John (Program #48) – Life Processed for Multiplication (3)

I really like this marvelous term here. “Go tell my brothers.” In the Gospel of John, He was with these disciples a lot, but He never referred to them as brothers. He always called them either by name or referred to them as friends. But, after His resurrection for the first time, He calls them brothers.

In this Gospel, the presentation of the crucifixion is really more complete and more meaningful than you have it in the other three Gospels. First, the account here brings out the two aspects of the Lord’s death by mentioning two substances, which came out of the Lord’s side when the soldier pierced Him. When the soldier pierced Him, out came blood and water. The blood of Christ there is to answer to our need for the dealing with sin. The blood of Christ cleanses us from every sin. And, the water that came out is really meeting the need for our life. Water in the scripture is often a picture of life. There’s the water of life that’s in the book of Revelation. And, there’s the water that flowed out of the rock in the Old Testament. So, water really means life, the imparting of life.

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John (Program #46) – Life Processed for Multiplication (1)

The main thing is that these garments were left there in this orderly way as a testimony of His resurrection. This was not something like someone got in and stole His body as reported. No. He did this Himself. He resurrected.

The account of the crucifixion in the Gospel of John is different in the fact that it brings out these two aspects(redemption and imparting life). In the other Gospels it only mentions the redemptive aspect. But, in the Gospel of John, you do have the two aspects which are shown by the two substances that came out of His side. In verse 34 of chapter 19, it says, “one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.” When the soldier pierced His side, out came blood; that’s for the redemptive aspect. And water, that’s for the life aspect.

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Mark (Program #44) – The Resurrection and Ascension of the Slave-Savior and His Universal Spreading of the Gospel Through His Disciples

Chapter 16, the final chapter of Mark’s gospel presents three tremendous events in the ministry of Jesus Christ.  First it reveals His resurrection then His ascension for His exaltation and finally the spreading of His gospel to all the creation. All of these matters are important to genuine believers as they relate to the truth of the divine revelation. But they also should be very real aspects of our experience of the marvelous salvation that we have received. But that leads us to a very important question, How can we experience Christ in the reality of His resurrection and how can we experience the exalted and ascended Christ?  Well, this chapter gives us some very helpful signs from some of the Lord’s followers who were living in the reality of Christ in His crucifixion and therefore we are also able to experience Him in His resurrection.

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Mark (Program #41) – The Death and Resurrection of the Slave-Savior for the Accomplishment of God’s Redemption (3)

On the day of His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross for six hours, from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon.  During the first three hours, He suffered mocking, slander and humiliation at the hands of all manner of men even though He was dying to redeem.

But beginning at twelve noon something remarkable happen and is recorded in Mark chapter 15 verses 33-34, “And when the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is interpreted, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

During the final three hours of His time on the cross, the Lord Jesus was no longer been judged by evil mankind. He had taken upon Himself the sins of mankind to such an extend that God the Father even had to turn away from His beloved Son in righteous judgment, as Christ offered up Himself, an eternal sacrifice for all.

As believers we cherish this story and never tired of hearing it. But beyond this message of redemption and hope, this story also bears consideration for what it says about the inner relationship of the three divine persons in the Godhead.

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Mark (Program #39) – The Death and Resurrection of the Slave-Savior for the Accomplishment of God’s Redemption (1)

The record in Mark chapters 14 and 15 give a striking account of how the Lord Jesus prepared Himself for His crucifixion. Even manipulating those who would ultimately kill Him to do so according to God’s time table and not man’s.

Often overlook in this portion, however, is that the same chapters also record the experiences of Peter. In a very real sense Peter also was being prepared by the Lord to pass through the process of death and resurrection.

It’s somewhat easy to realize that Peter in these chapters is representative of all the disciples. What’s not so easy to see, but just as significant is that Peter’s experiences of failure upon failure eventually resulting in his been striped of any confidence in his natural strength and ability, represents all of us, the Lord’s believers as well.

