1. OK…so they are sending some guys to go along with Paul and Barnabas down to Antioch. Yeah, if my name was Judas back them, I think I would have gone by Barsabbas too. OK, so he and Silas went down with this letter basically explaining that those guys who were freaking them out about circumcision weren’t speaking for the church leadership. Good. And Barsabbas and Silas would back that up.
2. Again, I’m wondering why they still kept these particular rules: 1) don’t eat food sacrificed to idols, 2) don’t eat blook (darned vampires!), 3) don’t eat meat from strangled animals (veal?), and 4) abstain from sexual immorality. I wonder why these four were considered most important to uphold…
3. I’d be happy I didn’t have to cut myself down there too.
4. The two new guys encouraged everyone and were sent back, but Paul and Barnabas held it down.
5. Paul wanted to make sure that the preaching that they had down in the other towns had stuck. No problems there. It’s important to follow up with people. They can excited when they first hear the message; but, then, life has a way of smothering that fire.
6. OK…so the argument arose because Barnabas wanted to bring Mark along. Apparently, Mark had skipped out on them when they were preaching in Pamphylia; and that rubbed Paul the wrong way. They were so at odds that Barnabas sailed back home (taking Mark with him). Hmm… This is a tough one. I mean, you’d think that, as a representative of the church, Mark would have realized that he had responsibilities. But, then again, Barbabas seems to think that people are allowed to make mistakes and bounce back from them. I can see both sides here.
7. Paul took Silas with him to go and preach in those places, making sure that his work was continuing. (It’s kind of funny because one of the best big men in NBA history’s name is Paul Silas.)
1. “The high priest and all his associates.” He he he…sounds like the mafia. And, like a mafia boss, you didn’t want to make the religious leaders angry. They tossed the apostles in jail! Talk about having a temper.
2. So…the angel springs them from jail and tells them to go and tell everybody the “full message” of this new life. Oh yeah… And when the sun came up, it was on…
3. So the Jewish court assembles and they tell the bailiff to go and get these prisoners. They weren’t there. Everything was locked and guarded. They just weren’t there.
4. I bet the captain of the officers was pretty ticked off and confused when he saw his “prisoners” out there having a church service. They grab the disciples and bring them before the Sanhedrin. Here we go again…
5. It appears that what they don’t like is the fact that the apostles are saying that the religious leaders are guilty of killing Jesus. They probably didn’t like other parts too, but this is what they seem to be concerned about at this particular time. Why would they be so upset about that?
6. “We must obey God rather than men!” This is a bold statement. Could Christians abuse this statement, though?
7. Again, they remind the leaders that it’s more about the fact that God rose Jesus from the dead than anything else. They talk about repentance and the forgiveness of sins. These are all awesome things. How are they missing the point?
8. It could have been lights out for Peter at that moment, but Gamaliel stepped up and asked to confer with the Sanhedrin (maybe cooler heads will prevail?)…
9. Gamaliel compares Jesus to some dudes named Theudas and Judas (not the one that we know). Apparently, they had followings too; but, once they were killed, it all fizzled out. Then Gamaliel says an interesting thing– let them go. If it’s not from God, it will fail. If it’s from God, it will be unstoppable. Guess what, it was (and still is) unstoppable… Who would want to fight against God (especially a religious leader)?
10. They didn’t let the apostles off scot free. They did whip them. Oh, and they also ordered them to shut up about Jesus (yeah, like that’s going to happen).
11. Check out what it says in verse 41. It says that the apostles were “rejoicing” because they had “been counted worthy of suffering disgrace” for the Name of Jesus! Wow. How many of us would consider that to be a gift?
12. Oh…and they kept preaching…
Filed under: acts, andrew, bartholomew, david, god, james, john, judas, mary, matthew, peter, philip, simon, thomas
1. So…all the disciples (besides Judas) were staying together in this upper room: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James 2, Simon, and Judas 2. They all prayer together constantly. And it wasn’t just the guys– the women and Jesus’ mother Mary were all there along with Jesus’ brothers. I can’t imagine the emotions they all felt during this strange but wonderful time.
