How To Face Temptation

During His earthly ministry, the Bible is clear that Jesus Christ faced temptations as we do.  One of those instances is documented in Matthew 4 (a parallel passage is Luke 4) where He is tempted by Satan himself.  In accordance with His perfect life, Jesus did not give in, but rather provides us with a primer on how to deal with the temptations we face. Continue reading

He Is Risen!

Luke 24:1-7 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.  2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.  3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.  4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: 5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?  6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

After Jesus died on the cross, paying the price for our sins, He rose again on the third day, just as He said He would.  Hallelujah!  He conquered death, hell, and the grave!  He did what we couldn’t do for ourselves.  He paid the price for our salvation and made a way for us to spend eternity with Him.  All we need is to accept His gift of salvation (John 1:12; John 3:16; Romans 6:23; Romans 10:9, 13).

This Is My Body

And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. (Mark 14:22)

And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.(Luke 22:19)

As the time of Jesus’ crucifixion drew near, He celebrated the Passover meal with His disciples.  This, however, would be a very special observation of this Jewish holiday.  On this occasion, Jesus takes bread and breaks it after blessing it.  He gives it to His disciples as a representation of His body that would be broken in the coming hours. Continue reading

Following Jesus Regardless of the Cost

John 12:12-13, 19 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.  19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him.

The passage above is part of the history of Palm Sunday.  It marked Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem a week prior to His resurrection.  As verses 12 and 13 show, Jesus had many followers at this time.  The overwhelming throng of people caused the Pharisees to remark that the world had gone after Him (vs. 19).  The rest of history shows that this was the calm before the storm. Continue reading