Luke 24:36-53

Jesus appeared to His disciples and some others who were with them after His resurrection. He told them that everything that had been prophesied about Him would be fulfilled and that they were witnesses to His resurrection. They would be empowered by God to go and bear witness to others about what they had seen.

We are all witnesses to the power of God. We can go and tell others what God has done in our lives. This is how the earliest Christians spread the gospel message. They didn't have the New Testament scriptures to refer to - just their own personal experiences. The best part is that you already know your story - no need for memorization!

Luke 24:1-35

On the third day after His crucifixion, some women came to finish anointing Jesus' body with spices and perfumes. The tomb was empty and there were angels who told them Jesus wasn't there and He had risen as He said He would. Later, Jesus appeared to two of His followers as they were traveling and spoke with them. They did not recognize Him at first, but when they did, He vanished.

Jesus showed He had power over death and the grave. If He had not risen on the third day as He said, His death would have been meaningless. Because He lives, we know His promise that we will be resurrected to live with Him forever will be kept.

Luke 23:39-56

One of the criminals being crucified with Jesus mocked Him just like everyone else, but the second chided him for doing so and asked Jesus to remember Him when He entered His kingdom. Jesus told him he would be in Paradise with Him that day. The second criminal realized his position as a sinner, rightly condemned to die and Jesus' innocence and Lordship. It is never too late to learn these truths. Even if you think the things you have done in your life make you unforgivable, Jesus paid the price to make you clean.


When Jesus finally died, the soldier in charge of the execution and the crowd of people realized He was innocent because of the phenomena that accompanied His final breath. His body was then taken by Joseph of Arimathea to be buried in his own tomb. The Bible makes no mention of what happened to the people who witnessed Christ's last moments, but we can be sure that if they only stopped at realizing Jesus' innocence and not fully realizing His Lordship, they were still as lost as ever. Simply knowing or acknowledging who Jesus is doesn't make anyone saved. Only by truly accepting Him and allowing Him to enter your life and change you from the inside out can you be saved.

Luke 23:26-38

Jesus was taken to be crucified and hung on a cross between two criminals. Even while this was happening, He prayed to God to forgive the people involved. On the cross, He was mocked by the people who had gathered as well as the soldiers and told if He was the King of the Jews, He should save himself. This is the ultimate example of loving ones enemies. Even while He was being crucified, Jesus prayed for His oppressors. People hurt others because they have been hurt themselves. The way to make a difference in someone's life is to break the cycle of hurt and show them love. This is what Jesus did and this is what we need to do if we want to make a difference in this world for Him.

Luke 23:1-25

Jesus was taken to Pilate and accused of telling people not to pay taxes and claiming to be a king. Pilate couldn't find any reason to convict Jesus of anything, so he sent Him to Herod. Herod, likewise, found Jesus not guilty and sent Him back to Pilate. Pilate tried to convince the crowd to let Jesus go, but they cried out for His death. Finally, Pilate caved in and ordered Jesus to be crucified.

Jesus led a sinless life, but was tried as though He were a criminal. Even though He was found not guilty by His judges, mob rule won out and He was sentenced to death. Today, there are voices being raised against Jesus and His people. We have a choice to join them, ignore them, or confront them. Pray for the courage to stand for Jesus. The easy thing to do when things get rough is to give in to the crowd and compromise your values - what you know is true and right. It's hard to go against the grain and stick out in this world, but the ones who do will be rewarded in heaven.

Luke 22:54-71

Jesus was arrested and led away to the chief priest's house. Peter followed behind at a distance and when he got there, people began to notice him and ask if he had been with Jesus. Three people asked him and three times he said he didn't know Jesus, just as Jesus had said he would. Denying Jesus isn't just saying you don't know Him. We also deny Him when we live like He's not in our lives. Everything we do should be guided by our faith in Jesus.


