The morning after the resurrection…
Today’s devotion is based on the Easter Message: Hope Revealed (Watch Here)
Sorry that this morning’s devotion is a little late.
I have to admit, I was tired yesterday and didn’t do much of anything after worship and cleaning up from Easter breakfast.
I wonder what the Monday after the resurrection of Jesus was like for his followers.
I bet they were physically and emotionally tired.
An early morning visit to the tomb, which may have taken a few hours to finish preparing Jesus’ body for burial, turned into an all day discussion and interaction about seeing the risen Jesus alive!
A race to the tomb by Peter and John, led to curiosity about the report of the women and whether it was true if Jesus was alive.
Two Emmaus disciples walking home after being in Jerusalem, encounter an Old Testament history lesson concerning the Messiah, only to realize it was Jesus himself. A swift walk or run back to Jerusalem left them a bit out of breath as they reported to the others,
Luke 24:33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. “36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
At what point did they fall asleep of exhaustion?
We don’t know what they did the Monday after Easter, but my guess is they didn’t move on to normal “Monday” activities. The events of the crucifixion and resurrection were still very much real and raw in their minds.
If it were me, I would be tired. Afraid, yet filled with joy. In belief and disbelief at the same time. Wanting to see Jesus today, just to confirm that last night was not a hallucination or imagination. Conversations would want to figure out the connections between what we remember Jesus saying and all the things that happened in Jerusalem that weekend.
What about the future? Would we see Jesus again? Was it safe to head home? Where was home after following Jesus for three years. He didn’t have a place to lay his head, we kind of gave that up too.
We are 2000 years or so from the event, but I pray that the Monday after Easter isn’t just a “return to normal” after a busy Easter weekend. I pray that questions and thoughts percolate in your heart and mind today. Perhaps even some of the questions that the followers of Jesus may have thought.
What’s next, if it is true that Jesus lives?
What questions have been answered? What questions do I still have?
What impact does his resurrection have on my spiritual journey?
Does it change what I believe or how I live?
Does it give me hope amidst the challenges I face today?
The fact that we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus yesterday is credibility that his rising from the dead still has a profound impact in the hearts and minds of people.
I pray it does for you today…even if you are starting off a little tired.
Apply: Take time today to contemplate the significance of Christ’s resurrection in your life today and the impact it has and will have moving forward.
Prayer: Lord, Jesus into our fears, our questions, our doubts, our weariness you come to show yourself alive to quiet our fears, answer our questions, clear our doubts, and renew our spirits. We ask that you would do that for us today as you did for your followers the days after your resurrection. AMEN.
Holy Week Friday: Forsaken.
Devotions this week will touch on an event which took place on this day of Holy Week.
Forsaken.
Heartache strikes when a relationship breaks up and at least one, if not both of the individuals feel all alone.
Emptiness ensues when you think a friend has your back and they don’t show up when you need them most.
Frustration occurs when you feel you have been a follower of Christ for a very long time and when life throws you a curveball, you feel like he is nowhere to be found.
When we feel forsaken and abandoned it is a scary, helpless feeling. We crave the companionship of someone who cares, someone who can help, someone we can count on.
When we are forsaken, we are all alone.
Jesus had a handful of followers at the foot of the cross. Most of his followers had fled for fear they would be captured and put on the cross next.
Abandoned and betrayed by friends hurts, but to suffer abandonment from God himself is hell itself.
Matthew 27:45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”
48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
Darkness was indicative of the intensity of the suffering Jesus was undergoing. The only reason one would be forsaken by God is because of sin. While Jesus was perfect of himself, he willingly had the sins of the world laid on him. Isaiah 53:6 reminds us,
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Jesus hung on the cross with the conviction of the sin of all people and the punishment that all sin deserved: separation from God.
Jesus was being treated by his Father as we deserved to be treated. He bore the sins of the world and the justice of God. As a result, he was forsaken by God. Left alone to bear the punishment for sin, suffering in darkness, suffering alone. He pointed those who heard to Psalm 22:
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.
The amazing reality is that he did this for you and me. Nothing worse could happen to us than being abandoned by God forever in hell. Yet, the heart of love Jesus had for each of us led him, on this Good Friday, to suffer hell, suffer being forsaken by God so we would never have to.
Apply: When have you felt abandoned? What do you think it would feel like to be abandoned by God? Take time to thank the Lord Jesus for suffering abandonment so you would not have to.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for your suffering and death, a gift we can hardly fathom, but truly appreciate. Today is Good because you made it so. AMEN.
Holy Week Thursday: Watch & Pray
Devotions this week will touch on an event which took place on this day of Holy Week. (Reprinted from Holy Week 2021)
As hard as I tried, I couldn’t.
Evening service at church as a kid…long conversation after a long day…watching a movie…yep, even praying.
I’ve fallen asleep doing all of these…even as hard as I tried to stay awake. Sometimes you just can’t.
I get why the disciples fell asleep. It was a long day…let alone a long week and it was only Thursday. Long days of teaching in the temple. Seems like little on Wednesday, but then preparing the Passover meal. Filled by conversations about betrayal and denial as well as Jesus speaking of a new covenant in his body and blood. Stomachs full. Stress high. They just couldn’t keep their eyes open.
I get it. I more than likely would have done the same thing…even when Jesus asked me to “Watch and pray” with him.
