Jesus warns us to be alert bc He is coming back! “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Jesus instructs us to be doing the will of the Lord while He is gone. He says that punishment will be worse for the ones who knew the will of the Father and chose to ignore it than for those who never knew. “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.” The Lord will hold those that He entrusted with much in the way of gifts, knowledge, and responsibilities, to a higher standard.

Judgement is going to come swiftly upon the unbelievers and on those who are falsely professing Jesus’s name with no life of obedience, which is a sign of their false belief. But of the ones whose hearts are surrendered to Him, Jesus says, “stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are awaiting their master to come home…”

The believers and the unbelievers will be divided. This division will split up even blood-related families. Just like Jesus told the Jews that their salvation is not based on their bloodline to Abraham…our salvation is not based on any relationship other than a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

We end the reading with Jesus once again healing a man on the Sabbath. And once again the Pharisees are angry that Jesus took away the man’s blindness on the Sabbath. 😏 When the unbelieving Jews ask the formerly blind man’s parents who healed their son, the parents dodge the question for fear of the Jewish leaders. Fear of man is a major stumbling block to professing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. As Solomon wrote, “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe” (Proverbs 29:25).

Jesus comes to open the eyes of the blind to truth and light. Whoever trusts in Jesus and proclaims Him as Lord and Savior will have eternal life. But those, like the Pharisees, who hear the truth and reject Him, will forever remain in darkness.

Keep reading.

(Luke 12:35-13:21, John 9:1-41)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

“Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied” (Psalm 27:20).

Today Jesus says, “The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.” Jesus is warning us to be careful what we allow to come inside us through our eyes. He knows that what we see impacts our minds and hearts and consequently our actions. Remember at the beginning of the Story when Seth’s descendants laid eyes on beautiful Cain’s daughters who were not walking with the Lord? It ended disastrously. And remember the Judges Era which was defined by everyone doing what was right it their own sight? Yep, again total chaos. And when King David was on his roof and he made a decision based upon sight? Yet another epic fail. Throughout the Story we see examples over and over again of people making decisions based upon sight that leads to pain and destruction instead of trusting the Lord and walking by faith. We should guard our hearts and minds by being careful about what we expose ours eyes to and making decisions based on those sights. Jesus has said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12). To follow Jesus we must know the Word of God which is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). The more we keep our gaze fixed on Jesus through worship, prayer, and time in Scripture the brighter our light will shine. And our appetites for worldly lusts will grow dimmer and dimmer.

Jesus continues to explain that what is on the inside of a person is what matters; not an outward performance. So when a Pharisee is appalled that Jesus didn’t wash His hands before eating, Jesus responds, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. Foolish one!” Jesus calls out the Pharisees for being all about the show, with the best seats in the synagogues, public tithing, and greetings in marketplaces but inwardly possessing no justice or love of God. The showy Pharisees may impress everyone else but they don’t impress the One that matters, Jesus.

Jesus tells His disciples, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known…do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!”

“Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.”

We all have a choice to make…confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior or deny Him.

Keep reading.

(Luke 11:14-12:34)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

Jesus says, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” The only source of truth that we have is the Word of God. And truth is what releases people from the bondage of sin and the enemy.

But the Jews say they are all good bc they are descendants of Abraham and have never been in bondage. So Jesus says to the Jews that Abraham believed in God but you are trying to kill Me. “If God were your Father, you would love Me; for I proceeded forth and came from God…You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him…He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.” 😳 Since they do not accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, Jesus tells them they are on team Satan, the father of lies. There is no in-between. You are either with God or with the devil.

The Jews ask Jesus if He is greater than their father Abraham. “Jesus said to them, ’Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’” So the answer to their question is YES! Jesus is greater than Abraham bc He is God. This is why Jesus can say He was around about 2,000 years ago, before Abraham and declare His name to be I AM. I AM is the same name that God used to describe Himself to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). However, the Jews don’t like Jesus claiming to be God so they pick up stones to throw at Him but Jesus escapes.

We end the reading with Jesus again teaching the disciples about prayer. “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?…If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” The best gift anyone can receive is the Holy Spirit, the Helper, who seals the believers’ salvation, sanctifies us, provides wisdom, convicts us of sins, empowers us to be bold witnesses, and gifts us for the work of the ministry!

More teaching from Jesus tomorrow. Keep reading.

