John 1:1-28 Who is Jesus? This is the most important question everyone must answer. The way one answers this question determines their eternal destiny. John jumps right in helping people understand who Jesus is and thus, how to answer this question. John begins his gospel earlier than Matthew and Luke. He does not start with Jesus' birth, or even with Adam and Eve, he starts back before anything h...  Read More

Luke 24:13-53 The key central claim of Christianity is that Jesus rose from the dead. He did not just rise in people’s hearts or as some vague imagery of evil being defeated, he bodily arose. There was an empty tomb, empty in that no physical body was there. Jesus rose in space and time. Why would we believe this astounding claim? One of the key reasons we believe this to be true is because of the...  Read More

Luke 23:44-24:12 What did Jesus’ death accomplish? If you were trying to tell someone why Jesus had to die, what would you say? One of the things which Jesus’ death accomplished was that the curtain of the temple was torn in two, a fact mentioned by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. There is no material explanation for this, it did not suddenly happen to rip apart. This was supernatural. In the Old Testame...  Read More

Luke 23:13-43 What would living a perfect life look like? In Jesus, we see exactly what this means. He did not just teach us how to live; he exemplified it in all he did. Jesus taught his disciples how to pray by telling them to, "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." This lesson was then perfectly embodied by Jesus while he was suffering on the cross. Mere hours from his de...  Read More

Luke 22:54-23:12 Jesus continually called his disciples to the difficult life of following him. Jesus called them to take up their cross, lose their life, be a servant, and live surrendered. How committed are you to obedience and devotion, even if it leads to suffering and difficulty? Luke 22-23 gives us both a negative and positive example of what this looks like. In Peter, we see what it looks l...  Read More

Luke 22:35-53 Where do you draw encouragement and perseverance from? When life gets hard, where do you turn for comfort and wisdom? For Jesus it was to turn to the Father, which instructs us where we should turn as well. Jesus is a day from the cross and hours away from his betrayal and arrest, and we find him praying. The only portion of his prayer which is recorded ends with, “Yet not my will, b...  Read More

Luke 22:14-34 What are some of your most powerful memories? What are the things you remember from your childhood, from your first job, and from last year? Remembering is a powerful tool to remind us of truth and of things that are important. Jesus tells the disciples, "Do this in remembrance of me." as a way to remember his sacrifice and body. Jesus' call to partake of communion is to involve our ...  Read More

Luke 21:29-22:13 Be careful! This is something I tell my kids when they approach a hot stove or a busy street. This is also something we see on yellow tape draped around construction sites or other potentially dangerous locations. In these places, people need to be careful. Similarly, Jesus tells us that when we approach life, we need to be careful. It is as if he drapes yellow caution tape across...  Read More

Luke 21:1-28 How do you feel about the future? Are you able to approach it with confidence and courage, or are you overwhelmed by fear and anxiety? The disciples ask Jesus a question about the future; in his answer, he not only responds to them but also teaches us how to respond to the future that awaits us. Jesus tells his disciples the temple would be destroyed, which happened in 70 AD, but clea...  Read More

Luke 20:27-47 Where do you look for answers when you have a question? Where do you turn for wisdom and insight for life? My son was on his school’s scholar bowl team and when they were asked a question they looked to textbooks, mathematical formulas, atlases, and history to provide an answer. As we continually see from the example of Jesus, the place we are to go to for answers is Scripture. When ...  Read More

Luke 20:1-26 Who has authority over your life and decisions? Is it you or God? This issue of authority becomes the central question that Luke 20 addresses. The Jewish leaders were questioning Jesus’ authority because his credentials were not part of the religious establishment. Rather than answering their question he responded with a question. “John’s baptism? Was it from heaven, or from men?” The...  Read More

Luke 19:28-48 What is a king supposed to do and how does he accomplish this? Is he supposed to come with a massive army and subdue his enemies at the sword? Is he supposed to use diplomacy and bartering to achieve his ends? In Jesus, we see a king who is very different from all the others. Jesus announces himself as king to Israel through his triumphal entry. The crowds responded with shouts of, “...  Read More