Have a Holy Week demonstrating freedom from UNREALITY!

The Last Supper, Gethsemane in Chapter 26, (Verse 2). Again, what is Jesus telling people? He is going to be crucified.

(Verse 14). "'We are introduced to Judas."

(Verse 15). "And the sale price of a slave, thirty pieces of silver." That's what a slave could be brought for. He was selling Jesus for the price of a slave.

(Verse 18). "Passover comes. Jesus knows what that's going to mean."

(Verse 24). He again using Scripture says, "As it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! " It did not have to be Judas. But Judas elected because greed in his thought completely overpowered any other right element. He betrayed his Master for gold.

(Verse 26). "We find the Last Supper."

(Verse 30). ''The last thing Jesus does before he goes out into the Mount of Olives is to sing a hymn."

I suggest that you very quietly at home take Psalm 113 all the way through 118. Those are the hymns still sung today by Jews at Passover. These were undoubtedly the Psalms from which that hymn would have been taken. I think that every hair on your head will stand on end and you will be moved very deeply to read those psalms and determine what probably was being sung by Jesus, among which is a modern hymn, "This is the day the Lord hath made." Just think when he sang this.

Look at the verses that face the subject of death. It's very moving indeed. Psalm 118 and 116 specifically. Connect it with that event. Do it privately and within yourselves. Because it's a very precious moment of studying the Scriptures.

(Verse 31). Jesus quotes Scripture, again, Zechariah 13:7, about "the shepherd being smitten, and the sheep scattered."

(Verses 36-45). "His Gethsemane hour he faces." You have to read every gospel account of Gethsemane to appreciate it. The oil press that forced out of Jesus, according to Luke, sweat that looked like drops of blood pouring on the ground.

Jesus was fighting the Adam-myth of man's origin, where the curse on Adam was, that from the sweat of his brow he would survive. Here Jesus was overcoming that claim on man of perspiration and relying on man's salvation through inspiration,

(Verse 50). Jesus' first words to Judas. Could you have said that to Judas? "Friend, wherefore art thou come?" (Verse 53). He says to Peter who chopped off the ear of the High Priest's servant, "Don't you know that I could pray to God and immediately be saved?"

(Verse 54). "But how shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be?"

What was Jesus using as his guide going right through the crucifixion? Everything he found in the Scriptures or he wouldn’t do it.

Matthew 27: (Verse 26 of Chapter 27). “Then, the scourging, the whipping of Jesus.”

(Verse 60 of Chapter 26). "The two false witnesses."

(Verse 74). "Peter's denial to the point where he's cursing and swearing. The cock crows." (Verse 75). "Peter remembers that Jesus had told he would do this. He goes out and weeps bitterly."

Chapter 27, (Verse 3). 'Judas tries to give back the money"

(Verse 5). "Being unable to, he goes out and hangs himself."

(Verse 9). "Matthew finds in prophecy spoken by Jeremy the prophet even the prediction of the sale of Jesus for thirty pieces of silver."

He says it's Jeremy. It may have been in his version, who knows? But we find it today in Zechariah, Chapter 11, Verse 13.

(Verse 19). We find the political drama between Pilate and the Jews accentuate to the point that Matthew is the only gospel to mention Pilate's wife. "Pilate's wife had a dream not to bother this just man." But what man listens to his wife?

(Verse 24). Pilate goes ahead and succumbs to political pressure. "Washes his hands, saying he is innocent."

(Verse 29). "The crown of thorns. The mocking of Jesus."

(Verse 34). "On the cross, he's given vinegar to drink mingled with gall." That is in prophecy, too, Psalm 69, Verse 21.

(Verse 35). Matthew says that also. The parting of the garments is in prophecy. This is Psalm 22. Just read Psalm 22 from beginning to end and see how your own view of prophecy might change.

(Verse 38). "The two thieves."

(Verse 39). "The wagging of their heads.''

(Verse 41). "The chief priests mocking,"

(Verse 43). Saying, "He trusted in God; let him deliver him now." You'll find that in Psalm 22, the very words.

