📖 Injili ya Mathayo — Somo la Kina — Sehemu ya 12: Mateso ya Kristo📖 Matthew Intensive — Unit 12: The Passion

Andiko: Mathayo 27:51Text: Matthew 27:51

Hila na Kupakwa MafutaThe Plot and the Anointing

Mathayo amempitisha Mfalme katika mafundisho yake, miujiza yake, kuingia kwake Yerusalemu, na maonyo yake ya mwisho. Sasa inafika saa ile ambayo kwa ajili yake alikuja. Wakuu wa makuhani wanafanya shauri la kumkamata kwa hila na kumwua. Katikati ya mipango yao, mwanamke anammiminia Yesu marhamu ya thamani kubwa kichwani huko Bethania, na wanafunzi wanapoita jambo hilo upotevu, Yeye anamtetea: "Ni kazi njema aliyonitendea... Kwa maana yeye kwa kunimiminia marhamu hii mwilini mwangu, amefanya hivi kwa maziko yangu" (Mathayo 26:10-12). Anajua njia hii inaelekea wapi. Kinyume cha uzuri huo anasimama Yuda, anayekwenda kwa wakuu wa makuhani na kukubali kumsaliti kwa vipande thelathini vya fedha. Tukio lile lile linadhihirisha ibada ya moyo iliyo ya kina kabisa na usaliti ulio mweusi kabisa.Matthew has brought the King through His teaching, His miracles, His entry into Jerusalem, and His final warnings. Now comes the hour for which He came. The chief priests plot to take Him by trickery and kill Him. In the middle of their scheming, a woman pours costly fragrant oil on Jesus' head at Bethany, and when the disciples call it waste, He defends her: "She has done a good work for Me... in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial" (Matthew 26:10-12). He knows where this road leads. Against that beauty stands Judas, who goes to the chief priests and agrees to betray Him for thirty pieces of silver. The same event draws out both the deepest devotion and the darkest treachery.

Karamu ya MwishoThe Last Supper

Katika chakula cha Pasaka Yesu anawaambia wale Thenashara kwamba mmoja wao atamsaliti, na kila mmoja anauliza, "Bwana, ni mimi?" Kisha anatwaa mkate, anaubariki na kuumega, na kusema, "Twaeni, mle; huu ndio mwili wangu." Anakitwaa kikombe na kusema, "Nyweni nyote katika hiki; kwa maana hii ndiyo damu yangu ya agano, imwagikayo kwa ajili ya wengi kwa ondoleo la dhambi" (Mathayo 26:26-28). Katika chumba kile cha juu Pasaka ya zamani, iliyokumbuka mwana-kondoo ambaye damu yake iliwaokoa Israeli huko Misri, inatoa nafasi kwa agano jipya katika damu ya Mwana-Kondoo wa kweli. Meza anayolipa kanisa lake si mazishi bali ni ukumbusho na ahadi, ikielekeza nyuma kwenye msalaba na mbele kwenye siku ile atakapoinywa mpya pamoja nao katika ufalme wa Baba yake.At the Passover meal Jesus tells the Twelve that one of them will betray Him, and each asks, "Lord, is it I?" Then He takes the bread, blesses and breaks it, and says, "Take, eat; this is My body." He takes the cup and says, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:26-28). In that upper room the old Passover, which remembered the lamb whose blood spared Israel in Egypt, gives way to the new covenant in the blood of the true Lamb. The supper He gives His church is not a funeral but a remembrance and a promise, pointing back to the cross and forward to the day He will drink it new with them in His Father's kingdom.

GethsemaneGethsemane

Bustanini uzito wa saa ile unamwangukia. "Roho yangu ina huzuni nyingi kiasi cha kufa," anawaambia Petro, Yakobo, na Yohana, na akienda mbele kidogo anaanguka kifudifudi na kuomba, "Baba yangu, ikiwezekana, kikombe hiki kiniepuke; walakini, si kama nitakavyo mimi, bali kama utakavyo wewe" (Mathayo 26:38-39). Mara tatu anaomba hivyo, na mara tatu anarudi na kuwakuta wanafunzi wamelala. "Kesheni, mwombe, msije mkaingia majaribuni," anawaonya; "roho i radhi, lakini mwili ni dhaifu." Hapa tunaona gharama halisi ya msalaba, si kwanza katika misumari bali katika kujinyenyekeza huku kwa mapenzi ya Mfalme chini ya mapenzi ya Baba. Kikombe anachokiogopa, hata hivyo anakipokea, kwa hiari, kwa ajili yetu.In the garden the weight of the hour falls on Him. "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death," He tells Peter, James, and John, and going a little farther He falls on His face and prays, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will" (Matthew 26:38-39). Three times He prays it, and three times He returns to find the disciples sleeping. "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation," He warns them; "the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Here we see the true cost of the cross, not first in the nails but in this submission of the King's will to the Father's. The cup He shrinks from He nevertheless takes, freely, for us.

