December 1

Regarding Immorality -- 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, 6:1-20; Regarding Marriage and Singleness -- 1 Corinthians 7:1-40; Regarding Mutual Submission -- 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, 9:1-27; 1 Corinthians 10:1-33, 11:1; Regarding Role Distinctions -- 1 Corinthians 11:2-16

"Do you not know that we will judge the angels?" [1 Corinthians 6:3]  

Whoa, there.  Is this a bit of well-placed Pauline hyperbole?  Me judge an angel?  I just want to see one.  And is that angels both good and fallen angels?  Are we going to get a quick peek at history and how both the angels of the Lord and the angels of Satan intervened?  But now instead of going about their work unnoticed by the bulk of us, we see what really happened and judge.  Or is just the good guys and we're just judging as in rating them like Dancing with the Stars?  I'd be happy turning my "judge" role over to the Lord.  I just want to see them.  Get them to autograph something -- a judgement day game program, an angel trading card or maybe my heart.  I want to see angels.  See if the artist got it right.  Sometimes when I read these descriptions of angels with multiple wings it sounds more insect than bird like.   

Now none of that may be intellectual sound.  But this book is more about heart than head.  And at the heart of this readings practical suggestions and admonitions is, well, the heart.  

And so Paul writes:

"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." [1 Corinthians 8:1]

"The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.  But he man who loves God is known by God." [1 Corinthians 8:2-3]

"Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.  For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge of eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols?  So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge." [1 Corinthians 8:9-11]

In God's great celestial card game, love seems to trump knowledge every time.  I know, I know, I'm still on my anti-scholar bias here.  But I believe in God's view, love is knowledge.  Love is the knowledge of God.

November 30

First Letter to the Corinthians [Or should we call it the First Recorded Letter to the Corinthians?] -- 1 Corinthians 1:1-31, 2:1-16, 3:1-23, 4:1-21

I really, really, really like 1 Corinthians.  Ok, I admit it.  It speaks to a bias I have.  I am decidedly anti-scholar, anti-intellectual and anti-the-mind-is-the-seat-of-the soul [Oh, we say we know that but have you ever looked at our approach to Jesus and God's word?  It seems to be all about what you know, not who  you know.]  I do not equate I.Q. with inspiration or scholarship with discipleship. 

Paul, who given his pedigree could have argued his own learning and intellectual status, turns away from it to write in today's reading:

"For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel -- not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." [1 Corinthians 1:17]

"Where is the wise man?  Where is the scholar?  Where is the philosopher of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world.  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe."  [1 Corinthians 1:20-21]

Paul lumps the wisdom of the religious leaders of his day into this catch-all "wisdom of the world" because in the next sentence he will decry both Jew and Greek.  I think we place too much emphasis on scholarship instead of the leading of the Spirit and God's wisdom.  This emphasis on scholarship tends to drive us to a rage for correctness that our fellowship has long been noted for.

Simple lives of love and service are the greatest of sermons and express the true knowledge of Christ and His Kingdom.

Paul points out to the Corinthians:  "Brothers, think of what you were when  you were called.  Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." [1 Corinthians 1:26-27]

I don't know if we hold the same beliefs.  

Even of his learned self, Paul writes.  "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.  My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power,  so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power." [1 Corinthians 2:2-5]

I like it.  I believe  you can read the Bible and it will speak to you in this day and time where you are.  Yes, you can learn the Greek and Hebrew and that will bring  you closer to the precise meaning of the words.  Nothing wrong with that.  But you can know Jesus without knowing Greek and Hebrew.  They are still translations of God's words.  God's word, His son is the original text that we follow.  

As Paul writes, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power." [1 Corinthians 4:20]

November 29

Second Letter to the Thessalonians -- 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12, 2:1-17, 3:1-18; Acts 18:12-22; Third Missionary Journey -- Acts 18:23-28, 19:1-22

There are some verses in 2 Thessalonians that might make one believe that God choses or selects us.  A congregation we once attended preached God's Sovereignty to the point and extent that man can do absolutely nothing that God selects us for salvation.  Because of their zealous excitement over discovering a "new" truth in the scripture, they even taught this doctrine to the young people of the congregation.  One of my children was among them.  That child's innocent and believing heart, so wanting to accept what the elders and teachers presented to them, made my precious child miserable because of two concerns that nagged at their soul:  1. Had God selected them? 2. What about others?  Is there nothing they could do?  Didn't God love everyone?  I don't think my child has ever entirely recovered from this teaching.  Should my child fall because of this teaching, I plan to hand out some millstones.  

