Posts with the category “after”

INTRODUCTIONThe following is a guide to help facilitate discussion. Feel free to add or subtract or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things.OPENWhat do ...  Read More

We never really hear from Matthias again. That is not an indictment on his character, just that he was not used by the Holy Spirit as powerfully as many of the other apostles, and certainly not in any...  Read More

Peter had taken the role that was prepared for him, as leader of the small group of witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. He was trying to get things organized in those moments after Jesus had left....  Read More

Have you ever denied Jesus, or done anything that distances you from Jesus? Have you ever done something that actually stops Jesus from becoming a savior to someone else? These are hard questions. If ...  Read More

So after the ascension of Jesus, they went back to pray, united in their experience, and the room was filled with more than simply the disciples. There were many followers around. This tells us a few ...  Read More

The ascension comes quickly. But we should not forget to mention that they had been filled with the Holy Spirit. The culmination of their submission to Jesus was a gift of the Holy Spirit, so that the...  Read More

Book dedications were common among the Greeks. Luke had dedicated his Gospel to his Greek-speaking friend Theophilus (Luke 1:3). He continues his contact with Theophilus to complete the story from the...  Read More

INTRODUCTIONThe following is a guide to help facilitate discussion. Feel free to add or subtract or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things.OPENHave you...  Read More

This is an interesting little text. We see that the Holy Spirit was given, and this is much before Pentecost. It is a commissioning of sorts, but it is also very specific. It is a continuation of the ...  Read More

Okay, this is a little new for us. Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into them, but at the same time, he asked them to receive the Holy Spirit. We know that later in Acts the idea of the Holy Spirit is e...  Read More

There it is! The admonition to be sent. We say it often here at Crosswalk, we are saved to be sent, not to sit! And that is the message Jesus had for his disciples. The training is over, it is time fo...  Read More

“They were filled with Joy. . . “ I mean, why wouldn’t they be. But even with joy comes confusion at times. Jesus put out his hands in order for them to be able to see the wounds, which would have bee...  Read More

The disciples were very human in their responses to what was happening around them. They were deeply nervous about what would happen to them. Afterall, their leader had been crucified as an enemy of t...  Read More

Mary found the disciples in the place she had left them. As she came running back to them to let them know that she had seen the Lord, she must have been filled with an incredible excitement and a pur...  Read More

INTRODUCTIONThe following is a guide to help facilitate discussion. Feel free to add or subtract or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things.OPENThink ab...  Read More

This story ends on kind of a strange note. John inserts himself into the narrative, almost awkwardly, and we see Jesus make a statement that then John feels like he needs to clarify. It is a little st...  Read More

Jesus inviting his disciples to fellowship and share a meal signals his love for us. But he has some unfinished business with Peter to take care of. Remember, Peter denied Jesus in a pretty profound w...  Read More

153 large fish seems like a great big haul! The fact that the net did not break is pretty amazing. Not that I know much about fishing nets, but the way that this story is written, the net not breaking...  Read More

When the disciple Jesus loved, John, told Peter that it was the Lord, Peter put his clothes ON and then swam to shore. This is a little surprising in a few ways. One, it was interesting that he had to...  Read More

I have to tell you that I have always thought this was a little silly. I mean, why would they throw the nets on the other side simply on the advice of some guy that they couldn’t really see? The only ...  Read More

I am a horrible fisherman. Truly, I am just the worst. I’ve been fishing maybe 10 times in my life and I have caught nothing. I barely caught anything when we would go spearfishing when I was a studen...  Read More

INTRODUCTIONThe following is a guide to help facilitate discussion. Feel free to add or subtract or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things.OPENWhat’s a...  Read More

For some believers, whether or not the translation is more active, like “gave up the ghost” or “breathed his last,” in which Jesus appears to be making a decision is very important. Because He was ful...  Read More

This may appear overly simplistic. The temptation is to take these words and interpret them in some overly spiritualized manner. We might equate “thirsting” with Christ’s call to “hunger and thirst af...  Read More

God draws a supernatural darkness over the scene. Jesus, as the Lamb of God, is "forsaken" (i.e., judicially disfellowshipped, rejected) by the Father, suffering the agony and torment of spiritual dea...  Read More

“Father Forgive Them. . .” We mentioned this one yesterday. Luke 23:34 says it clearly. These were the first words of Jesus on the cross. In light of what is known about the process of ancient Roman c...  Read More

The next three hours were pretty brutal. They put him on the cross, and then the soldiers divided his clothes and threw dice to see who would get what of his belongings. They placed a sign above his h...  Read More

This week we will spend our time thinking about the last moments of the life of Jesus, and the time in between his death and resurrection, and of course include the resurrection in our study. These fi...  Read More

INTRODUCTIONThe following is a guide to help facilitate discussion. Feel free to add or subtract or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things.OPENCan you ...  Read More

Good Friday is the most difficult day of the last week of Jesus’ life. Christ's journey turned difficult and painful in these final hours leading to his death. There was treachery, deceit, and tragedy...  Read More

Holy Week takes a darker turn on Thursday.From Bethany, Jesus sent Peter and John ahead to the Upper Room in Jerusalem to make the preparations for the Passover Feast. That evening after sunset, Jesus...  Read More

The Bible doesn't say what the Lord did on the Wednesday of Passion Week. Scholars speculate that after two exhausting days in Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples spent this day resting in Bethany in a...  Read More

On Tuesday morning, Jesus and his disciples returned to Jerusalem. They passed the withered fig tree on their way, and Jesus spoke to his companions about the importance of faith.Back at the Temple, r...  Read More