BLESSING GOD!!! AMEN!!! (the last 3 words of Luke)

Today’s Reading: Luke 24 

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

This is the exterior of Saint Lazarus Church built just 50 metres from where Lazarus was raised from the dead by Jesus. Special thanks to Reynold Mainse for two years of photographs. He spent over three months in the lands of the Bible just to bless us with his profession. He is also an ordained minister of Jesus Christ. The cost of his travels were covered apart from any offerings sent to the Crossroads charity. These photographs are a gift of love to Jesus and to us. “Thank you, David Reynold!”

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verse: Luke 24:47

… and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

What was Luke’s reason for writing his Gospel? Here it is! “That you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed!” (Luke 1:4). Amen!!! Luke had two whole years to travel in the footsteps of Jesus. He was an assistant to the Apostle Paul, and Paul spent two years as a prisoner in Caesarea under the authority of two Roman Governors, Felix and Festus, as well as under King Agrippa (Luke was also writing a major portion of the book of Acts during those years…read Acts 23:23 to Acts 26:32). Luke’s writing style in his Gospel is obviously the result of personal interviews with people such as Mary, family members of the Bethlehem shepherds, several of the Apostles, perhaps Zacchaeus, people who participated in the celebration on Palm Sunday, Jewish religious leaders who later came to faith in Jesus as their Messiah (Acts 6:7), and the women who first visited Jesus’ empty tomb. Just imagine Luke trying to write down the stories of many of the approximately 500 people who saw the risen Jesus!!! (1 Corinthians 15:1-6).

Now, here comes the orders to all of us from Almighty God, the risen Christ! Preach (this includes one-to-one personal witness…probably the most effective way of preaching) “TO ALL NATIONS, BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM!!!” True Christians have no alternative but to proclaim to one and all by direct witness, by public preaching, and by sacrificial giving so others can share the Gospel in person or by the media (TV, radio, print, the world wide web, billboards, etc. etc.). Let’s do it together!!! Ready! Set! Go!!!

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, I join the prophet Isaiah who wrote so very much about a person who could be no one other than Jesus of Nazareth (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, chapter 53), and I say to You in answer to Your question recorded in Isaiah 6:8, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us? …’HERE AM I, SEND ME!!!'” I’m available now, today, and every day until I die or until You return in glory and the work is done! I pray for the grace of total obedience to Your will for my life. Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

I know, first hand, the interview style of writing. It has been my privilege, since 1962, to interview approximately 15,000 people. This is why I can assert with certainty that Luke interviewed the people who told him the facts of the life of Jesus! I have 100% confidence in these many eyewitness accounts. Of course there will always be slight variations in the way witnesses see an event. Take a court of law for example. People look at things from different angles and choose to emphasize certain elements over others. If their testimonies were identical, it would prove collusion and would destroy the credibility of the witnesses. This explains why the four Evangelists sometimes recorded different views and memories of the same events…yet there are no contradictions. Put all the testimonies of the Gospels together and we have the fullest possible description of what really happened!

Yours for never, never, never keeping the Good News of Jesus to ourselves!

David

Inside the Saint Lazarus Church is a beautiful mosaic of Lazarus coming forth from his tomb. I’ve spent time in that tomb. “LAZARE VENI FORAS” is Latin for “Lazarus come forth!” This event is recorded in John 11:44-45, “And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Loose him and let him go.’ Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary (sister of Lazarus), and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.” The “Mishna” (minutes of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jewish leaders) records the arrest notice of Jesus of Nazareth, but nowhere in the official records of religious or secular governing powers are there any denials of the mighty acts of Jesus. Jesus is the most thoroughly documented figure in all of ancient history!!!

Just beside Saint Lazarus Church is an ancient building with a very large wine and olive press. It’s interesting how this wine press is in the shape of a cross. As the operator would press down, the olive wood screw would turn.