04/21 Luke 20:20-26
Watching for their opportunity, the leaders sent secret agents pretending to be honest men. They tried to get Jesus to say something that could be reported to the Roman governor so he would arrest Jesus. 21 They said, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right and are not influenced by what others think. You sincerely teach the ways of God. 22 Now tell us — is it right to pay taxes to the Roman government or not?” 23 He saw through their trickery and said, 24 “Show me a Roman coin. Whose picture and title are stamped on it?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. 25 “Well then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to him. But everything that belongs to God must be given to God.” 26 So they failed to trap him in the presence of the people. Instead, they were amazed by his answer, and they were silenced.
WISDOM
Jesus exercised Godly wisdom in everything He said and did. As you face daily trials in your life call upon Him to give you the wisdom you need. The Lord will not leave you at the mercy of the world. Call upon Him and He will help you.

04/20 Luke 24:1-31
1 But very early on Sunday morning the women came to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 They found that the stone covering the entrance had been rolled aside. 3 So they went in, but they couldn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 They were puzzled, trying to think what could have happened to it. Suddenly, two men appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. 5 The women were terrified and bowed low before them. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking in a tomb for someone who is alive? 6 He isn’t here! He has risen from the dead! Don’t you remember what he told you back in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again the third day?” 8 Then they remembered that he had said this. 9 So they rushed back to tell his eleven disciples — and everyone else — what had happened. 10 The women who went to the tomb were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several others. They told the apostles what had happened, 11 but the story sounded like nonsense, so they didn’t believe it. 12 However, Peter ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened. 13 That same day two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles out of Jerusalem. 14 As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. 15 Suddenly, Jesus himself came along and joined them and began walking beside them. 16 But they didn’t know who he was, because God kept them from recognizing him. 17 “You seem to be in a deep discussion about something,” he said. “What are you so concerned about?” They stopped short, sadness written across their faces. 18 Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.” 19 “What things?” Jesus asked. “The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth,” they said. “He was a prophet who did wonderful miracles. He was a mighty teacher, highly regarded by both God and all the people. 20 But our leading priests and other religious leaders arrested him and handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. 21 We had thought he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. That all happened three days ago. 22 Then some women from our group of his followers were at his tomb early this morning, and they came back with an amazing report. 23 They said his body was missing, and they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive! 24 Some of our men ran out to see, and sure enough, Jesus’ body was gone, just as the women had said.” 25 Then Jesus said to them, “You are such foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. 26 Wasn’t it clearly predicted by the prophets that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his time of glory?” 27 Then Jesus quoted passages from the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining what all the Scriptures said about himself. 28 By this time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey. Jesus would have gone on, 29 but they begged him to stay the night with them, since it was getting late. So he went home with them. 30 As they sat down to eat, he took a small loaf of bread, asked God’s blessing on it, broke it, then gave it to them. 31 Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!
JESUS
Jesus is Lord and there is no other.

04/19 Luke 23:49-56
But Jesus’ friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching. 50 Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council, 51 but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he had been waiting for the Kingdom of God to come. 52 He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Then he took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a long linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb that had been carved out of rock. 54 This was done late on Friday afternoon, the day of preparation for the Sabbath. 55 As his body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw the tomb where they placed his body. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to embalm him. But by the time they were finished it was the Sabbath, so they rested all that day as required by the law.
LATE
I suspect that Joseph wished he had said something sooner about his faith and maybe rallied support among those others that kept quiet about the railroading of Jesus to the Cross. I know that everything that happened the Lord knew and that what happened worked out for our benefit but I still think Joseph felt some level of guilt about what happened to Jesus. I encourage you to be vocal about your faith and consistent with the way you live. Jesus is alive and we are to proclaim Him until we die and go to be with Him.

04/18 Luke 23:21-48
But they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him! 22 For the third time he demanded, “Why? What crime has he committed? I have found no reason to sentence him to death. I will therefore flog him and let him go.” 23 But the crowd shouted louder and louder for Jesus’ death, and their voices prevailed. 24 So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded. 25 As they had requested, he released Barabbas, the man in prison for insurrection and murder. But he delivered Jesus over to them to do as they wished. 26 As they led Jesus away, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country just then, was forced to follow Jesus and carry his cross. 27 Great crowds trailed along behind, including many grief-stricken women. 28 But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the days are coming when they will say, ‘Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.’ 30 People will beg the mountains to fall on them and the hills to bury them. 31 For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry? ” 32 Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him. 33 Finally, they came to a place called The Skull. All three were crucified there — Jesus on the center cross, and the two criminals on either side. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive these people, because they don’t know what they are doing.” And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice. 35 The crowd watched, and the leaders laughed and scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Chosen One, the Messiah.” 36 The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine 37 They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 A signboard was nailed to the cross above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews. 39 One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself — and us, too, while you’re at it!” 40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you are dying? 41 We deserve to die for our evil deeds, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” 43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” 44 By this time it was noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 45 The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the thick veil hanging in the Temple was torn apart. 46 Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last. 47 When the captain of the Roman soldiers handling the executions saw what had happened, he praised God and said, “Surely this man was innocent. ” 48 And when the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw all that had happened, they went home in deep sorrow.
WE
As we read this first Easter story let’s be clear- we put the nails in His hands and feet. We were there standing with evil letting the Romans kill an innocent man. All of us have sinned and not one of us is innocent. He gave His life and ransomed us from sin and separation offering us His free gift of forgiveness and eternal life. Praise the Lord Jesus lives.