Jesus was beaten and mocked, then was questioned about whether He was the Christ. He initially refused to answer on the grounds that they wouldn't believe Him anyway. Eventually, when asked if He was the Son of God, He admitted He was. This was what they were waiting for - in their minds, He had just admitted to blasphemy. Jesus made a bold claim: that He was God. The religious leaders of the day didn't want to believe this was true, so they did what they needed to do to get Him out of the way. Faced with this same claim, who do you say He is? C. S. Lewis wrote of Jesus, "Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse." You can choose to deny Him or you can choose to love Him, but everyone must choose and the choice you make has eternal ramifications.

Luke 22:31-53

Jesus warned Simon that Satan was trying to attack him. Then Jesus told him that He had prayed for him to remain strong and to strengthen the others. Simon replied that he would stay by Jesus even if it meant prison or death, but Jesus told him that he would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed. When we stumble and fall, it's good to know that Jesus is there for us, acting as an intercessor on our behalf. Even if we slip up in our walk with Him, He makes sure we don't stay down.


Jesus reminded the disciples of the first time He sent them out to preach and how He instructed them not to take anything and their needs were met. Now He said they would need to take provisions for the next time they went out to preach, perhaps because they would be going to foreign countries this time and could not count on finding hospitable homes in each city they would go to. God will provide for our needs, but that doesn't excuse us from making preparations and planning for what we will need. Unless God has made a specific promise to meet a need, we should assume the responsibility is ours. Sometimes the way that God provides for our needs is giving us the wherewithal to provide for ourselves.


Jesus went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was agonizing so much over the pain He knew was about to come that He began to sweat blood. When He was done praying, Judas came with a mob to arrest Him and betrayed Him with a kiss. When we think of Jesus' suffering, so often we think of the cross or the scourging He received before being nailed to the cross, but the suffering in Gethsemane was just as intense. Knowing what was coming took a lot out of Him, but He still submitted Himself to it out of love for each of us. Salvation is a free gift for each of us, but the price paid by Jesus was immeasurable. It was the greatest example of love the world will ever know.

Luke 22:1-30

Jesus and His disciples were in Jerusalem for the Passover feast. It was at this time that Judas made a deal with the chief priests and scribes to betray Jesus. Judas had walked with Jesus and listened to Him teach. Still, nothing seemed to have sunk in. He should have recognized Jesus as Messiah and worshiped Him and followed His commands. Instead, he decided to give it all up and turn his back on Jesus. Just because we sit in church every Sunday or read our Bible, it doesn't mean anything if we don't take the message we find there to heart and allow God to change us.


While Jesus was eating the Passover meal with His disciples, He used the bread and the wine to represent His body and blood, symbolizing His imminent death on the cross. The Lord's supper, as it has come to be known, contains such powerful imagery. The bread and the cup are tangible things we can touch to help us remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. Each time we partake of it, we have a chance to reflect on the love that was shown so long ago on a cross on Calvary.


Jesus told His disciples that one of them would betray Him. After hearing this, they started to discuss amongst themselves which one it might be. They also began to discuss which one was the greatest. Jesus broke into the conversation to remind them that greatness as God sees it comes from serving. Just as Jesus served, they were to serve others. How humbling to remember that Jesus made Himself a servant. He didn't go after glory, but rather spent His time healing and helping people wherever He went. It's hard to be arrogant and expect everyone to cater to us when faced with the example that Jesus - God in flesh- gave to us. To be like Jesus is to humble ourselves and serve others.

Luke 21:20-38

Jesus spoke about His second coming and the signs that would signal His return. He also said that we should always be alert and ready for His return. We should not get so bogged down in the monotony of every day life that we forget our main purpose here. Each day, we should make a conscious effort to live our lives for Him so that when He does return, we will be ready instead of being caught off guard.

