Team Daily Bible Reading and Commentary Thoughts for March 2024
316Judith
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March 1, 2024
Bible Reading:
John 10:22-42
Commentary Thoughts
Introduction
John 10:22–42: Jesus continues to describe
his relationship with his followers. Some of
the people ask if he is the Messiah, and Jesus responds by declaring that the deeds he does by his Father’s authority speak on his behalf. Some of the people attempt to stone him, whereas many others believe in him.
Today’s Key Verse: John 10:27
[Jesus said:] “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
Reflect
How does Jesus respond when asked if he is the Messiah (verses 25–30)?
Why do people want to stone him (verse 33)?
How does Jesus respond (verses 34–38)?
Reread verses 27 and 28.
What reassurance does Jesus give his followers?
With whom might you share these comforting words today?
Pray
Loving Jesus, as one of your sheep, you know my name. I thank you for the promise of eternal life with you and the assurance that no one can ever snatch me away from you. Help me to listen for your voice each day so that I always follow you. Amen.
Bible Reading:
John 10:22-42
Commentary Thoughts
Introduction
John 10:22–42: Jesus continues to describe
his relationship with his followers. Some of
the people ask if he is the Messiah, and Jesus responds by declaring that the deeds he does by his Father’s authority speak on his behalf. Some of the people attempt to stone him, whereas many others believe in him.
Today’s Key Verse: John 10:27
[Jesus said:] “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
Reflect
How does Jesus respond when asked if he is the Messiah (verses 25–30)?
Why do people want to stone him (verse 33)?
How does Jesus respond (verses 34–38)?
Reread verses 27 and 28.
What reassurance does Jesus give his followers?
With whom might you share these comforting words today?
Pray
Loving Jesus, as one of your sheep, you know my name. I thank you for the promise of eternal life with you and the assurance that no one can ever snatch me away from you. Help me to listen for your voice each day so that I always follow you. Amen.
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March 2, 2024
Bible Reading
John 11
Key Verse: 25-26a
Commentary Thoughts
Introduction
John 11:1–27: Today we will read the first part of the account of the death and raising of Lazarus.
Jesus receives word that his friend Lazarus is ill, but he delays making the trip to Bethany to see him. The conclusion of the story will provide an occasion for Jesus to reveal the glory of God.
Today’s reading includes another of the “I am” passages (verse 25) that appear only in John’s Gospel—Jesus’s self-revelation connecting him to the Divine Name (see Exodus 3:14) and identifying him as the one who has come to make God known.
Today’s Key Verse: John 11:25–26a
Jesus said to [Martha], “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will live, even though they die; and those who live and believe in me will never die.”
Reflect
How does Jesus respond to the message from Mary and Martha (verse 4)?
What does Jesus say to his disciples (verses 11, 14, 15)?
What are your thoughts about Jesus waiting two days before going to Bethany?
What do his words in verse 15 indicate?
What does Jesus say to Martha (verses 23, 25, 26)?
According to verse 27, what does Martha’s response to Jesus indicate about her faith?
Pray
Lord Jesus, I believe you are the resurrection and the life, and I trust in you. As I walk with you each day, strengthen my faith and help me to grow in
knowledge of you. Amen.0 -
March 3, 2024
Bible Reading
John 11: 28-44
Commentary Thoughts
Introduction
John 11:28–44: Today’s reading concludes the story of the death and raising of Lazarus. Jesus weeps when he arrives at the tomb. After praying to the Father, Jesus calls Lazarus out of the tomb and instructs the onlookers to remove Lazarus’s burial cloths.
Today’s Key Verse: John 11:40
Jesus said to [Martha], “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believed?”
Reflect
Mary’s words in verse 32 echo those of her sister Martha in verse 21.
What do their words indicate about their faith in Jesus?
How do you demonstrate your faith in Jesus?
What was Jesus’s prayer (verses 41–42)?
What promise is given in verse 40?
Pray
Holy Jesus, I place my faith in you, knowing that you offer me life everlasting. I believe that you have come into the world to make God known and to reveal God’s glory. Amen.0 -
March 4, 2024
Bible Reading
John 13:1-35
Commentary Thoughts
Introduction
John 13:1–35: Today’s reading is set within the context of Jesus’s farewell meal with his disciples prior to his arrest and trial. In ancient Jewish society, it was the duty of the servant to wash the master’s feet. Here we read of Jesus taking on the role of a servant and washing the feet of his disciples. Jesus predicts his betrayal by Judas, and the chapter concludes with Jesus giving his disciples a new commandment about loving one another.
Today’s Key Verse: John 13:34
[Jesus said:] “And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
Reflect
What are your thoughts about Jesus choosing foot washing as a way to teach his disciples about what it means to serve one another?