04/17 Luke 23:12-20
Herod and Pilate, who had been enemies before, became friends that day. 13 Then Pilate called together the leading priests and other religious leaders, along with the people, 14 and he announced his verdict. “You brought this man to me, accusing him of leading a revolt. I have examined him thoroughly on this point in your presence and find him innocent 15 Herod came to the same conclusion and sent him back to us. Nothing this man has done calls for the death penalty. 16 So I will have him flogged, but then I will release him.” 17 18 Then a mighty roar rose from the crowd, and with one voice they shouted, “Kill him, and release Barabbas to us!” 19 (Barabbas was in prison for murder and for taking part in an insurrection in Jerusalem against the government. 20 Pilate argued with them, because he wanted to release Jesus.
KILL HIM
The people aren’t always right. A group decision can be manipulated. Notice that the religious leaders handpicked this crowd. Jesus had done many miracles and had an extensive following by the masses. In this case the religious leaders were forcing the weak willed Pilate to murder an innocent man. There will be enough blood to taint all of us at the crucifixion. Jesus had surrendered to them and He knew what the end result would be. It was His time to save us from our sin.

04/16 Luke 23:1-11
Then the entire council took Jesus over to Pilate, the Roman governor. 2 They began at once to state their case: “This man has been leading our people to ruin by telling them not to pay their taxes to the Roman government and by claiming he is the Messiah, a king.” 3 So Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “Yes, it is as you say.” 4 Pilate turned to the leading priests and to the crowd and said, “I find nothing wrong with this man! 5 Then they became desperate. “But he is causing riots everywhere he goes, all over Judea, from Galilee to Jerusalem!” 6 “Oh, is he a Galilean?” Pilate asked. 7 When they answered that he was, Pilate sent him to Herod Antipas, because Galilee was under Herod’s jurisdiction, and Herod happened to be in Jerusalem at the time. 8 Herod was delighted at the opportunity to see Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been hoping for a long time to see him perform a miracle. 9 He asked Jesus question after question, but Jesus refused to answer. 10 Meanwhile, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law stood there shouting their accusations. 11 Now Herod and his soldiers began mocking and ridiculing Jesus. Then they put a royal robe on him and sent him back to Pilate.
WORLD
The World hates Jesus, they don’t know what to do with Him. Jesus came so that we would not have to fear the world. Jesus is in-charge and He knows everything about His children. The Lord also knows everything about the World. Do not fear what man can do to you. Fear what the Lord can do. Tell everyone about Jesus and you will able to stand against the World.

04/15 Luke 20:17-19
Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what do the Scriptures mean? ‘The stone rejected by the builders has now become the cornerstone.’ 18 All who stumble over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” 19 When the teachers of religious law and the leading priests heard this story, they wanted to arrest Jesus immediately because they realized he was pointing at them — that they were the farmers in the story. But they were afraid there would be a riot if they arrested him.
EVIL
Evil plots to destroy the work of Jesus. Evil blinds the eyes of people in the world. They do not see evil at work plotting to destroy Jesus and His work and them. Anytime someone is doing their own thing in opposition to the Lord they are simple doing evil things. Rejoice for evil will be swallowed up when Jesus returns in judgment. And we will no longer have to struggle so hard because we will see Him face to face.

04/14 Luke 20:9-16
Now Jesus turned to the people again and told them this story: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it out to tenant farmers, and moved to another country to live for several years. 10 At grape-picking time, he sent one of his servants to collect his share of the crop. But the farmers attacked the servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty-handed. 11 So the owner sent another servant, but the same thing happened; he was beaten up and treated shamefully, and he went away empty-handed. 12 A third man was sent and the same thing happened. He, too, was wounded and chased away. 13 “‘What will I do?’ the owner asked himself. ‘I know! I’ll send my cherished son. Surely they will respect him.’ 14 “But when the farmers saw his son, they said to each other, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ 15 So they dragged him out of the vineyard and murdered him. “What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do to those farmers?” Jesus asked. 16 “I’ll tell you — he will come and kill them all and lease the vineyard to others.” “But God forbid that such a thing should ever happen,” his listeners protested.
LISTEN
Listen to the Lord as He speaks to you. Partial obedience is total disobedience. Make sure that what you are doing day by day are the things the Lord has called you to do. When your life is done is too late to fix what you are doing. Today is the time for reconciliation with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

04/13 Luke 20:1-8
One day as Jesus was teaching and preaching the Good News in the Temple, the leading priests and teachers of religious law and other leaders came up to him. 2 They demanded, “By whose authority did you drive out the merchants from the Temple? Who gave you such authority?” 3 “Let me ask you a question first,” he replied. 4 “Did John’s baptism come from heaven, or was it merely human?” 5 They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe him. 6 But if we say it was merely human, the people will stone us, because they are convinced he was a prophet.” 7 Finally they replied, “We don’t know.” 8 And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t answer your question either.”
JESUS
Jesus knows everything about you and me. He is on our side. He seeks to guide us in the way we should go. If you will surrender you will to Him He will help you walk in the right way and to do those things that glorify the Father.

04/12 Luke 19:47-48
After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him. 48 But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.
KILL
The religious leaders of Israel wanted to kill Jesus. The Lord God had a time line for Jesus to live and die. It wasn’t His time yet but it would be time soon. When you are struggling to get it right remember that the powers and principalities of the air are striving against you to defeat you and stop the work the Lord is doing in and thru you. Serve the Lord with gladness and trust Him to handle those against us.