Luke 20:27-47

Some Sadducees came to challenge Jesus by asking Him a question designed to trick Him into saying something that could be used against Him. They basically asked what would happen after the resurrection in the case of someone who had been married multiple times - they wanted to know which of her earthly spouses would be her spouse in heaven. Now, the Sadducees didn't even believe in the resurrection and believed that this question, by the nature of being unanswerable, would be a way to prove the resurrection to be a false teaching. Jesus answered though, saying there was no marriage in heaven. He further answered the root issue of resurrection by pointing them to the account of Moses and the burning bush. Moses referred to God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Since God is not the God of the dead, each of these Jewish patriarchs must have been alive when moses made this statement - via resurrection. Jesus challenged the Sadducees with a question of His own: If the Christ is David's son, why does David call Him Lord?

Skeptics are constantly trying to prove God to be false by some seemingly clever argument. They like to think they have all the answers, but they really don't. Knowing the truth about God and knowing His word are the best defenses against attacks by skeptics. We need to educate ourselves, becoming so strong in our faith that we cannot be shaken by people who formulate arguments against the truth that may seem logical at first glance. Rely on God to interpret anything you see or hear from men and double check it against what the Bible says.

Luke 20:1-26

The chief priests confronted Jesus and asked who had given Him authority to perform the miracles He had been doing. Jesus agreed to tell them if they could tell Him whose authority John the Baptist had worked under. They couldn't admit that John's authority came from heaven because they hadn't believed him before. They didn't want to say that his authority came from men because they feared the backlash from the crowds who had believed and followed John. Therefore, their answer to Jesus was that they didn't know. Because they could not answer His question, Jesus declined to answer theirs.

The answer to both questions was the same: both John and Jesus were given authority from God. There was no point in Jesus answering their question directly - since they had not accepted the source of John's authority, they would not accept Jesus' either. They were merely trying to trap Him into saying something they could use against Him later.


Jesus told a parable about a landowner who rented his land to some growers. When harvest time came, he sent one of his servants to collect a portion of the harvest. The growers beat him and sent him away with nothing. This happened two more times before the owner decided to send his son thinking he might command more respect. The growers killed the son in the hopes that they might gain his inheritance. The response of the owner, Jesus said, would be to destroy the growers and give the land to someone else.

This parable was directed at the chief priests to condemn the fact that they were about to have Jesus killed. The history of Israel was that nearly every prophet that God sent was beaten and/or killed. God tried to reach out time and again and was trying once more with His only Son and still they would not listen. Human nature causes us to want to have things our own way. We don't like people telling us what to do and pointing out our shortcomings, but that's just what we need. God uses the people around us to help us see the things we tend to overlook in ourselves.


The chief priests sent people to Jesus to ask Him questions in order to catch Him saying something wrong to use against Him. One question was whether it was right to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus pointed out that the picture on the coins used to pay the tax was that of Caesar. Therefore, he said that they should give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's.

We are told in the Bible that we are to be in the world, but not of it. We have a duty to the kingdom of God, but that cannot overshadow our duties as citizens in this world. So long as the laws of this world don't make us do something that violates God's law, we should obey them - and that includes paying taxes.

Luke 19:28-48

Jesus made His entrance into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. The people were laying down their coats and palm branches in front of Him and praising Him, giving glory to God. At some level these people knew that Jesus was sent by God, but more than likely, had their own idea about what He was going to do. Most were expecting a conquering king to come in and free them from Roman oppression, but Jesus never said that was what He was going to do. We must listen to what God has to say about what He is going to do and praise Him based on what He reveals to us, not what we want to believe.


When Jesus came into Jerusalem, He kicked the people out of the temple who were selling things. The church belongs to God and should stand apart from the rest of the world as a place where we worship God. When we use it for our own personal gain, we are worshiping ourselves and not God.

Luke 19:1-27

A tax collector named Zaccheus was trying to see Jesus as He walked by, but he was so short he couldn't see over the crowd. In order to get a better view, he climbed up a tree. Jesus saw him in the tree and told him to come down so He could go to Zaccheus' house. When the people saw what Jesus was doing, they grumbled about how Jesus was going to be the guest of a sinner. Zaccheus declared that he was going to give half of what he had to the poor and pay back everyone he had cheated four times what he took. Upon hearing this, Jesus stated that salvation had come to Zaccheus' house that day.

