Category Archives: Easter/Holy Week

John Recorded – Jesus Quoted

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John recorded in Chapters 13-17 the Last Supper. This version compliments and completes (well at least fills in) Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22. John 15 is Jesus telling the disciples that the world will hate them because of His name. In verse 24 Jesus talks about the miracles, He did to show Himself the Son of God.

The Jews, Pharisees, and chief priest had a hard time believing these signs, even though some watched Him do them. So, in classic deflection they accused Him of working (doing good) on the Sabbath or getting that power from the devil. Their struggle with Jesus and the miracles started with John the Baptist. Those who were not baptized by John did not believe and could not “hear” Jesus.

In John 15:25 Jesus refers to these Psalms: 69:4, 35:19, and 38:19. These verses all talk about hating (Jesus) without having a reason. 35:12 and 38:20 also have similar thoughts; they give evil for my good. Yes, those are good Psalms to reflect on during Lent.

Lent mirrors the forty days Jesus fasted at the beginning of His ministry. We like to think of that ministry as three and half years; how about changing that to 40 months:)  

John Recorded

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As I write this, it is the start of Lent 2026, and I am reading the Gospel of John. The greatness of this Gospel comes from the aged John writing to tell that Jesus is the Son of God. After I accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, I was encouraged to read three chapters of John a day, which would take a week. This could have been to make a strong beginning, and I would not be weak in my walk with the Lord. One Christian school I taught at, it was pretty common if you got a surprise devotion to do you would open to the Book of John. Its contents are so good you could always find something important to talk about.

Lent is a time of reflection before Easter to focus on Jesus and what He did for you. It is not found in the Bible, but it is a good practice and tradition. Please count and check up on this statement: it is 47 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter. But Lent is 40 days of fasting and penitence! My friends in college pointed out to me that Sundays “did not count” and they could drink alcohol on that day. Actually, (No, we were not saved.) Sunday was already a day of obligation, but they justified it as not being part of the fasting period. They should have become lawyers, but they were not in a pre-law major.

Okay, another “homework” or study for you. Most of the focus of the Gospels is on Jesus’ “last year” before His ride into Jerusalem and much of that is filled with what happened after that ride or the time leading up to Passover, the Resurrection, and the Ascension. I begin this action filled period with the feeding of the 5,000. The intensity really heats up after the Transfiguration in Matthew 17. I guess Matthew, Mark, and Luke did such a great job talking about the Transfiguration that John does not include it in his telling of the story. Compare how much of the gospel is written after the feeding of the 5,000 to before it.

Back to John. His “last year” starts in Chapter 6 (out of 21) and I want to point out some important Jewish feast in John’s chapters. 7:2 is about the Feast of Tabernacles, which is in the seventh month (Jewish calendar). Chapter 10:22 is the Feast of Dedication, or Hanukkah, which is in the winter months in Israel. John 11:54 and Matthew 19:1 put Jesus on the east bank of the Jordan River, where He is waiting for Passover (first month in the Jewish calendar). This timing and location have important historical events that are part of the song of redemption for Israel and us:

  • Joshua and Israel crossing at Passover to take the Land. Joshua 3 and 4.
  • David crossing, after Absalom’s rebellion, for his triumphant ride in to Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 19.
  • Elijah and Elisha crossings during a change in prophets. 2 Kings 2.

People and their actions and reactions to Jesus, His words, and the miracles are what caught my attention for this post. The Twelve, His friends, the crowds, the Jews, the chief priest(s), and the Pharisees all have dialogue and drama because of Jesus in the Chapters of John. John 6:70, the trigger verse, comes after two important miracles: feeding the 5,000 and walking on water. He chose the Twelve and one was a devil is my basic translation. Devil or diabolos is Strong’s G 1228 and can refer to someone devil-like or a slanderer; demon is daimonion δαιμόνιον | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com. John adds a personal footnote here but records no reactions from the men; contrast this to the reaction at supper when He uses the term betrayer. Jesus makes this announcement again in John 13:10 and 18, verse 11 is another footnote; again, John records no reaction from the men.

Personal thought – The Gospels are narratives and include “private” thoughts and conversations from meetings. How did John know what the Pharisees and chief priests were talking about? The first answer might be, the Holy Spirit revealed it to him and the other writers; there is a precedent for that with Elisha, and I believe that could have happened. For this thought, however, I will go to John and Luke for the source of this material. Luke records in Acts that priests and Pharisees were obedient to the faith and John talks about leaders believing, especially Joseph and Nicodemus. (See John 19:38+39.) This is where the private information probably came from.

Another sorrow-causing example. John 7:3 tells of Jesus’ brothers mocking Him about being famous. They had already tried to collect Jesus because they thought He was crazy. Jesus’ circle of family and friends provided some painful times for Him. John the Baptist sent disciples with questions, all the disciples ran away in the Garden, and Peter, the rock, denied Him; these could not have been good moments for Jesus.

Isaiah 53 predicts Jesus to be “a man of sorrow and acquainted with pain”. Normally, this is thought of starting in the Garden, they were there. But Jesus carried many painful moments with Him before His ride into Jerusalem and all the way to the cross.

