What’s stopping you from seeing Jesus? Mary had seen the empty tomb. She saw the angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus was. The other gospel writers tell us that they even told Mary that Jesus had risen, but she just couldn’t hear their words. And even when…

That’s all the chief priests thought Jesus was – an imposter, a fraud. It didn’t matter how profound His teaching may have been. It didn’t matter how many miracles He had done. Because He didn’t agree with their interpretations of the Scripture and because He didn’t fulfill all their expectations…

Jesus died alone. Oh, this passage makes plain that there were lots of people around Him, but none of them really knew Who He was or agreed with what He was doing. Simon carried His cross for Him, but had to be compelled to do so. The soldiers who crucified…

Why did Judas betray Jesus? We might think it was just for the money he received, but then why would he give it back? Or perhaps he had wanted to provoke Jesus into a confrontation with the Pharisees, confident that Jesus would in fact lead a rebellion against the Jewish…

Do you believe in Jesus? Many of us have the sort of faith that Martha had at the beginning of this passage. We are sure of His love for us, and we are confident in His power – up to a point. For notice the way Martha speaks in verse…

For most Christians, communion is a familiar and comforting ritual. We share a cup and a loaf of bread and we wonder about how these common things can draw us closer to Christ. Jesus’ disciples in the upper room had a completely different reaction. They couldn’t understand why Jesus kept…

Why did Judas betray Jesus? There has been much ink spilled over this question throughout the years. Some say it was a matter of simple greed. Others broaden the issue, suggesting that Judas might have been frustrated by Jesus’ consistent refusal to use His miraculous power on behalf of His…

Why did Jesus’ enemies plan to murder Him? After all, they had seen Him do mighty miracles of healing (Mark 3:1-6), so they couldn’t doubt His power. No, because He insisted on healing people on the Sabbath, and because they ridiculously believed that such healing amounted to work that was…

What’s your top priority as a Christian? Given the story of the rich man and Lazarus that we read yesterday, wouldn’t it be good to spend more of our time and money helping the poor? Shouldn’t we get up and get busy serving others? Well of course we should. But…

What is our responsibility to the poor, those who, for whatever reason, truly cannot help themselves? That was Lazarus’ situation. Verse 20 says he “was laid” at the rich man’s house, which implies that he couldn’t walk there himself. And whatever disease he had was obvious, as he had sores…