Usaliti na KukamatwaBetrayal and Arrest

Angali bado akinena, Yuda anafika pamoja na kundi la watu wenye panga na marungu, na kumsaliti kwa busu. Mmoja wa wafuasi wake anapoufuta upanga na kupiga, Yesu anamzuia: "Rudisha upanga wako mahali pake; kwa maana wote waushikao upanga wataangamia kwa upanga" (Mathayo 26:52). Anawakumbusha kwamba angeweza kumwomba Baba majeshi ya malaika zaidi ya kumi na mawili, lakini hapo Maandiko yasingetimizwa. Anakwenda kwa hiari. Na wakati huo majivuno ya wanafunzi yanaporomoka: "Ndipo wanafunzi wote wakamwacha, wakakimbia" (Mathayo 26:56). Mfalme anakabili kesi yake peke yake.While He is still speaking, Judas arrives with a crowd carrying swords and clubs, and betrays Him with a kiss. When one of His followers draws a sword and strikes, Jesus stops him: "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matthew 26:52). He reminds them that He could call on more than twelve legions of angels, but then the Scriptures would not be fulfilled. He goes willingly. And in that moment the boast of the disciples collapses: "Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled" (Matthew 26:56). The King faces His trial alone.

Kesi na Kukana kwa PetroThe Trial and Peter's Denial

Wanampeleka kwa Kayafa kuhani mkuu, ambako mashahidi wa uongo wanatafutwa lakini hawapatani. Mwishowe kuhani mkuu anamwapisha: "Utuambie kama wewe ndiwe Kristo, Mwana wa Mungu!" Yesu anajibu, "Wewe umesema," na ananena juu ya Mwana wa Adamu akija juu ya mawingu ya mbinguni. Kuhani mkuu anayararua mavazi yake na kupiga kelele kwamba amekufuru, nao wanamhukumu kuwa amestahili kufa, kisha wanamtemea mate na kumpiga. Nje uani, Petro, aliyekuwa ameapa kwamba angekufa kuliko kumkana Bwana wake, anaulizwa na mjakazi na kumkana Yesu mara tatu. Jogoo anapowika anakumbuka neno la Bwana, na "akatoka nje, akalia kwa majonzi" (Mathayo 26:75). Mwanafunzi shujaa kuliko wote anagundua udhaifu wake mwenyewe katika saa ile ile ambayo Bwana wake anahukumiwa.They lead Him to Caiaphas the high priest, where false witnesses are sought but cannot agree. At last the high priest puts Him under oath: "Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!" Jesus answers, "It is as you said," and speaks of the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven. The high priest tears his clothes and cries blasphemy, and they condemn Him as deserving death, then spit on Him and strike Him. Outside in the courtyard, Peter, who had sworn he would die before denying his Lord, is questioned by a servant girl and denies Jesus three times. When the rooster crows he remembers the Lord's word, and "he went out and wept bitterly" (Matthew 26:75). The bravest disciple discovers his own weakness in the very hour his Master is condemned.

