Luke 24:50-51

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Jesus’ Ascension+, #2 (Luke). …and were continually in the temple blessing [or praising] God. (v. 53) My Study Bible suggested that there were many rooms in the temple area and that the disciples probably met in one of those. I’m not buying it. I see them gathered together in a very open space, readily inviting others to join them. Now that Jesus has been with them for 40 days, I don’t see them cowering in fear or huddled together quietly somewhere in Jerusalem. Yes, they were together in that “upper room” to elect Matthias and on the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:13, 15, 2:1) and I suspect they gathered there regularly, maybe even every evening after spending the day in the temple area. But daytimes in the temple, I see them sharing the Good News with one another and with passers-by.

Today is Day #365 of 365. Today I am posting for the 364^th time this year. The only day I missed was February 22, my hip replacement surgery. I give you this information, not to laud myself, but very humbly thanking God for giving me the discipline and determination to undertake this task every day. Naturally I thank Carol for “covering” for me as needed in the house and allowing me to spend much of my first hour(s) in the day putting these posts together. And I am thankful for each of you. Sometime early in the year I began to pray for myself and each of you before I began my reading. And I am confident that I have been in your prayers also. With it all, 365 days are now completed, our “Read Through the Gospels” has ended. We begin tomorrow with Acts 1:1-8 and we’ll gather this Sunday, 1/5 as an RTB group beginning its 12^th year!! GLORY!!

Slava Bohu!

Mark 16:19-20

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Jesus’ Ascension+, #1 (Mark). And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs. (v. 20) Mark is known for his efficiency with words, but here his synopsis of the Book of Acts leaves a bit to be desired in that Luke took 28 chapters and 1006 verses to tell the story! But Mark’s three points in this verse are each covered in detail in Acts – as we will begin to learn in two days!

Mark’s succinct message in this verse is still worth noting, that …the Lord worked with them and confirmed the[ir] message… That is, although Jesus had ascended, He did not leave them alone. And for us today, it’s still true. As we “preach everywhere” we need to know that our Lord will work with us and confirm our message with signs that we often will not see. The important point here is that we have a message to deliver and that we need to trust our Lord to work in and through us to deliver that message. It’s a good word for 2020!

Slava Bohu!

John 21:15-25

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. (v. 24) Quite often I have reflected on and commented on Luke’s historical accuracy, his intent to get the story down right. But I’ve tended to slight over the apostle John. But here he makes his own clear claim to his accuracy in reporting on Jesus’ life, death, and Resurrection. But what really struck me particularly in this verse was his use of the first person plural: …we know that his testimony is true. Here John is bringing in other colleagues, also attesting to his own accuracy, “his testimony”. Small, but not insignificant.

Slava Bohu!

John 21:1-14

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” I’m caught up a bit in the geography of Jesus’ Resurrection days. He was buried and rose from the grave in Jerusalem, where the disciples and hundreds of thousands of others had gathered to celebrate the Passover. He appeared to them in Jerusalem that first day when they were gathered as a group behind locked doors (John 20:19), then another eight days later when Thomas was with them (John 20:26), again behind locked doors. So my first question has to do with how many days the disciples spent in Jerusalem. The Passover celebration must have ended a few days after the Resurrection, but the disciples are still in Jerusalem on that 8^th day.

Then in today’s reading we find Peter, James, John, and others fishing on the Sea of Galilee, presumably having cast off from Capernaum, Peter’s home town. So how long had they stayed in Jerusalem? And why did they head to Galilee? Recall that Jesus had told the women to tell the disciples to go to Galilee and that He would meet them there (Matthew 28:10). But when and for how long did they stay in Jerusalem? Was there a prompt that moved them back to Galilee, other than Peter’s proclamation, “I am going fishing”? (v. 3) When and why does he make that decision?

Later, to continue to confound the geography of it all, Jesus’ ascended from Bethany / the Mount of Olives forty days after His Resurrection (Luke 24:50, Acts 1:12), just outside Jerusalem. So here I imagine that the disciples had returned to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Weeks, alternately referred to as the Feast of First Fruits. But the time frame between the 8^th day after the Resurrection and the 50^th day are not clear. Where was Jesus and where were the disciples during this time?

All this is not a major point, but one of the main things that I have learned this year is the geography and the chronology of it all. So here I have one last confusion on them both. Just thought I’d report that…! Slava Bohu!

