Acts 1:9-11

One of the things that I love about Jesus is that when it came time to do business, he got busy doing it. And he expected others to do the same. When he felt like he had communicated everything he needed to, he just up and floated off into the sky. Then two guys show up and ask the disciples why they are just staring into the sky. It's like they were trying to tell them that the huddle was broken and it was actually time to run the play. Enough practicing, it's game time.
I think Jesus wants us to be people of action. To determine God's will, line up what's needed, and then get out there and do it. God doesn't need lazy people, he needs workers who will get stuff done. That's how I want to be. JM

Matthew 1:6-8

It's so awesome that God gives us power. I look at it like before Jesus, the prophets had power. While Jesus was here, he and the disciples had power. Now, the Holy Spirit empowers every Christian. How awesome is that! I literally have power to accomplish the work of God.
The problem is that most Christians don't live that way. We don't act as if we have the power to change the world. The power that changes lives is within me, and I walk around acting like an impotent slug. I'm guessing that's not how Jesus imagined it when he gave me the Holy Spirit. JM

Matthew 28:18-20

People love to quote verses 19 and 20. They're some of the most famous verses out of the Bible. But people like to leave out the first word of verse 19..."so". Which means that verse is set up by what is before it "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All power in heaven and on earth is given to me.'" It's awesome to realize the implications of this. Jesus has all power in heaven and on earth. There is nothing he can't do. Since he is control of everything we are supposed to go and make disciples. So we'll go out and do the grunt work, but it's under the authority of Jesus. It's like He's saying that we can't fail. There is nothing that we do for God that won't succeed. He's got all the power in heaven and on earth. That's just cool to think about. JM

Matthew 28:16-17

Tons of people followed Jesus around. At one point he delivered a message to 5,000 men, not counting women and children. That's a lot of people. At one point he sends out the "76" who were evidently a group that were very closely associated. Then there were the 12 disciples that were with him all the time. And three of those were in a special group that accompanied Jesus on certain occasions.
Out of all of those people that Jesus interacted with, it only mentions the 11 followers going to Galilee to see Jesus after he had risen. And of those 11, some of them didn't believe that it was Jesus.
We like to surround ourselves with lots of people. It makes us feel good to say that we have lots of friends. But in the end that really doesn't matter. All of those people would drop us for nothing. But that core group of people will stay with us no matter what. I'd rather have a small group of friends that truly are friends than tons of people that know me and like me. JM

Mathhew 28:11-15

It's crazy the story that the priests made up. So we're to believe that these Roman guards who were sent to guard the tomb all fell asleep at the same time. Then we have to believe that they stayed asleep as the disciples came up to the tomb. Then we have to believe that they stayed asleep as the disciples rolled a giant rock away from the only entrance to the tomb. Then we have to believe that they stayed asleep as the disciples carried away a rotting corpse.
This just goes to reaffirm to me that some people can not believe even in the face of overwhelming evidence. You'll never reach some people no matter how you present the truth, whether it be about the gospel or anything. It's like some people are resigned to disbelief. Of course some people are resigned to belief and never bother to find out why or do anything about it. I think both are pretty frustrating. JM

Matthew 28:2-10

If the Mary's hadn't been at the tomb, I wonder if Jesus would have gone to meet his disciples where they were. He tells the women to have his followers meet him in Galilee. He didn't even go to them, but went on. For some reason, I think he would have gone there even if he hadn't told the women to tell the disciples.
That's kind of the way that God works. He's always pressing forward. We like to trap God into a box and say that He can only do things a certain way. But that's not what we see in the Bible. Jesus constantly evolved his ministry and made it fit wherever he was. It's tough to be truly progressive, but Jesus is an amazing example. JM

Matthew 27:55-56

Jesus was all alone when he died. At least according to Matthew. I know somewhere else it talks about how Jesus said something to John and to Mary, but from this it sounds like Jesus was pretty much alone when he died. That seems sadder to me. And I bet it was disappointing to Jesus.
You look at all the work you've done and everything you've tried to accomplish. You poor your life into people, and you don't see the impact that it had on them because nobody is by your side when you struggle. I'm sure they had their reasons, but it's still disappointing, I'm sure. JM

Matthew 27:54

Sometimes I refuse to believe things. Because it's easier. Or safer. Or more comfortable. But that doesn't make it true. I love the reactions of the roman soldiers here when they finally realize that Jesus was God. It reminds me of my own reaction. I can remember sitting on a couch at Missouri Baptist College and realizing that Jesus really was the Son of God. Realizations like that change your world. It's awesome. JM

Matthew 27:50-53

I hope I have an amazing death. Not like dramatic or anything, but I hope that cool stuff happens after I'm dead, but just because I was alive. I hope that my influence outlives me. Look at all the amazing things that happen right as Jesus dies. He accomplishes more in those few seconds than anybody else could ever manage. Incredible. JM

Matthew 27:46-49

I always wondered why they gave Jesus vinegar to drink. Thanks to Wikipedia, I now know:

Jesus was offered vinegar while on the cross according to the King James version of the Bible, yet actually it was sour wine or wine that was turning which was given out by women of charity to comfort people dying on the cross as this was a common daily occurrence as a Roman punishment of the time.

