TLEE's Daily Devotion for April {11,621 words}

In John 16:12-14, John repeated some of what Jesus had said earlier in John 14:26 and John 15:26 about the Holy Spirit. On each occasion, Jesus had told His disciples that the Spirit of truth, who is the Holy Spirit, would come to teach them the truth about Him, and in the case of the Apostles, the evidence indicates that He did His job very well. Acts 2:36 recorded that Peter, on the day of Pentecost, recognized Jesus as the Lord and the Christ, and according to Romans 10:9, that could have only happened through the work of the Holy Spirit. By the time of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit had already indwelled the Apostle Peter, and on that day, He was already leading him to preach the sermon that would lead to the salvation of over three thousand people.

In John 16:12-14, Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Spirit would tell them what He had heard, that He would show them all things to come, and that He would seek to glorify Jesus rather than Himself. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter that helps Christians through their difficulties. He is the spiritual Guide that leads and equips them for the Lord's work. He helps others learn about Jesus, and He even gives extra power, on occasion, to those that serve God. John 16:8-11 says that He convicts the world of guilt because people have rejected Jesus, of righteousness because Jesus went to be with His Father, and of judgment because Satan has been condemned.

Jesus experienced many terrible things during the final hours on His life. In Matthew 26:14-16, Judas betrayed Him for thirty pieces of silver. In Matthew 26:36-45, His disciples could not stay awake while He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. When the guards came to take Him, in Matthew 26:46-55, Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of one of the guards. And after He had been apprehended, He went to what would have been called three separate Jewish trials and three separate Roman trials. In John 18:19-23, the first Jewish trial was before Annas, and that trial was like a Grand Jury. The second Jewish trial, in Matthew 26:56-58, was before the High Priest, Caiaphas. The third Jewish trial, in Matthew 26:59-67, was before the Sanhedrin. The three Roman trials, in Luke 23:1-23, were before Pilate, Herod, and then Pilate again. Herod did not have the right to try Jesus, but he did so anyway because Pilate, who knew that Jesus was innocent, did not want to deal with Him.

The Book of Acts was written to prepare an authoritative account of the works of the Apostles, to show that Christianity was the same for everyone, to present the legitimacy of the Apostle Paul's ministry, and to prove that God bore witness of the Apostles and their work. Acts 1:1 and Luke 1:3 both mention a man named Theophilus, so the author was writing both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts to a specific individual. Because of the medical terminology that is used throughout both Books, the medical doctor, Luke, is credited with having been the author of each. In Colossians 4:14 and II Timothy 4:11, the Apostle Paul wrote that Luke was with him, so the implication is that Luke would have written his Gospel and also the Book of Acts while traveling with and under the direction of Paul. Luke was most likely Paul's doctor since Paul was so often having to endure persecution.

Proverbs 6:20-35 talks about obeying the instructions of godly parents. Solomon wrote throughout the Book of Proverbs about right living, about pursuing wisdom and understanding, and about following the teachings of good, godly parents. His reason for constantly proclaiming those messages was that it is easy for a person to go astray. He wanted everyone to follow the good instruction of his or her godly parents so that they would be spared many of life's difficulties. He wrote that people should bind their parent's instructions around their neck and keep them close to their heart. Deuteronomy 6:4-7 says, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

Luke 23:32-43 teaches the importance of coming to Jesus with a repentant attitude and of accepting His free gifts of forgiveness and salvation. Having a right relationship with Him is the most important matter in life. If a person lives his or her entire life and leaves Him out, then he or she will have missed out on the only thing that really matters. In the above verses, Jesus and two criminals were being crucified. The two criminals, by their own testimony, deserved to be killed. But Jesus had not done any wrong, and He did not deserve to be on the cross. From His suffering, two observations should be clear to those that follow the Lord. First, doing good and right does not necessarily shelter a Christian from suffering bad. Second, being in the center of the Lord's will does not necessarily shelter a Christian from suffering hurt, either. In this world, bad things can and do sometimes happen to God's people, even though they may be doing exactly what the Lord wants.

The spiritual rebirth, as taught in John 3:1-16, is very strange and mysterious. Most people cannot explain how human life began biologically, so they are also at a loss to explain how the spiritual rebirth occurs. In John 3:1-4, the Apostle John wrote that a Pharisee, named Nicodemus, came at night to see Jesus. He had come to learn from the Master, and he was not disappointed.

