Luke 24; John 20-21

The Resurrection.  I often look around and question the Egoism of my Faith. Ever question to yourself…how do we know Christianity was the right “religion” to follow?  I mean, c’mon…there’s tons of other ways.  Why is it that we can securely believe in Jesus as “I am the WAY, the Truth and the Life”.  Why not John Smith (Mormons) , or Muhammad, Buddha, Allah ?  How is it that we think we got it right and they ALL have it wrong?  EASY…the Resurrection.  Not only did Jesus completely fulfill EVERY Messianic Prophecy in the entire Old Testament but He rose from the dead.  Jesus did what NO OTHER FALSE PROPHET CAN DO.

I got into a friendly debate with a person the other day (shocking I know) on the “parts of the Bible” that were real.  They are ALL real.  However, if the Resurrection is something you are uncertain about you MUST know in your heart that Jesus Died and three days rose again.  The entire foundation of Church is based upon that very historical occurrence.

The road to Emmaus has always been a powerful read for me.  I blogged about it years ago and what God was revealing to me was his Fellowship with us.  The fact that he communicates with us in our relationship.  For me is it mostly through the Bible I hear Him clearest.  However, the Word and the message never changes, we do,  and in this season of my life, ver 30 and 31 were the ones that God had me mature into.  When they gave Thanks.  When they were in remembrance of Him, their eyes were opened.

Try to pay attention to God  when reading the Bible.  He opens our minds, opens our hearts, He hardens our hearts, blinds us from Truth, uses us where He needs us, even allows Satan to use us (the non-believer).  Not all of it we may understand but our ways are not His ways, but the difference is He is Sovereign and Holy, we are not.

In John: we read the awesome story of doubting Thomas.  (I could talk about that forever!) And He appears to Seven disciples.  Remember John is an Eyewitness so His account will always have more detail than the rest on the actual personally and personal conversations of the Jesus.

The conversation with Peter.  How much do you want me to write about?? Lordy!!  Should we talk about being fishers?  Fishers of Men?  The fact that this was the ”rock” (Peter) the church was founded on? “take care of my sheep”, The 3 times Jesus asked Peter to recount the 3 denials, the different meanings of the words “Love” (Jesus was asking DO you truly love me, DO you Really Love me, Are you even my friend”,  or finally should we break down “Follow Me”.

WOW. 

May I encourage you to go back and Underline one verse.  Out of all that there is one that deserves a little more ink today  John 20:31

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

This is the purpose of the written Gospel.

Luke 23; John 18-19

Luke and John.  Luke will write in detail because it is the nature of Luke to do so, being a physician and all.  John on the other hand,  was THERE (at the Cross)  and will write according to his eye-witness account so it will be graphic .  But what you can gather from both was there were Stages of Jesus’s trial.

• Preliminary hearing by Annas.  why?? Annas was the Prior  High Priest.  High priests were supposed to hold the position for life but Annas was replaced in 15 A.D. instead.  The Roman’s appointed Annas’s son-in-law into that position named Caiaphas.  remember him?  When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead he said “uhhhhh I think it is time for Jesus to go! he is getting way to politically powerful”.  Annas, according to the Jews,  was still considered the “official” high priest because of law AND the Jewish council also probably considered him in the “Good Ole Boy” club…know what I mean.  BUT Annas was smart enough to pass it on to Caiaphas…..
• Caiaphas.  Still this pre-trial was done at night.   This was yesterday’s reading in Matthew 25:57 when Caiaphas charges him with blasphemy without the proper witnesses and sends him to the Roman Governor Pilot to carry out the death sentence.
• Pilate (Luke 23).  They changed the crime in front of Pilate and declared that Jesus called himself a King, King of the Jews.  This would be treason and against Caesar.  However, Pilot found him not guilty and sent him to Herod.  Who is Herod again??
• Herod.  Still have your Herod Family Tree handout?  This Herod is Antipas, the same one that killed John the Baptist.  Herod was in Jerusalem for the Passover.  He was in charge of  Galilee and Perea.  So Pilot sent him to Herod since Jesus was from Galilee.  The Herod brother who should have been in place to rule Judea was removed years ago from position (Pilot governed instead) so Pilot sent Jesus to Antipas.  Herod may have been a drunk fool but he was not idiot…he sent Jesus away too.
• Back to Pilate.  Pilate tried but eventually hands him over to be crucified.

