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which is about
two miles, I think,
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if I remember it's not far away.
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It took me and my wife probably
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about 45 minutes to walk there.
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But when you walk
from the Mount of Olives
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it's even much, much closer.
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So Jesus from
the Mount of Olives,
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He walked with His
disciples to Bethany--
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Who was in Bethany
there? His beloved friends.
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His beloved
friends, Mary and Martha.
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We know the
resurrection of Lazarus.
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So on Wednesday
actually Jesus was in Bethany.
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So now Glenn, what
we are reading here
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in chapter 26
verses 1, can we say 1:19,
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actually all of these
things they happen on Wednesday
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while Jesus was
there in Bethany.
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And then just a
preview on Thursday
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we have the Lord's
Supper and Gethsemane
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that night and the
cross on Friday--Yes.
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Just to fill out the-- Yes.
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We wanted so
far that our viewers
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know how the last
week of life of Jesus
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will get to provide
the chronology of that.
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So while Jesus was in Bethany,
evidently the Pharisees,
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you know, they
missed Jesus' company.
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For this, several days they were
constantly chasing after Jesus.
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Now Jesus-- where is Jesus?
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And then something
happened from verse one to five.
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"Now when Jesus had
finished all these sayings--"
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You remember that
phrase when Jesus finished,
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it always marked the blocks,
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you know, of
those sayings of Jesus.
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"He said to His disciples,
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'You know that after two
days the Passover is coming,
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and the Son of Man will be
delivered up to be crucified.'
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Then the chief priests
and the elders of the people
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gathered in the
palace of the high priest,
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who was called Caiaphas.
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and took counsel
together in order to arrest
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Jesus by stealth and kill him.
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But they said,
'Not during the feast,
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lest there be a
tumult among the people.'"
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By the way they didn't
have an address for Jesus. No.
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He is an itinerant. Yeah.
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So they are now determined,
"We have to do away with Jesus."
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But what about this
not because of the people,
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they're fearful of the crowd.
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Interesting how
people can be an excuse.
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Now as they are-- can I say
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as they are having a
meeting trying to decide
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what to do with Jesus?
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Jesus is there in Bethany.
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And He's invited to attend
most likely dinner or lunch
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at the home of Simon, the former
leper that Jesus healed him.
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And evidently, the
person prepared the meal
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as a token of his
gratefulness to Jesus and then,
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something happen, Glenn.
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This is fantastic. We
have to read it verse 6-13.
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"Now when Jesus was at Bethany
in the house of Simon the leper,
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a woman came upon Him
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with an alabaster flask
of very expensive ointment,
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and she poured it on His head,
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as He sat at the table.
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But when the disciples saw it,
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they were indignant,
saying, "Why this waste?
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For this ointment might
have been sold for a large sum,
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and given to the poor."
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But Jesus, aware of this,
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said to them "Why do
you trouble this woman?
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For she has done a
beautiful thing to Me.
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For you always
have the poor with you,
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but you will not always have me.
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In pouring this
ointment on my body
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she has done it to
prepare Me for burial.
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Truly, I say to you,
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wherever this gospel is
preached in the whole world,
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what she has done will
be told in memory of her."
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Okay. It's very important
when we started this event
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also to go to the
Gospel of John Chapter 12
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because in John Chapter 12
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we have few more details
that Matthew does mention here.
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Keep in mind
that John was always
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one of the three
very close to Jesus
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so he knew some
details that evidently
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Mathew did not have access.
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And what are--what are
the details that we have?
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Number one we have here
a woman in Gospel of John
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that woman has a name.
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It's the sister of
Lazarus, Mary, okay?
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Another thing is John
chapter 12 is telling us
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that actually she spent
about three hundred dinari
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or denarius to buy this perfume.
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Almost a year's wage.
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So if one
denarius is daily wage so--
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Your salary--She worked
all year in order to buy.
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So we have here some
details. Why did she do it?
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Evidently as a
token of her thankfulness
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and gratitude to Jesus
what He did for her personally.
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If Mary was
indeed that woman out
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which Jesus cast out
those demons, etcetera,
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that she had very,
very problematic past.
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She was very
much, much forgiven.
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And also what Jesus
did for her brother,
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you know,
resurrection of Lazarus.
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It was actually
her precious gift.
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You know, when you
buy a gift the person
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that you love, you
don't try to save money.
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You do your most--
you try to do your best
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because you love that person.
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And this is what she
did for her beloved teacher
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as a token of gratitude
for what He did for her.
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We'll see that she had one
motivation which Jesus accepts
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but He even indicates
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it has more meaning
than she understood.
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Yeah. Actually He said,
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"She anointed me actually
prepare me for my burial
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because some thing was
to happen very, very soon."
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How thankful we are that
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she was obedient to
the spirit leading her.