What opportunities have you or your community of faith experienced to be of loving service to others?
Based on today’s reading, how has Jesus made God and God’s love known?
Pray
Lord Jesus, by your example you have taught us what it means to serve one another. Give me a humble heart and open my eyes this day to those in need of love and care. As you have loved me, may I, in turn, love others as you have commanded. In your holy name, I pray, Amen.
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March 5, 2024
Bible Reading
Romans 5: 6-15
Commentary Thoughts
Graded with Grace
My son’s bright eyes sparkled with excitement as he showed me a paper he had brought home from school. It was a math test, marked with a red star and a grade of 100 percent.
As we looked at the exam, he said he had three questions left to answer when the teacher said time was up.
Puzzled, I asked how he could have received a perfect score. He replied, “My teacher gave me grace. She let me finish the test although I had run out of time.”
As my son and I discussed the meaning of grace, I pointed out that God has given us more than we deserve through Christ.
We deserve death because of our sin (Romans 3:23).
Yet, “while we were still sinners” Christ died for us (5:8).
Jesus—sinless and holy—gave up His life so we could escape the penalty for our sin and one day live forever in heaven. Eternal life is a gift from God. It’s not something we earn by working for it. We are saved by God’s grace, through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8–9).
—Jennifer Benson Schuldt Grace and mercy are unearned blessings.1 -
March 6, 2024
Bible Reading
John 3:16-21
Commentary Thoughts
Love Locks
“Love locks” is a growing phenomenon.
Thousands of people in love have attached these love padlocks to bridges, gates, and fences around the world, including France, China, Austria, Czech Republic, Serbia, Spain, Mexico, and Northern Ireland. Couples engrave their names on a padlock and then attach it in a public place to symbolize their everlasting love.
Authorities of some landmarks frown on them because of the danger they can cause if too many are attached. Some think they are acts of vandalism, while others view them as beautiful art and a picture of committed love. The Lord showed us true “everlasting love” in a public place. He displayed His love on the cross when He gave His life to provide forgiveness of sin. And He continues to show us His love on a daily basis.
Salvation is not only a promise that we’ll have eternity with God, but it is also a daily experience of forgiveness, assurance, and grace in our relationship with Him. Jesus’s love for us is the basis of Paul’s challenge to “live a life filled with love” toward others (Ephesians 5:2). The love of our Father enables us to be patient and kind. In His Son He has given us the ultimate example and means of loving one another—forever.
—Anne Cetas Jesus shows us how to love.1 -
Wow I love the love locks message. What a beautiful comparison.1
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Thank you for sharing, glad you are enjoying these myhands4God
March 7, 2024
Bible Reading
Romans 3:21-26
Commentary Thoughts
The Price of Admission
Every year some two million people from all over the world visit St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. It is well worth the admission fee to experience the magnificent structure designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren during the late seventeenth century. But tourism is secondary at this place of Christian worship. A primary mission of the cathedral is “to enable people in all their diversity to encounter the transforming presence of God in Jesus Christ.”
If you want to tour the building and admire the architecture, you must pay an admission fee. But there is no charge to enter and attend any of the daily worship services at St. Paul’s.
How much does it cost to enter the kingdom of God?
Entry is free because Jesus Christ paid the price for us by His death. “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins” (Romans 3:23–24).
When we acknowledge our spiritual need and accept by faith God’s forgiveness for our sins, we have a new and everlasting life in Him. You can enter a new life today because, by His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, Jesus has paid the price of admission!
—David McCasland
Jesus paid the price so we can enter God’s kingdom
Bible Reading and Commentary provided by YouVersion: Bible Reading online0 -
March 8, 2024
Bible Reading
2 Corinthians 5:14-21
Commentary Thoughts
Repair or Replace?
It was time to fix the trim on the windows of our house. So I scraped, sanded, and applied wood filler to get the aging trim ready for paint.
After all of my efforts—including a coat of primer and some too-expensive paint—the trim looks, well, pretty good. But it doesn’t look new.
The only way to make the trim look new would be to replace the old wood. It’s okay to have weather-damaged window trim that looks “pretty good” to our eye. But when it comes to our sin-damaged hearts, it’s not enough to try to fix things up.
From God’s point of view, we need all things to become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). That is the beauty of salvation through faith in Jesus. He died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sin and rose from the dead to display His power over sin and death.
The result is that in God’s eyes, faith in Christ’s work makes us a “new person” and replaces the old with a new life. Looking through Jesus and His work on the cross for us, our heavenly Father sees everyone who has put his or her faith in Him as new.
Sin has caused great damage.
We can’t fix it ourselves.
We must trust Jesus as Savior and let Him give us a brand-new life.
