THE STORY OF BETRAYAL

“On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ He replied, ‘Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, “The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with My disciples at your house.”’ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve.”  (Matthew 26:17-20 NIV)

The Passover is meant to be a festive and celebratory time, filled with joy as participants remember that those who were slaves were now set free, at last becoming one people, the people of God. If indeed the Last Supper began with such a tone, it changed during the course of the evening. Even beyond Jesus' foreknowledge of events, there was great apprehension in the room. Everyone was conscious of the heightened tension between Jesus and the religious leaders. They all wondered what was going to happen to Jesus -- and to them. Would there be repercussions from His action in the Temple? Might He finally proclaim Himself Messiah?

Jesus cut through the uncertainty with a statement so electric it still echoes across the centuries. "One of you," He said, looking at them in the sudden stillness of the Seder celebration, "will betray Me." (Mark 14:18)

He knew which one it was, but He did not say. "Surely, not I?" the disciples asked. (Mark 14:19) "It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with Me" (Mark 14:20), Jesus said, probably referring to the bowl of charoset before them.

The story of betrayal winds its way through the rest of the Gospel accounts of the final twenty-four hours of Jesus' life. Before the night was through, Judas would betray Jesus; Peter would deny Him; and the disciples would desert Him, leaving Jesus utterly alone as He faced trial at the hands of His enemies.

The echoes of Jesus' prediction and of the acts of betrayal by those closest to Him are still discomfiting. In our own age,… we realize that such betrayals are commonplace. Jesus might well have said, "All of you will betray Me;" and with that realization, we must look finally at ourselves. 

-- Adam Hamilton in “24 Hours That Changed the World” 

#6340

ARE YOU IN NEED OF A FAITH REFILL? - Part 2 of 2

Jesus gave John’s messengers a specific answer that holds the key to refilling any person’s faith. He said: “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard – the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” (Luke 7:22)

I love the fact that Jesus didn’t respond to John’s question by dragging out His sermon file. Just think of all the ancient messianic prophesies He could have quoted and expounded upon. But no, He understood that John needed a lifeline, not a lecture. So He threw him one. He urged John to look again at what He, Jesus, was accomplishing.

You’re probably thinking, “But wait! It can’t be that simple. There has to be more to replenishing a person’s faith than that.” No, there isn’t. If there were, Jesus would have said so. He would have laid out a detailed plan or itemized a list of requirements. There’s no way He would have given a dear friend a flawed, incomplete answer, knowing it would doom him to further anxiety.

The good news is that nothing has changed. After all these years, faith refills are still free and can still be accomplished by focusing on Jesus. Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish.” 

-- Mark Atteberry in “Free Refill: Coming Back for More of Jesus” 

#6249

ARE YOU IN NEED OF A FAITH REFILL? - Part 1 of 2

It should comfort you to know that some of the greatest heroes of the Bible saw their faith dwindle to almost nothing. A striking example is John the Baptist.

He was a relative of Jesus, a pull-no-punches preacher who courageously challenged people to repent and clearly identified Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. One day, he saw Jesus approaching and said, “Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)  There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he was speaking the truth. He was brimming with faith.

But later, circumstances turned against him, and he found himself sitting in a prison cell. Suddenly, the truth didn’t seem quite as certain. In fact, at one point he became so unsettled about his core beliefs that he sent a couple of his friends to find Jesus and ask Him a pointed question: “Are You the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?” (Luke 7:19)  That question is a stunning reminder that even the staunchest followers of Christ occasionally need a faith refill.

So don’t feel bad if you do. Don’t listen to that little voice inside your head that keeps telling you what a pathetic excuse for a Christian you are. It’s not true. What is true is that you’re just like John the Baptist and every other imperfect person trying to scratch out an existence in this fallen world. You are not alone.

But there’s even more good news. God gives free refills! 

