From Matthew 27:62-28:15

Jesus rose from the dead on the third day.  This, alongside the divinity of Jesus and His sacrificial atonement, are cornerstones of the Christian faith.  In the words of Paul, “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:14) Jesus’ resurrection proves that He is who He said He is, the Son of God.  Jesus’ resurrection demonstrates that we ought to take His teaching seriously as the Word of God.  Jesus’ resurrection proclaims His victory and our salvation from sin, death, and the power of the devil.  Jesus’ resurrection means so much, it is no wonder that the elders of the time pay off the guards to “tell people His disciples came by night and stole Him away.” All the different reasons that drove the different leaders to put Jesus to death in the first place also drove them to try and discredit His resurrection.

It's little wonder that there are those who might want to discredit the resurrection still today, because those realities persist.  If Jesus rose from the dead, it still means that He was the Son of God, it still means that we ought to take His teaching as the Word of God, and it still proclaims the promise of eternal life to those who believe.  If He is who He said He is, that puts a lot of people into an untenable and uncomfortable place – it’s much easier to deny His resurrection and everything that comes with it.  But we know that Jesus did rise from the dead, and everything that comes with it.  So we rejoice in His Word, we strive to follow His instructions for our lives, and we take comfort in the promise of eternal life He has given us.

Focus on God

We are reminded in these verses that God graciously raised Jesus from the dead.

Function in Our Lives

We are encouraged to take Jesus’ teachings seriously.

Topics to Pray About                                                               

• Thank God for the power of His Son.
• Confess to God the times where you live as if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead.
• Ask God to use you as a witness of the resurrection.

In His Service,

J. LeBorious

From Matthew 27:27-61

The moment of Jesus’ death is one of the most pivotal moments in the history of the world, alongside events like the resurrection, creation, and the fall.  Few other events, few other moments, have had such a profound impact on humanity.  In returning to these verses again, I want to draw attention to two in particular.

Matthew 27:51 tells us that with Jesus’ death, the temple curtain was torn in two.  Now, the temple curtain wasn’t anything like the window treatments you might have in your home that can be torn in two by a dedicated pet.  It was much more heavy duty and represented a barrier between God and man.  The curtain separated the rest of the temple from the place where God was and only the high priest was allowed to go in.  When Jesus accomplished His sacrifice on the cross, He removed that barrier and made way for us to go to God with Him as our mediator.

The other verse that has always been one of my favorites is Matthew 27:54 where a Roman centurion reacts to Jesus’ death.  This is a man who likely wasn’t familiar with Jesus’ teachings or with the Old Testament prophecies that pointed to Him.  As far as that centurion knew, Jesus was just a regular guy being crucified.  But at Jesus’ death, the centurion proclaims, “truly this was the Son of God!” The Holy Spirit worked in this man’s heart and soul to recognize Jesus for what He was – even if intellectually he had no understanding.  That has always been a powerful testament for me of the Spirit’s work and of the enormity of what Jesus did on the cross.

Focus on God

We are reminded in these verses that God graciously sent Jesus for all the people of the world.

Function in Our Lives

We are encouraged to look for the Spirit’s work in our lives.

Topics to Pray About:                                                              

• Thank God for the witness of the centurion and the freedom to go directly to Him.
• Confess to God the times where you don’t take advantage of the privilege of prayer.
• Ask God for an eye to see His work around you.

In His Service,

J. LeBorious

From Matthew 27:1-26

Throughout my own life, I’ve had a variety of opinions about Pilate.  At times I’ve viewed him as a victim of circumstance, a man who is looking for a way to save Jesus but who’s hands are tied by the position he occupies. He offers a choice between Jesus and Barabbas because he knows that Jesus was only delivered on account of the jealous religious leaders.  Other times I’ve viewed him as a weak man, someone who saw the right thing to do and didn’t have the strength to stand up to the crowds.  As I learn more about the political situation that Pilate found himself in; however, I have come to the conclusion that Pilate was simply a man looking out for his own interests.  He questions Jesus to satiate his own curiosity, he sends Jesus to Herod to try and make the whole thing someone else’s headache, he tries to save Jesus because of a warning from his wife, and he ultimately orders Jesus’ crucifixion to maintain civil order (his primary task from the Romans who put him in power).

It occurs to me that this provides a profound contrast.  Pilate is an earthly ruler with power and influence and wealth, while Jesus is our heavenly King apparently at Pilate’s mercy.  Pilate does all these things out of self-interest, while Jesus allows all these things to happen out of self-sacrificial love for His people.  How many of us, if given the choice between Pilate’s position and Jesus’ position, would choose to be in chains instead of choosing to be in power?  Despite everything we know about the Kingdom of God and the righteousness of faith, we still tend to cling to an earthly idea of what to aspire to.  We would choose Pilate’s hubris over Jesus’ humility, Pilate’s wealth over Jesus’ poverty, and Pilate’s power over Jesus’ sacrifice.  Thanks be to God that Jesus didn’t, that He chose to go to the cross for us, to stand in our place before God just like He stood in Barabbas’ place before Pilate! In that, He paved our way to be made right with God and gave us an example of how to live.