Nicodemus was a prestigious man. He was a Jewish leader, and he had power. He could have come to Jesus with a critical attitude. He could have come with the idea of "straightening" Him out on some things, as it were, because certainly, among the scribes and priests, many were like that. But the Bible suggests that Nicodemus was open-minded, that he had a humble heart, and that he was willing to listen. In John 3:9, he behaved like a student before his Master, by asking a basic question about being born again. One can look at Nicodemus and know that God honors a pure heart. Similarly, one can watch Jesus and observe His willingness to consult with a person that could have brought Him before the authorities. But instead of reacting defensively, Jesus saw an individual with a spiritual need, and He tried to minister to that need.

The Bible says, in John 14:1-6 and I Thessalonians 4:13-18, that Jesus is coming again for the church, but not all Christians agree on exactly when He will return. A mid-Tribulation rapture view says that He will come for the church in the middle of the Tribulation. A post-Tribulation view says that He will take the church out of the world at the end of the Tribulation. But both of these views have to be rejected in favor of a pre-Tribulation belief because God never mixes the church with the nation of Israel. In Jeremiah 30:1-10, the Bible describes the Tribulation as a time of Jacob's trouble, and that passage clearly teaches that it will be the time when God deals with the nation of Israel.

When believers go to be with Jesus in heaven, John 21:1-19 suggests that they will be able to recognize each other. If the disciples could recognize Jesus even after His gruesome death, then all believers should have that same ability. Despite being able to recognize others in heaven, though, theologians cannot answer all questions about what heaven will be like. They do not know, for example, if people in heaven now can watch events unfold on earth. They also do not know how old people will be, although the idea that everyone will have a kind of mature glorified body is reasonable. People will be happy because Revelation 21:4 says that God will wipe away their tears and also because, in heaven, there will not be any more death, mourning, crying, or pain.

Biblical archaeology involves digging up time, people, culture, customs, patterns of trade, housing, occupations, religion, and many other aspects of biblical times. The value of archaeology is that it illuminates the past and helps create the right context for understanding the Scriptures. It supplements information about Israel, the Messiah, and salvation. It confirms the view of the Bible by not being in opposition to it. It aids in translation, and it often corrects false views. However, doing archaeology can be very expensive, and it can involve a lot of people. Diggers, surveyors, photographers, professional writers, and language specialists are all required. Plans and money are needed, too. But in the end, all those things mean that important physical objects and relics can be found. Though archaeology has only been around since about the middle Nineteenth Century, it has been very important to Bible scholars.

The Apostle Paul was often persecuted and put in prison by those that did not want him to preach Christ. In Acts 25:4, he was being held prisoner in Caesarea until a Roman leader named Porcius Festus could hear the charges against him. When Paul stood before Festus, in Acts 25:9-11, the leader told him that he could return to Jerusalem to answer his accusers there. But Paul turned down that opportunity and instead appealed to Caesar, which was his right as a Roman citizen. By making such an appeal, he was exercising his right to go to Rome to stand trial.

During his time in Caesarea for that particular imprisonment, Paul spoke before Felix, Festus, and King Agrippa. Simply by sharing the events of his own conversion, he was able to communicate the Gospel to each man. In Acts 26:32, the king told Festus that Paul had not done anything wrong and that he could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar. But actually, Paul had not betrayed himself by making his appeal. He had simply chosen Rome over Jerusalem because he knew that certain doom awaited him in Jerusalem.

The Pharisees were a highly disciplined and highly respected sect in Judaism. Nicodemus was a member of the Pharisees and a ruler of the Jews, but he was most likely a lay member of the Sanhedrin rather than one of the chief priests. He was mentioned in the Talmud as one of the four richest men in Jerusalem, and he was also identified as a disciple of Jesus. Nicodemus accepted Jesus as a Teacher from God even though Jesus did not have any formal training, and in 70AD, his son apparently negotiated the terms of surrender with the Roman garrison prior to the destruction of the city and the Temple.