—Dave Branon Only Jesus can give you a new life.0 -
March 10, 2024
Bible Reading
John 13:1-11
Commentary Thoughts
A Picture of Humility
During the Easter season, my wife and I attended a church service where the people tried to model the events that Jesus and His disciples experienced on the night before He was crucified.
As part of the service, the church staff members washed the feet of some of the church volunteers.
As I watched, I wondered which was more humbling in our day—to wash another person’s feet or to have someone else wash yours. Both those who were serving and those being served were presenting distinct pictures of humility.
When Jesus and His disciples gathered for the Last Supper (John 13:1–20), Jesus, in humble servanthood, washed His disciples’ feet.
But Simon Peter resisted, saying, “You will never ever wash my feet!” Then Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me” (13:8).
Washing their feet was not a mere ritual. It could also be seen as a picture of our need of Christ’s cleansing—a cleansing that will never be realized unless we are willing to be humble before the Savior.
James wrote, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). We receive God’s grace when we acknowledge the greatness of God, who humbled Himself at the cross (Philippians 2:5–11).
—Bill Crowder The most powerful position on earth is kneeling before the Lord of the universe.
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March 11, 2024
Bible Reading
Micah 6:1-8
Commentary Thoughts
Acts of Gratitude
Few people knew me better as a boy than Francis Allen, the pastor who led me to Jesus Christ. He was a near-perfect example of the gentleness of God’s love. Early on, Francis recognized a tendency in me to try to “buy” approval by working harder than expected and doing more than people asked. “These are good traits to give as gifts to others,” he would tell me, “but you should never use them to buy acceptance and love from people—or from God.”
To help me understand this, he told me to read Jesus’s promise in Matthew 11:30 that His “yoke is easy to bear”—a statement that sometimes seems too simple to be true. Then, pointing to Micah 6:6–8, he said: “Now read this and ask yourself if there are any gifts you can give God that He doesn’t already have.”
The answer, of course, is no. Then he went on to explain that God cannot be bought—the gift of grace is free. Since this is true, what should be our response? “To do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). I learned that these were acts of gratitude—not of purchase. Grace is free and faithful living is our grateful response.
—Randy Kilgore Good works are not the means of salvation but the result.0 -
March 12, 2024
Bible Reading
1 Peter 1:17-21
Commentary Thoughts
Learn the Cost
We gave our two-year-old son a pair of new boots recently. He was so happy that he didn’t take them off until it was bedtime. But the next day he forgot all about the boots and put on his old sneakers. My husband said, “I wish he knew how much things cost.” The boots were expensive for us, but a young child doesn’t know about working hours, salaries, and taxes.
A child receives the gifts with open arms, but we know that he can’t be expected to fully appreciate the sacrifices his parents make to give him new things.
Sometimes I behave like a child. With open arms I receive God’s gifts through His many mercies, but am I thankful?
Do I consider the price that was paid so I can live a full life?
The cost was expensive—more than “gold or silver, which lose their value.” As we read in 1 Peter, it required “the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God” (1:18–19).
Jesus gave His life, a high price to pay, to make us part of His family. When we understand the cost of our salvation, we learn to be truly thankful.
—Keila Ochoa Salvation is infinitely costly, but absolutely free.1 -
March 13, 20/4
Bible Reading
John 6: 58-69
Key Verses: 56-58 and 68-69
Commentary Thoughts
Beyond Time
During 2016, theater companies in Britain and around the world staged special productions to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare.
Crowds gathered at concerts, lectures, and festivals to celebrate the enduring work of the man widely considered to be the greatest playwright in the English language.
Ben Jonson, one of Shakespeare’s contemporaries, wrote of him, “He was not of an age, but for all time.”
While the influence of some artists, writers, and thinkers may last for centuries, Jesus Christ is the only person whose life and work will endure beyond time.
He claimed to be “the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread... will live forever” (John 6:58).
When many people who heard Jesus’s teaching were offended by His words and stopped following Him, the Lord asked His disciples if they also wanted to leave.
Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:61–69).
When we invite Jesus to come into our lives as our Lord and Savior, we join His first disciples and all those who have followed Him in a new life that will last forever—beyond time.
—David McCasland Jesus is the Son of God, the Man beyond time, who gives us eternal life.0 -
March 14, 2024
Bible Reading
Isaiah 53
Key Verse:
Verse 3
Commentary Thoughts
"Acquainted with Grief"
We are not “acquainted with grief ” in the same way our Lord was acquainted with it.
We endure it and live through it, but we do not become intimate with it.
At the beginning of our lives we do not bring ourselves to the point of dealing with the reality of sin.
We look at life through the eyes of reason and say that if a person will control his instincts, and educate himself, he can produce a life that will slowly evolve into the life of God.