2. Peter took the lead. He stood up in front of 120 believers and told them that Judas’ betrayal of Jesus was all according to the prophesy of David in the psalms. That’s all well and good, but how do you think Peter really felt talking about Judas?
3. Whoah, so Judas hung himself; and the rope broke, causing him to splatter open upon impact. Sick.
4. So…Peter knew, from his knowledge of Scripture (remember, Jesus gave them all this ability), that they needed to elect a replacement to Judas in the twelve. The replacement had to be someone who had been around from Jesus’ baptism to His ascension. He will become a witness to all that had happened.
5. The two guys who were suggested were Justus (hey, that’s the name of my Compassion kid!) and Matthias (hey, that’s the name of a guy who plays for the New York Giants!).
6. They prayed to know which would be the guy. (Incidentally, Judas “left to go where he belongs” was right in the middle of that prayer. Still bitter?) Then they drew straws, and it was Matthias. How about that? They didn’t run it by the board or session. They trusted God with the dice. Hooray for Matthias!
1. It’s funny how the religious leaders “decided” to put Jesus to death and then took him to the Roman governor, Pilate. Last time I checked, they could really put anyone to death– the Romans were in charge. Rome conquered Israel, so they don’t take orders from the religious leaders. This ought to be interesting…
2. Do you think that Judas was no longer possessed when he was seized with remorse?
3. What would be the point of returning the money? Wasn’t it too late?
4. Judas is basically testifying to the religious leaders that Jesus is innocent. And, for your typical religious leader response, we get, “What is that to us?” Um…you’re religious leaders. You’re supposed to care about minor details like, um, I don’t know, HE’S INNOCENT!
5. I can still remember the chills that went down my spine in the Passion of the Christ trailer when Judas throws the money back into the temple.
6. Judas kills himself. There are only a few other people in the Bible who go so far as to take their own lives. How much free will do you think Judas had, and how much of what Judas did was just preordained by God?
7. Those religious leaders are totally out of it. They talk about how to spend the money. This is a perfect example of how they break their religion down into sections. Are we really supposed to care that they are being “holy” by not using blood money in the treasury when they are knowingly condemning an innocent man and fishing for false evidence?
8. This all fulfilled, what would seem to be, and obscure prophecy about how the betrayal money would be used. Do you think that the religious leaders were just totally dense about this prophecy?
1. OK…same story from yesterday from a different angle…
2. We learn here that this is a place that Jesus often went to with the disciples, so Judas knew the spot. Besides that, all the same details…
3. Here we get Jesus asking them who they were looking for. Why would Jesus ask if He knew the answer?
4. Why do you think they drew back and fell to the ground when Jesus said that He was Jesus of Nazareth?
5. Jesus seems completely in control of the situation. He says, “Well, you came for Me, right? OK, let the disciples go.”
6. More details…we now know that the ear-cutter was Peter and that the ear-cutted was a guy named Malchus. Jesus tells Peter that He has to “drink the cup” that God has given Him (He must suffer and die).
7. Do you think they needed to bind Jesus?
8. Why would they bring Jesus to Annas, in the middle of the night? Is he the ring-leader? His son, Caiaphas, is the one who said that it would be good for Jesus to die to spare all the Jews.
9. I wonder who the disciple with Peter was. Whoever he was, he was able to be closer to the action. He also came back out to get Peter in.
10. This girl who was like the gatekeeper asked Peter if he was a disciple. He said no. Denial number one. Why would he do that?
11. Does anyone else think it’s odd that Peter was so concerned with warming himself when Jesus just got arrested?
12. The high priest asks Jesus about His teachings, but Jesus says that His teachings are no secret. So…
13. …that got Him smacked in the face? Why? All Jesus said was to ask the people about His teachings.
14. Jesus basically says that He didn’t say anything wrong. Incidentally, the smacker never did come up with anything wrong that Jesus said. I guess he was just uncomfortable that Jesus was making the high priest look like an idiot (but he didn’t need that much help).
