Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 23-24.

The first thing I noticed today was that when the Sanhedrin brought Jesus before Pilate, they accused Him of opposing payment of taxes to Caesar.  That was a stand which they had tried to get Him to take, and He had refused to do so.  Interestingly, Pilate does not ask Jesus about that part of the accusation.  Instead, he asks Jesus about the second part of the Sanhedrin’s charges against Him: Was He the king of the Jews?  Jesus’ answer to that question always fascinates me.  It seems like somewhere between “I never claimed that” and “I won’t deny it.”  It is clear from what Pilate said the the Jewish leaders that he interpreted Jesus as refusing to claim kingship over the Jews.  I believe that Jesus answered the way He did in order to give Pilate the option to interpret Him as denying His kingship.  Jesus acted as He did before Pilate in order to make it clear that there was no legal basis for condemning Him to death.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 23-24.

We often speak, or write, about the faith of the second criminal crucified next to Jesus, but I never before realized the extent of his faith.  Jesus’ disciples thought that His crucifixion was the end for Him, but not this man dying next to Him.  The man on the cross next to Jesus believed not just that He was innocent of anything which justified being crucified, but that He would go on to rule a kingdom.  The criminal on the cross asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom.  I never before realized just how great his faith was, nor how little he asked.  He was the first to believe in the Resurrection, and all he asked was that he live on in Jesus’ memory.  He knew that he did not deserve salvation and did not ask for it. Jesus gave it to him anyway.  This criminal, dying a horrific death, believed that Jesus had power over death when no one else did.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 23-24.

Joseph of Arimathea is one of two members of the Sanhedrin whom we know to be disciples of Jesus, the other being Nicodemus.  Luke tells us that Joseph had not consented to the decision and action of the Sanhedrin.  Luke’s phrasing here seems more active than just silently disagreeing when the decision was made.  We do not know if Joseph was present at the meeting of the Council when they condemned Jesus and sent Him to Pilate, or if his disagreement with them about Jesus meant that he was not invited to that conclave.  In any case, we know that Joseph was a brave man, because it takes bravery to approach the Roman governor and request to be allowed to bury the body of a crucified man.  Overall, the Gospels portray the members of the Sanhedrin as hypocrites who seek to use their perceived righteousness to advance their own interests.  A little bit of thought about the world reveals this characterization to generally be true of all people in positions of power.  However, the example of Joseph of Arimathea reveals that some people in positions of power honestly seek to serve God to the best of their ability.  Nicodemus is another such man.  We should not make the mistake of thinking they were the only two men of power in that day with integrity just because they are the only two of whom we are aware.  The same is true today, while most people of power are hypocrites and lack integrity, there are a few who do not, a few who live and act with inegrity.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Luke 23-24.

I do not have a theme which ties my thoughts together today.  I will just comment on the things which struck me as I read.  The first thing that struck me is that one of the criminals on a cross next to Jesus may have been the only person who truly and fully believed in Him before He rose from the dead.  There, with both of them dying on the cross, he asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom.  No one else at that point thought Jesus would have a kingdom, not even His disciples.

The next thing that always strikes me when I read this passage is what the “men” who met the women at the tomb said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen.”  That is such a profound and joyful statement.  We will not find Jesus if we seek Him among the dead.  Which ties right into the last thing that I would like to write about today, something which we often gloss over.  When Jesus appeared to the group of disciples, the first thing He did was show them His hands and feet and tell them to touch Him, to know that He was physically present.  Then to prove He was not a zombie, He asked them for some food, received some boiled fish, and ate it.  I know all too many people who claim to believe Jesus, who do not believe that He genuinely rose from the dead.  Luke wanted to make sure that everyone knew two things: Jesus’ rising from the dead was not a made up story, and it was not a mass hallucination.  The first he addressed by pointing out that, from the beginning, the disciples story was that women were the first to know He had risen.  If this was a made up story, they would have reserved that honor for the men among the disciples.  The second is addressed by the fact that Jesus actually ate some food.  They gave Him some boiled fish, which was observably no longer there after He ate it.  So, the disciples did not make up the story about Jesus rising from the dead, because if they had made up the story, they would have given themselves the place of honor of being the first to know He had risen.  And they did not hallucinate His appearance among them, because He ate a piece of fish, which was actually gone once He had eaten it.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Luke 23-24

One of the phrases in the Bible which most powerfully effects me is in today’s passage.  On the first day of the week after Jesus’ crucifixion, the women who had followed Him from Galilee went to the tomb where His body had been laid.  They found the stone in front of the tomb rolled aside.  So, they went in and discovered that the body was missing.  Two men suddenly appeared in the tomb with them and asked them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”  The two men went on to remind the women that Jesus had said that He would rise on the third day.

Part of me wants to go on and write about the rest of this passage and the fact that Luke highlights that the women believed, but the men did not, but I keep coming back to that question, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”  They knew Jesus was dead.  After all, they had watched Him die on the cross and seen His body taken down and placed in this tomb.  How could He not be here? What did those two men mean when they said He had risen? And yet, they remembered He had said He would be crucified and rise again on the third day.  They had thought it was some kind of metaphor at the time, but maybe, just maybe it wasn’t.  He had died, they had seen Him die.  Yet, here they were being asked, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”

I don’t know if I have made the point I am trying to make, but I will ask one more time, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Luke 23-24

Reading today’s passage I was struck by how the crowd demanded Jesus’ death from Pilate, even though they could provide no evidence of any crime deserving of death.  Pilate tried to either find something he could charge (and convict) Jesus with which would justify crucifying Him, or to convince the crowd to accept His release.  When Pilate failed at both, he ordered Jesus’ crucifixion because he was unwilling to go against the crowd.  We learn from this passage that being part of the crowd, or doing what the crowd demands, will often lead us to do evil.

The men who appeared to the women at Jesus’ tomb ask a question which sums up the theme of the rest of this chapter and one which we today should ponder.  “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”  The two men on the road to Emmaus were doing the same thing.  They could not believe that Jesus had risen, certainly not on the testimony of mere women; rising from the dead was impossible.  The men who appeared at the tomb told the women that Jesus had told them this would happen, including His resurrection.  Jesus showed the men on the road to Emmaus that the prophets foretold that He would be crucified and rise from the dead.  And I just realized that if we believe that He is indeed alive we will never again be either part of that crowd which gathered before Pilate, nor afraid of that crowd.