Mark 16:14-18

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” He rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw Him after He had risen. (v. 14b) “…hardness of heart”, stubbornness. So often so many of us quote the following verse: Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! (Mark 9:24) So we can probably relate to the unbelief. As to the “hardness of heart”, where would we have been if we were 1^st-century disciples and had women reporting images and visions and encounters with Jesus? Would we have been stubborn? Or would we accept our unbelief and go see for ourselves, as did Peter and John? But we are not 1^st-century creatures, we are 21^st-century humans. And while unbelief may be less an issue for most of us, most of the time, what about this “hardness of heart”, stubbornness? Do we have stubbornness about anything that needs to be set aside? Stubbornness that is blocking our full and complete relationship with Jesus…? Or is there stubbornness in us to which we are blind or unwilling to admit? I think I’ll ponder this stubbornness thing in my life throughout the day. Maybe even check with Carol about it…? Ouch!

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 28:16-20

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Jesus’ Great Commission… Something in today’s reading struck me differently: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. (v. 18b) There are a number of occasions in the Gospels where Satan is referred to as the “ruler of this world” – John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11; Luke 4:6. With Jesus’ death and resurrection, Satan’s rule is now over and done with. All authority has been given to Jesus. The apostle Paul tells us later that Jesus’ authority over sin and death has now been passed on to us: But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Cor. 15:57). It’s done! All we have to do is live it! GLORY!

Slava Bohu!

John 20:19-31

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” It’s Christmas night. I’ve been thinking all day about what I wanted to post tonight, but with family and food and phone interruptions I haven’t had the chance to sit down and say it. But finally, 9:20 pm, I find the time!

Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. (v. 26) I’m sure I’ve seen it before, but EIGHT DAYS LATER…!! We’re talking from Resurrection Sunday to Monday a week later. All that time the disciples have known what they saw (as I posted yesterday), but Thomas was not with them. It could have been the case that Thomas was off on a business trip and only first returned eight days later. But I imagine more likely that he has been with them most of this time. And during this time the other disciples are sharing with Thomas as to what they saw and he is not believing them. No matter what all the other ten say, Thomas is firm: “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.” (v. 25) So I’m imagining the conversations that the others are having with Thomas. And still he is not believing!

So I’m thinking of my brother Richard (Dickie). Carol and I have shared with him on so many occasions sometimes lightly, sometimes forcefully – and he still resists – no matter what we say. He holds on to his mantra: “Unless you can prove to me that there is a God, there is no point in me believing anything spiritual about Jesus”. So what can we do? Pray and wait, wait and pray. And keep sharing. Just as Jesus made a special appearance to Thomas, His Holy Spirit can make a special appearance to Dickie. We pray. And you just need to pray too, for yours…!

Slava Bohu!

Luke 24:36-49

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” The disciples were unbelieving when they heard the women’s story, then again when the two men first reported their meeting with Jesus (from Mark’s Gospel). Now Jesus appears in the flesh and the disciples …were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. (v. 37) So Jesus had to convince them otherwise. As with so many other items in Scripture, His convincing was in three parts. First, He appeared in the flesh and spoke to them, even commenting to them that …a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. (v. 39b) Second, He explained about Himself from Scripture, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead… (v. 46a). Finally, He asked for something to eat.

So, for us…? If you’ve been sharing the Gospel over and again with your family and friends and they still do not believe, don’t quit. It took Jesus appearing in person to convince His disciples that He was alive – and then even with multiplied evidence. Just pray again that He will appear to the ones with whom you’ve been sharing, in the person of His Holy Spirit. Don’t be unbelieving, but believe – wait and pray, pray and wait.

Slava Bohu!

Luke 24:28-35

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” The Road to Emmaus… One of my favorite Scripture lines: …He was known to them in the breaking of the bread. (v. 35) We are a Eucharistic church – not only weekly on Sundays, but even midweek on Wednesdays. The Eucharist is part and parcel of who we are, and it’s been that way for me from my earliest days in the Catholic Church. Years ago in my early born-again years I was part of a non-denominational, Spirit-filled church. The Eucharist was part of our Sunday service, but not in our formal liturgical sense. Our pastor or one of the church leaders (me even, once) would give a short reflection and we would serve the bread and wine. The one time that I recall being asked to do the reflection I used this Road to Emmaus incident and closed with that thought that I quoted above, how Jesus is known to us in our breaking of the bread. So, nice memories associated with this story.

For some reason, unfathomable to me as I read this story, I’ve always had this picture of Jesus and these two disciples around a campfire – Jesus sharing with them from the Old Testament Scriptures, then the meal and the breaking of the bread. However, counter to my flawed memory, Luke is specific as to their actions. Jesus and the two disciples drew near to Emmaus, it was toward evening, Jesus went in to a residence with them, and they were at table together with Him when He blessed and broke the bread, then He “vanished from their sight”. How I got that all turned around, I’ll never know.

Now, finally however, we begin to see faith and hope from the “eleven and those who were with them”. The two Emmaus disciples are happily recounting their story of meeting Jesus, then the “eleven” counter with their own story of Jesus appearing to Peter. Sounds like the first “Glory Sightings Sunday” in history! GLORY!!!

Slava Bohu!