15. Annas got rid of Jesus and sent him to his son-in-law, Caiaphas. We already know that he wanted to kill Jesus. This won’t go well…
1. I think it’s funny how, as Christians, we have tried to boil down the “way to pray” to just “The Lord’s Prayer,” like we don’t have any other examples from Jesus. Here are a couple…
2. Jesus seems to have His eyes open, looking up towards heaven. Why do most people (I don’t) pray with their eyes closed?
3. Jesus seems to be completely focused on God’s glory. Are we when we pray?
4. We see that God has given Jesus the authority to give eternal life (the ability to know God) to people. Amazing.
5. What if our prayers centered around giving God glory and completing the work that He has given us to do? So often, it seems like our prayers are more about making our life easier. Hmm…
6. Jesus was with God before the world began. See Genesis 1.
7. And then Jesus prays for His followers… This makes my ears perk up because I want to know what Jesus thinks is important for His followers.
8. Jesus understands authority and realizes that it was God who gave Him the ability to reach us. And the “reaching” words all came from God.
9. Jesus is very focused on the fact that His disciples believed who He was.
10. What does this mean when Jesus says that He’s not praying for the world? Does that mean that He is only praying for His disciples or that He is only praying for believers?
11. Glory comes to Jesus through His believers. Glory comes to God through Jesus. Believers can bring glory to God by believing Jesus. It’s like a math problem.
12. Jesus first prays for their “oneness” or unity. Why do you think that is so important?
13. How does it make you feel to know that one of the disciples (Judas) was “doomed to destruction”?
14. Jesus wants us to have His joy. That would be a bonus in a world that hates them for following Jesus’ teachings.
15. Jesus doesn’t want to spare us from the conflicts in this world. Instead, it appears that He wants us to hang tough against Satan.
16. Jesus wants us to be made pure by God’s Word.
17. Oh…I get it…the first prayers were for the disciples. Now we ARE praying for all believers…ok, so this is for us.
18. Jesus prays for unity again. This “oneness” seems so important. Our human relationships are to mirror the intimacy and oneness that Jesus has with the Father.
19. Jesus prays that we stay close to the Father and to Him. People will believe in Jesus if people were close to Jesus.
20. Jesus prays that we will be able to see Him in His glory. Wow. I think that shows how dear we are to Jesus’ heart.
1. Hey, it doesn’t get any simpler than that. If you love Jesus, you will obey Him. So…what’s the point of saying that we love God if we don’t follow Him?
2. We have the very essence of God to be “with” us forever, the Counselor, the Holy Spirit. I can’t fully comprehend that, but I know that it is huge.
3. The world can’t understand or accept the Holy Spirit. We can know Him (not “it”). He is with us and in us. Have you ever thought of the Holy Spirit as a “Him”?
4. It’s almost like a loving father saying, “Don’t worry. I’m coming back. I just have this one thing that I need to do.” And He will. But, that “one thing” is what is going to allow us to LIVE!
5. Jesus is IN the Father. We are IN Jesus. And Jesus is IN us. Chew on that for a second.
6. There’s definitely a common thread in this passage about the importance of obedience. This is the sign of love.
7. Who’s this other Judas guy? Oh well. This guy wants to know why this is just going to be revealed to the disciples. Apparently, Jesus is saying that it’s not JUST for the disciples. Anyone who obeys will have God at home in his heart. That means people like us!
8. The Holy Spirit TEACHES and REMINDS us of what Jesus has said. So…inside our hearts we can learn from God if we listen to His Spirit. Inside our hearts we can be reminded of all that Jesus has said. Having the Holy Spirit in our hearts and not listening to Him is like going on an expedition and not listening to the tour guide.
9. Jesus desires for us to have peace. That’s good because I know I can get restless.
10. It’s a great thing that Jesus gets to be with the Father, just like it will be a great thing when we can be with Him.
11. Even with all this prepping, the disciples still seemed to be stymied about what was going on when Jesus died. I don’t think they expected even Him to raise from the dead.
12. “The prince of this world.” Hmm…who would that be? Maybe Satan? Jesus is saying that Satan has no power over Him, but He is going to let him have his way for awhile so that the world can learn what obedience to the Father looks like. This is Jesus’ motivation for what He’s about to endure.