But as we continue on through life, we find the presence of something which we have not yet taken into account, namely, sin—and it upsets all of our thinking and our plans. Sin has made the foundation of our thinking unpredictable, uncontrollable, and irrational.
We have to recognize that sin is a fact of life, not just a shortcoming. Sin is blatant mutiny against God, and either sin or God must die in my life.
The New Testament brings us right down to this one issue—if sin rules in me, God’s life in me will be killed; if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed. There is nothing more fundamental than that.
The culmination of sin was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and what was true in the history of God on earth will also be true in your history and in mine—that is, sin will kill the life of God in us.
We must mentally bring ourselves to terms with this fact of sin. It is the only explanation why Jesus Christ came to earth, and it is the explanation of the grief and sorrow of life.0 -
March 15, 2024
Bible Reading
Matthew 26:36
Matthew 26:38
Commentary Thoughts
Maundy Thursday: His Agony and Our Access
We can never fully comprehend Christ’s agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, but at least we don’t have to misunderstand it.
It is the agony of God and man in one Person, coming face to face with sin. We cannot learn about Gethsemane through personal experience.
Gethsemane and Calvary represent something totally unique—they are the gateway into life for us.
It was not death on the cross that Jesus agonized over in Gethsemane.
In fact, He stated very emphatically that He came with the purpose of dying. His concern here was that He might not get through this struggle as the Son of Man.
He was confident of getting through it as the Son of God— Satan could not touch Him there.
But Satan’s assault was that our Lord would come through for us on His own solely as the Son of Man.
If Jesus had done that, He could not have been our Savior (see Hebrews 9:11–15).
Read the record of His agony in Gethsemane in light of His earlier wilderness temptation—“. . . the devil . . . departed from Him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13).
In Gethsemane, Satan came back and was overthrown again. Satan’s final assault against our Lord as the Son of Man was in Gethsemane.
The agony in Gethsemane was the agony of the Son of God in fulfilling His destiny as the Savior of the world.
The veil is pulled back here to reveal all that it cost Him to make it possible for us to become sons of God.
His agony was the basis for the simplicity of our salvation.
The Cross of Christ was a triumph for the Son of Man.
It was not only a sign that our Lord had triumphed, but that He had triumphed to save the human race.
Because of what the Son of Man went through, every human being has been provided with a way of access into the very presence of God.
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March 16, 2024
Bible Reading
John 17:1-5
Key Verse
Verse 4
Commentary Thoughts
Good Friday: "It Is Finished"
The death of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment in history of the very mind and intent of God. There is no place for seeing Jesus Christ as a martyr.
His death was not something that happened to Him—something that might have been prevented. His death was the very reason He came.
Never build your case for forgiveness on the idea that God is our Father and He will forgive us because He loves us.
That contradicts the revealed truth of God in Jesus Christ.
It makes the Cross unnecessary, and the redemption “much ado about nothing.”
God forgives sin only because of the death of Christ.
God could forgive people in no other way than by the death of His Son, and Jesus is exalted as Savior because of His death.
“We see Jesus . . . for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor” (Hebrews 2:9).
The greatest note of triumph ever sounded in the ears of a startled universe was that sounded on the Cross of Christ—“It is finished!” (John 19:30).
That is the final word in the redemption of humankind.
Anything that lessens or completely obliterates the holiness of God, through a false view of His love, contradicts the truth of God as revealed by Jesus Christ.
Never allow yourself to believe that Jesus Christ stands with us, and against God, out of pity and compassion, or that He became a curse for us out of sympathy for us.
Jesus Christ became a curse for us by divine decree.
Our part in realizing the tremendous meaning of His curse is the conviction of sin.
Conviction is given to us as a gift of shame and repentance; it is the great mercy of God.
Jesus Christ hates the sin in people, and Calvary is the measure of His hatred.0 -
March 17, 2024
Bible Reading.
1 Peter 2:24
Commentary Thoughts
The Collision of God and Sin
The cross of Christ is the revealed truth of God’s judgment on sin.
Never associate the idea of martyrdom with the Cross of Christ.
It was the supreme triumph, and it shook the very foundations of hell.
There is nothing in time or eternity more absolutely certain and irrefutable than what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross—He made it possible for the entire human race to be brought back into a right-standing relationship with God.
He made redemption the foundation of human life; that is, He made a way for every person to have fellowship with God.
The Cross was not something that happened to Jesus— He came to die; the Cross was His purpose in coming.
He is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).
The incarnation of Christ would have no meaning without the Cross. Beware of separating “God was manifested in the flesh . . .” from “. . . He made Him . . . to be sin for us . . .” (1 Timothy 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:21).
The purpose of the incarnation was redemption.