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Now not all the disciples were
thrilled with this decision.
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And it becomes
pivotal in Judas' response.
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Actually it is a game
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that we have to go
to the Gospel of John,
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because here it said that
some of the disciples protested.
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"Why we do not take this money
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and distribute
to the poor people?"
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And Jesus was--
actually John provides
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another detail that
not all disciples did it.
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It was Judas,
himself, who protested.
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They may have agreed
with some of it. Yes.
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And, you know, the
book Desire of Ages
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has a wonderful
insight that tells us
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that many of the
conflict among the disciples
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when they argued
about who is the greatest
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were started by
Judas, stirred by his spirit.
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You know, He always
knew how to do it. Yes.
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You know, keep in mind
he was very influential,
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he was educated person.
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He knew how to
manipulate it with human minds.
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Evidently, this event-- okay,
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I would like to
put it in this way.
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On the same day when
Mary brought to Jesus
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a precious gift of
love. That same day, see,
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three hundred
denarius and the annual salary.
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At the same moment
Judas made decision
00:11:34.76\00:11:37.96
to go to betray his master
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for how much for
a price of a slave.
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Is it a tragedy and
irony? They're in the same room.
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They were both
close to the savior
00:11:47.87\00:11:50.14
but two different
responses. So now we go to--
00:11:50.17\00:11:52.94
And Jesus says that, "She's
done a beautiful thing to me."
00:11:52.97\00:11:55.51
He understood something,
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somehow the Holy
Spirit prompted Mary
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to do something as a
preview of His burial.
00:12:01.68\00:12:05.09
So what was that-- what
is the problem with Judas?
00:12:05.12\00:12:08.22
Well he's never-- Jesus
is never anointed later.
00:12:08.26\00:12:10.73
They don't get to Him in time.
00:12:10.76\00:12:12.76
Actually, Judas-- Judas,
00:12:12.79\00:12:15.06
he joined the
group for a wrong reason.
00:12:15.10\00:12:18.80
He hoped because he
was the most influential
00:12:18.83\00:12:20.87
when Jesus
establishes His kingdom,
00:12:20.90\00:12:22.97
by the way all the disciples
00:12:23.00\00:12:24.47
hope something
to happen to them,
00:12:24.51\00:12:26.01
you know, but he assumed
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the first place is reserve
for him there in the kingdom.
00:12:28.54\00:12:31.58
But when he saw that
Jesus was doing nothing
00:12:31.61\00:12:36.42
to take opportunity
and grasp the power.
00:12:36.45\00:12:40.22
By the way in the
Gospel of John chapter 6,
00:12:40.26\00:12:42.99
we read clearly that
actually it was Judas
00:12:43.02\00:12:45.49
who prompted the
people and inspire them,
00:12:45.53\00:12:47.56
you know, to make
Jesus king by force.
00:12:47.60\00:12:50.00
He was the one always behind
00:12:50.03\00:12:51.73
the scene
working all those things.
00:12:51.77\00:12:56.54
But now there is also in Gospel
of Luke Chapter 22 verse 3,
00:12:56.57\00:13:01.98
we read something that there is
not it's not found in Mathew 26.
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It said at that moment
Satan entered into Judas.
00:13:07.48\00:13:13.12
It's Luke Chapter 22 verse 3.
00:13:13.15\00:13:16.12
And Might we mention that
this is not the first time.
00:13:16.16\00:13:18.99
As you've said Judas
had been beside Jesus
00:13:19.03\00:13:23.10
part of his
ministry. How close, Ranko,
00:13:23.13\00:13:25.80
how close he was?
00:13:25.83\00:13:27.67
But day by day he
resisted the Holy Spirit.
00:13:27.70\00:13:30.57
Now his life is
completely given over.
00:13:30.61\00:13:33.27
Do you remember that we're
talking about unpardonable sin?
00:13:33.31\00:13:36.58
This is exactly. Judas
was resisting the influence
00:13:36.61\00:13:41.45
of the Holy Spirit constantly,
constantly, constantly.
00:13:41.48\00:13:43.92
And this is what
unpardonable sin is.
00:13:43.95\00:13:46.39
He put himself into
the position that actually
00:13:46.42\00:13:49.16
the Holy Spirit could
not do for him anything more.
00:13:49.19\00:13:52.99
Now he'll be used by the devil.
00:13:53.03\00:13:54.36
So, the--Satan is entering
him-- before we go to the break,
00:13:54.40\00:13:58.70
can we just see what is-- okay
00:13:58.73\00:14:01.54
or maybe to wait
for the break. Okay.
00:14:01.57\00:14:03.51
Well, there is much
more here in the story.
00:14:03.54\00:14:05.64
We're gonna come
back. Don't go away.
00:14:05.67\00:14:07.51
Yes. We will be
right back after the break.
00:14:07.54\00:14:09.24