1. I know how it feels when someone has betrayed me. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to know that someone is GOING TO betray me. That would be heart-wrenching.
2. I wonder how long they stared at one another. Hmm…is it you, Thomas? Is it you, Nathanael? What about Judas? I’m wondering if it was common knowledge that there was something “off” about Judas.
3. “The disciple whom Jesus loved” is John. So…it’s interesting that Peter asked him to ask Jesus who He meant. John must have been the closest to Jesus, even though Peter seems most like the leader.
4. I wonder if Judas was hearing all of this. I wonder if he was just oblivious to the whole “tipping off” through the dipping off.
5. Satan entered Judas when he took the bread. Interesting. I wonder if Satan kept entering and leaving and re-entering Judas. I mean, we know that Satan entered him when he was cutting deals with the religious leaders too.
6. Jesus just told Judas to get it over with. Of course, nobody else knew what that had meant. They thought he might have been going to the grocery store or to a charity. How wrong they were…
7. This is all about God’s glory being made full in Jesus.
8. Jesus alludes to His going away, but I don’t think the disciples truly understood what He was talking about.
9. I don’t know if “love one another” is a NEW command. Maybe the newness of it is the fact that they now have Jesus’ example to follow. So…would the world know that you are a Christian by the way that you love people?
10. I love Peter. He pledged his undying loyalty to God. Which, if I’m honest, I do quite a bit. Unfortunately, like Peter, I am not capable to make those kinds of pledges and make good on them.
11. Jesus lays the truth on Peter. He’s not as committed as he thinks he is. He will not only not follow Jesus, he will actually deny him three times before daybreak. That’s our belief in self being contrasted with human weakness.
1. You know, foot-washing is considered a sacrament in some Christian churches, on the same level as communion, baptism, and marriage. I wonder why we aren’t down with the foot washing…
2. Jesus knew that His time was coming, and it appears that He will now show them the full extent of His love…
3. …but do you think that was hard for Him to do, knowing that Judas was going to betray Him?
4. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus washes His disciples’ feet, knowing that He is all-powerful? Isn’t this something you do when you have no power?
5. Peter balked at the idea of Jesus washing his feet, but then Jesus let him know that this is how he could have a part with Him. In typical Peter fashion, he asks for a bath, then. He he he… I like Peter…
6. I bet that was hard to hear from Jesus, that someone is not clean. I wonder if this caused the other disciples to doubt themselves…
7. Jesus lays is out there. He is the undisputed Leader, and yet He washes feet. We should do likewise. So why don’t we?
8. Do we act like we are too good for Jesus? I mean, people are pretty adamant about praying “The Lord’s Prayer” because that’s what He said to do, so why don’t we have the same passion for foot-washing?
9. So…this betrayal of Jesus is to fulfill a prophecy in Psalms. Judas would have lifted his heel to Jesus because he was lying on his stomach around the table when Jesus went around behind everyone to wash their feet.
1. Oh, man, here we go. We’re getting close to the Passion of the Christ…
2. Wow…so…we already knew that they were looking for a way to get rid of Jesus, and it appears that Satan gave them a solution. Question…do you think Judas had a choice as to whether Satan entered him, or do you think that this was the purpose of Judas’ life? Do you think that Judas’ previous behavior made him more susceptible to being “possessed”? Do you think this still can happen today?
3. Mental note: Jesus probably knows, in all the upcoming events, that Judas is possessed by Satan.
4. Judas knew that if he betrayed Jesus in a crowd that they’d probably not be successful. This was methodical. Why do you think Judas accepted money? I mean, if he was really possessed by Satan, do you think that the devil cares about money?
5. Jesus told Peter and John to get things ready for the Passover. I wonder why it isn’t common for Christians to honor the Passover. I mean, Jesus celebrated it.
6. It’s crazy to think that Jesus and His disciples were essentially homeless. Where would you make a meal if you had no home?
7. Here’s a specific time when Jesus tells them exactly where to go and what to do and what to say. Man, too bad life isn’t always that easy. We do have the compass of the Holy Spirit, though, to guide us towards where God is leading us…