-- Mark Atteberry in “Free Refill: Coming Back for More of Jesus”

#6248

PHILIP HAD TO TELL NATHANAEL

“The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, Jesus said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote -- Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ ‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?’ Nathanael asked. ‘Come and see,’ said Philip.”  (John 1:43-46 NIV)

Philip not only had a seeking heart, but he also had the heart of a personal evangelist. His first response upon meeting Jesus was to find his friend Nathanael and tell him about the Messiah.

I am convinced… that friendships provide the most fertile soil for evangelism. When the reality of Christ is introduced into a relationship of love and trust that has already been established, the effect is powerful. And it seems that invariably, when someone becomes a true follower of Christ, that person’s first impulse is to want to find a friend and introduce that friend to Christ. That dynamic is seen in Philip’s spontaneous instinct to go find Nathanael and tell him about the Messiah.

The language Philip used betrayed his amazement at discovering who the Messiah was. The One whom Moses wrote, and the One foretold by the prophets, was none other than “Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph,” a lowly carpenter’s son.

Nathanael was at first nonplused. “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”…

But Philip was undaunted: “Come and see.” The ease which Philip believed is remarkable. In human terms, no one had brought Philip to Jesus. He was like Simeon, “waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him” (Luke 2:25). Philip knew the Old Testament promises. He was ready. He was expectant. His heart was prepared. And He received Jesus gladly, unhesitatingly, as Messiah. No reluctance. No disbelief. It mattered not to him what kind of one-horse town the Messiah had grown up in. He knew instantly that he had come to the end of his search. 

-- John MacArthur (1939-2025) in “Twelve Ordinary Men: How the Master Shaped His Disciples for Greatness and What He Wants to Do with You” 

#6234

HOSANNA TO THE SON OF DAVID

Hosanna is a word used in some songs of praise, particularly on Palm Sunday. It is of Hebrew origin and was part of the shout of the multitudes as Jesus entered Jerusalem: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Matthew 21:9).

Hosanna is often thought of as a declaration of praise, similar to hallelujah, but it is actually a plea for salvation. The Hebrew root words are found in Psalm 118:25, which says, “Save us, we pray, O LORD!” (ESV). The Hebrew words yasha (“deliver, save”) and anna (“beg, beseech”) combine to form the word that, in English, is “hosanna.” Literally, hosanna means “I beg you to save!” or “please deliver us!”

So, as Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem, the crowds were perfectly right to shout “Hosanna!” They were acknowledging Jesus as their Messiah, as shown in their address “Son of David.” Theirs was a cry for salvation and a recognition that Jesus is able to save.

Later that day, Jesus was in the temple, and the children present were again shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” (Matthew 21:15). The chief priests and the teachers of the Law were displeased: “’Do You hear what these children are saying?’ they asked Him. ‘Yes,’ replied Jesus, ‘have you never read, “From the lips of children and infants You, Lord, have called forth Your praise”’?” (Matthew 21:16). In saying, “Hosanna!” the people were crying out for salvation, and that’s exactly why Jesus had come. Within the week Jesus would be hanging on a cross. 

-- From Got Questions Ministries, gotquestions.org

#6091

RESPONDING TO GOD’S TRUTH

“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But what about you?’ Jesus asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’”  (Matthew 16:13-16 NIV)

What if Peter had not been receptive to the truth?  What if no one had been willing to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God?  For two years the trouble had not lain with the transmission of the Word of God, but with the reception of the instruments.  For two years Jesus had not forced His identity on the apostles.  He was not about to change His methods.  They must respond.  They must be open to God.  They must find God in Jesus.

When they do -- when we do -- meaning is found to the drama of the New Testament.  Unless they do -- unless we do -- that New Testament remains a mere collection of interesting stories and sayings.  But when we acknowledge God in Christ, when we know God sent His only Son into the world, then we find the key which unlocks all mysteries, to God and Jesus, to life and eternity.  Revelation is vital, but Jesus commends response to God's truth, and openness to that revelation.

“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven." (Matthew 16:17 NIV) 

-- H.S. Vigeveno in “Jesus the Revolutionary” 

#5913

WHITEWASHING THE CROSS

Read Mark 8:27-38

We are told in this passage that Jesus began to teach the disciples that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elder and chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again. After hearing this, Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him. In other words, Peter was trying to get Jesus to avoid the cross of sacrificial service and become some messiah other than the Messiah God was calling Him to become.

