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Luke 6
In Luke’s account of the events we’ve already read in other Gospels, we pick up a few new details. We learn that Jesus spent the whole night in prayer before choosing (from among His many disciples) the 12 Apostles. This was a tremendously significant event and Jesus covered it in many hours of all-night prayer.…
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Mark 3
Mark’s writing is so visceral you can practically feel the sweaty, uncomfortable press of the crowds. They are so desperate for healing that they are basically mobbing Jesus. As someone who has a fairly large personal bubble, I totally get the need to have an escape boat at the ready. The people are pressing in,…
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Matthew 12
SABBATH SNACK There are some mulberry trees along a path that I enjoy walking through the neighborhood. 🌳🌳 They are not my mulberry trees. But if I happen to be passing by and the fruit is ripe, I generally stop and pick a handful to enjoy as I continue. Here’s what God said: “If you…
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John 5
HEALING A LAME MAN AT A POOL Jesus is back in Jerusalem for the 2nd Passover of His ministry. “Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.”John 5:2-3 ESV Bethesda (or Bethsaida or…
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Matthew 8
In this chapter there is a series of events that powerfully show Jesus’ authority. 😐 How come we skipped the Sermon on the Mount? Well, unless Peter’s mother was frequently sick with fevers and Jesus healed her more than once, then Matthew sets these events very early in Jesus’ ministry. The other Gospels put the…
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John 3-4
JOHN 3 – NICODEMUS VISITS JESUS In the 2000s at Bible College, the students who had grown up watching Nickelodeon on tv joked that Nicodemus’ visit to Jesus at night was the first “Nick At Night.” Nicodemus wants to discuss some things with the new rabbi from Galilee. But after Jesus raised such a dust-up…
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John 2, Luke 5 & Mark 2
Here I go, tweaking the reading plan again. Luke 5 and Mark 2 both cover the story of the paralyzed man whose friends let him down through the roof. So I think it’s appropriate to consider Mark 2 here instead of next week. JOHN 2 – WATER INTO WINE 🍷 John 2 begins with “the…
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BONUS (GUEST) POST
🤓 The 4 Gospels As Ninja Turtles 😐 You CAN’T be serious. 🤓 No really! I think there might be something to this! 🤨 🤓 Oh c’mon. Don’t be a fuddy duddy. Just go with me on this… 🤨 As long as it doesn’t involve going into a sewer. ☝️🤓 No sewers, I promise. 🙄…
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Luke 4, Matthew 4
TEMPTATION, NAZARETH & CAPERNAUM The only other people in the Bible who fasted 40 days and nights were Moses and Elijah. 🤔 Hey – weren’t those the 2 guys who visited Jesus on the Mount of Transformation? ☝️🤓 Transfiguration. Yes. Elijah was taken up to heaven before he died and Moses was the only person…
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Luke 3
The reading schedule includes Matthew 4 today. But since Matthew 4 and Luke 4 have a lot of overlapping content, I will cover them together in the next post. JOHN THE BAPTIST John was the last of the OT prophets. He continued to preach and baptize after he had baptized Jesus. And he was not…
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Mark 1
Mark gets right into the action. Nothing about Jesus’ birth. His baptism and temptation barely get a mention. Due to this style, Mark 1 covers way more time in the first chapter than the other gospels. And, since we’re not going to break down the reading plan so granularly as to do a few verses…
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Matthew 2-3
K, if we’re gonna understand the New Testament and not get mixed up, we need a map and a family tree – because there are more Herods than you can stick a shake at. 🥤 🤔 Don’t you mean “shake a stick?” I prefer a milkshake to a stick. 😐 Fair enough. The Herod we…