Topic: INNOCENT BUT SENTENCED [Church of God Mission International] CGMI SUNDAY SCHOOL OUTLINE 2 April 2023
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CGMI SUNDAY SCHOOL OUTLINE
DATE: SUNDAY 2ND APRIL 2023
HYMN: S.S & S 115 “When I survey the wondrous cross”
CENTRAL THOUGHT:
Jesus though innocent bore our sins and grief
TOPIC:
INNOCENT BUT SENTENCED
TEXT:
MARK 14:43-65
INTRODUCTION:
Jesus excelled the Jewish religious leaders in knowledge and demonstration of God’s power and authority. Thus, their popularity and position became threatened. They therefore sought a way to re-establish their fame in the eyes of the Jews. To them Jesus must be discredited and eliminated at all cost. They portrayed Him as a barbarous leader always defying their traditions and framed up charges against Him. The event that led to the death of Jesus on the cross, is the focus of this study.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
We trust God that this study shall help us evaluate as understand the following:
- The offence for which the chief priest sought to arrest and kill Jesus
- Discuss how germane the accusations were and His reactions to them and
- What are the lessons from some experiences of Christ during the passion week ?
BIBLE TRUTH:
QUESTION 1A.
WHAT WAS THE OFFENCE FOR WHICH THE CHIEF PRIEST SOUGHT TO ARREST AND KILL JESUS ? MK 14:53-65; LK 23:1-5
The Jewish leaders looked for reasons to crucify Jesus but found none. There were a lot of false accusations which did not agree, so there was no apparent reason to condemned Him. The chief priest and the Jews dragged Him before Pilate to be tried for blasphemy because they said He claimed to be the king of the Jews. Then Caiaphas asked Jesus a direct question “Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed ?” Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven (Matt 26:64).
This was the offence of Jesus, as considered by the Jews for equating Himself to Christ the Son of the Blessed, who sits at the right hand of God.
1B. HOW GERMANE ARE THE ACCUSATIONS ?
In Mk 14:55-59, the chief priest and all the he council sought for witnesses against Jesus but none agreed. All the witnesses were false and could not sustain a conviction of a criminal for death. The answer of Jesus to the question of the chief priest apparently gave them a tangible reason/evidence to proceed with the execution request.
1C. DISCUSS HOW JESUS REACTED TO THESE ACCUSATIONS.
MK 14:60-61 records Jesus’ reaction to the false accusations. He did not attempt to exonerate or justify Himself and did not fight back. He held His peace and answered nothing. This is what scripture referred to in (Is 53:7) “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”
Like Jesus, there are times we should hold our peace and not be seen to fight back when faced with the issues of life. The believer should allow God to take over his /her battles. Knowing that whenever there is need to give a reply the Holy Ghost will help us out with the speech and wisdom (Lk 21:15). The quietness of Jesus was divine, contrary to what is expected of a natural man.
- EXPLAIN THE CHALLENGES IN THE FOLLOWING EXPERIENCES OF CHRIST DURING THE PASSION WEEK.
A. AGONY IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE. (MATT 26:36-46; LK 22:39-44.) Jesus left the other disciples, took three of them and when He became distress and agitated, He also left them and went a little further to pray. In that prayer time, we see the agony of Jesus in Gethsemane. He was exceedingly sorrowful thinking about the death ahead of Him.
Jesus knew all the way that He came to die to redeem mankind, but at the appointed hour, when it appeared the human nature in Him surfaced, He prayed submitting to the will of God…”nevertheless, not as I will but as thou wilt”.
Jesus was not encouraged by the attitude of the disciples who slept all the three times He left them. It is a great challenge when those who are expected to uphold someone, fail to stand with the individual. Most importantly, allowing the will of God to prevail in our circumstances, irrespective of the situations and convenience, is the hallmark of total submission to God which was displayed by Jesus in His agony in Gethsemane. Jesus received divine enablement through the ministration of angels (Lk 22:41-44)
B. BETRAYED AND ARRESTED (Lk 24:47-53). Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, came with a multitude and with a kiss gave his master away. Jesus was not ignorant of this betrayal hence He confronted him “…But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? (Lk 22:48).
Today,like Judas Iscariot, some are still betraying Jesus in several ways.
Jesus was calm, but reminded them of how He was with them in the temple and that they could not arrest Him because it was not the appointed time (Jn 7:30; Matt 26:55-56). Jesus knew that His time was up, it was the hour hence they could arrest Him so that the scriptures can be fulfilled (Matt 26:54).
C. PETER’S DENIAL OF CHRIST Matt 26:69-75; Jn 18:19-24. Jesus had informed Peter that he would deny Him three times before the cock crow that day. It happened as Jesus said. This calls for some caution, as rightly put by our brother Paul, that let him that thinks he stand take heed lest he falls (1Cor10:12)
D. JESUS TRIAL AND MOCKERY (Matt 26:57-68; Jn 18:19-24). The Jews wanted to secure Jesus’ convictions, so they looked for witnesses against Him, but none of their allegation was sufficient to secure His conviction. Jesus was mocked, despised, buffeted and other spat on His face, which is a symbol of insult and disgrace, Jesus was also smitten with the palms of their hands. Jesus’ answer was considered spiteful of the high priest, and He was struck for His reply to the priest.
Another humiliation which Jesus suffered from is, that He was bound (Jn 18:24) and was sent to Caiaphas bound.
Finally, the Jews secured the release of a notorious prisoner called Barabbas and demanded that Jesus should be crucified.
3A. WHAT OTHER CONFIRMATION DO WE HAVE OF JESUS INNOCENCE ? Lk 23:13-15, 47; Matt 27:3-4, 19 & 24. Jesus was very much aware of what was ahead of Him. In spite of all the spurious allegations against Him, it was difficult to get evidence or witnesses against Jesus, this shows that He was indeed innocent. At His arrest, even Judas who betrayed Him in Matt 27:4 said; he has betrayed an innocent blood. Pilate also learnt that the Jews delivered Jesus up because of envy, and even his wife cautioned him (Matt 27:18-19), Isaiah 53:9 also predicted His innocence before Jesus was born.
3B. WHY THEN DID HE DIE ? (1Pt 3:18; Is 53:1-12; Rom 5:6-11)
In Genesis, we see man and God as friends. God had fellowship with man at the cool of the day, till the fall of man and God chased him from the garden of Eden. (Gen 3:22-24). God desired man to be reconciled back to Him. In 1Pt 3:18 we are told Jesus the just, suffered for man, the I just, and paid for man’s sins to bring us back to God. Though He was put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit. Jesus despised the shame and died on the cross to save man (Heb 12:2). Even when we were yet sinners, He died for our sins (Rom 5:8). This death is God’s expression of His love towards sinful man. Man is not only reconciled to God but is saved eternally by Jesus giving up His life on the cross.
The total/complete picture of the essence of His death is vividly painted in Isaiah 53. It was God’s pleasure to bruise Jesus, and make Him an offering for sin. Jesus satisfied the conditions and became the mediator between God and man. The death offered a permanent solution to the issues of sin, giving man an opportunity to live forever with God (Heb 9:14-27)
DAILY LIVING APPLICATION
During the passion week, Jesus went through untold heart-breaking sufferings to deliver mankind from the clutches of sin and death. No fault was found in Him, yet they condemned Him. What an irony ! HIS CONDEMNATION, OUR FREEDOM AND HIS DEATH OUR LIFE
MEMORY VERSE:
1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit”
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