I guess for me it was the layering of the NT on top of the OT.  Maybe it’s because it is my first time reading all of it together but I love the BIG picture.  I loved figuring out things like the Jews could not enter Pilate’s house because he was a Gentile and they would have been ceremonially unclean.  Or the RUSH to get Jesus off the cross because the sun was setting and you cannot work past sundown….small things like that AWE me!

Finally, how awesome was it to see our seeking friend Nicodemus be so bold now in his Faith.  WOW.  He went from sneaking in the night to caring for his public body.

Some of you know this is my second time ONLY  reading the Gospel and I am granted an opportunity to dig a little deeper.  One of the cool reveals this year was Luke 23:43 “Today you will be with me in Paradise”.  The Greek word is Paradeisos.  This word is used several times in the original scriptures.  First, referring to the Garden of Eden! (11 times in the OT)   Then here in Luke and in 2 Corinthians 12 but finally in Revelation!  Revelation 2:7 

 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

That is where this sinner went…on his profession of faith of Jesus being Lord!!! Can I get an AMEN!

I know we looked at Isaiah 53 yesterday but note that when Jesus calls out in “Father into your hands I intrust my Spirit and breathed his LAST breath he was speaking a fulfillment of Isiah 53:12!

I just cannot handle all this!

John 14-17

Well, if your Bible has the words of Jesus in Red…..that was all RED!  What do I write?  May I make a suggestion.  Read it OUT LOUD.  For one, it is God’s word, and it should be professed out loud, second Satan will hate it! and Last, there is power in these words.  THis was a HUGE read and rather you waste time reading anything I could probably write, I would rather have you spend any extra time today reading RED! 

As always I would LOVE to know what you underlined ( I highlighted A LOT today)

Mark 11 John 12

What do I write after reading that??  Good grief!  The end of John 12 said it ALL.

A Map or Jerusalem (click here)If you want to follow Jesus’ entry on this map look on the right side 11.  Mount Olives and you will see that as He enters the city, the temple is the first place he would pass.  Visually picture that the city each day will get increasingly populated because Passover is coming up and most Jews will be making a pilgrimage to the Temple for this celebration.

Palm Sunday, the crowd yells Hosanna! (Saves!) as he enters the city not as a Warrior but as a Peace Maker.  The Jews recognize Jesus on the donkey as the scriptures in Zec 9:9 however, this will be the same crowd that in less than a week will yell Crucify Him!  Did anyone keep their thoughts on the Fig tree? The symbolism?  Until I read it chronologically I didn’t realize how many reference there were to the production of fruit or actually, the lack of!  The fig tree represented Israel, a planted nation for the purpose of fruit.  But just like the tree, Israel was not producing.

John 12.  John the Gospel  is for ALL, John  recorded Jesus explaining WHY he MUST die.  Many of us still struggle with this.  RIght?  Why the awful Crucifixion.  He is God after all, why not just elevate and glow to show your Holiness…right?  Well, we see Jews and Gentiles in the crowd and Jesus explains that His death as man will Show God’s Glory!  He has come to Glorify the name of God.  Satan is death and the Jesus needed to prove that HE is the overcomer of death.  Do we forget what a huge part of the picture Satan is? In verse 31 he is referred to as the prince of the world, well he was.  But thank the Lord that the King powers over Him! Like a stalk of wheat (picture the cat tail top that hold all the seeds) When that wheat is cut down ALL those seeds disperse and scatter and GROW.  That is the analogy here.  Jesus must die to overcome death and from that,  the seeds will start to grow and grow and grow. 