Zaccheus was a true seeker. He did whatever was necessary to see Jesus. Once he saw Him and Jesus called on him to do something, he did it. He was convicted of his sins and made a plan for reparations. It is important to take an inventory of our lives and determine who we have wronged. When possible, we should make reparations to the person and ask for forgiveness. In doing so, we do more than just assuage our own guilt, we allow the other person to heal as well.


Jesus told a parable about a man who left on a long trip to take care of some business. While he was gone, he gave three of his servants some money to do business with while he was gone. The first and second second servant used the money to earn more in their masters absence, but the third servant merely hid it away and gave his master back the same amount. The master was pleased with the first and second servant and gave them more responsibilities. He was displeased with the third servant and took away what he had and gave it to the other two.

Everything we have comes from God. If we take the things He gives us and use them for His glory, He will bless us and fulfill our needs. If we sit on them and keep them to ourselves, He will not give us more and has every right to take away whatever He chooses. By giving away what has been given to us, we truly receive the best from God. This is completely different from what the world at large teaches about taking and taking and taking. God doesn't want us to live like the world though. He has shown us a better way.

Luke 18:18-43

A rich man asked Jesus what he needed to do in order to inherit eternal life. Jesus first told him to keep the commandments. When the man said he had done so, Jesus told him to sell all he had and follow Him. Because he had so much, he didn't want to do this and became sad. Everything we have belongs to God. When we try to hold on to it, we are refusing to give God what is His. Things aren't the problem. It's the love of things that is the problem. When we cling tighter to our possessions than we do to God, we have proven where our allegiance truly is. No matter how well we keep the commandments, nothing can make up for that.


As Jesus was going along, he healed a blind man by the side of the road. The man was calling out to Jesus and even though the people around him were telling him to be quiet, he kept calling to Jesus until he was heard. When we need Jesus, we need to call out to Him no matter what anyone else says. Don't let other people influence your decisions and make you turn away from our Lord. God rewards those who persevere, even in the face of opposition.

Luke 18:1-17

Jesus spoke about praying constantly. He used a story of a judge who didn't care about God or other people, but when a certain woman kept coming to him to ask for protection, He finally gave in because he figured she wasn't going to stop until he gave in. Unlike the judge in the story, God cares deeply for us. He does not give in to our requests because we annoy Him, but because He loves us. We should pray constantly for what we need from God, believing He will hear us and provide for us.


Jesus told another story about two men who went into the temple to pray. The first, a Pharisee, was full of himself while he prayed, thanking God he was not like the tax collector who was also there to pray. The tax collector prayed to God confessing he was a sinner and asking for God's mercy. Jesus said the tax collector was the one who was justified. To be forgiven, we must admit that we need to be forgiven. We need to confess what we have done wrong and ask God for mercy. We should not compare ourselves to others or brag about how we have it all together. God blesses the humble because we all have plenty of reason to be humble before Him. We are all guilty in the eyes of e perfect God and ignoring that fact does not endear us to Him in the least.


People were bringing babies to Jesus in order for Him to bless them. The disciples turned them away, but Jesus said to let them come. Perhaps the disciples thought Jesus was too busy or important to be bothered with babies, but He wanted to see them. Children are the future of the church. We need to bring them up in the light of God's word in order that they will grow up to be faithful servants. Don't discount anyone because of their youth. We need to teach them what we know and maybe even learn a little something from them in return.

Luke 17:1-19

Jesus said that stumbling blocks are inevitable, but that doesn't excuse someone who causes another to stumble. Each of us has enough in our lives that we create ourselves to stumble over - we don't need help from somebody else. The opposite is just as true: we shouldn't become stumbling blocks for others. As much as possible we need to strive to help people instead of making their lives harder.


When the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith, he told them that they only needed the smallest amount of faith to do great things. They were looking to be rewarded, but Jesus told them they did not deserve to be rewarded since they had only been doing what they were told to do. A rewards based mentality is not in line with God's ways. If we only do things in order to be rewarded, we show we don't understand how God works. Sometimes we just need to do the right thing because it is the right thing and not expect to get something back from man or from God.