Pilato na BarabaPilate and Barabbas

Asubuhi wanamkabidhi Yesu kwa Pilato, liwali wa Kirumi. Yuda, akiwa ameshikwa na majuto, anazitupa zile fedha na kwenda kujinyonga. Pilato anauliza, "Wewe ndiwe Mfalme wa Wayahudi?" na haoni kosa lolote kwake, lakini anaogopa umati. Kufuatana na desturi ya kuwafungulia mfungwa mmoja wakati wa sikukuu, anawapa uchaguzi kati ya Yesu na mhalifu mashuhuri aitwaye Baraba, akiwa na hakika kwamba watamchagua Yesu. Lakini wakichochewa na wakuu wa makuhani, wanapiga kelele wapewe Baraba na kusema juu ya Yesu, "Asulibiwe!" Pilato ananawa mikono mbele ya umati, akisema hana hatia juu ya damu ya mtu huyu mwenye haki, na watu wanajibu, "Damu yake na iwe juu yetu, na juu ya watoto wetu" (Mathayo 27:25). Hivyo mtu mwenye hatia anaachiliwa huru na Mfalme asiye na hatia anahukumiwa mahali pake — picha, kwenye mlango kabisa wa msalaba, ya kile ambacho msalaba wenyewe utakitenda.In the morning they hand Jesus over to Pilate, the Roman governor. Judas, seized with remorse, throws down the silver and hangs himself. Pilate asks, "Are You the King of the Jews?" and finds no fault in Him, yet fears the crowd. Following a custom of releasing a prisoner at the feast, he offers them a choice between Jesus and a notorious criminal named Barabbas, certain they will choose Jesus. But stirred up by the chief priests, they cry for Barabbas and shout of Jesus, "Let Him be crucified!" Pilate washes his hands before the crowd, saying he is innocent of this just Person's blood, and the people answer, "His blood be on us and on our children" (Matthew 27:25). So the guilty man goes free and the innocent King is condemned in his place — a picture, at the very gate of the cross, of what the cross itself will do.

KusulibiwaThe Crucifixion

Askari wanamvua nguo, wanamvika vazi jekundu na taji ya miiba, na kumdhihaki, "Salamu, Mfalme wa Wayahudi!" Wanampeleka nje hadi Golgotha, wakimlazimisha Simoni Mkirene kuuchukua msalaba wake, na huko wanamsulibisha kati ya wanyang'anyi wawili. Juu ya kichwa chake wanaweka mashtaka yake: HUYU NI YESU, MFALME WA WAYAHUDI. Wapita njia wanamtukana, na wakuu wa makuhani wanadhihaki, "Aliokoa wengine; hawezi kujiokoa mwenyewe" (Mathayo 27:42). Wanasema kweli kuliko wanavyojua: ni hasa kwa sababu hataki kujiokoa mwenyewe ndipo anaweza kuwaokoa wengine. Mfalme anatawala kutoka msalabani, akivaa taji ya miiba, akiwa na mashtaka ya mhalifu kama cheo chake.The soldiers strip Him, put a scarlet robe and a crown of thorns on Him, and mock Him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" They lead Him out to Golgotha, compelling Simon of Cyrene to carry His cross, and there they crucify Him between two robbers. Over His head they fix the charge: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Those who pass by hurl insults, and the chief priests mock, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save" (Matthew 27:42). They speak more truly than they know: it is precisely because He will not save Himself that He is able to save others. The King reigns from a cross, wearing a crown of thorns, with a criminal's charge for a title.

Neno la Nne — KuachwaThe Fourth Word — Desertion

Mahubiri ya zamani ya Ijumaa Kuu yanasimama kutafakari kilio kinachotikisa kuliko vyote kutoka msalabani: "Mungu wangu, Mungu wangu, mbona umeniacha?" Yanakataa wazo kwamba Kalvari ilikuwa kosa la hesabu la kusikitisha. Yesu alikuwa amenena mara kwa mara juu ya kifo chake, alitembea kwa makusudi kuelekea Yerusalemu, alikataa kutoroka, na akajitoa mwenyewe kwa wenye mamlaka. Wala mahubiri hayakipunguzi kilio hicho kuwa hisia ya kupita tu ya upweke. Yanaichukua giza kutoka adhuhuri hadi saa tisa kama ishara kwamba tukio hili limefika kwenye kiini cha msalaba kinachobeba hukumu: Mwana asiye na dhambi anabeba dhambi za wengine na anaonja utengano ambao dhambi huleta. Hata hivyo kilio hicho pia ni mwanzo wa Zaburi 22. Zaburi hiyo inaanza katika uchungu mkuu lakini inasonga kuelekea miisho yote ya dunia ikikumbuka na kumrudia BWANA. Kwa hiyo kile kinachoonekana kama kuzimwa kwa Kristo si mwisho. Msalaba utafuatwa na ufufuo. Kilio cha kuachwa kinatuingiza kwenye ardhi takatifu: hukumu ni halisi, gharama ya ukombozi ni ya kutisha, na kushindwa kunakoonekana tayari kunasonga kuelekea ushindi.An older Good Friday sermon pauses over the most disturbing cry from the cross: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" It rejects the idea that Calvary was a tragic miscalculation. Jesus had repeatedly spoken of His death, walked deliberately toward Jerusalem, refused escape, and gave Himself to the authorities. Nor does the sermon reduce the cry to a passing feeling of loneliness. It takes the darkness from noon until three as a sign that the drama has reached the judgment-bearing heart of the cross: the sinless Son bears the sins of others and knows the separation that sin brings. Yet the cry is also the opening of Psalm 22. The psalm begins in anguish but moves toward the ends of the earth remembering and turning to the Lord. What looks like the extinguishing of Christ is therefore not the end. The cross will be followed by resurrection. The cry of desertion takes us onto holy ground: judgment is real, the cost of redemption is terrible, and apparent defeat is already moving toward victory.