God came in the flesh to take sin away, not to accomplish something for Himself.
The Cross is the central event in time and eternity, and the answer to all the problems of both.
The Cross is not the cross of a man, but the Cross of God, and it can never be fully comprehended through human experience.
The Cross is God exhibiting His nature. It is the gate through which any and every individual can enter into oneness with God. But it is not a gate we pass right through; it is one where we abide in the life that is found there.
The heart of salvation is the Cross of Christ. The reason salvation is so easy to obtain is that it cost God so much.
The Cross was the place where God and sinful
man merged with a tremendous collision and
where the way to life was opened.
But all the cost and pain of the collision was
absorbed by the heart of God.0 -
March 18, 2024
Bible Reading
Luke 24:26
Commentary Thoughts
Easter: His Resurrection Destiny
Our Lord’s Cross is the gateway into His life. His resurrection means that He has the power to convey His life to me. When I was born again, I received the very life of the risen Lord from Jesus Himself.
Christ’s resurrection destiny—His foreordained purpose—was to bring “many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10).
The fulfilling of His destiny gives Him the right to make us sons and daughters of God.
We never have exactly the same relationship to God that the Son of God has, but we are brought by the Son into the relation of sonship.
When our Lord rose from the dead, He rose to an absolutely new life—a life He had never lived before He was God Incarnate.
He rose to a life that had never been before. And what His resurrection means for us is that we are raised to His risen life, not to our old life.
One day we will have a body like His glorious body, but we can know here and now the power and effectiveness of His resurrection and can “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
Paul’s determined purpose was to “know Him and the power of His resurrection” (Philippians 3:10).
Jesus prayed, “. . . as You have given Him authority over all flesh that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him” (John 17:2).
The term Holy Spirit is actually another name for the experience of eternal life working in human beings here and now.
The Holy Spirit is the deity of God who continues to apply the power of the atonement by the Cross
of Christ to our lives.
Thank God for the glorious and majestic truth that His Spirit can work the very nature of Jesus into us, if we will only obey Him.0 -
March19, 2024.
Bible Reading
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Commentary Thoughts
An Important Reminder
Whenever I think about the Resurrection, I think of the significance. But before we dive into how significant the fact that Christ rose from death is, I’d like to challenge you.
As you go through this five-day reading, consider reading all of 1 Corinthians 15 before you read, meditate, and pray through each day’s passage. I believe this will give you a deeper appreciation of what the Lord has done on our behalf through Easter.
A few Sundays ago, I got the opportunity to preach at my church. I told the congregation a gospel-centered reading of any Bible passage has to start with two leading questions:
How is this passage leading me to repent (dealing with my sinful nature)?
And the more important question: What is God doing in this passage?
We don’t have time to dive into each verse of 1 Corinthians 15 in this devotional, but we can ask these two questions.
Specifically, what has the Lord done through the Resurrection?
Paul starts the chapter with an important reminder.
His reminder is two-fold, based on both need and facts. We need the Resurrection. “By this gospel you are saved” (verse 2).
This passage breathes into our inner being why we must fill ourselves with the hope that comes from Jesus coming back to life after three days.
Moreover, Paul affirms that in order to hold on to our faith and salvation, the Resurrection has to be true.
Imagine life if we had no hope to be transformed from our body of decay, or even more, from our deeply sinful nature. That would be a hopeless life.
The original readers of 1 Corinthians heard a great defense for the case of the Resurrection.
The fact that Christ appeared to more than 500 people fulfilled their need for eyewitness evidence that Jesus did indeed defeat death by resurrecting.
We base the foundation of our faith on the same conclusion.
The Resurrection reminds us of our need to be made new because the gospel offers a complete hope: on the one hand, our sinful nature died as He died for our sins; on the other hand, and even more incredible, we rise with Him as He shares the newness of His resurrection life.
Glory to Him for He has risen.0 -
March 20, 2024
Bible Reading
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Commentary Thoughts
What if There Was No Resurrection?
As I was processing my parents’ separation when I was 15, my counselor at the time wrote on a board all of the events and circumstances that led to why my parents drifted apart.
Long story short, these events also led me to the Christian life.
Because my parents struggled with money, their relationship ended.
Because their relationship ended and money was tight, I ended up going to the university I attended.
Because I went to that university, I joined the campus ministry where I first experienced grace and decided to follow Jesus.
Sometimes, God works in mysterious ways.
In today’s reading, Paul unfolds what would happen if we didn’t have the Resurrection as the unmovable fuel for our ultimate hope.
If we take the Resurrection out of the story of the gospel, the domino effect would be catastrophic.
If Christ did not rise from the dead, the last 2,000 years of preaching from the Christian church would be a lie.
As you remember from yesterday’s reading, Jesus appeared to more than 500 people after His death and resurrection.