(John 8:21-59, Luke 10:1-11:13)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

Hostility toward Jesus begins to increase today starting with His own brothers who do not believe that He is the Messiah. They try to get Jesus to go and prove Himself by telling Him to leave Galilee, where He is safe, and go to the Feast of Tabernacle (Feast of Booths) in Judea where the Jews are trying to kill Him. Jesus says His time, the cross, has not yet come. But it will come soon.

”Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.” See, there is a major debate between the Samaritans and the Jews regarding the place of worship. The Samaritans incorrectly believe that Mount Gerizim is the one location you should go to worship the Lord. So they built a temple there instead of Jerusalem.

When the disciples see this rejection, they suggest that Jesus rain fire down on the Samaritans and kill them. 😳 But Jesus says no, “for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” 🙌

Jesus arrives at the Feast of Tabernacle, about the middle of the Feast, and goes to the temple and teaches. Then the Jews start calling Him all sorts of things. Some say He is a good man, others say He is a deceiver, and some even say He is demon-possessed.

But Jesus holds firm to the truth that He has been sent by His Father. He says, “I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.” We see how Jesus is not bound to this world when a man asks to follow Jesus and Jesus responds, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” This world is not Jesus’s home. He has been sent here on a rescue mission by His Father.

Jesus tells them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.” The people are confused bc they don’t realize He is speaking of heaven. Only those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior will go to heaven (John 14:6). That is why “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ’If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” Ten days after Jesus’s coming ascension to heaven, on the Day of Pentecost, the Lord will pour the Holy Spirit upon His people.

Well the Pharisees still don’t believe Him and even worse, they are still trying to find a way to take Him down by catching Him breaking the Law. So they throw an adulterous woman at His feet to see if Jesus will stone her per the Law (Leviticus 20:10). Unlike the Pharisees, Jesus is not all about destroying others. He came to restore. So He rebukes the Pharisees, restores the woman, and tells the crowd, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”🙌

Keep reading.

(John 7:1-9, Luke 9:51-56, Matthew 8:18-22, Luke 9:57-62, John 7:10-8:20)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

A man brings his demon-possessed son to Jesus for healing after the attempts made by His disciples failed. Jesus says to the man, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” In response, the man cries out to Jesus in tears, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!” This man has some faith but he trusts that Jesus will strengthen what little faith he has; which I’m sure increases while watching Jesus miraculously heal his son.

After Jesus heals the boy, the disciples ask why they couldn’t. Jesus says, “Because of your unbelief, for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” The more time we spend praying to the Lord, the more we rely upon Him to work in our lives, which strengthens our relationship with God and grows our faith.

While Jesus and His disciples were staying in Galilee, “Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.’ And they were exceedingly sorrowful.” But the disciples were not sorrowful for long bc soon their attention goes back to themselves and their best interests. They begin fighting with one another over who will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 😏 Jesus tells them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” Then Jesus takes a little child and says, “Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus says that His mission is to “save that which was lost.” To illustrate His mission, Jesus tells a story of a man with 100 sheep but 1 goes astray. Jesus says that the man will leave the 99 to go after the 1 lost and if he finds it, “he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”

No one is too far from God! Keep reading.

(Mark 9:14-29, Matthew 17:14-21, Luke 9:37-43a, Mark 9:30-32, Matthew 17:22-23, Luke 9:43b-45, Matthew 17:24-27, Mark 9:33-37, Matthew 18:1-6, Luke 9:46-48, Mark 9:38-41, Luke 9:49-50, Mark 9:42-50, Matthew 18:7-35)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

Jesus asks His disciples, “Who do men say that I am?” They respond that some say He is John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and some say one of the prophets. Then Jesus, testing their faith, asks, “But who do you say that I am?”

Peter responds, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” So Jesus says to Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

The confession that Jesus is the Son of God is the rock which the church will be built. Soon in the Story, after the resurrection of Christ, those who believe in Him as the Son of God will begin gathering together to worship as the church and they will be called Christians (Acts 11:26).

“From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” ”Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?’”

Following Jesus in this dark world is not easy. He never says it will be, but it is worth it. Nothing this world offers can satisfy the longings of your heart besides an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ as your Savior.

Then Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up on a high mountain where Jesus is transfigured; His face is like the sun and His clothes white as the light. Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus, talking with Him “and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.”