John 3:2 says that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. Some scholars have suggested that he did that out of fear. Some have said that it was to avoid the crowds that were always around the Lord during the day. However, gathering at night in the cool of the evening to have a friendly conversation was also common in that culture, so Nicodemus was probably simply behaving in a manner that was customary. In John 3:3 and John 3:7, Jesus told Nicodemus that he had to be born again. Those words can mean born from the top, born from above, born from the first, or simply born again. Nicodemus treated them like they meant being born a second time, but he may have been mistaken. Throughout the Gospel of John, "born again" meant "born from above," and those words suggested that one was born from above by God. The Greeks sometimes used the expression "born again" when a son was born because he, in essence, was a second life of his father. But Nicodemus did not equate what Jesus was saying to that kind of symbolic second birth.

Throughout the Book of Proverbs, Solomon wrote repeatedly about being obedient and about seeking godly wisdom. Since he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, a person can know that his words and his commandments were not entirely his own. They were from God, and through them, Solomon was encouraging each person to keep God's words and obey God's commandments. His simple teachings are important because they will keep the individual from messing up his or her life. Solomon used the expression, "My son," to show familiarity with his audience and also to let the reader know that the Lord speaks to people as His children. He taught that people should view God's laws as the apple of their eye. Psalm 119:11 says, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." Psalm 119:47-48 says, "For I delight in your commands because I love them. I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees."

In Luke 24:13-35, the Bible shows the life-changing hope that is found in the risen Jesus. Often, life can be overwhelming. But people need to realize that the Lord is always near and that He is always ready to help those in need. When a person experiences despair and grief, he or she can turn to Christ for support. In the above passage, Jesus had already been crucified, and He had already risen from the grave. He was in His immortal body, and He began walking with two of His disciples as they journeyed to Emmaus. He knew them, but they were not able to recognize Him. During their conversation, they expressed their tremendous sadness over His death. They were unhappy, and they felt like all hope had been lost for themselves and their nation. That passage shows that grief involves anger, guilt, and depression, but it also shows that a person can find hope and comfort in the resurrected Christ.

In John 14:15-17, Jesus started preparing His disciples for His going away. Some people might think that He lost His life to His enemies or that He was somehow caught off guard and not able to overcome those that were against Him. But His conversations with His disciples during the final week of His life clearly show that such beliefs are not correct. Jesus knew exactly what was about to happen to Him. He knew about the cross and all about what would be involved with that kind of death, but He was willing to endure those things for every person. From time to time, an individual might become depressed over the events of this life or even think that no one cares. But at those times, the person should remember the cross on which the Lord died and should realize that He truly does love everyone. Life has a way of trivializing the individual, but the King of Glory and the God of Creation gave Himself totally for every person because no one is trivial in His eyes.

General Revelation is the term used to indicate that God reveals Himself in the world in a general way. An individual can examine the universe with all its galaxies, planets, stars, and other structures and know that He exists. A person can view the beauty and majesty of nature and be led to acknowledge the handiwork of a mighty God. He or she can look at human beings and the complex human body and know that God had to be the Creator. The world is full of evidence that shows God's revelation of Himself, and that evidence portrays Him as a God of love, mercy, and goodness but also as a God of holiness and justice. Without ever looking at the Bible, one can still open his or her eyes, see God, and know that He is worthy of worship.

Special Revelation is the term used to indicate that God also reveals Himself through His Word and other special ways. Psalm 19:1 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 100:3 says, "Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture." The Incarnation of Jesus is another example of Special Revelation. Philippians 2:5-11 and John 1:29 teach that He took on the form of a human and a servant so that He could be the Lamb of God. The above verses and the Incarnation are just a few of the many examples that show God's revelation of Himself. When all Scripture is examined, the words describe Him as a God of love, mercy, and goodness but also as a God of holiness and justice Who is worthy of worship.

The Bible describes the Antichrist as the wicked one in I John 2:13, as the bloody and deceitful man in Psalm 5:6, and as the little horn in Daniel 8:9. He is described as the man of sin and the son of perdition in II Thessalonians 2:3, as the adversary in I Peter 5:8, and as the spoiler in Jeremiah 6:26. He is described as the angel of the bottomless pit in Revelation 9:11 and as the abomination of desolation in Daniel 9:26-27, to name just a few. He will most likely be the political leader of a type of revived Roman Empire, and his source of power and energy will be the devil. The prefix "anti" in his name means that he is opposed to Christ. It also means that he wants to be a substitute for Christ. From the beginning, as is taught in Isaiah 14:12-17 and Ezekiel 28:11-19, the devil has wanted to be held in higher esteem than God, and he has also wanted to rule in His place.