Paul is telling us that if we believe Christ was resurrected, then logically, we ourselves are resurrected from the dead.
Remember the domino effect?
If Christ did not come back to life, we could not be reconciled with God.
This is because we would still be in our sins (verse 17).
We also would lose the empowerment of the Holy Spirit changing us from the inside out.
Forget about eternal hope, we would have our entire existence screaming against us that we have no hope against dealing with our sinful nature.
When I think about living in my sins, I get depressed, filled with shame and embarrassment.
This is because I understand the depth of how evil my heart can be.
I think about how my heart tends to objectify women, how selfish I am, how I try to shame and humiliate those who disagree with me.
But then I remember that Jesus “did in fact” rise from the dead.
I can stop feeling horrible, and I can start rejoicing in the love He has given me.
And because of who He says I am, I can love and care for others as He cares for me.
Because the Resurrection is true, it gives us confidence through real and trustworthy hope.0 -
March 22, 2024
Bible Reading
Commentary Thoughts
Earthly and Heavenly Bodies
For our 21st-century minds, this discussion about earthly and heavenly bodies, perishable and imperishable, natural or spiritual, is a little odd. Our brothers and sisters from Corinth were puzzled by these questions too.
First of all, can our sinful, earthly bodies have any desirable hope for a glorious existence like the one the gospel promises in eternity? In our western society, guilt is often a bigger issue than shame.
For a first-century Corinthian reader, shame would have been at the core of their values making them doubt the Resurrection.
They probably thought “our bodies are dishonorable,” not because of how they look, but because of the evil desires they have.
In their minds, you could not, or should not, inherit glorification in shameful bodies. Paul challenges their and our understanding of what the resurrected God has accomplished.
Secondly, many in Corinth were unsure if there was a physical reality in eternity. Some sects taught that the afterlife was some kind of out-of-body experience, or only spiritual. Conversely,
Paul focuses on how there is a glory that comes from being transformed into an imperishable body.
Note the words Paul chooses to contrast their fear: imperishable, filled with honor, powerful, and spiritual (verses 42–44).
There is a splendor of this earthly body and life.
So much is the splendor of the earthly body, the Son put it on to live and do ministry during His incarnation.
Furthermore, earthly life brings joys the Lord intended for us to experience, which is true even after the fall.
For example, I love being a father. As I am writing this, my wife and I are debating what we should do about our 4-year-old son’s preschool and kindergarten choices for the future.
Toby, our son, probably has ADHD. It’s making it hard for him to follow the teacher’s instructions, and he is, at times, disrespectful to them.
As much as this is stressful to us, there is not one second when I stop marveling at the gift of fatherhood and being able to do life with my family.
Earthly life has its splendor. Everything God made was made good.
Therefore, there is joy to be found in God’s good creation.
Nevertheless, in a world also filled with sin, the power of the Resurrection gives us the longing for when our bodies will one day not experience this decaying life.0 -
Palm Sunday March 24, 2024
Bible Reading
Luke 19:28-40
John 12:13
Commentary Thoughts
PALM SUNDAY
There is no greater story in the history of humanity than that of Holy Week. The drama that unfolded over those eight days changed everything instantly and forever.
Whether you are a believer in Jesus Christ or someone who discovered this devotional by chance, the journey you are about to embark on has no rival.
The events of Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and all the days in between are, at the least, foundational for understanding the world you exist in now and, at their most significant, pillars upon which the entirety of eternity rests.
Perhaps it is fitting then that as we open our time together, we begin with a scene of triumph. Let the words of scripture wash over you like any propelling text. Can you smell the dust, feel the heat of the sun, hear the shouts of the crowd?
Watch as Jesus enters Jerusalem on the back of a young donkey (fulfilling the prophesies recorded in Zechariah.)
Listen as men and women hailed him with cries of “Hosanna!” which means “Save!” and choruses of what was written in Psalm 118, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Take it all in, the throughline of Scripture playing out before your eyes. (Don’t fret if you didn’t see the connections at first, neither did Jesus’ closest followers, although they would come to in time.)
Today is a day for celebration. The King has arrived. He wasn’t what the church leaders had in mind, a warrior come to destroy their enemies in conquest, but He was what all of humanity needed and still needs, the one with the authority to crush our true enemy under his heel and to bring peace between heaven and mankind.
To the believing, join the chorus of the crowd today, sing praise for the king has come.
To the wondering, find your place in the crowd and follow along. Perhaps you will find what you’ve been looking for.
One thing is certain: none of us will ever be the same.
