When Jesus prays the High Priestly prayer on the night He was betrayed, He prays "this is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." Sometimes the question can come up of whether or not Jesus is saying that He is not God because He separates Himself from God in this prayer.  And whether or not Jesus is God will depend on what that eternal life actually is.  So, did God, and Jesus, actually say?

As Paul was in Athens he found many objects of worship, including an altar to an unknown God.  As we remind ourselves of Peter's words to always be prepared to make a defense of our faith, Paul takes the opportunity to tell the people of Athens about the true God that is unknown to them, that he will make known: the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  As we go about our daily lives, walking in faith, Christ is in us, has given us the Spirit of truth, and He helps us to do that same: share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others.

Jesus tells the disciples in the Gospel that He is going to prepare a place for them in His Father's house.  And He will come back and take them to be with Him.  The same applies to us.  Christ has prepared a place for us.  Peter tells us that we are a "chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."  Jesus has chosen us, prepared a place for us, and done everything possible to make sure we end up there, with Him.  

The Lord is my Shepherd.  These famous words of Psalm 23.  We are the sheep of the Shepherd.  The Gospel of John talks about hearing the voice of the stranger versus the voice of the Shepherd.  In the world we live in, there are many voices that try to lead us astray from the Shepherd, from the rest of the flock, into dangerous places.  Amidst all the other voices, amidst all the lies, how can we hear the Good Shepherd's voice? 

A revelation is a type of revealing.  On Easter Sunday, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus walks with some disciples who do not know that it's Him, and they invite Him to stay with them.  In the breaking of bread, their eyes are opened and Jesus is revealed to them as risen from the dead.  Has God revealed Himself to you recently?  As we think about how God has revealed Himself in the past, we look at how He reveals Himself to us today: specifically in His means of grace.

The resurrection is the greatest and most important miracle for us.  It means that we have forgiveness for our sins, and we who believe have eternal life.  It means that because Jesus lives and is risen from the dead, we and eternal life and will have our own resurrection.  As we see Thomas not believing Jesus is risen from the dead unless he sees and touches Him, do we also make requests from God that we have to see in order to believe? Or are there other miracles that happen in our where God is working even if we cannot see and touch Him?

We live in a world that makes promises full of emptiness.  That is, we make promises that we cannot or do not keep, and so they become empty promises.  God is the exact opposite.  He keeps His promises.  And as we explore the empty tomb of Easter, and see the empty cross where Jesus was crucified for us, and now risen from the dead, in means Jesus completed the work He was born to do.  In the cross and tomb, we see emptiness full of promise.  The promise of forgiveness and eternal life.

Good Friday is just that.  Good.  Good for us.  Bad for Jesus, because He is the one who has to endure all the pain, the suffering, the punishment, the wrath of God, for us.  He takes death to bring us life.  He takes hell to give us heaven.

On Maundy Thursday we think about Jesus instituting the Lord's Supper, we think about Him praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, ultimately being arrested there.  Amidst all these events the disciples are there, but they are betraying Him, sleeping while He is praying, fleeing from Him, and denying Him.  If were in their shoes, do we think we would respond the same?

Imagine being part of the crowd that sees Jesus riding a colt into Jerusalem.  Are you shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"? And then fast forward to the end of the week.  Are you part of the crowd shouting "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"?  Now, imagine being Jesus, and seeing those same people at different times who change their tune.  How do you feel?  Finally, think of yourself today, many years after these moments.  What does Palm Sunday and Holy Week do for you?

The Gospel reading is 45 verses long.  45 verses to see how Jesus handles the sickness and death of his friend Lazarus.  45 verses of how Jesus interacts with the sisters of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, and for us to think about their previous interactions.  45 verses to learn just about who Jesus is in this moment of sorrow and death.  The He IS the resurrection and the life, and everyone who believes in Him though they die, yet shall they live.