From even His youth, Jesus’ life on earth was bound up with the temple in Jerusalem, which represented the presence of His Heavenly Father. At His baptism the heavens were torn open (Mar 1:10, ESV) from which God’s Spirit descended upon Him to become the living temple of His Spirit during His ministry on earth. …
In terms of salvation history, the coming of the Messiah ought to have been the brightest time of day for the Jewish nation. But as God gave them over to their own will and they raised Jesus upon the cross, a supernatural darkness descended upon the land to mark the going down of their sun…
Having zealously sought their will against Jesus, the religious leaders, representing all those throughout the ages who persistently resist God’s will, were finally granted their petition as God gave them over to the darkness of their hearts, as if to say, “Thy will be done”. But as C.S. Lewis noted, although everyone ultimately gets what…
At His baptism the Holy Spirit of God descended upon Jesus and remained upon Him throughout His ministry (Luk 3:21-22, Joh 1:33). Then, at the end of His ministry, in the Garden of Gethsemane, which name means an olive press, He was pressed for the oil of His Spirit by the weight of the decision…
For the religious leaders who had Jesus put to death, it was the preparation day for the Passover, which took place on the 14th day of the month. Jesus and His disciples, reckoning the first of the month a day earlier than those in Jerusalem based on the sometimes ambiguous sighting of the new moon,…
It is Thursday afternoon of Passion Week. Jesus and His disciples had celebrated the Passover the night before, reckoning the fourteenth of the first month a day earlier than the officials in Jerusalem based on their sighting of the new moon, which at times is ambiguous, especially depending upon one’s location. It was therefore the…
After thousands of years of promise the Hope of mankind had finally entered into its world of sin to deliver men from their sorrows. But because of the deceitful nature of sin it wasn’t at all what they were expecting, nor for what even most people today still hope. For by seeking our own self-will…
The end of Jesus’ life was near. His ordeal that had begun barely twelve hours earlier with His arrest in Gethsemane, followed by two inquisitions and four trials, had culminated at Golgotha where He was crucified as a malefactor between two criminals. The religious leaders supposed that in ridding themselves of their enemy God had…
After Jesus was raised upon the cross, darkness enveloped the land as a divine omen that the sun had set upon the Jewish nation for its rejection of its Savior, the promised Messiah. But even in the midst of that spiritual darkness that all the more hardened the hearts of the unbelieving Jews, the hope…
After being condemned to death on Thursday morning of Passion week, Jesus was quickly led to Golgotha, the Skull, for the sentence to be carried out before His supporters had an opportunity to organize and raise a protest. The trial had already proved to be a sore ordeal for Pilate who wanted to release Him,…