I am going to touch on something that I think is difficult for many to understand.  God hardens the hearts of people and they will not see or believe that Jesus is the Messiah.  Go back to Isaiah’s commission in Isaiah 6.  How many hundreds of years did we read in the Old Testament.  From Genesis to Malachi God was so Patient with the people, He provided for them, saved them in miraculous battles, fed them with manna, split the sea for them, raised up judge after judge for them, brought them into exile as an act of correction, the scriptures go on and on and never did the people of Israel obey what the Lord commanded.  If you are unsure of what the Lord Commanded go back and look at Deuteronomy 6 to begin with, but summarized it is saying Love the Lord your God with all your Heart, Soul and strength and Teach it to your children. (the word strength really stood out this time around for me)  But click the blue Deut 6…read it! 

Anyway, God had hardened their hearts just as the Scriptures said they would (this is not the first time in History this happens).  The Pharisees were blinded not because God did not want them to see the CHrist as the Messiah, but because He knew they wouldn’t.  Please understand that, that is only one layer (as this whole read is truly only scratching the surface of God’s great book!) Had the Jews seen Jesus as the Christ, the door would not have been open for His public ministry to the Gentiles in Galilee and Samaria for 3 years and the Covenant could not have been fulfilled in Genesis with Abraham that the whole WORLD would be blessed through his line.  SO as sad as I am that a few Jews have been blinded by the Spirit of the CHrist, I know and trust that God has a plan for them and through that the Gentiles were to be Loved.

John 11

The book of John is for all believers but the purpose of his writings to show the deity of Jesus.  He is the Son of God.  Holy.  The book of John starts with the famous conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, and Nicodemus acknowledges that God was “with” Jesus,  but the rest of the book tells more than that.  The rest of John is a book of “I Am”.  In John,  we have read  6 miracles (water into wine, healed the nobleman’s son, healed the man at Bethesda, fed 5000, walked on water, healed the blind man) and now raising Lazarus this is the Seventh and greatest. 

Jesus has proclaimed  I AM: the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, THE I AM (from Abraham), the Good Shepherd, and now we read not that he can raise and give life but that HE IS THE RESURRECTION AND LIFE.

This is the turn of events that brings us to the final weeks of Jesus as man.  This is a crucial day.  He raised Lazarus from the dead…why?  It says in verse 4, for God’s Glory.  However, this was the last miracle that caused the Sanhedrin (Jewish Council) to the decision to have Jesus killed.  Why? Before Jesus was born the Jews were released from captivity (The Exile) and through the past 400 years there have been times of peace and trouble for the Jews.  The current ruling empire, the Romans (Herod Dynasty) basically left  the Jews to govern themselves through the Sanhedrin, as long as they were “quiet”, however Jesus was causing quite the stir religiously as well as politically,  and the leaders feared the disapproval from the Roman empire.  So the easiest solution would be to get rid of Jesus.  You have to pay attention to Geography… I know I know you hate it…but where He does things matters…this is IN Judea.  The Sanhedrin have Jurisdiction…they really do not care what he does outside, but as far as in their territory, they are threatened by Jesus.

We meet Caiaphas today.   Caiaphas was a High Priest.  If you read the OT with us I beat you over the head with the fact that the priests came from the line of Levi  BUT high priests came from the line of Aaron.  I spent all morning looking at this and I cannot find a genealogy on Caiaphas.  My assumption is he is probably from the line of Levi but maybe not from Aaron.  He was APPOINTED by the Romans to lead the Jewish Council (Sanhedrin) so it is safe to assume he was majorly corrupt!  What is important to note is that Caiaphas was a Sadducee,  There were the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  (Think of the men from the movie Passion of the Christ wearing the Jewish clothes).  Anyway, the Sadducees were wealthy, aristocrats on the council thEY only accepted the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible).  They did not believe in the Resurrection.  So this is a point to be made as to why we are reading this RIGHT now.  Jesus just said I AM THE RESURRECTION ANd THE LIFE.  