Mapazia Matatu YaliyoraruliwaThe Three Curtains Torn Down

Tangu saa sita hadi saa tisa giza linaifunika nchi yote. Kisha Yesu analia kwa sauti kuu, "Mungu wangu, Mungu wangu, mbona umeniacha?" — akibeba katika kilio hicho hali ya kuachwa tusiyoweza kuielewa. Analia tena kwa sauti kuu na kuitoa roho yake. Na wakati huo pazia la hekalu linapasuka vipande viwili toka juu hata chini, nchi inatetemeka, na miamba inapasuka. Angalia kwamba pazia linapasuka toka juu hata chini: kama lingepasuka kutoka chini kwenda juu, huenda wanadamu wangelifanya, lakini likipasuka kutoka juu kwenda chini, ni Mungu Mwenyewe anayefungua njia. Mapazia matatu yalianguka siku ile. Kwanza, pazia la utengano: hekalu lilikuwa limejengwa kwa ajili ya kutenganisha, pamoja na pazia lake na nyua zake za ngazi mbalimbali zilizomtenga kuhani mkuu na makuhani, makuhani na wanaume wa Israeli, wanaume na wanawake, na Wayahudi na Mataifa — na msalaba ukararua kila kizuizi, hivi kwamba kama Paulo angesema, hakuna Myahudi wala Myunani, mtumwa wala huru, mwanamume wala mwanamke, kwa maana wote ni mmoja katika Kristo. Pili, pazia la upatanishi: kabla ya msalaba kuhani mkuu peke yake ndiye aliyeweza kuingia mbele za Mungu, na wengine walihitaji mtu wa kusimama katikati; sasa mtu huyo wa katikati ameondolewa, kwa maana yuko Mpatanishi mmoja kati ya Mungu na wanadamu, mwanadamu Kristo Yesu, na kila mwamini ni kuhani anayeweza kumkaribia Mungu moja kwa moja. Babu wa babu yangu aliacha kanisa moja na kuwa Mbaptisti siku ile kasisi mmoja alipomwambia, "Nina mamlaka ya kusamehe dhambi" — kwa maana mamlaka hayo ni ya Kristo peke yake. Tatu, pazia la dhambi: si Mungu aliyejenga kizuizi hicho bali sisi wenyewe, na hakuna juhudi yetu iliyoweza kukibomoa; kwa hiyo Kristo alikirarua kutoka upande wake, kwa mwili wake na damu yake, akifungua njia mpya iliyo hai (Waebrania 10:19-20), ili dhambi zetu zilizopita, za sasa, na zijazo zisamehewe. Lakini damu lazima itiwe; kama vile damu ya mwana-kondoo ilivyopaswa kupakwa kwenye miimo ya milango huko Misri, Kristo lazima apokewe kama Bwana na Mwokozi, la sivyo njia iliyo wazi haitufaidii kitu.From the sixth hour until the ninth, darkness covers all the land. Then Jesus cries out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" — bearing in that cry a forsakenness we cannot fathom. He cries out once more and yields up His spirit. And at that moment the veil of the temple is torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quakes, and the rocks split. Notice that the veil tears from top to bottom: had it torn from the bottom up, men might have done it, but torn from the top down, it is God Himself who opens the way. Three curtains came down that day. First, the curtain of separation: the temple had been built for division, with its veil and its graded courts keeping the high priest from the priests, the priests from the men of Israel, the men from the women, and the Jews from the Gentiles — and the cross tore every barrier away, so that as Paul would say, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for all are one in Christ. Second, the curtain of mediation: before the cross only the high priest could enter God's presence, and others needed a man to go between; now that middleman is removed, for there is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, and every believer is a priest who may come directly to God. My own great-grandfather left one church to become a Baptist the day a priest told him, "I have the power to forgive sin" — for that power belongs to Christ alone. Third, the curtain of sin: it is not God who built the barrier but we ourselves, and no effort of ours could tear it down; so Christ tore it from His side, by His body and His blood, opening a new and living way (Hebrews 10:19-20), that our sins past, present, and future might be forgiven. Yet the blood must be applied; as the lamb's blood had to be put on the doorposts in Egypt, Christ must be received as Lord and Savior, or the open way profits us nothing.