The Good News is Jesus forgave His family and friends and even the Pharisees and priest who choose to have faith in Him. That mercy and grace extend to us today when we have doubts and fears. So, if Jesus can forgive a hater like Saul of Tarsus and make him Paul the Messenger to us, you can have hope that this Jesus thing works.

John wrote about miracles so we could believe in the name/power of Jesus the Messiah the Son of God. John also recorded why Jesus came, the people, he penned many examples of why we need to make Jesus Lord.

Stones and Rocks

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I am layering this post on top of Stone, Rock, and Cornerstone. Rocks have been used for thousands of years to make stone building, jewelry, and weapons. In Genesis we find Jacob using rocks to make memorial stones and piles of stones to bear witness to oaths and treaties. (O, rocks and stones listening to us and then being used to testify about our words; that certainly could be used in creative writing:) The brick pits of Egypt are certainly mentioned, but we miss the fact that some of them worked with jewels when they made Aaron’s priestly garments.

God commissioned a pile of rocks from the Jordan be used as a memorial for teaching His people. He also had definite rules how to handle rocks that were to be used in His worship; no working them with tools, especially metal ones. Metal tools were for war, not for building an altar for God. The altar in Solomon’s Temple was made of olive wood. The blocks for the foundation and walls were worked with tools, but not at the building site. (See 1 Kings 6 and 7) Yes, there seems to be a difference between etz (wood) and rocks.

I started comPILING this post after reading about David and Jonathan by Eben-haezel or the Rock of Ezel, 1 Samuel 20:19. Both of those men had rocks and stones as important parts of their stories. There are many places in the Bible where rocks and stones are important parts of the stories. An example of a type of rock is found in Joshua 5:2 when flint was made into knives for circumcision. A hard, sharp rock for hard attitudes; ever male young than thirty-eight years old had to circumcised. They did not do that while they wandered in the desert, that can open up many questions. Here are a few references to look at.

Easter is in just a few days, so I will take this time to make the case for Jesus, the Rock of our Salvation, becoming our Cornerstone, and the Stone the builders rejected. Rocks are called stones after man has used them for something. Jesus went from our Rock to the Stone after He was beaten and nailed to the cross for us. He is what we have to build our lives on, but the chief priest used Him and then threw Him away.

Judas, Adonijah, Absalom, Man of Lawlessness

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This post comes from my year-through the Bible readings near Easter that included 2 Samuel and 2 Thessalonians. If 2 Samuel was given a modern genre, I think it would be a soap-opera drama. Like all Scripture it was included for instruction. This time when I read through 2 Samuel and 1 Kings, I asked myself if Absalom and Adonijah were types and shadows of someone to come and why was this story included in the Bible.

With Holy Week approaching I went to the person who betrayed someone for monetary gain, Judas. I have a post called Judas in the Old Testament that contains mostly sections of Psalms that relate to how Judas acted. Types and shadows can be hard and may not be agreed on by everyone. Like Absalom and Adonijah, not everything they did may fit 100% with Judas. Yes, I did leave myself a bit of an open door. Joseph’s brothers taking money (Genesis 37:28) is more like Judas than Absalom and Adonijah.

Good studies generate answers, but should also create questions. So, is all of this written in stone in my thinking? No, there are questions and “what if’s” that have come along. That is where 2 Thessalonians comes in, which then took me to Revelations and Genesis. First a little history from 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles and some thoughts on human nature.

In 2 Samuel 3:2 and 1 Chronicles 3:1 we find lists of David’s children. The only timestamp I can find is that these narratives took place in the thirty-three years of David in Jerusalem. Adonijah’s story is at the end of that time. By my count there are twenty children and seven wives listed by name. How many concubines did he have, who knows? According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, concubines were not “wives” but shared the same privileges as one; that was a messy business. So, you have twenty-seven egos and David’s wishes combined with customs and traditions put on display for millions of people to view. A reason for all of this is to show that the progenitor of the Messiah was very human and needed a Savior.

Bathsheba/Bathshua, Solomon, and Nathan are important in the histories of Mary and Joseph. Bathsheba and Solomon are part of the Adonijah story in 1 Kings. Here are the first six children in order minus their mothers. (That’s six wives in seven years.) I would think the mom’s may have had their hands involved in these dramas. David’s extended family (Joab) provide their own drama in 2 Samuel and 1 Kings.   

  1. Amnon (2 Samuel 13 is the start of this soap opera with Absalom.)
  2. Kileab
  3. Absalom
  4. Adonijah (1 Kings 1)
  5. Shephatiah
  6. Ithream

David’s extended family

This was not in my original thinking for this post; this comes from questions and thoughts during my studies. It seems to be popular these days to bash Father Jesse and David’s brothers. Much of the drama in 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles come from his sister’s families; the brothers are all but forgotten.