Look at verse 54 (thanks Lori for teaching me), Huge pivot now.  This is where Jesus starts his final and private discipleship.  He leaves Judea and goes to Ephraim (the Sanhedrin has no authority outside Judea (makes sense why he would go there). 

John 11

I  lost my Bible…and my Trivia questions…hope to read soon after I find them.  I may have left them at work.

Luke 10-11; John 10:22-42

Luke 10:  Did you think “oh we read this before?” He sent them out last week?  Noooo we did not.  This is not the 12 Disciples.   Look at the first line “After this?”  After what?  After He sent out the 12 He now sends out 72! (But in the same manner as the 12) .  What are we watching unfold here?  Matthew 13:31.  The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed…”.  We went from 12 to 72….and it grows and grows and grows…..

Then another reminder that Satan was once in Heaven (verse 18).  If you want to read more about this go to Isaiah 14:12.

It’s amazing isn’t it!  The same mission the Disciples had now the followers now have. They went out in two’s (who is your spiritual encourager).  Then there was a story that got my attention.  The one of Pride.  Ouch.  That was the sin that made Satan fall from Heaven and often it is the one that gets us the most in the wrong place.

The Good Samaritan.  We throw that phrase around WAY too loosely if you ask me.  Opening the door for someone is not being a good Samaritan.  Read it!  You have 3 Characters:

1. A Priest
2. A Levite
3. A Good Samaritan

What is the definition of mercy? (Not Christ’s Mercy on us, but when He says “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”

Mercy (Greek is Eleos) meaning kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them.

John 10:22.  The Feast of Dedication. Hmmmm if you have  been with me since Day 1 Genesis you might be like..huh?  We deeply studied all  the Feasts and that is one that I don’t remember studying.  Well…that is because it occurred in the 400 years in between the Old Testament and the New Testament.  If you have a Study Bible there usually is a section in between the 2 that describes the 4 periods that occurred. I  totally encourage you to read it.  But here is the really condensed version.  After Alexander the Great died,   4 generals took his reign.  Out of one of the 4 was Antiochus Epiphanes (a foreshadow of the Antichrist).  He strongly persecuted the Jews and to make a long story short:  a priestly family called the Maccabees attacked this huge army and actually won.  A remembrance of this day and the rededication of the temple, occurs once a year and in custom of lighting their candles this night,  the Day is called the Festival of Lights or the Feast of Dedications, or as you and I know it as Hanukkah.  Pretty cool huh.

So since we are reading this in order we know that the Feast for Tabernacles was October and Hanukkah is December, so two months has passed now.  Solomon’s Colonnade is inside them temple (like a walkway with a roof) in the courtyard.  He was here before, right.  Notice that the Jews pick up a stone to kill him every time he claims to be God.

If we were underlining Biblical Doctrine, this would be one of those days.  Can you lose your salvation?  No. John 10:29.  “If” you are really His…He will protect your salvation for LIFE.

And we end with Jesus retreating back to safe ground for it is not time yet for him to give his life.

John 9-10:21

Two wonderful stories.  The Blind man and the Good shepherd.  In these days many people assumed suffering was a cause of punishment from sin (a lot of people still struggle with this concept I think).  But there was a verse that really popped off the page.  This time the “Sabbath” comments jumped at me just because I spoke to a neighbor last weekend about doing a project, a service project and her response was “Sorry, we are Sabbath Keepers…we can’t, we will be at church all day”  It broke my heart but what did we learn last week….False teaching is like Yeast…..

