April 21, 2019 | Luke 24:1-12, 36-43 |
How can we tell what’s true? What’s real? Should we just deny our doubts and take a blind leap of faith?
In the gospel according to Luke, he wrote an orderly account of Jesus’ resurrection, so that his readers might be certain of the truth that He is the Messiah, the Son of God. We can be certain that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.
April 21, 2019
JESUS EXPLAINS AND PROVES THE RESURRECTION! The Sadducees, who denied the resurrection and only accepted the five books of Moses, came to Jesus presenting a case that they thought would make the idea of the resurrection seem ridiculous. However, Christ’s response made their doubt seem ridiculous instead. After dismissing their multiple wives premise in only
April 20, 2019
JESUS ANSWERS AN UNANSWERABLE QUESTION The Jewish leaders sent spies to entrap Jesus with what they thought was an unanswerable question. They asked Jesus, “Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” They had carefully crafted the politically charged question, so that if he answered in the positive, he would offend
April 16, 2019
THE NECESSITY OF CHILDLIKE FAITH After Jesus rebuked his disciples for preventing parents from bringing their children to Jesus, he gave this spiritual principle concerning the kingdom of God. Those who would desire entrance into the kingdom must first receive it “like a child.” These questions arise: How does a child receive the kingdom?
April 14, 2019 | Luke 19:28-44 |
When Jesus visited Jerusalem on that day, it was the first day of Passover Week. Great numbers of Jews had traveled from all over the Roman Empire to celebrate this annual Jewish festival. A great crowd greeted Jesus as he entered Jerusalem responding to him with chanting, throwing their cloaks on the ground before him and waving of palm branches. They greeted him in a manner befitting a king, but before the week was out, the crowd would curse him as a criminal.
Jesus called his visit to Jerusalem that day a “visitation.” In the Greek, it has the sense of a formal visit or inspection by a dignitary. In English, the word “visitation” has the same meaning. On Palm Sunday we remember the visitation of the Son of God to Jerusalem.
In the gospel according to Luke, Jesus expressed His desire that the people of Jerusalem would have recognized His visitation to them as the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God. We can recognize Christ’s visitation to us.
April 13, 2019
People are often heard saying, “If I had more, I’d start giving, but I’m just too broke to give right now.” Yet, Jesus taught that faithfulness in large things begins with faithfulness in little things. Stop waiting for a better job, more money, a bigger house, or a nicer car before you start being faithful
April 7, 2019
HOW DO YOU MEASURE LIFE? How do you measure life? Jesus warned the man who asked him to act as judge in settling his father’s estate that such things were not so important. Too many families have been divided over the disposition of their parents belongings. How sad that a time of mourning is further
April 3, 2019
HAVE YOU ACCEPTED OR REJECTED JESUS? Jesus sent out 72 disciples two by two to preach the gospel in every town and place he was about to go. He prepared them to understand that some people would accept their message and some would reject it. The main thing was to know that ultimately they were
March 31, 2019
WHEN IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD TO BE SEEN? The Kingdom of God is a mystery. For Jesus described it as both present and future. Perhaps the best explanation for this mystery was offered by George Ladd, who called it “fulfillment without consummation.” Fulfillment of the kingdom is here now since the first coming of
March 29, 2019
HAVE YOU TURNED JESUS AWAY? The people in the region of the Gerasenes, on the Eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, begged Jesus to leave. Jesus had only just arrived when he encountered a demon possessed man who lived in the tombs. Running towards Jesus and shrieking at the top of his lungs,