Ukiri na MazikoThe Confession and the Burial

Akida na wale waliokuwa wakimlinda wanapoliona tetemeko la nchi na yote yaliyotokea, wanaogopa sana na kusema, "Hakika huyu alikuwa Mwana wa Mungu!" (Mathayo 27:54). Askari Mrumi, akisimama chini ya msalaba, anakiri kile ambacho viongozi wa dini hawakukiri — na maneno yake yanarudia ukiri wa wanafunzi katika mashua na wa Petro huko Kaisaria Filipi. Jioni inapofika, Yusufu wa Arimathaya, mtu tajiri na mwanafunzi, anamwomba Pilato mwili, anauzonga katika sanda safi ya kitani, na kuulaza katika kaburi lake jipya, akivingirisha jiwe kubwa mlangoni. Wakuu wa makuhani, wakikumbuka kwamba Yesu alikuwa amenena juu ya kufufuka, wanamshawishi Pilato aweke walinzi na kulitia jiwe muhuri. Wanakusudia kumzuia ndani; badala yake watatoa mashahidi wa jambo lile lile wanaloliogopa.When the centurion and those keeping watch see the earthquake and all that has happened, they are terrified and say, "Truly this was the Son of God!" (Matthew 27:54). A Roman soldier, standing at the foot of the cross, confesses what the religious leaders would not — and his words echo the confession of the disciples in the boat and of Peter at Caesarea Philippi. As evening comes, Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man and a disciple, asks Pilate for the body, wraps it in clean linen, and lays it in his own new tomb, rolling a great stone against the door. The chief priests, remembering that Jesus had spoken of rising again, persuade Pilate to set a guard and seal the stone. They mean to keep Him in; they will instead provide witnesses to the very thing they fear.

Mfalme Ambaye Hakutaka KujiokoaThe King Who Would Not Save Himself

Mateso ndiyo saa ambayo Injili nzima imekuwa ikielekea. Mfalme ambaye hakuja kutumikiwa bali kutumika, na kutoa nafsi yake kuwa fidia ya wengi, sasa anaitoa. Anapakwa mafuta kwa maziko, anasalitiwa kwa fedha, anaachwa na rafiki zake, anakanwa na mwanafunzi wake shujaa kuliko wote, anahukumiwa mahali pa mtu mwenye hatia, na anasulibiwa chini ya cheo cha Mfalme. Na katika kifo chake pazia linapasuka toka juu hata chini: njia ya kuingia mbele za Mungu inafunguliwa wazi, mtu wa katikati anaondolewa, pazia la dhambi linaharibiwa kutoka upande wa Mungu Mwenyewe. Hakushuka msalabani, kwa sababu alikuwa amekuja kufa; na kwa sababu hakutaka kujiokoa mwenyewe, anaweza kuwaokoa wote watakaompokea. Kaburi limetiwa muhuri na walinzi wamewekwa — lakini neno la mwisho bado halijanenwa.The Passion is the hour to which the whole Gospel has been moving. The King who came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many, now gives it. He is anointed for burial, betrayed for silver, abandoned by His friends, denied by His boldest disciple, condemned in the place of a guilty man, and crucified under the title of a King. And in His death the veil is torn from top to bottom: the way into God's presence is thrown open, the middleman removed, the curtain of sin destroyed from God's own side. He would not come down from the cross, because He had come to die; and because He would not save Himself, He is able to save all who will receive Him. The tomb is sealed and the guard is set — but the last word has not yet been spoken.

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