Matthew 28:1-20; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-53; John 20:1-21:25 Early Sunday morning a group of women took anointing oil to Jesus’ grave. However, what they found was not what they expected. They would not be anointing His body that day. Instead, an angel rolled away the stone entrance to the grave and told them that Jesus…
Holy Week – Saturday – Empty
Matthew 27:62-66; Luke 23:54b There is simply not much written about Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath day which followed Jesus’ death. It’s an empty day. The hearts of His disciples were empty too. They were hurting and mourning. They were fearful for what their own future held and overwhelmingly disappointed as their hopes and dreams had…
Holy Week – Friday – Good Friday
Matthew 27:1-61; Mark 15:1-47; Luke 23:1-56; John 18:28-19:42 Good? This is the day we remember Jesus’ death on the cross. How can something so terrible be good? Well…. it was the terrible price that God paid so that we (sinners) could be in relationship with Him. We are better off and have been given forgiveness…
Holy Week – Sunday – Jerusalem Arrival
Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; John 12:9-19 Palm Sunday is the day that we celebrate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem the week prior to His crucifixion and resurrection. Anyway, here’s what I learned about the culture of this whole: During Jesus’ day, Pilate ruled over Jerusalem as a Roman governor. Pilate’s superior would have been…
Holy Week – Thursday – Last Supper
Matthew 26:17-75; Mark 14:12-72; Luke 22:7-71; John 13:1-18:27 On Thursday of Holy Week, Jesus celebrated a traditional Passover meal with His disciples. (well… maybe not so traditional) He sent John and Peter ahead to get the meal prepared. When they arrived the disciples thought it was just gonna be “business as usual.” They had celebrated…
Holy Week – Wednesday – Quiet Strength
Matthew 26:6-16 – Mark 14:3-11 – Luke 22:3-6 Wednesday is a quiet day for Jesus, but God is still at work – A quiet strength. After all that had been said on Tuesday, Jesus gave the Pharisees a little break from Him. They had already made up their minds about killing Him, but needed a…
Holy Week – Tuesday – Confrontation and Determination
Matthew 21:23-26:5; Mark 11:27-14:2; Luke 20:1-22:2; John 12:37-50 The Tuesday of Holy Week is full of confrontation. Jesus is determined. After the events of Monday (running money changers out), the chief priests and scribes have seen enough and they are ready to kill Jesus. However, Jesus doesn’t do anything different. He could have smoothed things…
Holy Week – Monday – Moneychangers and Soreq Wall
Matthew 21:12-22; Mark 11:12-19; Luke 19:45-48 Most scholars believe that Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple on the Monday of Holy week so I thought I’d post about it today. I have always wondered about the time Jesus got mad and threw the money changers out of the temple. (Matthew 21, Luke…
He died. I sighed.
(written in Dec 2014) It’s a week before Christmas. There’s lots to do. I’ve been working all week and finally get to come home. I’m so ready for the holidays away from students – away from work. I’m tired. As I drive home, I start to get excited about being home, being with my kids,…
50 Things to do at Christmas (revised for 2018)
Everyone should experience these 50 things sometime in their lives during the Christmas season. I have already experienced some of these, but some are things I hope to experience. 50 Things to do during Christmas: 1. “A Christmas Story” marathon. 2. Sit in Santa’s lap for a picture. It still counts if you cry your…