(DId anyone have the song Amazing Grace in their head when they read today)

The Shepherd:  “I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

4 Sentences.  4!.  Packed with Gospel!  Can anyone see heaven without coming through the Faith in Jesus?  Noooo.  This is your scripture memory verse for the week people.  Many of you know that I have been substitute teaching everyday and this week I sat with my middle child in the cafeteria for lunch.  I stopped and prayed before we ate with her and the girl next to her, her parents are from India sais “why did you do that”.  I said “I wanted to give thanks to Jesus for giving me special time with my daughter” and she said “who is Jesus”.  This young girl was sooooo beautiful and sweet and I stared at her and almost cried.  I pray that my daughter and her become the best of friends so she can one day hear the Gospel and know that her family is “climbing in by some other way”.

Also, I love that “alls” (yes I still talk jersey) we do is go to Jesus.  Go to the Gate.  Meet him in our heart.  HE opens the gate for us!  He does the hard part.  He dies on that Cross for us!  But people….listen to me after we learn His voice we DO NOT SIT IN THE PEN….He leads us BACK into the Word.  Are you sitting too comfortably in the PEN??

So what did your pen underline??  verse 9?  verse 10? verse 11?  maybe verse 17 and 18?

But definitely read verse 10.  As much as I hate giving Satan air time on this blog it is important to know why he is here.  Last week at my church a guest speaker spoke Tony Nolan.  I am uncomfortable posting this because my video clip is on the intro and I feel stupid saying “here watch this”….Pease know my heart, that is not why I am posting this.  Listen to Tony’s message.  Go get a soda or a cup of coffee and take a moment to listen to this.  Better yet if you have a teenager, both of you listen to this.

Click here : http://www.longhollow.com/messages/series/9?media=video&message=312

 

John 7-8

The Gospel, like most of the Bible is collaborated topical.  So the parables were grouped together, then the miracles were grouped together…get it.  The way we are reading it now really shows the footsteps Jesus made for us.  Notice that most of the readings start with a time transition.  Today we start again with  “after this…” after what? After He preached to the disciples…He then is about to go back to Judea.  NOw remember he has not been there is a year and a half.  The last time he was there they plotted to kill him for healing on the Sabbath, in that year and a half it was not “his time (to die) so he didn’t even venture back (the Temple) for the Passover.  Instead he broke bread with 5000 on a field.  🙂  

So now the people are celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles (about 6 months away from Passover…THE PASSOVER).  I had to go back and look the Tabernacle Feast up in the laws…I am telling you my memory scares me…what was I talking about again….?  Oh yeah, the Feast of Tabernacles…Leviticus 23:34 (If you wonder how I knew that,  look in your margin next to John 7:2…there is a cross  reference to it).  I HIGHLY recommend you go back and read Leviticus 23 (retold in Duet 16).  The Feasts of Tabernacle was celebrated in October on our calendar and it involved the whole family.  They would live in booths for this feast and read the scriptures, this was a celebration and remembrance of God’s provision and direction during their time in the Desert , before entering the Promise Land.

Oh!  Let’s talk about Chapter 7 the last and greatest day of the feast (look at verse verse 37).  On the last day they would go to the Pool of Siloam and offer the Water to God and read from the Scriptures of Isaiah, probably Isaiah 55. 

But Jesus wasn’t talking about this water, He was talking about the living water, the Holy Spirit (this will not happen till Pentecost).  Ohhh the Stir He was creating!  All this talk, on the last day of the Feast, in front of the Jewish Council, his own brothers there probably bowing their heads in embarrassment (not believers yet) and people still trying to figure out if He is the Prophet Elijah  Was Jesus the Prophet?  no he was THE PROPHET!  The Christ! meaning The Messiah…the Annointed One.

Verse 50.  NICODEMUS!  DO you remember him?  The Pharisee that came in the middle of the night to talk to Jesus in secret so his friends on the San Hedrin didn’t know his heart was stirring with all this.  Now look at him!  He is saying “uhhhh guys, shouldn’t we hear him out?”

By the way, the comment about Galillee…You probably figured it out by now…What good could come from a GENTILE nation??