When Jesus is alone again the disciples ask Him why the scribes say Elijah must come first. Jesus responds, “’Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist” (Malachi 4:5-6, Matthew 17:11-13).

Just as they killed John the Baptist, Jesus soon will be turned over to the cruel hands of man who will crucify Him. But this is all part of God’s original plan that He laid out for us at the beginning of this Story in Genesis 3:15. God gave Adam and Eve a promise that He was sending them a Savior and He gave them a picture of that promise when He killed an innocent animal and used the skin to cover the guilty, Adam and Eve. Jesus’s death will be sufficient to remove our sins and cleanse us for a right relationship with the Lord, which was broken back in the garden, as prophesied throughout this entire Story.

More teaching from Jesus tomorrow so keep reading.

(Mark 8:22-30, Matthew 16:13-20, Luke 9:18-20, Mark 8:31-9:1, Matthew 16:21-28, Luke 9:21-27, Mark 9:2-13, Matthew 17:1-13, Luke 9:28-36)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

As Jesus tries to quietly enter a home away from the crowds, a Greek woman falls at His feet begging Him to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus responds, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” 😬 Yikes!

But if we look at the meaning behind His response, this is actually Jesus being loving, as He always is to anyone who throws themselves at His feet. The bread is the ministry of the Gospel and the little children are the Jews, God’s chosen people. We read on Oct 8th that Jesus told his disciples to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, not the Gentiles or a city of Samaritans (Matthew 10:6). By God’s design, the Jews are to be reached first. The dogs in Jesus’s statement are the Gentiles, as this is how the Jews perceive the Gentiles. Jesus came to die for all. Therefore, after His death and resurrection, Jesus will send his disciples out to the Gentiles as well as the Jews, just as God planned before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-7). God worked His plan through His chosen people, the Jews, but eternal life is available for anyone who puts their trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

So instead of getting offended at what Jesus said, the woman responds by saying, “’Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.’” Then Jesus answered and said to her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed from that very hour.” 🙌

Jesus also has compassion on the multitudes, about 4,000 people, who have been with Him for 3 days with nothing to eat. Jesus tells His disciples His desire to feed the people. And the disciples question Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?” 🤔 Didn’t they just see Jesus feed 5,000 people with only five loaves and 2 fish (Matthew 14:13-21)? The disciples are still shaky in their faith. But Jesus simply asks them how many loaves do they have. Jesus knows the answer to this. He is asking for their benefit bc He is patiently working to grow their faith in Him. So when they respond 7 loaves and a few fish, Jesus does what Jesus always does…He makes possible what is seemingly impossible. He feeds the multitude until they are filled, leaving 7 baskets full of leftovers.

However, the Pharisees are still trying to trap Jesus by asking Him to show them a sign. 🙄Jesus rebukes them for not being discerning bc they are blinded to Him as the Messiah.

Jesus warns His disciples of the false doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Pharisees believe in justification by works and elevate the man-made laws over God’s commands. The Sadducees believe there is no resurrection, angels, or spirit. Jesus has been clear that salvation is obtained by grace through faith in Jesus Christ who will die for our sins and rise 3 days later defeating death.

Tomorrow Jesus has an encounter with Elijah and Moses. Keep reading.

(Mark 7:24-30, Matthew 15:21-28, Mark 7:31-37, Matthew 15:29-31, Mark 8:1-10, Matthew 15:32-16:4, Mark 8:11-21, Matthew 16:5-12)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

Today’s Jesus has 2 discussions over bread. 🥖

First, the crowds find Jesus bc they are looking for some more of that bread He gave them in yesterday’s reading with the 5 loaves. Jesus tells them, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” The people want to know what work they must do to receive the food of everlasting life. Jesus responds, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

Jesus goes on to say, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” This is extremely perplexing to the Jews who are trying to figure out how they would receive eternal life by eating the flesh of the son of Joseph and Mary, whom they know. 🤔

Instead of making it clearer for them, Jesus does the opposite by saying, “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day…He who eats this bread will live forever.” The Jews don’t understand that Jesus is the final sacrifice who has come to shed His blood so that we may have eternal life. That is why today we take communion by eating the bread and drinking the juice as a symbolic act to remember what He did on our behalf. After Jesus’s death, Paul is going to say, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).