I think my child's reaction and questions are the best proof and evidence against this teaching.  It goes against the essential fact at the heart of all scripture -- God is love and He sent His son for the whole world.  I know the Sovereign faction has their way of refuting this.  That we don't and can't understand the wisdom of God and God's love and that He sent his son for the whole world that He selected.  Somehow, I laugh, they understand the wisdom of God that man can't understand.  There was always a conceit to their teaching.  It wasn't love.  

But I rest secure in one thing -- God's love.  As does the whole world, whether they know it or not.  They rest in God's love.  And in land's where people are starving and don't have all of the "blessings" we have and seem closer to God, perhaps its because of their faith and the fact they have too little time to think too much.  

I pray for my child.  I pray for those who teach our children.

Speaking of wild teachings, we have the introduction of the prayer cloth in Acts 19.  "God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were take to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them."  Thus, the prayer cloth.  I have a feeling Paul didn't charge for his.  Some how these "free gifts" always come tied to a "free will offering."  And so it goes.

November 28

First Letter to the Thessalonians -- 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, 2:1-20, 3:1-13, 4:1-18, 5:1-28

Test everything. [1 Thessalonians 5:21]

Ok, good.

November 27 -- Thanksgiving 2008

Second Missionary Journey -- Acts 15:36-41, 16:1-40, 17:1-34, 18:1-11

Again, some humanity shows through here.  Paul and Barnabas argue and separate.  Paul has Timothy circumcised "because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all know that his father was a Greek." Wait a minute, Paul, in yesterday's reading you said, "I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.  Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law." [Galatians 5:2]  And then, again, "Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised.  The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ." [Galatians 6:12]  Isn't Paul doing the very thing he said not to do?  Am I missing something here?

I think on this day of thanksgiving we need to be thankful that God is forgiving.

November 26

Letter to the Galatians -- Galatians 1:1-24, 2:1-21, 3:1-29, 4:1-31, 5:1-26, 6:1-18

This is the book where our minister John Risse gets his phrase "the right hand of fellowship."  [Galatians 2:9]  Of course, he uses it as a euphemism for smacking someone who needs smacking.  

I like it that all James, Peter and John, the pillars of the church, ask Paul to do is "remember the poor."  [Galatians 2:10] Service to the poor, not building buildings and setting up programs, seems central to the gospel.  The other things we do should be a tool to service.  Too often, I think we do things that make us more comfortable.  All it takes to serve is willingness and time.  they are tools to make us comfortable.  If the age of miracles has past so has the age of buildings and tabernacles for God's glory.  He sent His son for His glory and His disciples met from house to house.  In the end, I think we do what we want to do, what culture encourages us to do, and God forgives us.  

A lot of the human character of the apostles exhibited here.  They didn't become perfect on the Day of Pentecost.  Their examples aren't without fault.  In this reading, Paul rebukes Peter from drawing back from the uncircumcised for fear of  those Jewish Christians who thought the Gentiles should be circumcised.  Then Paul writes a sarcastic, brutal little remark that makes me laugh and consider whether this crass comment is divinely inspired.  Of those who want the Gentiles to be circumcised, Paul writes "As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves." [Galatians 5:12]  Ah, Paul, can  you tell us how you really feel?

I must watch my own sarcasm and criticism of the congregation I'm apart of -- never mind that a preacher mentioned twice in derision in his last sermon people setting in front of their 48-inch flat screen televisions -- this in a church populated with various flat screen televisions throughout the building -- there I go again.  I must watch my critical eye because Paul lists dissensions in a list of acts of the sinful nature that also includes sexual immorality, idolatry and witchcraft.  [Galatians 5:19-21] And so it goes.