A parable usually has a definite set of characters, a definite form of narration, and a definite development of action. But the Gospel of John does not contain any parables. In John 10:1-21, the story of the Good Shepherd is sometimes called a wayside parable or a proverb, but that story does not have any definite characters or any developing actions. The sheep entered into the fold by the door, and through that image, Jesus was illustrating that He is the Door unto salvation. His nature compares closely to that of a shepherd. The shepherd cares for his sheep, he knows his sheep, and they know him. The shepherd protects his sheep from those that would bring them harm, and he even helps them get what they need to survive. For individuals that have trusted and followed Him, Jesus has done and continues to do all of those same things.

Some theologians believe that the church began with the saints in the Old Testament. Others think that it started with John the Baptist or the public ministry of Jesus. Some say that it started sometime after the account of Philip in Acts, Chapter Eight, but sometime before the termination of the Apostle Paul's ministry in Acts, Chapter Twenty-eight. Some say that it began at Calvary, and others say on Pentecost. When did the church actually begin? It could not have begun before Matthew 16:18 because that was when Jesus announced that He would build His church. It also probably could not have begun after Acts 2:47 because numbers were already being added to the church daily as people were being saved. The most logical answer is that the church probably began at Pentecost because that is when the Holy Spirit came down.

Proverbs 8:1-12 teaches that wisdom aggressively seeks those who want it. Solomon wrote that wisdom cries out and tries to draw in people. He presented wisdom in much the same way as a lighthouse that sits in a high place and draws wandering ships out of the night's darkness into safety. In a very real sense, most people are like a wandering ship until they come to know the Lord as Savior. Through Jesus and His finished work on the cross at Calvary, a person can be forgiven for his or her sins and be set free. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, an individual can be led in paths that please God. When people open their ears to the calls of wisdom, they will come to the Lord and almost always avoid the major pitfalls of life. At the same time, when they come to Him, Proverbs 19:8 says that they will also be putting themselves on a path to receive many of life's blessings.

Many people try to define their own rules for what is right and wrong, but they cannot be correct unless their standards for right living are based upon God and His holy principles. In Genesis 3:1-6, Adam and Eve had temporarily forgotten God's nature. They ate fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the result was that they suffered some very harsh consequences. In Mark 10:17-18, a young man who had wanted to know how to obtain eternal life approached Jesus, but he was rebuked by the Lord for not having known that only God is good. Finally, in I John 1:5, the Bible says that there is no darkness in God. All of those verses put together show that people often fail and that God is the only true Standard for right and wrong. In addition, they show that people lack the wisdom, the experience, and the authority to define what is good and bad and to know what is right and wrong.

In John 16:5-15, Jesus tried to prepare His disciples for His going away by teaching them about the coming of the Holy Spirit. He wanted them to know that the Holy Spirit would come to represent Him while He is away, that the Holy Spirit would convict the world of sin, and that the Holy Spirit would guide them and all believers through life. Some theologians have looked at those verses and tried to argue that God the Father was manifested in the Old Testament, that God the Son, Jesus, was manifested in the New Testament, and that God the Holy Spirit is being manifested in the Church Age. Those people are called Modalists, and they are suggesting that God can only reveal Himself in one way at a time. But their belief is not correct. God exists as One God, but in three separate, distinct Persons. According to Genesis 1:26, each of the three were at Creation, and according to Matthew 3:16-17, all three were present when Jesus was baptized. The Holy Spirit represents Jesus while He is away, but He is not Jesus in another form.

Centuries ago, monks tucked themselves away in monasteries so that they could diligently and faithfully copy the Word of God. They used a technique called "pointing" to insert vowels above and below the text to make the words more understandable. They counted every letter, word, and verse of the Book that they were copying and made sure that the counts matched. They compared the middle words and middle verses to make sure that they matched. They were very meticulous in their work because they knew that they were copying the most important Book ever written, and centuries later, the Dead Sea Scrolls, which date back to about 200BC, attest to the outstanding job that they did. Because of their faithfulness, people of all generations have had the Old Testament.

