Bible Study Verse
Matthew 26:31
Then Jesus told them, "This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: " 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee." (NIV)
Thoughts
It's the forgotten day, the day between Good Friday and Easter. Lost time, time that we don't know much about. Jesus was dead. Jesus was buried, and in a sealed tomb, no less. The disciples were scattered just as Jesus had predicted, just like a covey of quail on a wild covey rise.
I wonder where they went, what they did, what they thought. Did they go home? Did they hide? Did they go fishing? Did they say to themselves: Well, that was sure a waste of our time to follow this guy around for the last three years? We do know that they were scared - one of the few comments we have in scripture is that they had locked themselves in their homes for fear of reprisal. I'll tell you, I would have been scared; I would have run; I would have hid. I probably would have gone to the mountains - that's where I go to escape.
I would love to have known what thoughts were going through the disciples' heads that day. They had to be thinking about all that Jesus had said. Probably, whenever they were back together, I think that they would have been sharing those thoughts with each other:
- Hey, Peter, didn't Jesus talk about this--going to Jerusalem, being accused, tortured, led as a lamb to slaughter?
- And John, didn't He tell us about being condemned to death and being flogged and crucified?
- But wait, Thomas, didn't He also say something about being raised from the dead, something about living again?
- No, no, no, that simply can't happen. It's not possible, it's not logical, it's nonsensical.
But there's more guys--don't you remember what Jesus said to us: "But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee." What does that mean, "after I have risen?" Could it be true? Could Jesus be raised from the dead? Could He live again? Could He walk with us again? How could this be?
Then came Sunday . . .
(CS)
Action Point
Satan throws everything that he has at us in order to make us doubt - doubt our faith, doubt Jesus' words, and doubt our salvation. But remember, we know what happened on Sunday. Jesus won. Satan lost.
Sportsmen's Tip of the Day
When you're following your compass or GPS in the mountains, trust what it's telling you. It's probably right. |
