His Body and Blood...For the Forgiveness of Your Sins...YOU ARE FREE!

Matthew 26:1-5 New International Version (NIV)

The Plot Against Jesus

26 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 5 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.” Friday, October 16 The chapters and verses in the Bible were not put there by the original authors. Chapters were inserted about 1200 AD and verses about 1550 AD. Why is that important? Immediately after Jesus told the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, the religious leaders started plotting to kill him. The Gospel writer, Matthew wanted us to connect the separating of the Sheep and the Goats with the death of Jesus. Do you accept Jesus and his promise of forgiveness? Or do you reject him? The sad thing is that we reject Jesus all the time. We constantly fail to do God’s will. As we say in our confession during worship, “We have not loved you (God) with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.” What is God’s answer to our rebellion? Drink this cup, which is “my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” You are forgiven. You are no longer an unfaithful goat. Christ has made you a righteous sheep. Go. Live. Love. You are free!