The New Testament was originally written in Koine Greek, and that was the language of the marketplace rather than of the university. Scholars have described Koine Greek as the most colorful and most descriptive language ever developed, and if correct, then God's timing for the Incarnation of Christ was perfect. He brought His Son into the world and had His men write the New Testament at a time when the whole world was using the best language for describing such events. If all of that is true, then one can look at history during the time when Alexander the Great conquered the world and see God's Hand at work and in control. Though no one will ever know for sure, God might have allowed the Greeks to come to worldwide power and dominance just so that the New Testament could have been written in Koine Greek.

While in prison, the Apostle Paul wrote the Epistle to Philemon on behalf of a runaway slave named Onesimus. Philemon lived in Colosse, and at one time, Onesimus had been his slave. From the context of the letter, Onesimus had run away from Philemon, and in his journeys, he had encountered the Apostle Paul and gotten saved. He seems to have stayed with the apostle long enough to have worked for him and earned his confidence. But Paul knew that Onesimus had done wrong and that he needed to fix that wrongdoing. So, he sent him home. In Philemon 1:22, Paul stated his intention to join both of them in the near future. Since he was in prison at the time of his writing, the implication is that he expected to be soon released so that he could make the journey to Colosse.

Being only twenty-five verses, the Epistle of Philemon is one of the shortest Books in the Bible. Church fathers Ignatius and Polycarp indicated early support for this letter as being inspired by the Holy Spirit and also as being authentic. The general theme is that good doctrine leads to good practice, and Paul tried to make that point. Onesimus had done wrong towards Philemon. But at that point in their lives, they were all Christians. The Apostle Paul reminded Philemon of their common bond in Christ, and in Philemon 1:15-16, he even suggested that Philemon's new relationship with Onesimus could be as brothers in the Lord rather than as master and slave.

Israel can be divided into four natural regions, the Coast, the Hills, the Rift, and the Trans-Jordan. The Dead Sea is one thousand, three hundred feet below sea level and about sixty-five miles from the Sea of Galilee. Jericho and Jerusalem are in Benjamin, and they were important cities during the days of Christ. The well, in John 4:4-26, was Jacob's well, and it was one hundred and twenty-five feet deep and located in Samaria. Israel is fifty-to-sixty miles wide and one hundred and fifty miles long, about the same size as Connecticut.

Having enough water is a big problem in parts of Israel. The southeast and the Rift area only get about one to two inches of rain per year. A little more falls in the Trans-Jordan, but in the desert, there is virtually none. The Jezreel Valley is a notable exception to the water problem. There, it is more abundant, and the land is very fertile. The rainy season in Israel lasts from November to either March or April, and the rest of the year is almost completely dry. Close to the coast, the temperatures average around sixty-five all year, but the day and night temperatures show wider extremes as one travels inland.

The designations "AD" and "BC" were used for the first time in 525AD. "AD" represents the Latin expression, "Ano Domini," and means in the year of our Lord. "BC" stands for before Christ and refers to the years before His birth. Based on the best available evidence, however, Jesus was probably born around 4BC or perhaps a few years earlier. Because "BC" and "AD" were not in use when He was born, no one can pinpoint exactly the year of His birth. In his writings, the historian, Josephus, mentioned an eclipse and the time of the eclipse, and based on that informations, historians have determined that Herod the Great probably died in March or April in 4BC.

Matthew 2:15 shows that Jesus was already born when Herod the Great died because Herod was the king that was trying to have Him killed. Therefore, Jesus was almost certainly born well before March or April 4BC. Also, according to Luke 3:1 and Luke 3:23, He began His ministry in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, and at that time, He was "about thirty years old." Based on John 2:13, John 6:4, and John 11:55, theologians know that He continued His ministry through three Passovers, so that means that He ministered for about three or four years and was, then, crucified at around age thirty-three.

In Proverbs 8:13, Solomon wrote about God’s attitude towards evil by showing how badness looks through His eyes. Because his writings were Holy Spirit inspired, Christians should hate evil, and they should refrain from a prideful heart. Proverbs 11:2 says, "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." Those that follow Christ should not be arrogant. Isaiah 13:11 says, "I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless." Christians should avoid the evil paths of life. In Psalm 26:5, David wrote, "I abhor the assembly of evildoers and refuse to sit with the wicked." Lastly, Christians should keep a clean mouth. Psalm 12:3 says, "May the LORD cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue."