———
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God
Born of his Spirit, washed in His blood
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Savior all the day long
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Savior all the day long0 -
March 25, 2024
Bible Reading
John 12:8
Matthew 21:12-20
Commentary Thoughts
HOLY MONDAY
In case you were worried that a week spent in the scriptures would lose your attention even for a moment, enter Jesus into the temple. What unfolds next is one of the most well-known scenes in biblical history, which, when viewed through the lens of the culture, points us once again to Jesus’ true purpose for this week.
What it must have been like to stand in that temple, a crowd pressing you from every angle and the shouts of buyers and sellers alike assaulting your senses until it was hard to focus. Imagine the sudden commotion and stunned silence that would have fallen over the people like a cloud as Jesus, with hands worn and calloused, gripped the tables and benches and heaved them so.
What did Jesus' voice sound like as over the sound of coins rattling to their resting place, he whispered, spoke, or shouted the words of Jeremiah, “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.”
Here, friends, context is key. Jesus’ righteous anger was not pointed at the mercantilism, for it was just a symptom of a greater sickness. No, his indignity was pointed at the heart of the issue.
Misuse of the temple grounds had led the people of God away from putting on display the prophetic vision of the new creation.
The people of God had packed the outer courts in order to make a profit off of what should have been worshipful, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, in doing so, they left no physical space for gentiles and outcasts to come to seek the true God.
Have you?
Perhaps you are a believer today, anxious to catch another glimpse of Jesus, eager to join once again in the chorus that greets him there, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
Have you packed your heart and mind, or even your church, with so many things that you’ve forgotten your doors are to be flung wide so that Jesus can be on display and call people to himself through your life?
Wonderer, maybe you are still following this supposed Messiah with an investigative eye, waiting to see if He is who He claims to be.
Have you left any space in your mind for the possibility that all of this is real and that there is a God who paid a price to be in a relationship with you?
Either way, there is much to consider and many days still to come.
———
All to Jesus I surrender
Humbly at His feet I bow
Worldly pleasures all forsaken
Take me, Jesus, take me now0 -
March 26
Bible Reading
John 12:20-36
Matthew 11:24
Commentary Thoughts
HOLY TUESDAY
Our journey continues as we walk with Jesus through Holy Week with an albeit troubling day.
On the other side of history, we may take comfort in Jesus’ prediction of his own death, but can you imagine being one of his followers or a Greek who had traveled to hear from Jesus himself and the scene unfolding around you?
Just as Jesus is at the height of his popularity and fame, after all of the celebrations we witnessed just two days ago, his tone turns to a future where the necessary thing is the hardest to hear.
For the believer, with the knowledge that this prophetic parable would come to pass, you may be tempted to see this as something exclusive to Jesus.
Certainly, He was the only Son of God, the only one who was able to lay down his life for the salvation of many, but what does it look like to live so selflessly for those who now claim His name, who call themselves Christian?
We may read passages like Mark 11:24 and see the power that is available to us through prayer, but do we wield it the way that Jesus did when, even though his soul was troubled, he said to his Heavenly Father, “Not my will, but thine be done?”
Do we live with such obedience because we long for a world in desperate need to hear the voice of God?
If all you prayed for today was given to you, how many people would know Jesus as Savior as a result?
And for the wonderer, how can it be that the whole crowd surrounding Jesus on that day heard that voice?
How many people do you know who would willingly lay down their lives for the sake of another?
What about for a stranger?
Are you starting to see Jesus’ mission this week, his single-minded focus on being obedient to the task in front of Him so that the outsider could be brought inside, so that he could, as the people cried out, save?
Each day is bringing us closer to the conclusion. Are we prepared for it?
———
Just as I am, Thou wilt receive
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve
Because Thy promise I believe
Oh, Lamb of God, I come, I come0 -
March 28, 2024
Bible Reading
John 14:1-7
Matthew 26:26-29
Commentary Thoughts
MAUNDY THURSDAY
The scriptures are God’s gift to us. These intimate looks at God’s relationship with mankind put on display His character so that we can know Him and respond with worship. Take, for example, the dinner we have been observing for the last two days. Here in the upper room, it’s as if we’re there at the table with Jesus. If you close your eyes, you can picture what it must have been like as the disciples laughed with each other, poked at one another, and then grew quiet as Jesus began to celebrate the Passover with them.
In the Jewish tradition, the Passover represents a moment to celebrate God’s mercy and salvation from their enslavement in Egypt. As a result of the Pharaoh’s refusal to set God’s people free, even after nine incredible signs displaying His power, God sent the tenth plague, the most terrible of them all. He warned his people that that very night, He would make his way through Egypt and claim the firstborn son of every household, and He instructed his faithful followers to sacrifice a spotless lamb and to mark their doorways with its blood so that when God saw the covering, He would pass over their home, and spare their son. And so He did.