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Mark (Program #33) – The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (7)

At a critical time during the final few days before His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus took the disciples to the Mount of Olives. From that spot looking across to the temple in all its’ splendor, He spoke to them of the coming events that would ultimately usher in the kingdom of God to the earth

Let’s pick up His word to the disciples in Mark chapter 13:1, “And as He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, Teacher, behold, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!
And Jesus said to him, Do you see these great buildings? There shall by no means be left here a stone upon a stone which shall not be thrown down.  And as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately,  Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?  And Jesus began to say to them, See that no one leads you astray.  Many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ! and will lead many astray.  And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; it must happen, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These things are the beginning of birth pangs.”

This phrase, birth pangs is a clear reference to a  coming delivery, a child is been born. But what is this birth that He spoke of and has it taken place,  even yet?  Many clear signs were unveiled in Mark chapter 13.

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Mark (Program #30) – The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (3) & (4)

The Lord Jesus enter into Jerusalem exactly six days prior to His crucifixion. During the first two of these days He was welcomed by the crowd who honored Him and exalted Him really for the first time in His earthly ministry.

The next four days were time of testing and examination by both the religious and the political leaders. These two groups who were natural enemies became united in their desire to defeat the Slave-Savior who had now won the hearts of the people. Various factions of these two groups plotted using the out most of their human cunning and reasoning to trap Him. But each attempt merely afforded the Lord another opportunity to display His marvelous wisdom confounding them on the one hand and inciting them on the other hand to do what they needed to so that He could do what He must do; and that is to be offer up a sacrifice at the hand of these very same leaders, a worldly religion and politics.

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Matthew (Program #60) – The Heavenly King Being Tested (3)

In the day right before the crucifixion of Christ, the situation in Jerusalem was very confused.  In many ways we have to say it’s much like today.  All manner of religious factions and groups each with their own spin on the theological questions of the day.  And each of these groups took their turn asking the Lord Jesus what they thought were difficult even clever questions try to catch Him in a way that they could use to their advantage.  But in each turn, of course Jesus prevailed.   Until ultimately He silences them by asking them the real question of questions, “What did you think about Christ?  Whose Son is He?”  As we look at the four-part test that the Lord Jesus allowed His opposers to subject Him to.  And then this greatest of all questions that He turn to them.

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Isaiah (Program #44) – The All-Inclusive Christ in His Four Stages (2)

When we read the account of Christ’s crucifixion, whether in the New Testament gospel or in a rich prophetic passage such as Isaiah 53, we are elated and comforted with the fresh realization that Christ was resurrected.  That means our salvation is secured.  But Isaiah 53 goes on to show us the issue or the result of His resurrection.  The issue is a seed, a seed that satisfies God.  Stay with us today as we explores the riches in Isaiah 53 as Christ is revealed from the pages of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah on life study of the Bible.

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1 Peter (Program #1) – An Introductory Word

Of all the disciples called by the Lord Jesus in the gospels, probably the one we can most readily identify with is Peter. Simon Barjona as he was known before the Lord changed his name to Peter. In John chapter 1 was as impetuous as he was fervent and often found himself as the target of the Lord Jesus’ reprove.

Recall for example in Matthew chapter 16, Peter’s sympathetic suggestion to the Lord that He should keep Himself from the suffering of death that He knew awaited Him. “get behind Me, Satan” was the Lord’s reply. “You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.” How could Peter possibly recovered from such a stinging rebuke?

And of course it was also Peter, who denied the Lord three times during the hour of trial preceding the actual crucifixion. Yet only days later it was this same Peter who stood on the day of Pentecost and usher thousands into the kingdom with his powerful and dynamic speaking.

And not only so, in his two epistles, Peter uses language and phrases so rich and full of high and profound meaning that we can’t help but marvel at the power of God’s full salvation. That this unlearned fisherman could write such thing. Listen to his word in 1 Peter,

1:18 “Knowing that it was not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, that you were redeemed from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers,”

19 “But with precious blood, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ;”

Welcome to our first life-study of the book of 1 Peter.

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