Posts from April 2019

John 21:12 (NLT) “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. The invitation to eat was “a call to the resumption of that fellowship which His death had broken.” The fact that He ate with them would strengthen the conviction that He was really with them. Later Peter referred to it in his preaching (Acts 10:41). Jesus wanted them to know that personal contact with Him was possible after the resurrection. When we face a near death experience or a…

John 21:3 (NLT) (Jesus) called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?” The disciples responded to the overwhelming perplexities of the happenings in Jerusalem by withdrawing to Galilee and engaging in the rugged joy of hard work. The danger was that they might forget the life into which Jesus had called them: I will make you fishers of men (Matt. 4:19). So Jesus appeared on the shore and repeated a familiar miracle (Luke 5:1-11). John instantly recognized what had happened,…

John 21:3 (The Message) Simon Peter announced, “I’m going fishing.” The rest of them replied, “We’re going with you.” They went out and got in the boat. They caught nothing that night.   With all the blur of their last week in Jerusalem still fresh in their memories, the disciples withdrew into Galilee. It had been a trying and confusing period of their lives. Before He had died, Jesus had taught them more than their immature spiritual state could assimilate.…

John 20:27b (original translation) Become not unbelieving, but believing. “Belief in a risen Christ made a mourner into a missionary, a penitent into a preacher, the bereaved friend into an apostle of love, a timid and shrinking coterie of disciples into the fearless heralds of a new movement, and a doubter into a confessor…faith can rise no higher than when it avows Jesus of Nazareth to be its Lord and God.”  Worship Him today.

Acts 4:33  (NLT) The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all.   “The disciples as a group were oppressed by the emotion of fear. Primarily they dreaded the Jewish rulers, who had sent Jesus to His death and might be willing to deal with them in similar fashion. They had not left Jerusalem, perhaps because they felt that remaining quietly in the city would make them less conspicuous than…

John 20:8-9 (The Message) Then the other disciple, the one who had gotten there first, went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, and believed. No one yet knew from the Scripture that He had to rise from the dead. “John, the disciple who leaned on Jesus’ breast at the last supper, and who regarded Him as his best friend, was left desolate after the crucifixion. Though he had not the bitterness of regret that Pater did, the…

John 20:3-4a (The Message) Peter and (John) left immediately for the tomb. They ran… “Peter was not given great prominence in the account, but the little said of him is significant. He ran to the tomb; and it is safe to say that he would not have run unless he had a deep concern for Jesus. The last reference to him prior to the 20th chapter was the denial, though repentance followed quickly upon his failure. It was, however, too…

John 20:1 (NLT) Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. “Mary was the picture of frustrated devotion. In his gospel, John emphasized Her love for Jesus. She was apparently the leader of the women who went to the tomb to anoint the body early on the first day of the week. Mary’s agitation over finding the stone rolled away, her…

John 20:25 (The Message) But Thomas… was not with (the other disciples) when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in His hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in His side.”   Thomas was naturally pessimistic. He was a living demonstration of the power of Jesus to dispel doubt. Remarkably, Jesus submitted to the very test that…

John 14:16 (NIV) And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever… “The provision for the disciples’ future included a new dynamic: the Holy Spirit. He would be their advocate—to make the reality of God convincing to all men in the same way that Jesus did to his disciples. He would provide a fellowship with God even closer than they had experienced in the physical presence of Jesus.” Open up to…

John 14:15  (NLT) If you love me, obey my commandments.   “Having assured the disciples that He was not deserting them but rather going before to prepare a place for them, Jesus proceeded to ask for their obedience.” Does the Lord have your whole heart? If so, you will obey Him. Love is the new motive for our lives; obedience to Him is the new standard for our activity.

John 14:7 (The Message) If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well… Philip interrupted Jesus. He wanted to see the Father as plainly as he could see Jesus. “Metaphysical distinctions and theological explanations meant comparatively little to him. He was slow to apprehend anything of an abstract nature; He was a practical man–not indifferent to spiritual truth, just baffled by it.” The human longing for a tangible God lies at the root of all idolatry. Man…

John 14:5 (The Message) Thomas said, “Master, we have no idea where you’re going. How do you expect us to know the road?“ Thomas flatly contradicted Jesus. His was a false step in reasoning. “Solutions to human problems are never found in skepticism, but rather in the affirmation of faith. Jesus responded with a positive declaration on which Thomas could base his thinking: I am the way, the truth, and the life (v. 6). It is one of the greatest…

John 14:1 (NLT) “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.” As Jesus began His critical teaching to prepare His disciples for the coming challenge to their faith, various disciples interrupted with their questions. Like little children interrupting a parent who is trying desperately to teach them something for life-threatening situations, Jesus replies, and then reverts to His original line of thought. If we believe that a personal God exists, who is the redeemer…

John 13:31 (NLT) As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into His glory”… The departure of Judas was a relief to Jesus because as long as Judas was there in the room Jesus could not talk freely about the important topics on His mind. “Judas had no understanding of His motives and mission. The other disciples were equally ignorant of Jesus’ real purpose, as their questions later…

John 13:33 (NIV) “My children, I will be with you only a little longer.” Jesus’ farewell address to His disciples begins in 13:31 and ends in 16:33. The conversation begins at the Last Supper and ends in the Garden of Gethsemane. He talked as they walked through the darkened streets of Jerusalem to the gates through which they passed over to the Mount of Olives.  It was a conscious effort on Jesus’ part to give the disciples final instructions. Notice…

John 13:37  (NIV) Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus’ farewell address to His disciples was interrupted by several of the disciples who were anxious and concerned as they began to sense the serious tone of Christ’s words. Their minds could not accept the reality that Jesus was leaving them. And Peter totally overestimated his true spiritual capacity. Jesus responded to Peter’s interruption with truth. God is faithful to…

John 13:34-35 (NLT) So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. Jesus introduced a whole new spiritual paradigm. The Old Covenant (Old Testament) was embedded in rules and regulations that enabled a relationship with God. The New Covenant (New Testament) would be implanted in hearts of flesh. Obedience to God…

John 13:31 (NLT) As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into His glory… “The presence of Judas among the Twelve was a hindrance to further revelation on the part of Jesus. As long as Judas was in the group Jesus could not speak to them as a spiritual unity.  You are clean, but not all (v. 10) showed the disunity which Jesus recognized.” Once Judas left the…

John 13:18b (The Message) “The one who ate bread at my table turned on his heel against me.” The ancient prophesy of Psalm 41:9 would come to pass through Judas. “The progress of evil within Judas is traceable in the successive allusions to him (John 6:70-71 – [Judas] was even then getting ready to betray Him). John called him a “thief” (12:4-6). The devil is said to have put into his heart the idea of betraying Jesus (13:2); and in…

John 13:21 (The Message) After (Jesus) said these things, Jesus became visibly upset (troubled in spirit, KJV), and then He told them why. “One of you is going to betray me.” The expression “troubled in spirit” described the pain which Judas’ defection would cause Jesus. On two other occasions Jesus used similar words that expressed His deep concern: at the grave of Lazarus (11:33) where He was “deeply troubled” over how death had invaded and impacted mankind, and when the…