November 25

First Missionary Journey -- Acts 13:1-52, 14:1-28; The Jerusalem Conference -- Acts 15:1-35

Ok, so this doesn't have anything to do with today's reading, but you don't get anything really useful when you google "Christian Pharisee."  It just comes out being Pharisee.  Hmmm, makes sense really.

In Antioch in the region of Pisidian, the Gentiles seem to receive the good news better than the Jews.  It's almost an inherent truth in life that the outsider is more open than those closer to a thing.  So it is true here.  

In Jerusalem, the question is decide whether the Gentile Jews need to be circumcised and follow the law.  Note that it is some of the Pharisee believers that push this requirement:

"Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, 'The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.'" [Acts 15:5]

"Believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees" -- we don't become Christians without some baggage. And the Pharisees bring to their Christianity a bit of their law-conscious rage for correctness.  It seems religion has always been plagued by a rage for correctness which I don't think should be confused by a rage for God-likeness or closeness to God.

November 24

First Gentile Converts -- Acts 9:32-43, 10:1-48, 11:1-30; Persecution by Herod Agrippa I -- Acts 12:1-25

God, you gotta love Him.  So the first gentile he picks isn't just a Gentile, it's a Roman soldier, a centurion.  Just goes to show -- no matter who you are -- if you keep following after God, you'll find Him.  Or, better put, He'll reveal Himself to you.  God, as the Jews would see it, goes plainly against His law by reaching out to the Gentiles.  But He had said that Abraham's seed would be a blessing to all nations.  Not only does Jesus not set up a military rule -- He reaches out through Peter to the military rulers of the day.  Of course, the church questions this.  Peter answers and the question is put to rest.  It's not bad to have questions, but you must be willing to listen to the answers.  Sometimes we question not for answers but simply to question.  I admit I'm too often a victim of this in my nature.

Peter at the door is a funny story to me.  Ok, James, the brother of John, has been killed by Herod.  Peter is in prison and awaits his death.  The believers are at the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, praying.  Peter knocks and the servant girl recognizes his voice but doesn't open the door, just goes running back to the people.  They don't believe he's there.  He has to keep pounding on the door.  Just funny they've been praying for his release and don't believe there prayers have been answered.  A little like when we pray for healing and don't really believe God heals people...[or only through the skill of the doctor, many just pray that God will "help" or "be with" the doctor.] 

I believe God can and will do it anyway He wants to!  And often, He prefers to be the exception rather than the rule.

November 23

Persecution and Preaching -- Acts 8:1-40; Conversion of Saul -- Acts 9:1-31

Once again, God does not color inside the lines.  He seems always to be the exception and not just the rule.  How else could we marvel at His exceptionalness?  So the promise was to be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, right?  Well, why do the Samaritans not receive the Holy Spirit when they're baptized?  It requires Peter and John to leave Jerusalem and go to them and lay hands on them to receive the Spirit.  Why?  Was it more for the benefit of Peter and John than the Samaritans?  Did they have to actually see them receive the Spirit since they weren't pure Jews?  And why is it that we read so much now about Philip and Saul and Ananias and not the apostles doing the amazing stuff?  The leadership of the church has so quickly moved beyond the apostles.  The other example of God coloring outside of the lines is Saul.  Ok, now we're going to 13 apostles rather than the prescribed 12.  Why?  Why couldn't Saul be like Philip and preach and be a disciple?  Why does Paul have to be an apostle?  An as an apostle, he is definitely an exception.  He didn't follow Christ in life.  Christ revealed himself to him.   God does things His way.  And there's not nearly the nice little tidy pattern that makes us so comfortable.  God's way is exceptional.  

November 22

Martyrdom of Stephen -- Acts 6:8-15, 7:1-60, 8:1

Religious hatred and the cruel will of a crowd continue even to our day.  These pictures are from 2007 when a girl was killed in Iraq for dating a Sunni boy.  I could have illustrated today's reading with an artist illustration or Lego depiction of Stephen's death.  But this far better communicates the true honor and makes more remarkable Stephen's desire that the crowd be forgiven.  Forgive us, Lord, that the killing of innocents continues. 