That temptation is still real for the Body of Christ today. John Donders tells about a church in Holland in which the members had a habit of bowing and kneeling before a whitewashed wall in front of the sanctuary before they sat down for worship. None of them knew why they continued the ritual throughout the years. One day the trustees decided to have the whitewashed wall repainted, but before painting the wall, they decided to scrape off the old paint. They were surprised to discover beneath the old paint a centuries-old painting of Jesus on the cross. Somebody had covered up the cross, and it was subsequently lost from memory. The people had forgotten their purpose for bowing and kneeling before they worshipped. Thus they were tempted to become some congregation other than the congregation God was calling them to be. They had kept the ritual, even though it had long since lost its meaning. For the congregation that covers up the cross cannot be a vital and faithful congregation. 

-- Zan W. Holmes, Jr. in “Encountering Jesus”

#5717

A LIGHT HAS DAWNED

This December my wife and I are renting a lake house near our daughter in Michigan. It has a great view of the Canadian Lakes. The other morning while it was still dark I looked out and saw about 20 Canada geese sitting on top of a thin layer of new ice. They were facing west and it was cold and dark. But as the pre-dawn sunlight began to paint the sky with color, they began to stir. Then as soon as the sun broke the horizon they got up, did an about face, waddled about 20 yards, and sat down, facing the light that had dawned.

It reminded me of Isaiah’s passage: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned… For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isiah 9:2,6 NIV)         

Unfortunately, many in our world today are not even as responsive as the geese, ignoring the Light of Christ that has come into our world. It does require an about face, for many are walking away from the light into a darker and darker world.  Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12 NIV)

-- David T. Wilkinson, SOUND BITES Ministry

#5494

AN ACT OF GRACE AND MERCY

“When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified Him there, along with the criminals -- one on His right, the other on His left. Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’”  (Luke 23:33-34a NIV)

In the midst of the darkness and gloom of the cross, there came a voice from one of those two thieves. It flashed into the soul of Jesus as He hung there, “This must be the man; this must be the true Messiah.” He cried out, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom!”

We are anxious to get the last word of our dying friends. Here was the last act of Jesus. He snatched the thief from the jaws of death saying, “This day you will be with Me in Paradise.” Such was His forgiveness of sin, an act of grace, just as His forgiveness of His murderers was any act of mercy. 

-- Dwight L. Moody

#5328

ADVENT WAITING AND WATCHING

It turns out that the One who made us is also the One who cannot stand for us to be apart. And that One begins to whisper to the ones who will listen -- "I will come again, I will walk among you. Look for me in a child who is to come, born of a maiden." The ones who hear the whisper and believe it begin to whisper themselves, trying to describe as best they can what they hear and what is to come. They use words like "Messiah," "Immanuel," the "Rod of Jesse," and "Son of David," trying to speak of what they know can hardly be said. The collective repeating of the whisper grows in volume until it has become as the sound of a voice crying in the wilderness.

Those who have begun to wait and to watch can indeed do only that: wait and watch. They look for the signs of God among us and wait and hope and wonder if they have somehow misunderstood.

And now we wait along with them again. 

-- Robert Benson in “The Night of the Child” (Nashville, Tenn.: Upper Room Books, 2001. Used with permission.) 

#5244

YOUR KING COMES

“Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”  (Matthew 21:6 NKJV)

Christ’s public Entry into Jerusalem seems altogether different from -- almost inconsistent with -- His previous mode of appearance. Evidently, the time for the silence so long enjoined has passed, and the time for public declaration had come. And such, indeed, this Entry was. From the moment of His sending forth the two disciples to His acceptance of the homage of the multitude, and His rebuke of the Pharisee’s attempt to arrest it, all must be regarded as designed or approved by Him; not only a public assertion of His Messiahship, but a claim to its national acknowledgement. And yet, even so, it was not to be the Messiah of Israel’s conception, but He of prophetic picture: “just and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass.”…

There can, at least, be no question that this prophecy was intended to introduce, in contrast to earthly warfare and kingly triumph, another Kingdom, of which the just King would be the Prince of Peace, Who was meek and lowly in His Coming, Who would speak peace to the sinner, and Whose sway would yet extend to earth’s utmost bounds. 

