What Jesus Did

[For until ### and ### saw the empty tomb,] they still hadn't understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. Then they went home.

—John 20:9-10 NLT

Key Thought​

### and ### have made the most amazing discovery in the history of the universe, and what did they do? They went home! They went home? Why didn't they go out into the streets of Jerusalem and shout the news? Why didn't they tell everyone within earshot that Jesus was alive again? I'm not sure, but...

 

Peter and the other disciple started out for [Jesus'] tomb. They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn't go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he...

 

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to [Jesus'] tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"

—John 20:1-2 NLT

Key Thought​

Ever have one of those Sunday's when you didn't feel like doing the "church thing" or facing the challenges of...

 

The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before. And so, because it was the day of preparation for the Jewish Passover and since the tomb was close at hand, [### and ###] laid Jesus there.

—John 19:41-42 NLT

Key Thought​

There are few things harder than leaving the bodies of loved ones at their graves. Walking away leaves such a sense of finality and loss. Can you imagine the heartbreak of ### and ### as they left Jesus' body at this...

 

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[After Jesus' death,] ### of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus' body. When Pilate gave permission, ### came and took the body away. With him came ###, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes. Following Jewish burial custom, they wrapped Jesus' body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth...

 

[After Jesus' death,] Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus' body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away.

—John 19:38 NLT

Key Thought​

Fear has incredible power over us. Fear can paralyze us into inaction. Fear can make us uncertain about what steps to take. Fear can make us pull away from a friendship. Fear has incredible power to destroy our...

 

(This report [of Jesus' crucifixion] is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also may continue to believe.) These things happened in fulfillment of the Scriptures that say, "Not one of his bones will be broken," and "They will look on the one they pierced."

—John 19:35-37 NLT

Key Thought​

Our faith is built on the eyewitness accounts of those who saw Jesus daily and told his story at great personal cost. Our faith is built on the...

 

It was the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn't want the bodies hanging [on the crosses] the next day, which was the Sabbath ... So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn't break his legs. One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.

—John 19:31-34 NLT

Key Thought​

John, the writer of the Gospel...

 

It was the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn't want the bodies hanging [on the crosses] the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath, because it was Passover week). So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down.

—John 19:31 NLT

Key Thought​

Have you ever caught yourself doing something awful and wrong just so you could carry out your sense of religious ritual? Most of us...

 

Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, "I am thirsty." A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, "It is finished!" Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

—John 19:28-30 NLT

Key Thought​

Jesus lived on earth just a little over three decades. When he died, he declared his work "finished." I'm not sure I can say...