The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

“Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day’” (Luke 24:45-46).

How awesome that moment must have been! Although the Lord Jesus forewarned his disciples that He must suffer, be killed, and rise again the third day, the disciples did not seem to understand this. Like us, they heard the truth but somehow did not grasp it. I said, “Like us,” because sometimes the instructions seem to elude us. But now the Lord Jesus opens their understanding. His suffering, death, and resurrection are clearly understood. The disciples grasped it. There is a wonderful lesson in this for us. God’s Word is like no other book. Before we read the Scriptures, it will be wise for us to ask the Lord to teach us and to open our understanding. We need the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit to teach us and to guide us into all truth. May the Lord richly bless your time in the Bible today. I hope that you are rejoicing in the risen Savior who is our blessed Lord.

For today: The Lord wants to speak to us through the Scriptures. I want to be listening. How about you?

“And He said unto them, ‘These are the words which I spoke unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me’” (Luke 24:44).

It was a blessed time at that country church. Several folks had recently asked the Lord Jesus to be their Savior. Pastor McHenry was having a special class for those new converts. During the time that he taught the class about Christ, several of the members were amazed to learn that the Lord Jesus is spoken of throughout the Scriptures. They discovered that He is pictured in the Law of Moses. He is promised throughout the Prophets. He is proclaimed in the Psalms. Ruth, one of the newest converts in the class, turned to Laurie and said, “I knew that the Lord Jesus is incredible. But I had no idea that He is to be found throughout the entire Bible. It takes on a whole new meaning. I’m going to be watching for Him whenever I read the Old Testament.” The pastor assured her, as well as the rest of the class, that they would learn much more about the Lord Jesus. In fact Pastor McHenry closed the class with this thought, “The more you read the Scriptures, the more you will get to know the Lord Jesus. The more that you know about the Lord Jesus, the more you will love Him.” The wise counsel given to the class that day is great counsel for you and me today. The more we know about our precious Savior, the greater our love and admiration will be for Him.

For today: Are you reading in the Old Testament? Be watching for the Lord Jesus in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms!

“And the angel answered and said unto the women, fear not ye: for I know that you seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay” (Matthew 28:5-6).

What a grand and glorious day! Our precious Lord Jesus became the perfect sacrifice. He fully satisfied the demands of the holy God. He was the recipient of the Father’s wrath and abandonment when He took upon Himself our sins. In horrible agony the Lord Jesus shrieked with the pain of becoming sin and being forsaken by His Father in Matthew 27:46. Now in Mathew 28, it is early Sunday morning. I could say lots about the fact that there were no men coming to the Garden tomb. However, for the sake of this little devotional, I will briefly point this out and move on to the fact that the ladies came to the Garden tomb early that Sunday morning. There were great obstacles that they had to overcome. There had been an earthquake. The city was packed with people who were there for the Jewish festival. They no doubt wondered how they would roll the stone away from the tomb. They would have to face the Roman soldiers. Yet nothing could keep them from going to that tomb. Lo and behold, when they arrived, the tomb was empty. The angels greeted them with the glorious announcement that the Lord Jesus was not here! He is alive. The Father’s stamp of approval clearly is demonstrated by the resurrection of the Son. Death could not keep Him. The grave could not hold Him. Gloriously, victoriously, and with great power the Lord Jesus rose from the dead. Every Sunday we celebrate His great resurrection. Today is a special day when believers gather throughout the world to celebrate the spectacular resurrection of our Savior. I hope it will be a grand day for you as you celebrate with your Savior.

For today: He’s alive! There are no greater words that can ever come to us. He’s alive!

“Jesus, when He cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the spirit. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent” (Matthew 27:50-51).

Most of us cannot wait until tomorrow. Although our worship of the Lord Jesus on every Sunday is a celebration of His blessed resurrection, there is just something deeply spectacular and incredibly wonderful about worshiping the risen Savior on Easter Sunday! Wouldn’t you have loved to have been in the temple at the moment the Lord Jesus dismissed His spirit? When our precious Savior fully satisfied the wrath of God, He dismissed His spirit. Immediately the huge veil of the temple tore in half from the top down to the bottom. It was not ripped from the bottom to the top as if man was ripping it. It was torn from the top to the bottom because God was tearing the veil to demonstrate that through his Son we are able to approach Him. The writer of the book of Hebrews explains this to us in Hebrews 10:19 – 22. The way to the Father is now made open for all those who trust the Lord Jesus as Savior. Yes, it would have been wonderful to have seen that veil ripping from the top to the bottom. But friends, we are the recipients of that huge blessing. Think of what the Lord Jesus accomplished for us by His death, the shedding of His blood, His burial, and His glorious resurrection. How thankful I am for the Lord Jesus. How about you?

For today: I am thankful that the way to the Father has been made open for all who trust His blessed Son.

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, la ma sa bach tha ni? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46).

Matthew presents for us the agonizing details of the death of Jesus Christ upon the cross. At this very moment, the Lord Jesus in His sinlessness became sin for us. It is an incredible moment in the history of the universe. The Creator took the sins of the creation. He bore them in His own body. The Apostle Peter described it as “Who His own self bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes you are healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Think of it, friends. During the betrayal, trial, scourging, humiliation, and even the pounding of the nails through His hands and feet, the Lord Jesus was relatively quiet. He spoke very few words from the cross. Then from about noon until 3 o’clock the skies grew very dark. Jesus shrieked in agony as our sins were rolled onto Him and He bore in His own body the horrific wrath of the holy Father in full payment for our sins. The word “forsaken” is the awful, awful abandonment of the holy God. He forsook His Son as the Lord Jesus became the sacrifice for our sins. He did this for us. Has there ever been a time in your life that you have placed your faith in this incredible Savior? He told us in John 14:6 that “no man comes to the father except by Me.” The Lord Jesus is the one and only way to Heaven. It makes no difference if you are a high paid executive on Wall Street or if you are reading this daily prescription on a computer in your remote village in Africa. The one and only way to Heaven is through the Lord. Have you accepted His marvelous gift of salvation?