It was during this commemoration of God’s mercy brought about by the covering of blood from a blemishless Lamb that Jesus, whom Isaiah prophesied would be led to slaughter, told his disciples to worry not. He looked into their eyes and told them that he would have to leave them in order to prepare a place for them in Heaven. Can you imagine the tension in the room, the way the dust must have hung silently suspended in the candlelight, the creak of the floorboards if anyone dared shift their weight?
Here, across the table from us, is a man whose feet scuffed the earth, who laughed and who cried, who felt the joy of love and brotherhood and the breathtaking pain of betrayal, and here, across the table from us, is the lamb of God willingly heading towards His own death. Each beat of his heart, every breath drawn to form a few last words of instruction, moved him one moment closer to that brutal ending, and yet, with a smile, he whispered, “You believe in God, believe in me.”
———
Would you if you were there? Do you now?
And when I think that God, His Son not sparing
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin0 -
March 30, 2024
Bible Reading
Romans 6:5
Matthew 27:57-66
Commentary Thoughts
HOLY SATURDAY
“Take a guard,” he said, “make the tomb as secure as you know how.”
Imagine thinking it would make a difference. Of course, Pilate didn’t know what we know now.
Even in his wildest imagination, this executor of Roman authority could never have seen all of this coming.
Why? Because Pilate’s concern was protecting the tomb from the outside, while all along Heaven and Hell were colliding within it.
Of course, some of us are still stacking guards outside of the tomb, aren’t we? In spite of our faith, we hide things away from the resurrection power of God. We cram our little caves full of regrets, secrets we believe to be too difficult for God to redeem or shame so dark as to blot out His resurrecting light. We offer everything to Him except what we keep for ourselves.
And we shake our heads at Pontius Pilate.
What a beautiful invitation Holy Saturday is, and yet how seldom do we accept it? In our earnest eagerness to celebrate the empty tomb, we fly so swiftly by this opportunity to stop and reflect on the meaning of an inhabited one.
There his body lay, broken for you. Today need not be a day of great sorrow, for unlike the Apostles, we know how the story ends, but it can be a day of great surrender.
What remains in you that needs to be handed over?
What needs to die in order for you to live?
It was our sin and God’s plan that led Christ to the Cross.
It was his power and his authority that ruptured the darkness and resurrected Him to everlasting life.
But on this Holy day, we must ask ourselves the question: “How am I still working to secure the tomb and keep the power of resurrection inside?”
Sunday’s coming. Will you experience the
fullness of that freedom when it does?
Call back your guards.
Take a deep breath, He shall soon do the same.0 -
March 31, 2024
Bible Reading
Matthew 28:1-6
Commentary Thoughts
EASTER SUNDAY
Imagine Mary’s eyes, how they must have burned and stung with tears of frustration.
Watch as she wipes at them softly at first and then furiously, emotionally wrung out and yet seething with something beyond pain.
They had taken him, they had murdered him, and now his body was just past this stone they had rolled into place to keep her away from him.
How quickly must her eyes have widened and then squinted almost completely shut as she shielded them against the bright light before her.
Listen for the sound of Roman armor slamming into the soil, the dust kicking up as the men collapsed at the sight. Then a pause, and then…
“I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.”
Come and see.
Come and see the empty tomb, Mary who breathlessly cries out to Him, “Rabboni!”
Come and see, Mary, mother of James, who collapses at His feet in worship.
Come and see, Cleopas, whose heart burns in the presence of the resurrected Christ.
Come and see, Simon, whom Jesus renames Peter, and who insists on a death worthy of his Savior.
Come and see the holes in his hands and his side, Thomas, so you know the price paid for you.
Come and see that your brother is Lord, James.
Come and see, 500 others who look upon Him and believe.
Come and see, Saul, killer of Christians, and be transformed into Paul, the great Church Father.
Come and see, teachers, that He was the law you so love.
Come and see, preachers, that He is the Word made flesh.
Come and see, history, that the flow of time is bent around Him in a triumphant arc.
Come and see, death, that your sting is final no more.
Come and see, believer, that you were purchased for a price will be welcomed home.
Come and see, skeptic, the pierced hand still reaching out toward you today.
Come and see the place where he lay. Let your eyes rest where he once did, but don’t linger. He didn’t.
Go quickly and spread the news. Tell them the truth of His word that you’ve read and the miracles you’ve seen in your life and the lives of others. Wherever you walk, wherever you work, invite them, with your kindness and generosity, and with the honesty in your eyes that shines amidst any circumstance, to come and see.
He is risen.
––––––
Crown him the Lord of life,
who triumphed o'er the grave,
and rose victorious in the strife
for those he came to save;
his glories now we sing
who died and rose on high,
who died eternal life to bring,
and lives that death may die.0