The death of Stephen and the introduction to Saul.  Stephen, like Peter and John, convicts the Jews of Jesus' death.  Why was it Stephen's time to die?  Did his testimony and death plant a seed in the heart of Saul?  It is impossible to read the mind of God, to know the whys of life and death.  Stephen sees the glory of God and Jesus just before he dies.  And, like Christ, he asks for the forgiveness of those who slay him.  

I want to see the glory of God.  I want to see Christ.  Before I die.

November 21

Growth of the Early Church -- Acts 3:1-26, 4:1-37, 5:1-42, 6:1-7

Ok, so I Google Image-ed "God's Word"and this is one of the images that came up.  Really, it's not just for Skid.  I guess it's because the word is God's sword.  And wouldn't God's sword be a light saber?

I'm not a scholar or even a really deep thinker or a reader of Hebrew and/or Greek.  I can't tell you how the original language of the verse gives you deeper, richer meaning.  So if you're looking for that, you won't find it here.  Not that I downplay any of those things.  It's just not me.  I am just a reader and a writer.   And I believe the scripture speaks to all ages, all people of all languages.  That what  you really need, you'll find here without benefit of the wisdom of man.  That knowing God isn't a matter of I.Q. or reading ability.  It's a matter of the heart.  I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to guide and convict us.  I believe in miracles.  I'll warn you.  I tend to see the miraculous in everything.  And the few miracles I've been apart of I can't prove beyond a shadow of a doubt.  But if doubt didn't maintain its shadow, there would be no faith.

So what you have here is not my studied interpretation of the scriptures.  Just my take as a person reading the Bible through in 2008 for the first time.  

Here's a verse in today's reading that put to mind all that I've said in my opening above. 

"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."

[Acts 4:13]

At the end of the day, I don't care how great a scholar or thinker people might think I am.  I want them to note that I've been with Jesus.

In today's reading, I see men so changed by the power of Christ's resurrection that they can't contain themselves.  Peter and John's preaching comes from the overflow of a joy that I want to know.  They are still basking in the glow of the wonder of it all, 40 days with the risen Savior.  They can't do anything but preach.  And the rulers and elders and Sanhedrin can't stop them.  They've barely begun and they already have a congregation bigger than ours at North Boulevard.  And no worries about a church building.  Ha, they live in a borrowed building.

"The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people.  And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon's Colonnade." [Acts 5:12]

How do the religious leaders ignore these miracles?  I know they're afraid of this movement and trying to stop it.  But do they really want to plot the deaths of the apostles?  The crucifixion of Christ didn't turn out so well, did it?

But even with the apostles leading and miracles and signs being done, there is still disagreement in the church.  And, instead of being ignored, it is embraced and dealt with.  The Grecian Jews felt their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.  From it's very first days, service was at the heart of the church.

November 20

Christ's Church and the Apostles (Ca. A.D. 30-100)  Acts of the Apostles -- Acts 1:1-5; Power of the Holy Spirit -- Acts 2:1-47

So why is Luke the only one writing now?  Why four gospels but only one Acts?  

I like the simplicity of activity among the earliest believers as recorded in Acts:

FELLOWSHIP OF BELIEVERS.  They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.  All the believers were together and had everything in common.  Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.  They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.  [Acts 2:42-47]

Teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, prayer, sacrificing to help one another, doing amazing things, eating together, praising God and so inspiring other people.  That's it?  That's all we really need to do.  I'll go first.

November 19

Jesus' Resurrection and Appearances -- Matthew 28:1-15; Mark 16:1-14; Luke 24:1-44; John 20:1-29, 21:1-24; Final Instructions and Ascension -- Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:15-20; Luke 24:45-53; Acts 1:6-26; Conclusion to the Gospel Accounts -- John 20:30-31, 21:25

Don't recognize this guy?  Hey, it's Matthias.

In contrast to His trial, crucifixion and death, there are some light, heartwarming moments during His appearances among His followers.  I think Jesus is having fun now.  And, because of Him, shouldn't we all?