From Matthew 20:25-27, “you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  It shall not be so among you, but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave.”

Focus on God

We are reminded in these verses that God graciously chose to humble Himself for our sake.

Function in Our Lives

We are encouraged to chose the more humble path.

Topics to Pray About:                                                              

• Thank God for standing in our place.
• Confess to God the times where you seek after the power and influence of this world.
• Ask God for humility, compassion, mercy, and grace.

In His Service,

J. LeBorious

From Matthew 26:69-75

Last week one of our devotions discussed Matthew 26:30-35 where Jesus explains that Peter is going to deny Him three times before the rooster crows.  In today’s verses, that is exactly what happens.  A servant girl approaches him and claims that he was with Jesus and Peter says, “I don’t know what you mean.” Then another servant girl says that he was with Jesus and Peter says, “I don’t know the man.” Then one of the bystanders approaches him and says, “certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” Peter invokes a curse on himself and swears that he doesn’t know Jesus.

Then the rooster crows.

It is my hope that no one reading this has ever been so bold in their denial of Jesus.  Especially for those of us who live in America, claiming publicly to be Christian doesn’t automatically bring trouble down on your head, denying Jesus so explicitly doesn’t happen very frequently.  That being said, we sometimes can deny Jesus with how we go about our daily lives.  There is a term for this, practical atheism, where we intellectually believe in God but live most of our lives as if He doesn’t matter at all.  We are called to a more faithful witness than that, to let every word we speak and every action we take reflect our relationship with God Almighty.  We are called to speak our faith out loud, to share it with the people around us, not to quietly keep it to ourselves.

And each of us falls short from time to time, some of us fall short more often than not; however, in John 21:15-19 we see hope.  Even for his explicit denial of Jesus, Peter receives forgiveness.  Even when we fail to be witnesses to our God, even when we fail to allow our faith to influence our lives, we can return to God and ask for forgiveness – forgiveness that He will unfailingly deliver.

Focus on God

We are reminded in these verses that God graciously forgives us when we deny Him with our words and actions.

Function in Our Lives

We are encouraged to allow our faith to shape our lives.

Topics to Pray About:                                                              

• Thank God for His overwhelming mercy and willingness to identify with us
• Confess to God the times where you live as a practical atheist
• Ask God for the Holy Spirit to move in your life and in the people around you

In His Service,

J. LeBorious

From Matthew 26:57-68

I think it’s a little funny that the scribes and elders go through all this effort to line up false witnesses to try and convict Jesus so that they can put Him to death, and the charges that end up condemning Him are the ones that are entirely true.  Two men accuse Jesus of saying that He will destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days – which is one hundred percent something that Jesus said in John 2:19. Then they ask Jesus if He is the Christ and He accepts that title.  That isn’t a problem if they believe Him but as far as they are concerned, Jesus was a man who claimed to be God.  For these reasons, the council convicts Jesus and condemns Him to die.  Both of these “crimes” have an answer later; however, in the accomplishments of Jesus.  First, after His resurrection the connection starts to get made that the “temple” Jesus was talking about was His body – which was destroyed on the cross and restored on the third day.  Second, Jesus comes back from the dead under His own power – something only God can do. So in hindsight we can say that the council convicted Him because of their own lack of understanding about who His was and what He came to do.

This is one of the instances where we can look back and learn from the mistakes of others.  The men who put Jesus on trial wanted so badly to convict Him that their desires shaped their interpretation of His Word.  The Word of God will always be right in how reality works out though, and trying to wade against the current does nothing but put us at odds with wear God wants us to be.  It takes humility and discipline to say, “it doesn’t matter what I think, God’s Word is right.” It can be so tempting to, how shall we say, creatively interpret the Bible to align with what we want.  Let’s learn from Caiaphas and those who followed Him, lets take Jesus’ words as He meant them, reading them in the fuller context of the rest of Scripture, and striving for the faithful interpretation instead of the comfortable one.

Focus on God

We are reminded in these verses that God graciously gives us His Word.

Function in Our Lives

We are encouraged to allow the Bible to speak without trying to manipulate what it’s saying.

Topics to Pray About:                                                              

• Thank Jesus for all of the wisdom and guidance in His Word
• Confess to God times where you ignore or ‘creatively interpret’ the Biel for your own desires
• Ask God to lead you into more faithful living

In His Service,

J. LeBorious