By the way I know we spent a lot of time this year on “background” information, but isn’t it great to “get” the 5W’s.  Like, when Jesus is in Judea, the Pharisees have jurisdiction and could arrest him so the moments are very tense compared to when Jesus is in Samaria or Galilee (Roman Ruled) so it is a different feel when He teaches.

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Chapter 8.  Read into Chapter 8 and stop at verse 6.  First, where is the man? Levitical law says that both would be stoned? But right here in verse 6 it says this was a trap.  How? The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees knew (thought) it was a lose/lose situation. 

• If Jesus said she should be stoned then he would be in violation of the Roman Law because Jews could not carry out the death penalty
• If Jesus said she should not be stoned Jesus was in violation of the Law of Moses which says she should be stoned.

Either way they think they have him trapped. (But it was not His time!!).  Of course Jesus uses this scenario to teach the world a beautiful lesson about judging others and looking in the mirror first!

Last but far from least, I want to explain the sudden reaction of the Jews.  These are men of law, and scripture.  This is what they know:

anyone who blasphemes the name of the LORD must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him. Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.   Leviticus 24:16

WOW, a lot in Chapter 8…rather than me write about it, I think it is best just to sit and think about some of what Jesus is saying.  If we are not with Jesus we are with the devil.  It is VERY black and white.  Look at 8:56 too….Abraham saw it.  What did Abraham see?  He saw the CROSS.  He saw that Faith brings in a substitutionary death.  Stop and read Genesis 22…look at the symbolism of seeing how we belong on that Alter and God will provide an innocent substitute to take it all for us.

John 6

John 6. Click here.   A unique read because it is the only one of Jesus miracles that is in all 4 Gospels.  It says in verse 4: The Jewish Passover Feast was near.  So we know it is  celebrated on the 15th day of the month called Nissan (like the Car Manufacturer)  first month of the Jewish year (on the Hebrew calendar). So we are in March/April on our calendar.  Anyway, Jesus since he was 12 (remember him sitting on the steps of His “Fathers’ house) would go to Jerusalem for to observe the holiday.  Well back on Oct 8th (John 5) we read about the last time Jesus was in Jerusalem they plotted to kill him soooooo He will hang here at the Sea of Galilee for the Holiday because it is not time for him to allow himself to be sacrificed.  Sad to think though that this will be the Passover before HE is the Passover.  We are only 1 year away from the Crucifixion.  (I love reading this Chronologically)

We are only reading 1 Chapter today but so incredibly important and I hope you all write to me something that caught you this time. This is not a light conversation between Jesus and the 12.  This is now time to get serious.  MANY awesome Scriptures caught my heart but from an evangelist point of view this one made me write  WOW in my margin.  The followers ask a VERY important question “What must we DO to do the works God REQUIRES”.  Depending on your denomination MANY things might come to mind.  Baptism, to be “good”, 10 commandments, confession, repentence…hmmmm.  What came to mind?  Well God leaves nothing open-ended of such importance.  Jesus answers in verse 29:

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

everything else Jesus “asks” us to do is not Required.   This is required.  Anyway, there is so much more great stuff to the read, for example how the followers really started to lose interest when Jesus was now talking about healing the soul rather than external healing…do we?

If you lived back then where would you be? Let me tell you, this was not easy for the Disciples.  When Jesus preached He said some SHOCKING stuff!  Besides the questionable blasphemy when Jesus goes into the “eat my flesh drink my blood” even though it was imagery you must know that this was completely detestable from a Jewish Law standpoint.  Leviticus 17 clearly states how forbidden this would be. If you did not read the Old Testament with us, please email me so I can give you the story and purpose of the MANNA from Heaven. 

 So often the disciple’s desert him for different reasons

• they were following  the “miracles” and “blessings”.  Hmmmm hello!!
• they wanted a KING that would feed them Daily!
• they wanted a “deed” based Faith….so much easier. (think about it)
• learning was difficult

Anyway, as usual I beg you not to leave a single scriptures unturned or confused.  These are the words  not just from Jesus but from the Lord himself.