(Verse 46). "Jesus saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Is that just a cry of a bewildered, defeated man? Read Psalm 22 and you will see in the opening verse, it's an exact quote of that Psalm. lt was as if Jesus were saying to humanity, if you want to know why I'm here and really appreciate my role, read Psalm 22. So, should we do any less than turn to that chapter?

(Verse 55). "Many women stick with him and watch the events." Verse 56 gives us a list of them.

(Verse 57). "We find he is buried in a tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea who is called a rich man.'' In connection with also read Isaiah 53.

Note Jesus’ on-cross awareness in Matt 27 (B14) of his fulfilling a 1,000-year-old prophesy in Ps. 22

W: In his remarkably inspiring talk, “The Walk to Emmaus,” Cobbey Crisler gives an eye-opening review of Jesus' words on the cross. They tip us off as to his confident awareness of his fulfilling prophesy by asking for God’s help in Psalm 22:1 and joyfully getting it a “live for ever” resurrection to “glorify him” (Psalm 22:26, 23). You’ll be rewarded by some “wows” in the divinely precise correlation of verses from the Old and New Testaments if you follow this advice from Cobbey that I partially transcribed with Janet Crisler’s encouraging permission from “The Walk to Emmaus.”

[Cobbey] "Rather than go through it and take away that thrill of discovery, study the statements Jesus makes from the Cross … Instead of worrying why our Master seemed to bend under pressure, that higher view of our Master working scripturally at every moment will be rewarded by finding the passage in Psalms 22:1. The context in which it appears (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34) was written one thousand years before the crucifixion." "It was as if Jesus were saying to humanity, if you want to know why I am here and really appreciate my role, read Psalm 22. So, should we do any less than turn to that chapter?" Just read Psalm 22 from beginning to end and see how your view of prophesy might change." The very words of the priests with their wagging heads in Matt. 27:39-43 are foretold in Ps. 22:7-8. Ps. 22:16 foretells of the piercing of hands and feet and Ps. 22:18 prophesies the parting of the garments and casting of lots for them as recorded in Matt.27:35. Matthew 27:32 We're going to see some of the details of the crucifixion. Remember Jesus kept emphasizing that the prophet had said that the Messiah would suffer.

Matthew 27:33. We know of a place of a skull or Golgatha.

Matthew 27:34 We're aware that the drink he was given has almost an exact recipe which you can be assured is not in my wife's cookbook. [Laughter] It says, he tasted it but he would not drink.

Matthew 27:39 Then it says, "they that passed by" beneath the cross "reviled him, wagging their heads," Please remember that, "wagging their heads." Remember we're reading the fulfillment. We're going to go back to prophecy shortly to test it out.

Matthew 27:43 and Psalms 22:8 Then we find at the bottom of the cross that the chief priests and the scribes and the elders, the ones who knew the Scripture best, presumably, saying, – if we would all read together I think it will really bring it more to thought. Let's read it out loud. – "He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God." How would you characterize that remark? It's rather what? Wasn't enough to nail him on the cross without that sarcasm that he said he was the Son of God. So, let God say that. It really isn't worthy of those who are holding high theological positions of that period, or any period. But that seems to be human nature.

Certainly, it stirred Jesus to the very roots of his being, the real roots of his being. That, of course, would refresh him on the cross. Do you think it reminded him of anything? If it did, do you think it was partly responsible for the very next thing that is uttered audibly?

Matthew 27:46 and Psalms 22:1 The very thing that many Christians wish their Master had never uttered, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? ...My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Just keep in thought the sequence of this.

Psalm 22:7,8. As Jesus may have done with his disciples which caused

their hearts to burn within them. Perhaps ours will too. Let's read together verses 7 and 8 out loud. '½II they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: lei him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him," a passage maybe one thousand years earlier than the event. Do you think that if you were disciples and Jesus was reading these two passages and you had witnessed to that, that any hair on your head could be horizontal?