Matthew 26:36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
Jesus knew the weight of what falling into temptation created. He was carrying the sin of every individual who gave into temptation. Jesus knew the power of temptation. He too had been tempted in every way. The difference? He didn’t sin. The writer to the Hebrews says,
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
Jesus knew how hard Satan works to pull a soul away from him. He already had Judas, Jesus didn’t want to lose any more. Not just the disciples, but you and me. So he directs us to “Watch and pray.”
Watch out for the things that spiritually wear you out.
Watch out for the temptations Satan uses to lead us away from Jesus.
Watch out for the blind spots in your heart, in your mind, in your ego that Satan exploits.
Pray for God’s Spirit of strength to overcome temptation.
Pray for forgiveness Jesus gives as he gave his body and blood for you.
Pray for God to show you the way out of temptation.
The spirit IS willing, but our flesh is weak.
Apply: What specific temptations does Satan get you with? Watch out to avoid situations that may make these temptations easier. Pray for strength of God’s Spirit to find the way to say “No” to temptation. Watch your Savior give himself for you to forgive you when you fall into temptation.
Prayer: Jesus, thank you for your gift of forgiveness in your body and blood. Empower me by your Spirit to be always vigilant to “Watch and pray” so I don’t fall into temptation. AMEN.
Holy Week Wednesday: Silence.
Devotions this week will touch on an event which took place on this day of Holy Week. (Reprinted from Holy Week 2021)
Everyone likes peace and quiet…unless…
You know that eerie realization as a parent when you were conversing with adults and the group of kids that was a dull roar in the background all of a sudden goes quiet. Unfortunately, often an inspection of what caused the silence isn’t good. This kind of silence often ends with punishment or consequences because the kids got into something they shouldn’t have.
This is the silence of Wednesday of Holy Week.
It’s kind of an eerie silence.
Palm Sunday was a joyous procession with a crowd and shouts of “Hosanna!”
Monday righteous anger drives out the money changers from the temple drawing the ire of the religious leaders.
Tuesday was a busy day of teaching on the destruction of Jerusalem and Jesus’ second coming.
Wednesday…Silence.
But the hushed nature of the day was not because there was peace in Jerusalem. There was a plot brewing.
Tuesday ended with this:
Matthew 26:3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him. 5 “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”
What would change their minds?
The “sly way” to arrest Jesus came to them. How could they say, “No”? Judas was the willing accomplice. If the price was right…he was in. The concern for a riot among the people diminished when they had a plan to have Jesus delivered into their hands.
Matthew 26:14 Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests 15 and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. 16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
Judas’ actions were brewing for a while. At the root was not a hate of Jesus, it was a stronger love of money. So when did the love of money become stronger than love of Jesus? We don’t know for sure, but perhaps what tipped him over the edge was the anointing of Jesus with very expensive perfume.
John 12:4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
Worship of Jesus got in the way of lining the pockets of Judas…so Judas decided to get rid of Jesus to line his pockets with 30 silver coins.
We can be like Judas running along and following Jesus. We can listen to Jesus’ teaching, participate in his ministry, and understand his purpose and impact. Until we don’t. When our heart goes silent on Jesus, greed or other desires move in.
Watch out for the silence. Sometimes it’s a cover for sin.
Apply: What sin is lurking in the silence of your heart? Let the example of Judas warn us to turn from it and back to Jesus. Jesus died for Judas, but Judas never turned back for forgiveness. Jesus is faithful. As we confess to him he will forgive you. He died for you.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for exposing the sin that lurks in the silence of my heart. Lead me to return to you in repentance to receive your forgiveness and strength to overcome. AMEN.
Holy Week Tuesday: Are you ready?
Devotions this week will touch on an event which took place on this day of Holy Week. (Reprinted from Holy Week 2021)
Are you prepared?
John Wooden, a legend coach of the UCLA Bruins, would tell his team, “What opportunity strikes, it’s too late to prepare.” This statement motivated his team to put in the work, hone their skills, and understand the strategy of the game. Why? Because when the opportunity or need for a certain play, a clutch basket, or a defensive stand came to win a game or a championship, it was too late to stop and practice. Preparation had to happen before the reality came.
In Matthew 24 and 25, Jesus spends a good part of Tuesday of Holy Week instructing his disciples on how to be ready for his return. While there will be signs that the end is near (ones we see regularly even today), the specific day and hour is unknown. Here’s what Jesus said to watch for:
Matthew 25:4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
We like to procrastinate. It may feel good in the moment to put off something, especially if you don’t want to do it. However, I am learning that you never know what is going to happen, even if you know a deadline, so better to get the project done as soon as possible…and don’t procrastinate.
Jesus teaches on the end of times to remind us to always be ready. He doesn’t want his return to catch us unprepared.
Matthew 25:42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
So how do we prepare? We stay close and regularly connected to Jesus. Take to heart the words of Jesus. And put into practice the work of Jesus.
Like a student who regularly does his homework and reads the material assigned, there is no anxiety when the teacher decides to give a surprise quiz, so the believer who trusts in Jesus as Savior, regularly reads the words God has given to us, and puts into practice the love of Jesus…he/she has nothing to fear when Jesus returns. In fact that day will be one we anticipate and look forward to rather than dread and worry about.
Luke 21:25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Apply: Take time to read Matthew 24 & 25. What do you see happening today? Is it possible Jesus could return today? Are you ready? What commitments can you make to yourself and Jesus to be better prepared for the day of his return?
Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you for encouraging us and teaching us about what it means to be prepared for your return. Help us to stay close to you, regularly take in your Word, and be about your work while we wait. AMEN.