Psalm 17:15b “…when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing Your likeness.” Observation: The whole of Psalm 17 has the immediate context of a soliloquy David presents to the Lord. Saul is in hard pursuit, yet David affirms his trust in God at every turn. He is...

Luke 24:53 “And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.” Observation: This last verse of Luke’s Gospel depicts men who have been profoundly changed from their former condition. Following Jesus’ crucifixion, they had been abjectly saddened. Then word came...

Mark 16:1 “When the Sabbath was over…” Observation: The sentence goes on to say that very early the morning after Sabbath’s end, three women who loved Jesus set out for His tomb to anoint His body. Christ had been crucified the day before Sabbath, His body quickly...

Luke 23:56b “But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.” Observation: Jesus had been crucified, after which Joseph of Arimathea had removed the body from the Cross, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a garden tomb. John expands the story to tell...

Luke 22:19, 20 “This (bread) is my body given for you, do this in remembrance of me.” “…He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’” Observation: Jesus and the disciples have just shared their last Passover. Also...

Matthew 26:14 “Then one of the twelve…the one called Judas Iscariot…went to the chief priests and asked “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you?” Observation: It was two days before Passover, and the chief priests and elders assembled in Caiaphas’...

Matthew 24:2 “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” Observation: Four verses earlier Jesus had mourned over Jerusalem’s coming destruction, saying He had longed to protect her “as a hen gathers her chicks...

John 12:19 “…See, this is getting us nowhere.” Observation: Jesus had entered Jerusalem to the adulation of great crowds made all the larger by those clambering to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. In growing alarm the watching Pharisees said, “See,...

 Luke 19:4 “So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Him…” Observation: Zacchaeus was in a Jericho crowd as Jesus approached. Being too short to see Him, Zacchaeus climbed a tree for a clear view of the Master. Application: The point of the story is not...

Matthew 20:6b “He asked them, “Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?” Observation: Jesus’ question comes early in the parable of workers in the vineyard. The landowner had hired workmen early in the day for a fair wage. Then, apparently needing...