Matthew 26:30-35 is about THE WARNING TO PETER.
Matthew 26:30-31
26:30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
26:31 Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'
There are many olive trees in the Mount of Olive that will produce olive fruits. The olive fruits must be dried and pressed to produce olive oil.
The olive fruits that are dried and pressed spiritually refer to Jesus who must suffer and die on the cross to produce the anointing oil of Holy Spirit.
We can take the lesson from the verses above that Jesus must die on the cross to do two thingsas follows:
In Tabernacle teaching, the true sheepfold refers to the Holy Place. There are three equipments in the Holy Place that refer to the perseverance in doing three main services to the Lord as follows:
The Lord never fools us. Jesus shows Himself as the Shepherd three times in shepherding as follows:
Matthew 26:30-31
26:30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
26:31 Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'
There are many olive trees in the Mount of Olive that will produce olive fruits. The olive fruits must be dried and pressed to produce olive oil.
The olive fruits that are dried and pressed spiritually refer to Jesus who must suffer and die on the cross to produce the anointing oil of Holy Spirit.
We can take the lesson from the verses above that Jesus must die on the cross to do two thingsas follows:
- To pour out the anointing oil of Holy Spirit.
- To become Good Shepherd.
In Tabernacle teaching, the true sheepfold refers to the Holy Place. There are three equipments in the Holy Place that refer to the perseverance in doing three main services to the Lord as follows:
- Golden Candlestick -->perseverance in doing General Service -->fellowship with Holy Spirit God in His gifts.
- Table of Showbread -->perseverance in doing Bible Study Service with Holy Communion -->fellowship with the Son of God in the true teaching Word and Holy Communion.
- Golden Altar of Incense -->perseverance in doing Prayer Service -->fellowship with Father God in His love.
The Lord never fools us. Jesus shows Himself as the Shepherd three times in shepherding as follows:
- As Good Shepherd.
John 10:11
10:11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep. Likewise, the pastors have to sacrifice for the congregation.
Matthew 15:24-26
15:24 But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
15:25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"
15:26 But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."
Actually, the sheep of God is the house of Israel, namely the chosen people of God. The Gentiles are only as dogs and swine, whose lives are without any control but full of wickedness and uncleanness as an epileptic with the deaf and dumb spirit.
Mark 9:20,25
9:20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.
9:25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!
Romans 11:25-26
11:25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
11:26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
If we feel so clever, so beautiful, so rich, et cetera in our own opinion, we will be difficult to receive the Word of God.
Only simple life that can receive the Word.
Because a part of Israel has hardened the heart and rejected Jesus, there is an opened chance and the mercy of God for the Gentiles to be saved that they can become the sheep of God.
I t is only because of the sacrifice of the Good Shepherd that all of the Israelites and Gentiles, namely the spiritual Israel, can become one flock with Jesus as the Good Shepherd.
Likewise, do not become hard-hearted in the shepherding, or else one will go out of the shepherding and be replaced by another person.
The proof that the Gentiles have become the good sheep is being delivered from the deaf and dumb spirit. The deaf and dumb spirit makes the Gentiles be like dogs and swine, they live without any control in the sins.
The deaf ears can be changed to the good ones, that is to say the ears that hear the voice of shepherd only as well as reject the strange voice, not giving any chance to the strange voice, even we run away from it.
Be alert of the strange voice! It begins from Genesis, that Eve heard the voice of the Lord as well as the sound of serpent. Finally, she chose the sound of serpent. King Solomon was a great person but then he heard the voices of his wives, and he fell.
The dumb mouth can be the good one, there is no lie, we do not hide anything but we say righteously and we can bear witness for God.
Mark 7:37
7:37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."
If we become the good sheep, whose ears and mouth are good, the Good Shepherd is arranging our life. Our life is well-organized and good in His time. - As Great Shepherd.
Hebrews 13:20-21
13:20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
13:21 make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
He is called 'Great' because He is able to solve all hindrances, even the death also, through the power of His resurrection.
Jesus as the Great Shepherd equips us with every good work that we can do His will and be well pleasing in His sight. The good works are as follows:- The good conscience = sincere heart.
Hebrews 13:18
13:18. Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably.
Being sincere means we do not hide anything in our heart.
If we have the sincere heart, all our deeds will become good and righteous. We do not give any disadvantage to other people, we do not repay evil for evil, but we can repay good for evil. - The ministry.
Ephesians 4:11-12
4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
4:12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
The ministry makes us be employed in the building of Christ's body.
Colossians 4:17
4:17 And say to Archippus, "Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it."
After we receive the ministry from God, we have to minister seriously and fully as follows:- Ministering according to the true consecration.
- Ministering faithfully until the end line, namely until we die or Jesus comes a second time. We do not stumble and we are not hindered by anything.
The ministry is as the tunic of many colors Joseph has.
If we are faithful in doing our service and ministry, the Great Shepherd will make everything beautiful in His time.
On the contrary, if we stumble, or we are unfaithful even we leave the service and ministry, the tunic is taken and we are ashamed forever. - Ministering according to the true consecration.
- The good conscience = sincere heart.
- As Chief Shepherd [1 Peter 5:4].
1 Peter 5:1-6
5:1. The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed:
5:2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;
5:3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;
5:4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
In shepherding, we only need to follow the example of the Great Shepherd.
Jesus as the Chief Shepherd will come a second time to give us the crown of glory that will never fade away.
The requirement of receiving the crown of glory that cannot fade away is as follows:- Ministering with the sign of blood, namely suffering without any sin together with Jesus.
- Ministering with willingness, not by compulsion but we always give thanks to God.
- Ministering with loyalty or eagerly, not seeking physical advantage.
- Ministering with being the examples.
It begins from the marriage. There must be the examples in the marriage and the church. - Ministering faithfully with being fervent in spirit.
- Ministering with submission or obedience to God as Jesus who was obedient until He was left alone on the cross, even He had to die on the cross.
If we obey God as if we are alone, it is the opportunity for us to lift up our hands only to the Shepherd. As a result, the Shepherd will also stretch His hand to us, so we live in the hand of the Good Shepherd, the hand of the Great Shepherd, and the hand of the Chief Shepherd as follows:- The hand of the Good Shepherd gives us the assurance of the preservation of our present life, the future one, even the eternal one.
John 10:27-28
10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
10:28 "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
Satan still wants to snatch the dead body of Moses. Therefore, we have to be firm in the shepherding, so there is none may snatch our life out of the hand of the Good Shepherd, both for our present life and for the future one.
The hand of the Good Shepherd gives us victory over all problems even the victory over the death.
The hand of the Good Shepherd makes everything good. - The hand of the Great Shepherd leads us to the living fountains of waters, to the beautiful and joyful future life.
Revelation 7:17
7:17 "for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
Leading us, He is wiping away all our tears. Everything becomes more beautiful and joyful.
We will never go astray but we are led to the last shepherding, namely New Jerusalem. - The hand of the Chief Shepherd exalts us, lifts us up from all falls in sin and failures, even it lifts us up on the glorious clouds.
1 Peter 5:6
5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
Lifting us up on the glorious clouds equals to sanctifying and changing our life to become perfect as Jesus is.
The same hand of God will also put the crown of glory on our head, and we are with Him forever.
- The hand of the Good Shepherd gives us the assurance of the preservation of our present life, the future one, even the eternal one.
- Ministering with the sign of blood, namely suffering without any sin together with Jesus.