Preparing for Sunday - Matt. 27:27-44

April 21, 2016 by Dalton Vansell Preparing for Sunday

Prepare your heart for Sunday by looking through these suggestions that will assist you in making the most of our time together.

You will find suggestions for thinking more critically through the passage, meditating more intently on the text, and tangibly putting scripture to action in your personal life, and in our corporate body.

Carefully Think

Glance through Matthew 26:1-27:26 in order to remember the immediate events leading up to this week’s passage. Then carefully read Matthew 27:27-44. As you read notice throughout the passage the multiple references to Jesus being mocked. What does this reveal about the people’s rejection, and the Savior’s resolve?
Notice the various groups of people who mocked and reviled Christ. What does this say about Israel’s rejection of the Messiah, as well as the other groups?
Observe Jesus’ response. Doesn’t this bring to mind Isaiah 53:7, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” What does his silence say about him? How could he take all this ridicule even though he was innocent? What motivated him to stay the course?
How does Matthew’s presentation of the act of crucifixion in verse 35 reflect what he is conveying in this passage?
How does the slandering of the people, priests, and robbers reflect similar thoughts and attitudes expressed today regarding suffering and the plan of God?

Prayerfully Meditate

We can often read a passage like this and easily be disgusted by the actions of those who mocked our Lord, and rightly so. This passage should cause us to weep because of what they did to our Savior, and also to be joyful that Christ endured. But at the same time when we willingly sin doesn’t our sinful hypocrisy reflect what the soldiers did to Jesus in verses 27-31? We claim Jesus is our Lord but when we knowingly sin aren’t we spitting in his face and making a mockery of his Kingship over our lives? Seeing this should cause a greater disgust over our own sin, and should lead us to repentance and increase our desire to submit to Christ.
What should the example of Christ teach us about how we should submit to the sovereignty of God in our suffering?
How does this scene portray Christ as King? How does Christ here model what it is to lead, to love? How does this portrayal of Christ’s kingship go contrary to what the culture or what we believe it looks like to be King?

Intentionally Act

Pray that the Lord would open our own and other’s eyes to see the true beauty of King Jesus.
Pray that the Word of God would show us the areas of our lives that demonstrate a hypocritical submission to Christ’s Lordship and that we would repent and more fully submit to him.
Thank Jesus for enduring the suffering we deserve. Thank the Lord for his gracious plan of redemption culminating in this event. Pray that the Lord would help us to realize the importance and centrality of the cross, and its implications in our lives.
Pray that the Word would be preached from our pulpit, to gain understanding with a spirit of wisdom and revelation, that we are not only convicted of seeing our sin, but even more we would repent and see a perfect and holy God more glorious than all and seek to worship him in truth and love.
Pray for those who will be leading our gathering this week: Dawson Bryant, music; Adam Naler, Elders' prayer and Scripture reading; Bret Capranica, teaching.
Prepare for our gathering on Sunday by reading through the lyrics of the songs and reflect on them, so that you can focus on edifying one another through song and give praise to the King.

Songs for Sunday

Lyrics

Lyrics Morning Gathering - April 24, 2016