You saw those events, and Jesus is describing them from centuries-old documents, and that isn't all. They could have recalled the next thing Jesus said on the cross after the scribes and Pharisees had said that. They could have recalled that Jesus said something they wished he hadn't said. Yet suddenly, in the light of what they see here, and in the light of the fact that how better could Jesus, as a Scriptural student, sound a trumpet note for every Scriptural student from his time through our century, than to do what every Jewish boy did in memorizing the Psalms, because they would recognize the Psalm by the first verse.

Psalm 22:1 ["My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"] Is that a coincidence? Was Jesus saying to every receptive thought [that] he told people to search the Scriptures to find him? No one can really comprehend what he said on the cross unless they find it here in Psalm 22. Because it's not simply a cry of agony, even though it came from the very depths of an agonizing experience. It was a quotation from the Scripture and a Scriptural student of Jesus' caliber would not quote from Scripture unless he meant it like a direction signal in the horizon down through the ages, pointing to the very same Scripture. Isn't it as if he were saying, "Read this if you want to understand why I am here." So, let's read it. I'm sure the disciples suddenly had the Bible given to them as they never had before. Suddenly the suffering aspects of the Messiah in prophecy came out through the very pioneer who had fulfilled those prophecies.

Psalm 22:13 Suddenly we find that "They gaped upon me [with] their mouths,"

Psalm 22:14 describes "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint." Anyone remember John's [19:34] description of what happened when the spear pierced his side? It said, "Blood and water poured out."

Psalm 22:15 says, "My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws." A very vivid description of a man who is in thirst.

Do you remember one verse in the gospel of John [19:28]? I'll read it to you just while you're looking at that Psalm 22 verse. Listen to how John does this. John was one of the fellows who went fishing. But look how he is writing for the record. '½fter this, Jesus knowing that all things were accomplished," How did he know? Did he know the blueprint? 1 "That the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst." Those disciples didn't even know that before the walk to Emmaus and before the time that Jesus talked to them in that room….”

In Chapter 28 we find the resurrection (Verse 2). The stone has been rolled back without human help.

(Verse 6). The angelic announcement is that Jesus is risen.

(Verse 7). "The women are told to go and bear witness to Jesus' resurrection. "Women were not allowed to bear witness to anything in the courts of law of the Judaism of his period. What qualified women to bear witness to Jesus' resurrection? Because they were there and they were receptive. It was receptivity that counted.

(Verse 16). The last view we have of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew ''when the eleven disciples go away to a mountain in Galilee."

(Verse 17). Notice, it's said almost pathetically, that "some of his disciples doubted." We know of one, Thomas.

(Verse 18). "Jesus comes, announces, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.''

(Verse 19). "He cites their mission," to go where? Just to the Jews? All nations, the universality of Christianity, all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

(Verse 20). That baptism of the Holy Ghost is combined with fire! "Teaching them." We have been beneficiaries of this apostolic succession of the Spirit. "They taught that we were to observe what Jesus commanded." Do we benefit from the statement Jesus left with his disciples to give to us, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."

How do you and I find immediate access to Jesus? In the Scriptures. Isn't that where Jesus told his disciples they could find him? In the Scriptures, fulfilling the prophecy. How about Matthew our tax-collector? Our despised customs official. Did he fulfill what Jesus had personally directed him to do? Did he teach others "to observe all things wherefore Jesus had commanded him"?

You will notice that he ends his gospel in that way, and has given to all generations following Jesus' words, "I am with you alway."

Through the gospel of Matthew, we do have that sense of Jesus with us always.

