The Christian faith centers not only on the cross but on the empty tomb. The truth is, the majority of people in the world, including non-Christians, believe that a man named Jesus of Nazareth died on a cross. Not long after Jesus lived we find historical references such as this one from Tacitus, a Roman … Continue reading –>
Each Gospel writer told the story of Jesus from various perspectives, but all focused on His death. Matthew alone, though, records the opening of the graves after the temple veil was torn. Read Matthew 27:49-54. What is the meaning of these events? What hope do they point to for us? Jesus died right after the … Continue reading –>
“Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’” (Matt. 27:45-46, NKJV). What is the meaning of this cry? How … Continue reading –>
Read Matthew 27:11-26. What are some of the deeper implications of the choice given to the people and the choice that they made? It was Barabbas the murderer who was supposed to be crucified on the middle cross. The criminals on either side were possibly his associates. Barabbas was not a first name but a … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Matt. 27:11-26; John 3:19; Isa. 59:2; Matt. 27:45-46, Matt. 27:49-54; Heb. 8:1-6; Matt. 28:1-20. Memory Text:“‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth’” (Matthew 28:18, NKJV). An ad in a British magazine asked if someone would donate his or her body to science. It said that … Continue reading –>
In 1959, two hoodlums entered a home in Kansas and murdered two teenage children and their parents. Before the killers were found, the brother of the murdered father wrote this letter to the local paper. “‘There is much resentment in this community. I have even heard on more than one occasion that the man, when … Continue reading –>
Jesus knew beforehand about Judas’s freewill decision to betray Him, one of many instances in the Bible showing that God’s foreknowledge of our free choices in no way infringes upon the freedom of those choices. And He knew not only of Judas’s betrayal, but also that Peter, despite all his bravado, would at the crucial … Continue reading –>
How sad the story of Judas! Had he died before his last journey to Jerusalem, he might have been among sacred history’s most venerated heroes. Church buildings could have been named after him. Instead, his name is forever linked to betrayal and treachery. Read John 6:70 and Luke 22:3. How do they help to explain … Continue reading –>
During Passover week, the priests sacrificed thousands and thousands of lambs at the temple just up the hill from the Kidron Valley. The blood from the lambs was poured onto the altar and then flowed down a channel to a brook that ran through the Kidron Valley. The brook may have actually turned red from … Continue reading –>
Read Matthew 26:17-19. Why is it so significant that this was the time of the Passover? See also Exod. 12:1-17, 1 Cor. 5:7. The story of the Exodus is, of course, a story of Redemption, of deliverance—a work that God does for those who could not do it for themselves. What an appropriate symbol for … Continue reading –>
