John 20:19-20 John records three occasions when Jesus met with his disciples after his resurrection. Here is the first of them and it occurred on Easter day itself, the day of resurrection. The disciples were understandably nervous. The authoriti...
Luke 24:30-32 As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognised him. And at that moment he disappeared! They said to each other, “Didn’t our hear...
Luke 24:13-16 That same day two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus hims...
Luke 24:1–3 Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. As daw...
Luke 23:55–56 As his body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw the tomb where his body was placed. Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to anoint his body. But by the time they were finished the Sabbath had begu...
Luke 23: 44–46 By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. Then Jesus shouted, “...
Luke 22:19–20 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” After supper he took another cup of wine and s...
Then Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve disciples, and he went to the leading priests and captains of the Temple guard to discuss the best way to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted, and they promised to give him money...
While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins. “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of...
Luke 19:41–42 I will never forget my first visit to Jerusalem. A disabled friend of mine asked me if I would take him to Israel as his carer. He needed me to push his wheelchair, drive the hire car and lift him from place to place. We stayed in a...
Luke 19:36–39 Palm Sunday was a day full of surprises. Many people had hoped that Jesus might be the one who would kick the hated Romans out of the land. It would have suited them well if he had turned up on an impressive war horse and led a rebe...
Psalm 33:1–2 Many of the psalms surrounding this one are full of descriptions of the psalmist’s pains and problems. He talks often about his enemies and those who are out to kill him. He tells us about his health problems and his times of depress...
Psalm 32:1 King David is very reflective in this psalm. Some commentators suggest that he wrote it some years after his disastrous adultery with Bathsheba. That agonising episode led to the murder of Bathsheba’s husband and caused untold grief. W...
Psalm 31:14–15 We have seen David recount his problems in many psalms, but in this psalm the procession of problems is particularly depressing. Tears blurred his eyes and his body and soul were withering away. He felt as if he was dying from grie...
Psalm 30:11–12 In David’s Psalms we meet him as he was surrounded by enemies, cheated by his friends and family, staring death in the face and feeling so ill he longed to die. But it was David’s experience that these glum times did not have the f...