REACH OUT WITH BIBLE-PROPHESIES-PROVED, JUST AS PETER DID IN HIS 1ST PUBLIC LECTURE
—which gained three thousand new church members! Cobbey Crisler on Acts 2:22-24 (B15)

[Cobbey:] “Now, in Acts 2, verse 22, Peter begins his lecture in earnest, and his sermon includes a definite documentation that “Jesus is the Messiah of scripture” and not just the Messiah who is the king and political leader, but “the one who would be forced to meet every obstacle the world put in his path and overcome every one of them, certainly a way-shower to whom all humanity could relate.” (See below)

Acts 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

Here he says in Acts 2, Verse 23 that “Jesus was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.” Now, that’s just another way of saying what? Where do you find the “determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God”? (See below) In the scriptures, specifically – prophecy.

Acts 2:23 “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:”
“After the Master, What?—The Book of Acts,” by B. Cobbey Crisler

“In Acts 2:22-41 Peter was basically taking his first lecture audience of Gentiles on the walk to Emmaus that Jesus had taken him and the other disciples on in Luke 24:44….
Acts 2:23 says “Jesus was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.” How come Peter knows that? Did that come to him by himself? He didn’t even know it. Remember, he was the fellow that rebuked Jesus in Matthew 16:22 saying “it’s not going to happen to you.” Now suddenly he saying “look what the Scriptures say.”

In fact, in Acts 2, verse 25 and for 10 verses that you can take home and study yourself, they were quotations from the Scriptures.… Remember Jesus’ religion is a religion of results. I don’t care how perfect or beautiful a theory this walk-to-Emmaus thing may sound like, it’s worthless unless it produces results. Let’s see if it has any results.

Acts 2:41 tells us the result of the first walk to Emmaus taken by anyone after Jesus is gone results in what? 3000 new members. That’s not a bad result of a lecture. We can ask why isn’t it happening today? Is it important for hearts to burn within us first? Because that’s what’s going on as a far as the apostles are concerned. 3,000 new members.”
“The Walk to Emmaus,” by B. Cobbey Crisler

KEN’S GEMS: HEAR ON YOUTUBE TWO KEN COOPER POEMS— “Ye are the light of the world” and “I have set before thee an open door”— both related to this week’s Bible Lesson.

[Ken wrote:] “The Easter message is one of Light overcoming darkness. In the same way that the sun always shines on the earth, bringing light and warmth, there is nothing that can stop the shining of God, the presence of Spirit and Life, the power of Love, shining as man, for they are universal and One.

Jesus knew his human destiny, but far more powerful was his knowledge of his spiritual status, the now of true being as God’s beloved Son, a status that belongs to us all. God is our Father. God is our Light. Reflecting that light, we shine with all the wonder and glory of Life Itself: we express all that God is. This is the now that can never be taken from us. Jesus message was for us to believe and keep hold of this ever-shining light so that darkness cannot touch us. In the depths of his sealed tomb, his Christ-light never disappeared, and was glorified in the resurrection. This Christ-light never goes out, and our reflection remains bright, constant, and ever-glorious.

As Love is reflected in love, so God’s Light is reflected as our light. As Love removes hatred and fear, (Father, forgive them…) so light removes all darkness. In the same way that infinite good precludes anything bad, infinite light knows nothing of dark because there is none. In the infinitude of reality, there is no unreality, for opposites cannot exist. “All is infinite Mind , and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all” (S&H 468). All is good. This is all God knows, all there ever is. When we experience darkness, we can always turn on the light. In the seeming dark, we may temporarily forget where the switch is, but there is no reason to fear or search in panic, for unlike a material switch, Love’s light is always at hand.

When we let the light and glory of Christ shine through us, no effort is required. When the sun rises, there is no sound of struggle as light removes the dark. Light shines because that is what is does. When Jesus healed, the result was the recognition of present harmony. Sometimes error shouted, but it was only shouting at itself, the lie exposed as nothing. In the poem “Ye are the light of the world” the vacuity of darkness is made clear, and the power of light illuminated! When we love, we shine: we can do nothing else. It is the nature of God, and what Christ is doing through us right now. God is always switched on, and there is nothing can ever turn Him off!