Here are some of the moments that I think are fun.  It is powerful that the women are the first to see Him risen.  There is Peter and John's foot race to the tomb [won by John as he points out].  Jesus walking on the road to Emmaus with Cleopas and another -- so he appears to women and non-apostles first -- and they don't even know who He is until He breaks the bread [flashback to the Lord's supper].  He appears to Peter alone apparently and there is no descriptive record of that meeting...but you wonder if it was a private moment where Peter confessed his sorrow and over the denial and asked for forgiveness?  What would have been Peter's first words to Christ alone?  Then His appearances to the whole group -- and His moment with Thomas.  Then, by the Sea of Tiberias in a sort of a reenactment of the scene when Christ called them years ago to be fishers of men, He tells them to cast their nets on the other side while they are fishing.  There are so many fish they can't haul in their nets and Peter knows, "It is the Lord!"  Then Jesus has a breakfast of fish cooked over a fire on the shore...what an intimate moment captured with the Christ.  Then there is the ascension before many.  

Jesus didn't just appear briefly or for a day and then head off to heaven.  He appeared over a long period of time -- 40 days -- to different people in different situations -- walking, eating, fishing, locked in a room.  He spent time with them.  Again, there is not enough detail revealed for my liking.  I want to know every, every minute what happened and what people thought when Christ was there.  John anticipates me and says the world couldn't contain that book.  Yeah, but a few more details would have been nice.  I am jealous of those who saw Him and had the faith to follow Him.

Speaking of those who witnessed and followed, what about the selection of Matthias?  Why was it so important to have 12 apostles?  Just to fulfill prophesy or keep up the symbolism -- 12 tribes, 12 apostles?  Was there any more practical reason?  Because there were witnesses beyond the 12.  So what happened to Joseph-Barsabbas-Justus who wasn't selected and what happened to Matthias who was?  How would the Gospel of Justus or Matthias read?

November 18

The Crucifixion of Jesus -- Matthew 27:33-56; Mark 15:23-41; Luke 23:32-49; John 19:18-37; The Burial of Jesus -- Matthew 27:57-66; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42

This is an image from the Philippines where on Good Friday they issue health warnings for people who will be reenacting the crucifixion by having themselves nailed to a cross.  This is no joke.  Really, no joke at all.  Note:  On Google Images, if you search the crucifixion there are 277,000 images but if you search Super Bowl,  you get 3,050,000 images.  

This is it?  I've read thousands of pages leading up to this moment in history only to find little more than 3 pages on his death and burial and tomorrow 6 pages on his resurrection and appearances as the risen Christ?  I ache for more detail.  I read the Old Testament anticipating the New and this moment.  And it's over.  Now there will be hundreds of pages helping us to understand the implications of His life, death and resurrection.  But the moment itself passes so quickly.  James Joyce's Uylsses follows one day in the life of Buck Mulligan and it's over 700 pages, depending on the edition.  This day in the life of the savior of the world deserves more than a few pages.  They were there.  They saw it.  Why couldn't they give us more?  Why so little?  But then, as few pages as it is, how many of us have read the full account of his death? There is no Linus on a stage reading about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ for us like there is His birth.  So it goes.

I am amazed how much this is the story of the other people than it is about Christ.  Christ is at the focal point but the story is filled with people and it is there presence at the cross that, for me, keeps the fantastic, human.  How else could we really fathom the death and resurrection of the Son of the Creator without people to anchor us and give us a point of reference.  And there are so many people and so many points of reference.  There is Pilate and the chief priests arguing over the inscription fastened to the cross.  Soldiers crucifying Him and gambling for His garments, piercing His side, announcing that truly this was God's son, guarding the tomb and being paid to lie about His resurrection.  The crowd mocking, always there mocking.  The two thieves talking with Him -- one rejecting and one accepting.  The women who were always there -- His mother, His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene -- at the foot of the cross.  John, calling himself only "the disciple whom He [Jesus] loved," I'm not sure out of humility or our of pride, but he is given care of Jesus' mother.  Joseph of Arimathea daring to ask for the body and then he and Nicodemus prepare and burying Christ.  Why so much about the others and so little in comparison about Christ?  Was it too terrible at the time?  Did the writers and God avert their eyes?  Did they look at the people around the cross rather than stare at the awful scene before them?

But what is here is like poetry, powerful in what goes unsaid, powerful in that a few words serve as many.  Seven lines of poetry.

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.