The second conversation around bread is when the Pharisees see Jesus’s disciples eating bread without washing their hands. See, these hard-hearted religious ones have a certain way they wash their hands in order to be deemed clean. But Jesus has a rebuking word for the religious folks. He calls the Pharisees hypocrites and quotes Isaiah, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-7, Matthew 15:8-9, Isaiah 29:13). Once again Jesus makes clear that He is not impressed with any outward ritual acts of worship or obedience. Jesus is going after the hearts of the people. And from a true heart change, a desire for obedience will follow.

Jesus says the religious uphold the traditions of man over God’s commandments. He explains that what you put into your body doesn’t defile you, it is what comes out of your body from your heart. “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

We also learn today that many of Jesus’s disciples leave Him bc they don’t believe. And soon one of Jesus’s 12 disciples, Judas Iscariot, is going to betray Him. Keep reading.

(John 6:22-71, Mark 7:1-23, Matthew 15:1-20)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

John the Baptist is still in prison bc he told King Herod it was unlawful to marry Herodias, his brother’s wife. Well Herodias doesn’t like being called out by John the Baptist so she wants to kill John “but she could not; for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him.”

However, Herodias gets an opportunity to go in for the kill when her daughter is dancing for her husband, King Herod, and all the other important men in Galilee at Herod’s birthday dinner. Herod is so pleased with the girl that he tells her he will give her anything she wants, up to half the kingdom! 😱🎉 WOW!

The excited girl runs to her mama to bounce off ideas of all the amazing things she could possibly ask for. Herodias is full of anger and bitterness, which blinds her to her daughter’s best interest or to pleasing her husband, so she tells the girl to ask for John the Baptist’s head on a platter. 😳 Yeah, just what every girl wants 🙄 but the daughter obeys her evil mother. So John’s head is delivered on a platter and taken to Herodias. Then his disciples bury his body and tell Jesus the tragic news.

Jesus departs by boat to be by himself but the crowds follow Jesus. Jesus has compassion on them and feeds about 5,000 men, plus their wives and children, with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Then the men say, “This is truly the Prophet who is come into the world.”

We end the reading with Jesus walking on water to meet His disciples who are struggling in a boat during a wind storm. Peter asks if he can walk on the water to meet Jesus. Peter does well staying on top of the water as long as his gaze is fixed upon Jesus. But as soon as he takes his eyes off Jesus and puts them on his surrounding circumstances, he becomes fearful and begins to sink. So Jesus rebukes Peter by saying, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” See, even Peter, Jesus’s disciple, is on a faith journey. Jesus doesn’t give up on Peter. He is continuing to grow him into the man who will start the church.

Keep reading to see Peter become all that the Lord planned for Peter to be.

(Luke 9:7-9, Mark 6:14-29, Matthew 14:1-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-15, Mark 6:45-52, Matthew 14:22-33, John 6:16-21, Mark 6:53-56, Matthew 14:34-36)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching

Jesus heals 2 blind men and “When they had departed, they spread the news, about Him in all that country.” Then He heals a mute and demon-possessed man “And the multitudes marveled, saying, ‘It was never seen like this in Israel!’” However, things are quite different when Jesus goes to His home church in Nazareth. 😒 We read about this in the Book of Luke on 9/29 and here we have Mark’s account of Jesus teaching in Nazareth.

Jesus starts teaching in His home church and the people question where His wisdom comes from since He was just the son of a carpenter and Mary and has brothers and sisters in that town. “So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.’ Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.”

Jesus has marveled 2 times in the Story. First, at the faith of the Gentile Roman officer that we read about on Oct. 4th (Matthew 8:5-13) and now here…over the lack of faith of the people in His home town which limits the blessings they could receive. This is unfortunate for those people but it’s not going to stop Jesus from pouring blessings on those who will receive Him!

“Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.” Jesus sends out His disciples first to the lost sheep of Israel, God’s chosen people. He tells them not to go to the Gentiles or enter the city of the Samaritans at this time (later Jesus will send them out to the Gentiles as well as the Jews). However, Jesus gives them a warning; “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves…And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

Tomorrow is a tragic day for John the Baptist. Keep reading to see what happens.

(Matthew 9:27-34, Mark 6:1-6, Matthew 13:53-58, Matthew 9:35-38, Mark 6:7-13, Matthew 10:1-42, Luke 9:1-6)

#bibleliteracymovement #chronologicalbibleteaching