Zeruiah was David’s aunt, she had three sons Abishai, Joab and Asahel. Joab is a main character in several stories, and he is not a cheery personality in them. Zeruiah, however, is a true standout from the norm. First, she has no husband listed. Abigail, her sister, is married to Jether (a non-Hebrew) and had Amasa (Joab killed his cousin). Jesse was a leader in Judah, so who did Zeruiah marry? David was very conscious of his cousins and their “power” in the family/tribe/community. Normally, listing children by their mother’s name (sons of Zeruiah) was not a good thing; of course, the husband may not have been living. See 1 Chronicles 2:10-17.

Joab is hard to read, he has an agenda, but. He is leader of the army, seems to be for David most of the time, but has no problem eliminating anyone who might stand in his way. With friends and family like him, who needs enemies. He is very easy to think of as a Judas-type, but not in this post.

Judas and his types and shadows have received a lot of my ink in past years. I have heard even more from pastors and teachers, he is never portrayed as a nice guy, but some have edged very close to making excuses for his actions. One person even thought that since God is love, Judas would be forgiven in the end. How special was Jesus? He dealt with Judas for years, even though He knew what he would do.

For some reason I never thought of Judas as just one character in a long line of deceivers and betrayers, he was always an endpoint. 2 Thessalonians and the man of lawlessness is what put Judas in his proper place. I have had a shift in thinking on Absalom and Adonijah. Adonijah and Judas betrayed the promised heir to the kingdom; Absalom, like Satan, went after everything by trying to displace the true king. For me, that adds to the parable in Matthew 21:33, the Parable of the Tenants. Now Judas joins the corrupt priest, who bought the high priest position from Herod, in monetizing the sacrifices to God.

As bad as I have always considered Absalom, now to see him as a type of Satan, he is horrible.

  • He was goodlooking and high favored.
  • He stole most of the people’s hearts from the king by lying.
  • He would have killed his father and anyone that got in the way.
  • He destroyed the lives the ten concubines. I will do some projecting here; the Law, the Ark of the Covenant, and the worship of Yahweh would have been slowly destroyed or allowed to disappeared.

Now I am wondering if Satan tempting Adam and Eve in the Garden was his first open act of rebellion that then went into angels or just one of many.

Where does Judas fit into other parables of Jesus? Is he the bird in the mustard tree? Can you see him as a weed in the wheat field? Judas, Adonijah, Absalom, and the Man of Lawlessness now have a few more layers to their stories.

Bible 911 – Romans

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Romans 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) KJV

GOD HAS A PLAN! In that plan He has used His creations. He chose Noah to repopulate the earth. God used Abram and Sarai to show us faith. He drew Moses out of the water and to the Fire. He selected David while he was watching sheep. Jesus came to earth and died for our sins. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to the Disciples and started the Church. Jesus also picked a Benjamite named Saul to go to the Gentiles (Galatians 2:8). Father God wants us to take His Word to this world.    (See Galatians 1:15 and Ephesians 1:4-14)

An op-ed. Father God loves righteousness and justice. He loves us and this world. He wants to have a righteous relationship (we are talking to and seeking Him) with us. He does not need to be corrected. Our opinions are not greater than His plan, your way needs to fit into His. You may not understand or agree with His plan, but He is still in control. Stop blaming God the Father when your plans are interrupted, no matter how good you think they are (Acts 22:18-19).

Peter had to tell Jesus how things would happen to make him happy. Peter was wrong and did not see the plan of God standing in front of him. After that Peter started a fight, that in the natural he could not win. Lied three times. Went back to his old life of fishing, and had to be asked three times if he would finally follow God’s plan. Which was to love Jesus and take of Jesus’ Sheep.

In the exodus, Moses told the people to love God and serve Him only. The end of Deuteronomy gives the blessings for remaining true to God and then the curses for choosing to follow other gods. How many times from Judges to Jeremiah did Israel not follow that command? His chosen people, the descendants of Abraham and Sarah could have had a righteous relationship with Father God and been protected and made prosperous. Instead, they followed their wants and sacrificed and had fellowship with demons. Christians, we need to learn and not follow that behavior pattern. Who are we glorifying in our actions, programs, and building projects?

I stopped a minute after writing that last paragraph and I believe the Holy Spirit reminded me that God is the Judge of His Body, not us. We need to examine ourselves and remove the logs from our eyes first, then maybe we will see the little splinters in our brothers and sisters’ eyes.

When Jesus taught about His kingdom, he was also showing you parts of the plan. Read Matthew 13 and see His plan in the parables. The Parable of the Seeds speaks very well to Romans 9. The Parable of the Weeds reminds us that not everyone is producing the fruit of God, He will take care of them. I think it is fair to note that the majority of the “seeds” hit good soil, and those weeds are not the entire field.

Doctrines – Of Course

Has religious-man taken Romans 9 and 10 given names to what Paul is talking about and used a lot of ink and paper to expound their thoughts? Of course we have. Am I going to go over all of that? Of course I am not. I do appreciate the effort and study that has been done. You need to know and be able to explain your beliefs.

A quick look at that choosing: Seth to Terah, Abraham to Jospeh, Moses to Jesse, David to Jesus, and all that time God mentioned Gentiles and how He was going to include them. Our mission is to take the Gospel of Jesus to the world and He is responsible for the rest.