Exodus 33:16-19, Exodus 34:1-5, Malachi 3:6-7, James 1:17, Psalm 25:8-10, Psalm 119:65-68, and III John 1:11 teach that God has absolute moral standards and that His people should try to live by them. In Exodus 33:16-19 and Exodus 34:1-5, one can see that He set the same standards for everyone, even for those that are not aware of them. Moses had asked Him how His people would be distinguished from the rest of the world, and God responded by giving him the Ten Commandments and the rest of the Law. Today, God's moral absolutes still serve as the guidelines for right living. They show that He reveals Himself through His Word and that He has dealt with people throughout history.

Malachi wrote, in Malachi 3:6-7, about how the children of Israel had frequently strayed. By their sinful, decadent lifestyle, he wrote that they had continuously demonstrated their own scorn for God and His laws. In James 1:17, one can see that God is good and that He never changes. Even though people and their standards may change over time, His standards never change, and fortunately, neither do His mercy. Even though the children of Israel had often stumbled, God always held an open hand for them to return to Him, and today, He still does the same for each person. Whenever someone strays, He is always nearby to receive that person back unto Himself.

In Acts 1:4-8 and Acts 2:1-39, the Holy Spirit demonstrated His power. His most obvious use of that power has been and is that He changes a person's heart from one that seeks the evil, wicked devices of this world to one that loves and serves the Lord. But because of the events of the first Pentecost, many have confused the role of the Holy Spirit during the Church Age. He did not come so that the early followers of Christ could babble in foreign or unknown tongues. He also did not come so that He could provide some kind of unique, spiritual thrill for those that had assembled. His mission was very important. According to John 14:6, He came to teach others about Christ and to draw others to Him. According to John 14:26, the Holy Spirit does not teach or proclaim Himself. Instead, He always teaches about the Lord Jesus Christ and exalts Him.

To be saved, people must come to the Lord in the way that God has prescribed in His Word. First, as is taught in Romans 3:23, they must see themselves as a sinner. Second, based on Romans 6:23, they need to know that there are the penalties of physical and spiritual death associated with their sins. Third, those individuals, in acknowledging Romans 5:8, must see Jesus as God’s provision for their sins. Fourth, the individual must respond to Christ, confess Him as the Lord, and see Him as his or her risen Savior. Romans 10:9 says, "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." The above four steps for being saved make up God’s Plan of Salvation, and it is a free gift from the Lord. Through repentance, the person sees his or her sinful, undone condition and is led to turn from sin. Through faith, that repentant individual believes into the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and accepts Him as Savior.

According to John 20:1, Mary Magdalene came early to Jesus' tomb on the first day of the week, and according to Matthew 28:1, the other Mary was with her. They glanced at the stone that had been rolled away and noticed that something strange had happened. Based on John 20:2 and Matthew 28:8, the two women, then, rushed back to tell the disciples what they had seen. John 20:3-15 says that Peter and John raced to the empty tomb, but those verses imply that only Mary Magdalene accompanied them. According to Matthew 28:9-10, though, the other Mary was probably still with her. In John 20:4-10, the Bible says that John got to the tomb ahead of Peter and stopped at the opening, that Peter got to the tomb second and rushed inside, and that John followed him. Once inside, both men saw the neatly folded grave clothes, and John 20:8 says that John believed. The two disciples, then, went back home. In John 20:12, Mary saw two angels, and after that, she saw Jesus.

In John 11:38-44, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and that caused quite a stir among His enemies. In John 11:45-57, the Chief Priests and the Pharisees began to plot ways to kill Him because He was having so much success among the people. Rather than following the Son of God as many of the multitudes were doing, the religious leaders were more concerned about protecting their own turf. So, they started looking for ways to do away with the Lord.

In John 12:1-11, Jesus went to Bethany to have a celebration dinner with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. While at their house, Mary anointed Him with a very expensive perfume as a form of preparation for His approaching death. John 12:4-7 indicates that Judas Iscariot was very offended by the wasting of the costly perfume on the Lord, but his offense was not based on any kind of genuine concern for the needs of others. Instead, Judas was a thief, and had Mary donated her perfume to Jesus’ cause, he probably would have stolen whatever he wanted for his own purposes. In John 12:9-11, the crowd assembled to be near Jesus and also to see Lazarus, and their enthusiasm once again upset the Chief Priests and the Pharisees. Because of the crowd’s approval and because of their apparent willingness to follow Jesus, the Chief Priests and the Pharisees again wanted to kill both Jesus and Lazarus.