In the same way, there is an open door which nothing can shut. “I have set before thee an open door” It takes faith to walk through. When we turn on the light switch, we expect the light to come on. When we open the door to God it is with the expectancy to walk with and be with God at the very first step, and we can expect full health, harmony, joy, togetherness, a step into the ever-presence of Love, right now! “Open the door” can also be read as “Roll away the stone”, and when Jesus walked through and out of the tomb just imagine the sense of Love, authority, gratitude, Sonship, indeed triumph, that he had with him! His resurrection is also our resurrection.

Jesus said: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (John 4:12). What a promise! What a door he has opened!

PDF versions of the poems in color and B&W can be found on the top right of CedarS metaphysical article for this week.

“GOOD FRIDAY” and “EASTER SUNDAY” TREATS for ALL—
including YOU INTERNATIONAL FRIENDS!

Click here to see your video invitation from Bible scholar, Dr. Barry Huff to Easter-themed inspiration to meet current challenges, sponsored and translated into Spanish by Third Church, NYC, on this Good Friday, April 2 at 7:30pm EDT. https://youtu.be/aomwyj5rFD8:

Need inspiration to get through our world's current crises? Join us at thirdchurchnyc.com for a Bible talk entitled "Resilient Faith & God's Embrace During Crisis" given by Bible scholar, Dr. Barry Huff on Good Friday, April 2 at 7:30 EDT. There will also be a special music performance by Lily Oyer.

This Bible talk will explore and shed new light on these questions:

• How did biblical authors and characters respond to crises?
• What can we learn about resilience from Hagar, Job, and Jesus?
• How do the Gospels’ crucifixion and resurrection narratives relate to your life and our world during this pandemic?
• How will you respond to the commands of the risen Jesus in the Gospels and live your Easter faith?

Please join us online in either English or Spanish at thirdchurchnyc.com or listen in English only via phone by dialing: 1.646.558.8656 • Meeting ID: 771 037 297 # #

Call 212.838.1870 for more information. We hope you can join us!

Can't make it on Good Friday? Don't worry! The event will be available on our website for all to view after Easter/Good Friday. To learn more, visit: https://thirdchurchnyc.com/good-friday-2021/

A 2pm CDT Sunday Hymn Sing has been added (to our 7pm CDT Sing) on Easter Sunday, April 4, for our friends in other time zones! Don't miss CedarS TWO special Easter Sunday Hymn Sings, both led by Andrew Brewis of the UK! You can sing along with Andrew and hundreds of worldwide friends the 8 hymns he wrote for the 2017 Christian Science Hymnal, as well as favorite Easter hymns! Click here for fuller, special details.

Invite family, church and other friends and even neighbors to join us by Zoom EVERY week at 7pm Central Time for CedarS Sunday Hymn Sings. (A precious prelude precedes each sing at 1:45pm & 6:45pm Central Daylight-savings Time (CDT.) We encourage singing along in Zoom’s gallery view to share the joy of seeing dear ones in virtual family-church reunions that bless all generations.

To protect privacy and copyrights, these “brief, but spectacular” sessions are NOT recorded. So, calibrate your time-zone clocks, mark your calendars, and remind friends, so that no one misses any of these inspiring, weekly reminders of our precious, spiritual oneness with each other and with our ever-loving, Father-Mother God who owns and embraces us all!

Lovingly singing prayers and praise to God for 30 minutes each Sunday is such a warm, “Welcome Home” tradition to bless the start of each week with joyous, peaceful GRACE. (Our 2021 theme.) We have loved singing-in this grace with longtime as well as first-time friends—not only from ALL 50 of the United States, but also from 21 other countries! So far, our “Hymn Sing family” has clicked or dialed-in from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, England, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, as well as from each of the United States! In the universal language of divine Love, “the ‘still, small voice’ of scientific thought reaches over continent and ocean to the globe's remotest bound.” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 559:8–10)

Enjoy the online version of theseCedarS GEMs of the week with their helpful insights and application ideas from Cobbey Crisler and others.

• ENDOWMENT GIFTS to help cover CedarS camperships and operations are being MATCHED up to $200,000/year ($1-MILLION total)!
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