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Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 21:20-22     20 “And when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will know that the time of its destruction has arrived. 21 Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. Those in Jerusalem must get out, and those out in the country should not return to the city. 22 For those will be days of God’s vengeance, and the prophetic words of the Scriptures will be fulfilled.”     Although what would occur to Jerusalem in A.D. 70 would be terrible, the

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 21:32-33     32 “I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things have taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.”     There are differences of opinion about the meaning of “generation” in this passage. Some take it to mean the generation that saw Israel become a nation in 1948. Those born that year would be 75 in 2023. The word can also mean “nation” and the Jewish liste

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 22:7-9     7 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, “Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together.” 9 “Where do you want us to prepare it?” they asked him.     Background is now given for the Last Supper Jesus would have with His disciples. Peter and John were sent to go and “prepare the Passover meal.” They were not sure where this was to be done s

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 22:19     19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”     This passage continues to tell about Jesus’ last supper with the disciples before He went to the cross. Taking some bread, He broke it in pieces. It was a symbol of how His body would be treated. In the future as they ate the bread, He wanted them to b

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 22:28-30     28 “You have stayed with me in my time of trial. 29 And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant you the right 30 to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. And you will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”     This passage reveals there are future rewards for what followers of Jesus do. Because the disciples had stayed with Jesus in His time of trial, they would be rewarded in the kingdom when He would be

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 22:38     38 “Look, Lord,” they replied, “we have two swords among us.” “That’s enough,” he said.     Jesus assured the disciples that their having two swords was enough. Apparently those were sufficient to show that the disciples were not going out on the offensive, but only having swords so they could be on the defensive. As the human author of the gospel, Luke does not comment further about these swords.  REFLECT   Just think that if the Bible answer

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 22:47-48     47 But even as Jesus said this, a crowd approached, led by Judas, one of the twelve disciples. Judas walked over to Jesus to greet him with a kiss. 48 But Jesus said, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”     Jesus had warned the disciples not to be sleeping so they wouldn’t give in to temptation. Then Judas appeared on the scene. He knew where to find Jesus because they often came to this place. Judas approached Jesus to g

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 22:60     60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.     When Peter denied for the third time that He knew Jesus, the rooster crowed. Jesus had predicted this and now it had come true. A chill must have gone through Peter’s heart when he realized what he had done. Previously Peter had vowed to go anywhere with Jesus and even to die with Him. Now he had denied three

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 23:1-2     1 Then the entire council took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. 2 They began to state their case: “This man has been leading our people astray by telling them not to pay their taxes to the Roman government and by claiming he is the Messiah, a king.”     Those in the Jewish Supreme Court (the Sanhedrin) took Jesus to Pilate. They made false charges because Jesus never told the Jewish people not to pay their taxes to the Roman government.

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 23:11-12     11 Then Herod and his soldiers began mocking and ridiculing Jesus. Finally, they put a royal robe on him and sent him back to Pilate. 12 (Herod and Pilate, who had been enemies before, became friends that day.)     So sad that Herod himself as well as his soldiers began “mocking and ridiculing Jesus.” The Messiah could have wiped out all of them with just a spoken word, but He allowed all of this to go on because He wanted to complete the

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 23:23-25     23 But the mob shouted louder and louder, demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their voices prevailed. 24 So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded. 25 As they had requested, he released Barabbas, the man in prison for insurrection and murder. But he turned Jesus over to them to do as they wished.     Even though Pilate could find no fault in Jesus, the voices of the shouting mob grew in intensity. This caused Pilate to agree wi

Day 1    RECEIVE   Luke 23:35-38     35 The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed. “He saved others,” they said, “let him save himself if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine. 37 They called out to him, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 A sign was fastened above him with these words: “This is the King of the Jews.”     The religious unbelievers and soldiers ridiculed Jesus. Th

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 23:50-51     50 Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council, 51 but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.      Joseph of Arimathea was on the Jewish Supreme Court, known as the Sanhedrin. Although he had disagreed with the other religious leaders he apparently did no

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 24:8-10     8 Then they remembered that he had said this. 9 So they rushed back from the tomb to tell his eleven disciples—and everyone else—what had happened. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and several other women who told the apostles what had happened.      The women were reminded of what Jesus had told them in Galilee about Him being betrayed, crucified and rising again on the third day. Then they remembered what He ha

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 24:22-24     22 “Then some women from our group of his followers were at his tomb early this morning, and they came back with an amazing report. 23 They said his body was missing, and they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive! 24 Some of our men ran out to see, and sure enough, his body was gone, just as the women had said.”     The two followers of Jesus walking on the road to Emmaus did not realize it was Jesus walking with them. They contin

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 24:38-40     38 “Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt? 39 Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.” 40 As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet.     When Jesus suddenly stood in the midst of those to whom His two followers were telling about Him, they were startled and frightene

Day 1  RECEIVE   Luke 21:8-9     8 He replied, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and saying, ‘The time has come!’ But don’t believe them. 9 And when you hear of wars and insurrections, don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place first, but the end won’t follow immediately.”     Luke 21 tells of things that will occur before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and also what will occur during the seven-year

Day 1  READ   Genesis 37:1-2     1 So Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived as a foreigner. 2 This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing.     Genesis Part 1 dealt with creation, the fall, the flood and Babe

Day 1  READ   Genesis 38:12-14     12 Some years later Judah’s wife died. After the time of mourning was over, Judah and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to Timnah to supervise the shearing of his sheep. 13 Someone told Tamar, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 14 Tamar was aware that Shelah had grown up, but no arrangements had been made for her to come and marry him. So she changed out of her widow’s clothing and covered herself w

Day 1  READ   Genesis 40:1-4     1 Some time later, Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer and chief baker offended their royal master. 2 Pharaoh became angry with these two officials, 3 and he put them in the prison where Joseph was, in the palace of the captain of the guard. 4 They remained in prison for quite some time, and the captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, who looked after them.     Although in prison, Joseph was put in charge of watching over others. He continued

Day 1  READ   Genesis 41:37-40     37 Joseph’s suggestions were well received by Pharaoh and his officials. 38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?” 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has revealed the meaning of the dreams to you, clearly no one else is as intelligent or wise as you are. 40 You will be in charge of my court, and all my people will take orders from you. Only I, sitting on

Day 1  READ   Genesis 42:27-28     27 But when they stopped for the night and one of them opened his sack to get grain for his donkey, he found his money in the top of his sack. 28 “Look!” he exclaimed to his brothers. “My money has been returned; it’s here in my sack!” Then their hearts sank. Trembling, they said to each other, “What has God done to us?”     Joseph had secretly instructed the payment of his brothers to be put back in their sacks. As they stopped for the ni

Day 1  READ   Genesis 44:1-2     1 When his brothers were ready to leave, Joseph gave these instructions to his palace manager: “Fill each of their sacks with as much grain as they can carry, and put each man’s money back into his sack. 2 Then put my personal silver cup at the top of the youngest brother’s sack, along with the money for his grain.” So the manager did as Joseph instructed him.     Joseph planned again how to surprise his brothers and make them fear for their

Day 1  READ   Genesis 45:16-17     16 The news soon reached Pharaoh’s palace: “Joseph’s brothers have arrived!” Pharaoh and his officials were all delighted to hear this. 17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘This is what you must do: Load your pack animals, and hurry back to the land of Canaan.’”     When Pharaoh and his palace heard the news about Joseph’s brothers, they were excited. Pharaoh now got involved and began to give directions as to what should occur