It's funny, though, the way this is worded, it's like the Bible is wrong. But earlier on in the article it says that the word vinegar is from the words for sour wine.
I'm blown away that people can watch someone suffer and laugh about it. Like, I hate cats, but I could never hurt one. One time I had one lined up that I was going to run over. It wouldn't move and so I slammed on the brakes and swerved. I was so freaked that I might hit it.
I think the more you become familiar with something the more you become calloused to it. You don't even realize you're doing it.
When we first start off into sin, we barely do anything. But the more we do it, the easier it becomes and the more we're willing to do. After a while we're doing things that would have shocked us before we started, but are comfortable because it's just one more step. JM

Matthew 27:45

Sin is loads of fun. If it wasn't, then it wouldn't really be tempting. It's fun to sin, that is until you start to realize the consequences. Selfishness (and that's what sin really is) has its momentary reward, but the consequences will hurt you, then the guilt will finish you off.
I think people started to realize that they had screwed up when the sky went dark at noon for 3 hours. It's kind of one of those "Oh crap! What have I done!" moments. I hate those. JM

Matthew 27:38-44

I bet one of the worst moments of the whole crucifixion was when everybody was making fun of Jesus. Not to minimize the physical pain, which I'm sure was extraordinary, but I can't imagine everybody insulting. People that know me. People that don't know me. People that have seen me do miraculous things.
Betrayal is a horrible thing. It can make you not want to trust anybody. That's what's amazing to me: that Jesus still trusts me. He can use anybody in the world, and yet he trusts me enough to use me. And I betray his trust over and over again. It's like I'm one of those guys making fun of Jesus while He's on the cross.

Matthew 27:33-37

The soldiers around Jesus get a bad rap. They were just doing their job. They were good at it, too. To sit there and cold-heartedly torture someone to death would be impossible, I think, for me. But they beat him, they mock him, they torture him, they gamble for his clothes, and they mock him while he's dying.
And they do all of this without even thinking about it. All in a day's work, I guess. I wonder when they started to notice that Jesus was different than everybody else they had come across? JM

Matthew 27:32

I wonder what Simon of Cyrene was doing that day. Did he just happen to be walking by when they forced him to carry Jesus cross? Or was he somehow intrigued by Jesus and wanted to be near him, if only to watch him die? Or maybe he didn't like Jesus. Maybe he was glad that they were going to crucify Jesus and wanted to watch.
No matter what, I'm sure there was some kind of emotion tied to that day. It was probably one of the most momentous events in his life. I like to think that he ended up having a relationship with Jesus. I'm kind of an optimistic person, though. JM

Matthew 27:26-31

Sometimes people will hate you just because of who you are. The soldiers didn't really have anything against Jesus. They were just doing their job. They went further, though, and mocked Jesus. I don't think it's necessarily because they thought he was a blasphemer or anything like that, I think they were just sick of Jews. They were away from their homes, their families, and everything they knew that was familiar. It probably was relieving for them to take out their frustrations on a Jew, this one just happened to be Jesus.
Sometimes people will hate me just because I'm a Christian, or white, or whatever, but I have to keep that in mind and know that I might be starting off already losing with some people. JM

Matthew 27:21-25

People are so stubborn. About one thing or another. I think everyone is stubborn about something. I'm stubborn about doing things myself. I like to do things my own way. I've always been skinny, so I've always tried to make sure that I carry at least my fair share. And I almost always refuse to ask for help. In some ways it's easier to be stubborn. But people are only stubborn because it hurts our pride to be different. JM

Matthew 27:11-14

I can't imagine being wrongly accused of something and not saying anything. Being able to just sit there and take whatever anybody says is so contrary to what we see everywhere else in our society. I'm sure it wasn't any different back then. It's like it takes way too much humility. JM

Matthew 27:6-10

One of the most amazing things to me about the Bible is all of the fulfilled prophecies, especially the ones that weren't self-fulfilling. Here are Jesus enemies actually fulfilling prophecy. They have every reason not too, and they do it, probably because they were unaware. Sure Jesus claimed to be the Messiah and even had evidence to prove that he was, but they refused to believe. It's almost like they didn't want to believe.
We like to think that we can create the perfect program that will minister to everybody. But it can't be done. It's still up to the individual to determine how they will respond. Even people that are heavily committed to your program can still walk away unchanged. The point is to mitigate the percentage that do that by creating a relevant, inspiring ministry.

Matthew 27:2-5

Continuing on in the drama they tie up Jesus. Surely they don't think Jesus is a flight risk or a physical threat to them, but I'm sure that they wanted to make a more dramatic presentation to Pilate.
Judas realizes that they are going to kill Jesus and feels remorse, gives back the money, and goes off to hang himself. I wonder what he thought that they were going to do with Jesus. But here Judas has a chance to redeem himself. To go and stand by Jesus but he is too ashamed and goes off to kill himself.
Jesus always wants to restore our relationship with God, that's kind of his whole mission here on earth, but so many times we feel that we are too far gone. That God can do nothing with us because of what we've done. Yet all Jesus wants from us is our commitment irregardless of our history. JM

Matthew 27:1

What was that night like for Jesus? Did he sleep at all? The thing I keep wondering is what kept him going. I know that he was tempted to give up and get out of there, but I wonder if he thought of me. Maybe not me specifically, but if it was love for me that drove him there or love for his father. I guess the two are so closely intertwined it's probably hard to differentiate.
I love the farce that is Jesus religious tribunal as these guys decide that Jesus should die. As far as I know, when someone broke the law, the religious leaders didn't decide if someone should be punished, they simply carried out the punishment. So it shouldn't have been a decision of whether or not Jesus should die, but whether or not Jesus must die. I'm surprised Jesus didn't just laugh at how sophomoric the whole trial was. JM