After the devil had ended his temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, Luke tells us “he departed from him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). In Gethsemane, however, that time had now come. It was time for the Son of Man to be betrayed into the hands of sinners, to be led like a lamb […]
In order for Christians to faithfully follow Christ in this world, they need to be strengthened by God. Paul prayed that the Colossians would be “strengthened with all power, according to [God’s] glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy” (Col. 1:11). One of the most simple yet profoundly overlooked means of receiving such […]
On the evening before his crucifixion, the true Passover Lamb was surrounded by the most wretched and pathetic of company. One of his disciples was about to betray him; another would deny him three times before morning; and all of them, his friends, would abandon him. Jesus nevertheless continues to love them, encouraging and preparing […]
On the evening before his crucifixion, the true Passover Lamb was surrounded by the most wretched and pathetic of company. One of his disciples was about to betray him; another would deny him three times before morning; and all of them, his friends, would abandon him. Yet despite their pride, their selfish ambition, their failures, […]
It was on the night when Jesus was betrayed that he celebrated the Passover with his disciples. This meal was a memorial of the time when God had “passed over” the blood-covered houses of Israel, sparing their firstborn, and delivered them from Egypt. Yet while the inhabitants of Jerusalem were remembering the redemption of Israel […]
As the Passover drew near, the chief priests and the scribes were plotting to destroy Jesus. But most tragic of all, “Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot,” who decided to betray him (Luke 22:3-4). Judas, being disillusioned and disappointed by Jesus, being controlled by the love of money the cares of this world, and being […]
The Olivet Discourse comes at the end of a section of Luke’s gospel that began with Jesus entering Jerusalem and pronouncing judgment on the temple (Luke 19:41-44). In this teaching, Jesus is speaking directly to his disciples primarily about the the future fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. He calls them to […]
The Olivet Discourse comes at the end of a section of Luke’s gospel that began with Jesus entering Jerusalem and pronouncing judgment on the temple (Luke 19:41-44). In the final week of his earthly ministry, before his crucifixion, he had cleansed the temple, challenged the authority of the temple leadership, pronounced woes against the scribes and […]
During the days leading up to his death in Jerusalem, Jesus has spent his time pronouncing judgment on the temple leadership and the nation of Israel for rejecting him as the Christ, the Son of God. It’s within this context of judgment that we find one of the more familiar stories in Scripture: the story […]