Dear woman, here is your son.  Here is your mother.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

I am thirsty.

It is finished.

Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

November 17

Trial Before Pilate -- Matthew 27:2-32; Mark 15:1-22; Luke 23:1-31; John 18:28-40, 19:1-17

Pilate is looking for every excuse not to kill Christ.  But he's not a strong leader.  Pilate's wife even warns him about condemning Christ.  She says she's suffered a dream about Christ.  Interesting that Pilate's wife should have this kind of premonition.  You have to wonder why her?

It's interesting to me too that Pilate tries to skirt the issue by sending Him to Herod and Herod sidesteps the whole deal by sending Him back to Pilate dressed in an elegant robe.  And then this weird little piece of scripture -- "That day Herod and Pilate became friends -- before this they had been enemies." [Luke 23:11-12]   Intriguing.  What was their relationship based on?  Did Pilate find Herod's dressing Christ in an elegant robe amusing?  Does misery like company?  Odd that their friendship should be marked by the moment that Jesus is tried.

November 16

Betrayal and Arrest -- Matthew 26:38-56; Mark 14:32-52; Luke 22:40-53; John 18:1-12; Trial Before Sanhedrin -- John 18:12-27; Matthew 26:57-75, 27:1-10; Mark 14:53-72, 15:1; Luke 22:54-71

The statue purportedly at the place where the cock crowed after Peter denied Christ.

There are so many stories going on here -- Jesus and Peter, how Peter deals with his denial of Christ and how Judas deals with his denial of Christ.  The reaction of the Jewish religious leaders to their Messiah -- their Messiah.  

We focus so much on Peter and his denial and watching Christ from afar.  What about "another disciple"?  "Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard, but Peter had to wait outside."  Who is this other disciple?  John is writing this.  Is it John?  John stays with Jesus if he is the unnamed disciple.  He doesn't flee.  

The way this chronological reading puts things together it looks like Peter actually denied Christ six times and not just three.  He denied Him twice as many times as Christ prophecied.  I don't think this is a condemnation of Christ's ability to see the future.  Instead, it is an insight into His grace and His desire not to destroy Peter.

The six denials don't seem to be six individual events and not just retellings by the other gospel writers.  Let's look at them: 

1. Peter is questioned by a girl at Annas' door and Peter says, "I am not [one of Christ's disciples]. 

2. Peter sets down at a fire in the courtyard at Caiaphas' house and a servant girl says he was with Christ.  Peter says, "Woman I don't know him."

3. Then when Peter goes out Caiaphas' gate another girl said he was with Jesus, Peter says, "I don't know the man!"

4.  A little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." And Peter says, "Man I am not!"

5.  About an hour later, still at Caiaphas', people standing in the courtyard say to Peter, "Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives  you away."  And Peter calls down curses and swears, "I don't know the man!"

6.  Finally, one of the high priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenges Peter, saying, "Didn't I see you with Him in the olive grove?"  And even to this man who is a specific witness to the truth, Peter replies, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!"

Six times and the cock crows.  Peter leaves weeping.  Judas when he realizes that Jesus will die, admits his sin and hangs himself.  So who truly feels the weight of his sin?  Is Peter the better for having been able to deal with his sin than Judas who can't handle the horror of his actions?  What makes Peter's story different than Judas'?  That Judas' story ends right there?  That Peter lives to let repentance work in his life?    

November 15

Final Discourse -- John 15:1-27, 16:1-33, 17:1-26

The Mount of Olives from Mount Zion

Why is John the only one to record these teachings, these final words to His apostles?

What precious words as they walk together as they have walked together so many times with the Lord speaking and teaching and they not fully understanding and He knowing and loving them still.  He has so much to say, so much comfort to give, so desperately wanting them to know that it must happen and that there will be good and joy come from this moment.  What an intimate and powerful portrait of the last moments of God among us.  A moment of love so soon to be interrupted by blood and hate and shame but ultimately victory.  What did they remember and think on from this last walk before they hid in the shadows and watched Christ's walk to the cross?  He walked to find and name them.  He walked to teach them.  He walked to the hill with the cross to save them.