Jesus healed a group of ten lepers. After they were healed only one came back to give glory to God and thank Jesus. Do you come to God only when you need something? When God answers your prayers, do you thank Him? Too often, we take God for granted or treat Him like a magic wish granting genie. This type of attitude does not honor God. He wants to hear from us when things are good as well as when they're bad. He wants our thanks and praise when He provides for us. Basically, He wants to hear from us all the time. Make sure there's a slot in your daily schedule to talk to God no matter how your life is going that day.

Luke 16:19-31

Jesus told a parable about a man named Lazarus who was poor and sick (covered with sores) who sat outside a rich man's house hoping for some food. The rich man did not help him and after some time Lazarus died and was taken to heaven. When the rich man died, he was sent to hell. He looked up and saw Lazarus in heaven and cried out to Abraham for Lazarus to bring just a drop of water to cool his tongue. When he was told this wasn't possible, he asked if Lazarus could be sent to his brothers to warn them of the fate awaiting them in hell. To this, he was told that they had Moses and the prophets - if they didn't listen to them, someone rising from the dead wouldn't sway them either.

Many non-believers will say that they won't believe in God or Jesus until some incredible thing happens (God physically appearing to them, some grand miracle, etc.). The truth is we have been given enough signs and evidence to accept or reject God's plan and if what we have isn't enough, a big display won't make much difference. The hardened skeptic will dismiss anything that might have been considered spectacular by explaining it away by natural causes or ignoring it all together. Abraham said that someone rising from the dead wouldn't sway the rich man's brothers. Jesus rose from the dead nearly 2000 years ago and people weren't swayed then. They found ways to ignore what happened or come up with some other way to explain it. Things haven't changed a whole lot in two millennia.

Luke 16:1-18

Jesus told a story about a steward who lost his job due to mismanaging his master's money. Before he left, he settled some of his masters accounts for less than what was owed in order to endear himself to the debtors. His hope was that he would be able to collect on the favors when he was no longer employed. His master saw what he was doing and commended the steward for his shrewdness.

This kind of shrewdness is what Jesus saw as lacking in His followers. We need to take opportunities to do God's work and store up treasure in heaven the same way this dishonest steward secured a place for himself when he realized he was losing his job. This does not mean that we should cheat people, but just that we are always to be looking for circumstances which God places us in where we can do some good. Especially when it seems as though things are going bad, we should look to God for how he can work in our lives at that time.

Luke 15:11-32

Jesus continued with a third story of something being lost and then found - the story of the prodigal son. This son demanded his inheritance early from his father. He then moved far away and spent all the money imprudently. He wound up broke and having to feed pigs to get by and still had nothing to eat. He came to his senses and decided to go home to his father and become one of his hired hands, since even they had it better than he did at that time. When he returned, his father threw a big party to welcome him back.

We have all turned away from God at some time in our lives. It's not always as dramatic as the prodigal, but even in the small decisions when we choose our way over His, we effectively turn our backs on Him. The desire to do things our own way gets the best of even the strongest Christians, but when we are ready to come back, God welcomes us with open arms. Coming back means confessing our sins and humbly asking for forgiveness. That is when God's grace pours out on us and heaven rejoices at another lost son come home.

Luke 15:1-10

The Pharisees were grumbling about how Jesus was associating with sinners. In response, Jesus told a set of three stories. The first was a shepherd leaving 99 of his flock behind to go find one lost sheep. The second told of a woman who had lost a coin and carefully searched her entire house until it was found. In both stories, there was rejoicing due to the lost thing being found.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost. In order to do this, He had to go where they were. His message was meant for sinners because only sinners need a Savior. By deeming people unfit for socializing with, the Pharisees were missing the opportunity to share God's love and grace with others. God didn't save us so that we could become high and mighty and look down our noses at others. We were all lost once, and someone reached out to us, found us, and brought us to God. Be like that person and do the same for someone else.