-- Adapted from Alfred Edersheim in “The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah”

#5062

ANYTHING NEW HAPPEN AROUND HERE?

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord.”  (Luke 2:11 NIV)

In 1925, the New York World celebrated the birthday of Abraham Lincoln with a cartoon which has become something of a classic. Two Kentucky farmers are pictured, talking over a picket fence. One asks, “Anything new happen lately?” The other responds, “Nothing much. A new baby was born over at Tom Lincoln’s place, but nothing much ever happens around here.”

I’m sure there were folks who said the same thing in Bethlehem that night. I can picture them, can’t you? Standing on the corner, just outside the inn. “Anything new happen around here?” “Naw, just a baby born down in the stable. Nothing much ever happens around here.” 

-- Victor A. Harnish 

#4992

THE WISE MEN WORSHIPED HIM

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’… And behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”  (Excerpts from Matthew 2 NKJV)

In the presence of the King of kings and Lord of lords we can do nothing less than stand in awe and praise at His majesty and bow before Him in worship.  The glory of the Lord cannot be compared.  It cannot be fathomed.  It is higher, more awesome, more wonderful, more majestic than anything we can comprehend with our finite mind and limited senses.  The glory of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting.

-- From “God Will Make a Way… Stories of Hope”


#4743

JOY TO THE WORLD

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room and heaven and nature sing.”

Nobody would have expected the great King of all to arrive like that. All the royalty in Grimm’s Fairy Tales arrive in carriages drawn by a team of white horses. Can you believe that your Lord and Master arrived on earth through the birth process? And had nothing to wear but strips of cloth? And was laid in a manger (i.e., an animal’s feed trough)?

Does the humility of the divine entrance disappoint you? discourage you? offend you? Were you expecting trumpets? armies? silks, ermine, golden mace, jewel-studded crowns? If you were near that cattle pen that night, would you have bowed down in worship?

Yes, we would! If God helped frantic parents and shocked shepherds and wealthy Magi from the East to see their Messiah in the Baby, he would have found a way to turn on the lights in our brains as well. People of earth, receive your King! Each Christmas is practice for the moment of Christ’s second coming, when “every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  (Philippians 2:10-11)

Prepare a place for Christ in your heart. Sing! Let everyone in your world know that you are happy that Jesus came all that way to claim you.

-- Adapted from “An Advent Playlist: Hymn-Based Devotions”

#4741

GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS

“Don’t be afraid!” [the angel] said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior -- yes, the Messiah, the Lord -- has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!”  (Luke 2:10b-11 NLT)

Computers are amazing. I [remember discovering] Google Earth that connects to the Internet and begins with a digital picture of the earth on the screen. With a few clicks of the mouse, you can zoom in on a country. A few more clicks and you can zoom in on a state, on a city, on a neighborhood, on a street, and eventually, even on a house. The entire program was put together using data and pictures collected by satellites that orbit the earth. It is an amazing thing to start with the globe and slowly zoom in on virtually any location around the world.

Reading Christmas Day Scriptures is like Google Earth in reverse. We start a specific focus on an overcrowded inn, one with a small stable in the back where a birth is taking place. We back up a little further, and we discover all this is happening in a town called Bethlehem, not far from the outskirts of Jerusalem. A few more clicks and we realize that we are in Israel during the time of Roman occupation. A few more clicks and we see the entire globe affected by the events in the city of David; but in this case, there are a few more mouse clicks to go. With an additional click, we begin to cross more than geographical boundaries and see the world before Jesus' time, during Jesus' time, and stretching into the world of future generations to come. What took place in Bethlehem that first Christmas has global implications for all people, at all times, in all nations.