"I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world." [John 16:33]

Then Jesus prays for them and He prays specifically for me, that my following him will be further fulfillment of who He was and is.  And so it is.

November 14

The Upper Room -- Luke 22:14-39; Matthew 26:20-35; Mark 14:17-31; John 13:1-38, 14:1-31

The institution of the Lord's supper is such a brief passage, so quick and matter of fact.  Did they realize the real significance?  Did they focus or were they lost in their own thoughts and conversation around the table?  This is not really Christ's last supper -- with this full assembled group, yes.  But He will appear to some of them on the shore and eat fish with them after His resurrection.

With the washing of the apostles feet, Jesus again shows them the proper role of leaders rather than that modeled by the religious leaders of the day.  Judas is there.  He hasn't fled yet.  What transpired between Christ and Judas as Christ humbles Himself to wash His betrayers feet?  Did the intimacy fill Judas with shame or did it blind him with a rage that Christ could not be the messiah, the king that would free them militarily, if he took such a vulnerable and humble position?

And now, as the moment for our betrayal approaches, Christ gives us this new commandment:  "A new command I give you:  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." [John 13:34-35]

Simon is ready to lay down his life for Christ's.  But what he is asked to do is live for Christ and that is far more difficult as Simon's denouncement will soon prove.

And then comes one of the most comforting verses in all the New Testament, a promise of a place and isn't that what we're all searching for in this world?  A place and love.  And here it is.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in Me.  In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take  you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going." [John 14:1-4]

What a powerful act of love -- the condemned is comforting those He leaves behind.

Before they go to the Mount of Olives, they sing a hymn together.  I wonder what the words to that song were?  What clues did it give?  Wouldn't it be powerful to know that song?  To sing the song that Christ sang?

November 13

Final Week -- Tuesday Afternoon -- Matthew 26:1-5, 14-16; Mark 14:1-2, 10-11; Luke 22:1-6; Final Week -- Wednesday -- Luke 21:37-38, 22:7-13; John 12:37-50; Matthew 26:17-19; Mark 14:12-16

What did Judas know?  Did he know he was condemning Christ to death...or just arrest?  Did he act on his own or did the devil enter and control him?  Or had he given himself up to evil so completely that he already ceded his will?  

Jesus prepares for His death...by teaching.  Every day He is teaching in the Temple and every night he teaches on the Mount of Olives.  And then there is this startling verse:  "Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in Him." [John 12:37] They saw the signs and still didn't believe.  We see the signs and still don't believe.

November 12

Discourse of Future Events -- Matthew 24:1-51, 25:1-46; Mark 13:1-37; Luke 21:5-36

Some say Christ's prophecies have been fulfilled.  Others, that they have yet to be fulfilled.  Hopefully the apostles he was talking to knew.  I don't.  I know only that he wanted us to be watchful and prepared for the end.  

People look with scholarly interest to the earthquakes and wars and "the abomination that causes desolation" that some feel will herald the end of the age or earth.  I'm more intrigued by this simple warning:  "Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap."  We live in an anxious age, a time when worries of global warming and the stock crisis might weigh us down and move us to find solace in escape.  We need to look only to Him.

Jesus closes his warnings with the plea for service.  No one can fault service.  Even the non-Catholic admire Mother Teresa and well we should.  The apostles have come to Christ wanting to know about the end of the age and perhaps His ascendency and He points them instead to the hungry, the thirsty, the naked and the imprisoned and asks how have they served them?  That's all we should concern ourselves with.  Instead of our scholarly pursuits to answer the great questions, we should study how best to serve.   [Matthew 25:31-46]

Which is the best testament to Christ -- our intimate knowledge of the word or putting it humbly in practice?  Service presumes you know the word well enough that you embody it.

November 11

Final Week -- Tuesday Morning -- Matthew 21:20-46, 22:1-46, 23:1-39; Mark 11:20-33, 12:1-44; Luke 20:1-28, 20:39-47

You can buy a widow's mite pendant today from the Jerusalem Gift Shop for only $27.95...or you can honor her spirit and teaching and give the money to God.

