Acts 1 - A New Hope

Luke the Gospel writer decided to add another volume to his work and penned the Book of Acts - the story of the early church after the resurrection of Jesus.

In chapter one we begin by encountering the resurrected Christ and witnessing his ascension into heaven.  In his final words, Jesus reminds those present that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes, echoing his promise from John chapter 16. 

Two other notes from the rest of chapter 1.  How about Peter, fresh from his reinstatement/restoration in John 21, taking the lead and standing up among the group of 120 believers?

And, do you ever wonder how Barsabbas known as Justus felt about losing the coin toss when Matthias was selected to become the new 12th apostle?  Was he cool with it since they had prayed for God's will to be done?  Was he bitter and angry because of his bad luck, and did his hypothetical bitterness/anger reveal that he wasn't fit to be the 12th apostle after all?  Interesting to think about it.

John 21 - fish for all and restoration for Peter

Peter has fallen hard (chapter 18), and he knows it.  Yet we read in chapter 21, "As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, 'It is the Lord,' he...jumped into the water".  In Peter we see a man who understands his need for Jesus, or at least is eager to be with Him.  Then we see this encounter:

"Do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
"Feed my lambs."

"Do you truly love me?"
"Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
"Take care of my sheep."

"Do you love me?"
"Lord you know all things; you know that I love you."
"Feed my sheep.."

In this encounter, Jesus makes Peter whole again, demonstrating His infinite mercy and power to forgive.  Peter's denial of Jesus ranks with the most heinous of acts, and yet Jesus very intentionally and thoroughly enables Peter to leave it in the past.  Peter is given the responsibility to feed lambs and take care of sheep, a role that the Good Shepherd (chapter 10) would never carelessly entrust to anybody.

The final verse of the book is pretty cool - "Jesus did many other things as well.  If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." (v. 25)

If you have journeyed through John, whether for the first time or the 1001st time, congratulations!  Read, studied, digested and applied to our lives, God uses His Word to transform us and change our lives forever. 

And I hope you'll plan to continue on to the next book in the New Testament - Acts chapter 1 for next week!

John 20 - An empty tomb and face to face encounters with the Risen Lord

We're almost finished with the Book of John.  In two weeks, we'll begin reading through Acts, and continue on through the rest of the New Testament. 

Chapter 20 of John is the part of the story that the entire Bible and its validity hinges on.  In his book, The Reason for God, Pastor Tim Keller wrote something to the effect of "If Jesus rose from the dead, we have to accept everything He said.  If He didn't, why worry about anything he said?"

There is considerable evidence for the bodily resurrection from the dead of Jesus, and some of the most convincing pieces of evidence are found in John 20.  First, there would be no reason to make up a story of a resurrection and then report that a woman was the first person to discover the empty tomb and see the resurrected Jesus.  This was a time when women were not considered trustworthy sources, and their testimony wasn't even admissable in court.  The only logical reason for having a woman revealed as the discoverer of the empty tomb would be if that's how it actually happened.  Secondly, every time I read the last part of verse 7, "The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen", I think, wow, who cares?  This detail adds nothing to the story, it's basically useless information.  The kind of useless information that would be mentioned by an eyewitness giving a detailed account some event. 

I also love verses 30-31, in which John gives us an explanation of his rationale for writing this account of the life of Jesus, "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."

May you believe and have life in his name as well.

John 19 - Sentenced and Crucified

But Pilate answered, "You take him and crucify him.  As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him." v. 6

Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above." v. 11

"Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews....."We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered. v. 14-15

Here they crucified him, and with him two others - one on each side and Jesus in the middle. v. 18

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished."  With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. v. 30

These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled:  v. 36

At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb...they laid Jesus there.  v. 41-42

John 18 - Two betrayals and a sham of a trial

So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

“You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter.
   He replied, “I am not.”

When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded.

“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
   Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!”