-- Kevin Baker in “Hail the Heaven Born”


#4732

FAR AS THE CURSE IS FOUND

“No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found.”  (The third verse of “Joy to the World” by Isaac Watts)

The reversal of the curse is promised in the coming of the Messiah and the fulfillment of His atoning work. Implicit in this third verse is the promise of the new creation. We live in light of that promise, even as we look back to Bethlehem and as we celebrate Christmas.

But look carefully at the reference to the curse. Christ’s victory over sin is declared to extend “far as the curse is found.”…

He redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us. The sinless Son of God became incarnate as the Word became flesh and dwelled among us. That sinless Son of God became sin for us, in order that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). He became a curse for us, by hanging on a tree, in fulfillment of Scripture…

How far does the gospel reach, and to what lengths must it be taken? Far as the curse is found. Go and preach. Go and tell. Teach the good news that Christ has redeemed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us.

Joy to the world! The Lord is come.

-- R. Albert Mohler, Jr.


#4726

GOOD NEWS OF GREAT JOY

“Do not be afraid” serves as the first word spoken by the angel to the shepherds in the field (Luke 2:10) and later by an angel to two women at the tomb (Mark 16:6). When angels appear on the scene, it would seem, fear is not far behind -- and for good reason. When angels appear, something of the divine breaks in on human history, something that exceeds our understanding, not to mention our control; something that pronounces there is more to life than meets the eye in the keeping of a flock or the maintaining of a career or the “business as usual” sign we hang on our relationships and commitments. When angels descend, fear of the new and the unknown shakes us with the announcement that God is up and about and on the move.

“I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Messiah, the Lord.” The angel who spoke to shepherds in the fields outside of Bethlehem seeks to disarm their fears with a word concerning the birth of good news. It is a word that has worldwide implications (“for all people”), yet a word that bears the most personal of implications (“to you”). The word speaks of Savior, Messiah, and Lord. 

-- John Indermark in “Setting the Christmas Stage” 


#4481

THE BIRTH OF JESUS

“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the LORD appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save his people from their sins.’"  (Matthew 1:18-21)

It is impossible to conceive how different things would have turned out if Christ’s birth had not happened whenever, wherever, however it did … For millions of people who have lived since, the birth of Jesus made possible not just a new way of understanding life but a new way of living it. It is a truth that, for twenty centuries, there have been untold numbers of men and women who, in untold numbers of ways, have been so grasped by the Child who was born, so caught up in the message He taught and the life He lived, that they have found themselves profoundly changed by their relationship with Him.

-- Frederick Buechner


#4236

SUCH VULNERABILITY

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  (Luke 2:11 NIV)

So God throws open the door of this world -- and enters as a baby. As the most vulnerable imaginable. Because He wants unimaginable intimacy with you. What religion ever had a God that wanted such intimacy with us that He came with such vulnerability to us? What God ever came so tender we could touch Him? So fragile that we could break Him? So vulnerable that His bare, beating heart could be hurt? Only the One who loves you to death.

-- Ann Voskamp

#4233

RIDING ON A DONKEY

“Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy…”  (John 12:14 NLT)

Riding on a donkey is a richly symbolic act, and one that goes back to King David, the prototypical Jewish king. The royal animal David rode was not a steed but a donkey, which was more sure-footed than a horse on the rocky, hilly terrain of Palestine, and able to travel farther on less water. The donkey, moreover, was a humble beast reflecting David’s identity as a shepherd king. Davidic kings from that time on rode donkeys or mules to identify with David.

Even more important for the Palm Sunday story is the prophetic Zechariah’s promise, given to the Jews five hundred years before the time of Christ: “Rejoice, greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9 NRSV) Everyone in the crowd would have known these words and their promise of who would come riding on a donkey, so that when Jesus met up with His disciples and mounted the donkey, the people knew instantly what was happening. He was giving a clear signal that He was the long-awaited King promised by the prophets. Finally, Jesus was openly proclaiming He was the Messiah!

-- Adam Hamilton in “The Way: Following in the Footsteps of Jesus”

#4070