What do I think about the power of prayer?  Really?  When I pray for the sick, do I believe the Lord will heal them?  Do I say the age of miracles has passed and then pray for healing?  But Jesus says with prayer I can throw the mountain into the sea.  [Matthew 21:21-22]  My prayers aren't quite so bold.  And, perhaps, that is the problem.  As He prepares to leave, He arms them with prayer.  

When Jesus tells the parable about the murderous tenants [Mark 12:1-9], the chief priests and Pharisees know He is talking about them.  Are they amazed by His knowledge of their minds and hearts?  No.  They only plot the more to do away with Him.  When confronted, do we acknowledge or try to silence that which contemns us?  

Trap after trap they spring on Christ -- the chief priests, the elders, the Pharisees and even the Sadducees.  Jesus condemns the religion of elitism, legalism, injustice, hypocrisy and persecution.  And aren't these the natural traps that all religions organized and run by man falls into.  They try to spring traps on Christ while they have already try fallen into the trap of religious power and stature and establishment.  Jesus instead points to the humble, the lowly of title and place, those with little to give -- the widow and her last pennies given.  Who are the Pharisees and Chief Priests in our midst and who are the widows offering their mite...or should it be widow's might? 

November 10

The Triumphant Entry -- Sunday -- John 12:12-16; Matthew 21:1-11, 17; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:29-44;  Final Week -- Monday -- Matthew 21:18-19, 12-16; Mark 11:12-19; Luke 19:45-48; John 12:20-36

Some people see Jesus in this x-ray.  It seems like we're looking for Him everywhere.

Jesus comes into Jerusalem.  Can you imagine the irony He is feeling and how His knowledge must plague Him.  Yet He does bristle and rail and fume and condemn.  He is so popular the rulers fear.  But on both Sunday and Monday, He escapes the city at night and returns to Bethany.  It must have been a special place for Him with Mary and Martha and Lazarus there.  There friendship was surely a source of strength as was His father in these last days.  

It is all going so quickly now.

November 9

The Final Journey -- Matthew 19:3-30, 20:17-28; Mark 10:2-45; Luke 18:15-34, 19:1-10; Matthew 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43, 19:11-28; John 11:55-57, 12:1-11; Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9

Wow, the pressure and antagonism leading up to Christ's last week on earth are amazing.  He has the religious leaders plotting against Him, trying to trip Him up and questioning him at every turn.  At the same time, his closest apostles are arguing over who is the greatest among them.  How refreshing Zacchaeus reaction to His teaching and Mary's loving outpouring of perfume must have been.  Zacchaeus succeeds where the rich young ruler failed.  He gives up his possessions to follow Christ.  You wonder what all of these minor characters to the Christ story must have felt when they see Jesus murdered.  You wonder about the rest of their stories.

Ahhhh, and here it is, I suggested it in my last commentary -- they do plot to kill Lazarus because he his living, breathing proof that Jesus is the Christ and has power over death.  lol So what made them think if they murdered Lazarus that Jesus would let him stay dead?  I'm sure the thought crossed their mind.

November 8

Return to Judea to Raise Lazarus -- John 11:1-53

Jesus had friends.  He had students and followers and people who hung around Him for what He could do for them.  He had enemies and jealous peers and family and brothers and sisters.  But He also had friends -- Lazarus, Mary and Martha.  This is an amazing story because of the friendship it reveals and because of the emotion it reveals.  Jesus weeps even though He knows the final outcome and that He has power over death.  It is one of the most beautiful scenes in scripture.  These friends mourning together while on the fringes a few Jews criticize that Jesus didn't get their earlier to heal Lazarus before he died.  

What was Lazarus' life after this moment?   Did anyone outside of his family have anything to do with him?  Did they whisper behind his back?  How long did he live?  A long, long time so that everyone wondered if he would ever die?  And what were the circumstances of his eventual death?  Did they plot to kill him to alter what Christ had done.  Maybe because Christ raised him he never died?  It's just not recorded that like Enoch he was no more.  He simply disappeared from this life.  Maybe.

Can  you imagine the moment that Lazarus stepped out of the tomb and fell into the arms of his friend, trailing the burial clothes?  Can you imagine the fear, the thrill, the rejoicing.  A peak perhaps of what we will experience on resurrection day.

Lazarus Lives!