Won't Be Held Down

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Won't Be Held Down

For Jesus’s disciples and his followers, the Saturday after his death was a dark day. Their hope, Jesus, had died, and now his corpse laid in a tomb. But they had no idea of what would await them the next morning. They had no idea that on Sunday morning, Jesus would not be there. In the power of God, Jesus had resurrected from the grave, defeating sin, death, and hell. Looking back, Peter says this on the day of Pentecost: “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pang s of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it” (Acts 2:23–24). Death was not able to hold him! Unbelievable.

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It's Not Too Late

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It's Not Too Late

Today is Good Friday, the day our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified and died. When we read the Gospel accounts of his crucifixion and death, we see many similar elements of the story. Luke, however, tells an interesting story about the two criminals crucified next to Jesus. One of the criminals derides Jesus, like the rest of the crowd. The other criminal, however, has a different reaction. Turning to the criminal deriding Jesus, the other criminal asks, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due regard of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:40–41). This criminal clearly understood something about Jesus. Despite Jesus’s mangled appearance, the criminal knew Jesus was the Messiah, the one who was to come and save the people. Because of who he knew Jesus to be, he called out , “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:43). Then Jesus replies, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

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Poured Out

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Poured Out

The Passover was a special meal for all Jews, especially for Jesus and his disciples. Jesus gathered his disciples together for what would be their last Passover together. The meal begins as it normally does, but then Jesus does something rather odd. He picks up the bread and breaks it as was custom and says, “Take, eat; this is my body.” He continues, picking up the wine, a drink all Jews would have at their Passover meal. But it’s not just wine. Jesus says, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” No one had done this before. Jesus had just redefined the Passover meal, a meal Jews had been participating in for over 1,000 years. But Jesus also knew what he was about to do would change history forever.

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Serving as Worship

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Serving as Worship

Christians often become so consumed with the act of serving that they forget the core reason for doing so. Anyone who is engaged in and involved in the local church has probably served their local church in some capacity. Yes, the church is busy and a lot of things happen on a weekly and even daily basis, but is that the only reason we should serve? Jesus gives us the importance of serving in John 13. The King of Kings humbled himself prior to his journey on the cross by washing the feet of his disciples. Simon Peter wanted no part in this, thinking that he should wash the feet of Jesus instead. Jesus knew though that in order for someone to have relationship with him, they must give of themselves fully to him. This washing of feet is an example of what it takes to truly know and walk with Jesus, which is service and humility. The fact that we even have new life in Jesus is a demonstration of service itself. Jesus serves us so that we can in return serve others.

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Love

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Love

Even in his last few days, Jesus reminded his disciples how much he loved them. Jesus’s love for his disciples was different than any love they had ever experienced before. The disciples might not have caught that prior to Jesus’s death; however, they quickly realized it upon Jesus’s resurrection. For many of us, we know God loves us, yet sometimes we have doubts. It seems as though God’s love isn’t tangible. We can’t demonstrate our love for God like we do with those we love most. Think about how you show love and affection to those closest to you. You hug and kiss them. You look them in the face and talk. While we know God loves us and he demonstrates his love to us, we’ve never been face-to-face with God. We’ve never hugged or kissed God. The disciples, however, tangibly experienced the love of God through Jesus. Jesus was God-in-flesh. He walked with them, talked with them, and demonstrated his love for them. Ultimately Jesus demonstrated his love for his disciples in the most profound way—by dying on the cross.

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Woe to You

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Woe to You

Jesus always had a disdain for the religious. It wasn’t because they believed the wrong things. The religious often believed the right things. However, their beliefs failed to transform the way they lived. Matthew 23 provides a snapshot into one moment in the final week of Jesus’s life. He was nearing the cross, but while in Jerusalem Jesus had a run-in with the religious leaders. In Matthew 23, Jesus vehemently attacks the Pharisees and religious leaders. He tells the people, “practice and observe what they tell you—but do not do what they do” (Matthew 23:3). But why? Jesus clearly explains: “For they preach, but do not practice” (Matthew 23:3). The pharisees were known for treating people poorly. They were also known to practice their piety purposefully in front of people so that other people would see them and honor them for their work. For the rest of Matthew 23, Jesus condemns the pharisees, calling them hypocrites.

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The Joy of Giving Back

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The Joy of Giving Back

The launch of the early church was an incredible time! When Jesus ascended to heaven after his death and resurrection, he sent his Holy Spirit to stir the hearts of his followers and spread the movement of the gospel. When we search through the Bible looking for examples of the unity within the church, the early church in the book of Acts stands out. The early church understood what it took to be on the same page. It doesn’t mean that they were perfect, but it does mean that they strived for unity through the Spirit of God. One way that the early church was unified was in their giving. The verses above represent a collection of believers coming together, equally and obediently sacrificing to the work of God and the needs of others. The text says that things were “distributed to each as any had need.” This is a difficult concept to grasp for us today because there seems to be so many needs around us.

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The Motive of Fasting

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The Motive of Fasting

It is so easy to do the right thing for the wrong reason. This is especially true when it comes to religious action. For many of us, we are pharisees deep down. We know that we should be serving God, but we really want others to see us do things for God. This can especially be true for seasons like Lent. We pray more, fast, or give during Lent so people will make sure they know we are religious. Jesus is adamantly against this. In Matthew 6, Jesus’s focus is not whether people fast or how they fast but why they fast. Jesus tells us we should keep our fasting private. In fact, we should act as though we’re not fasting. We’re fasting not to be seen by others but to be seen by God. We’re fasting to grow closer to the Lord, not to earn religious accolades.

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Cries from the Heart

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Cries from the Heart

Have you ever felt broken over sin? Have you ever been so broken you wept aloud? Have you ever been so broken you cried out to the Lord for his forgiveness? Our sin should break us. We should hurt over our sin. Why? Because we worship a holy, sinless God who is grieved over sin. God is grieved over sin so much so that he sent Christ to take away sin. The psalmist writes in Psalm 130, “Out of the depths I cry to you. . . . Let your ear be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy” (Psalm 130:1–2). He goes on to say, “my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning” (Psalm 130:6). In the ancient world, watchmen would sit on the city gate and protect the city. They longed for the morning because only then was their work complete. Why should we wait for the Lord with such enthusiasm as a city watchman? Because we know that God is merciful and gracious to forgive us.

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New Life in Jesus

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New Life in Jesus

The implications of knowing Christ are extremely significant! The Apostle Paul writes this letter to the Church of Corinth, reminding them of who they are in Christ Jesus and what that means for them in their present circumstances and situations. Paul says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” This is a phrase that we hear quite often in the church today, but do we really live like this? Second Corinthians is a book of reminders. The Church of Corinth was in a place where they desperately needed to be reminded of the truths of God, in order to resist temptation and stand against the enemy. Paul also reminds the Corinthians that because Christ has reconciled us to himself, we can also demonstrate reconciliation to others. This is an act that we are simply unable to do apart from Christ Jesus.

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