John 20
The Empty Tomb
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
10Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
16Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
18Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may[a] believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion:
Matthew 7:7-12
Ask, Seek, Knock
7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
May 7, 2008
Do Unto Others
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READ: Matthew 7:7-12
Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. —Matthew 7:12
In May 2006, a man set out from base camp to make his third attempt on Mount Everest. He actually reached the summit, but on his way down he ran out of oxygen. As he lay on the side of the mountain dying, 40 climbers passed him by.
Some say that at such oxygen-deprived altitudes, rescues are too perilous. But others say that climbers are too eager to reach the top and too selfish to help those in trouble.
I wonder what would have happened if someone who passed that stricken climber had said, “I will treat him the way I want to be treated.”
In Matthew 7:12, the golden rule, Jesus gave His disciples the secret to fulfilling the entire Old Testament relational regulations—love others and live for their benefit. He said this in the larger context of all the radical principles that He had taught up to this point in His sermon (5:17–7:11).
As difficult as it is to live for the benefit of others, Jesus knew His followers could consistently live out this ethic as they drew strength from a righteousness that went beyond duty and outward conformity to rules (5:20). It is a righteousness that can come only from God Himself.
If we are Jesus-followers, let’s walk in His steps—loving others and living for their benefit.
— Marvin Williams
Love is an attitude, love is a prayer
For someone in sorrow, a heart in despair;
Love is good will for the gain of another,
Love suffers long with the fault of a brother. —Anon.
Love is the debt we owe one another.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers:
May 7, 2008
Building For Eternity
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READ:
Which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it . . . —Luke 14:28
Our Lord was not referring here to a cost which we have to count, but to a cost which He has already counted. The cost was those thirty years in Nazareth, those three years of popularity, scandal, and hatred, the unfathomable agony He experienced in Gethsemane, and the assault upon Him at Calvary— the central point upon which all of time and eternity turn. Jesus Christ has counted the cost. In the final analysis, people are not going to laugh at Him and say, "This man began to build and was not able to finish" ( Luke 14:30 ).
The conditions of discipleship given to us by our Lord in verses 26, 27, and 33 mean that the men and women He is going to use in His mighty building enterprises are those in whom He has done everything. "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple " (Luke 14:26 ). This verse teaches us that the only men and women our Lord will use in His building enterprises are those who love Him personally, passionately, and with great devotion— those who have a love for Him that goes far beyond any of the closest relationships on earth. The conditions are strict, but they are glorious.
All that we build is going to be inspected by God. When God inspects us with His searching and refining fire, will He detect that we have built enterprises of our own on the foundation of Jesus? (see 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 ). We are living in a time of tremendous enterprises, a time when we are trying to work for God, and that is where the trap is. Profoundly speaking, we can never work for God. Jesus, as the Master Builder, takes us over so that He may direct and control us completely for His enterprises and His building plans; and no one has any right to demand where he will be put to work.
"A Word with You" by Ron Hutchcraft:
The Passenger Advantage - #5563
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
I had a mountain of work to do to prepare for some radio programs I was scheduled to record, and the way things worked out, I had to travel by van about twelve hours with two of our team members. Now, I'm going to make one thing clear. I am a driver, okay, I'm not a passenger. I hate to ride. I love to drive. Problem: I had so much work to do it could easily fill the twelve hours we were traveling. So they set up this little office for me in the back of the van and they brought along a power pack that would allow me to use my computer all the way. So, very reluctantly I went to the back of the bus and settled into work and to watch someone else drive. Now, at first it drove me nuts. But by the end of the trip, I realized how much creative work I had completed in this office on wheels! Man, what a productive day I had, all because I let someone else drive.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Passenger Advantage."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 6:25. Jesus is describing what happens when we live as a passenger instead of a driver. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear." Then He says in verse 26, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them." He says in verse 32, "Pagans run after all these things, but your Heavenly Father knows you need them. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." You see, when it comes to the important needs and issues in our lives, we control-freaks want to make sure we're handling it, and Jesus says, "It's not your job, man. Get in the backseat. Your needs are the Father's job." Worrying, which He cautions against three times here, is a sure sign that you are driving. You obviously haven't turned over your trip to the Lord. In fact, "driver" wouldn't be a bad synonym for the word "Lord." We follow the Driver, Jesus Christ.
People without a relationship with the Father have to hang onto the wheel, spending the best of their energies, the best of their time looking out for their agenda. But Jesus nails that controlling approach to life with these simple words, "Your Heavenly Father knows that you need them." Quit trying to meet your own needs, it's His job. Then Jesus says that you'll be able to focus on God's agenda, to really get His work done. Why? For the same reason I was able to get so much done the day of the long drive, someone else was driving. When we're focused on driving our own life, driving those relationships, driving our ministry, driving our business, our children, our mate, we can't focus on serving and saving others. We're too busy driving.
It could be that the Lord is trying, right now, to pry your hands off that steering wheel of your life, or maybe some areas of your life that you just insist on controlling. He's inviting you to do what my team members invited me to do that long day in the van - go to the back, let someone else drive, and focus your efforts on your master and His work. Your life can be so much more productive if you will let go of the wheel! God has so much He wants to do in you, He want to do through you, but you've been too busy driving. Take it from a driver who's finally learning to ride - it's so much better being a passenger in a life that Jesus is driving. He won't fall asleep at the wheel, and He will never make a wrong turn, and He will never crash. And you? Well, you'll finally enjoy the blessed peace and productivity of the passenger advantage.
