If you are unfamiliar with Jesus Christ and the Bible, the best foundation you can lay for yourself is to – starting today – set aside forty days and forty nights to make yourself more knowledgeable about both. Hear me out, because what I’m proposing is not as difficult as it may sound.
The Bible Reading Plan (BRP) below consists of the Gospels of Mark and John, along with one passage each from Luke, Acts, and 1 Corinthians. Read the designated chapter in the morning, and re-read it in the evening. Each reading can be accomplished in less than 15 minutes.
I also provide both a written and audio “companion” to each day’s reading (labeled “Help”), but these are not required reading. The helps are optional; the main thing is to read and re-read the designated New Testament chapter each and every day…and think about it.
To help you follow the reading plan below, you can download, print, and follow this “scorecard,” checking off each day’s reading as you complete it.
If you spend the next 40 days and nights faithfully following this plan, you will be surprised at how much you will have learned by the end and you will have laid a good foundation for a lifelong faith. If at any time later in life you become uncertain of Jesus Christ, repeat this forty-day-and-night process. Let these readings reinforce in you that Jesus lived, died, and rose again…for our sakes.
*** Reading Companion ***
Day 1 of 40
Mark 1
Morning Reading
Mark was a younger man who helped the apostles Peter and Paul in their respective ministries after Jesus had been raised from the dead. Mark’s is the shortest of the four Gospels. Although Mark himself had been an eyewitness of Jesus, his Gospel consisted of his notes from listening to Peter describe his much more extensive experiences with Jesus.
Evening Reading
Mark’s first chapter is a relatively long and busy one. You’ll be able to remember more from your second reading of it than from your first. This will be true of every chapter in the Bible that you read. The Bible was written more to be re-read than to be read.
For me, the most riveting sentence of this chapter is its first. It speaks of the chapter, the book, the New Testament, and the entire experience of getting to know Jesus. Any 1st-century Jew would recognize it as a declaration that Jesus was the Messiah promised by the Old Testament.
***
Day 2 of 40
Mark 2
Morning Reading
Jesus makes a very good point in the beginning of this chapter. His logic is that if He tells a man he is forgiven, no one can know for sure whether or not God stands behind what Jesus said. But if Jesus tells a crippled man to pick up his pallet and go home – and the man is able to do it – then everyone can know that God was standing behind what Jesus said. Therefore, the opponents of Jesus look ridiculous for claiming that He had no authority to forgive sins when the forgiven man was obviously healed. The only way that someone today can deny that God put His stamp of approval on Jesus is to deny the healings – which is why so many people today deny them.
Evening Reading
What stood out to you in the rest of the chapter? Why?
***
Day 3 of 40
Mark 3
Morning Reading
Remember that your goal for these 40 days is to learn about Jesus the man…according to men. In other words, your purpose is to learn about Jesus in exactly the same way you would learn about any other historical man – whether it be George Washington, Julius Caesar, or Alexander the Great.
Evening Reading
Jesus was a very polarizing figure. People were attracted to him…or greatly bothered by him. You have seen how even his own family thought he had lost his mind.
***
Day 4 of 40
Mark 4
Morning Reading
Parables are analogies. Teaching with analogies is effective because we learn almost everything by analogy. That is, something new that we don’t know is compared to something that we already know – the association thus helping us understand the new thing. Israel’s prophets used parables in Old Testament, and Jesus walks in their steps.
Evening Reading
What do you think about Jesus exercising authority over the weather? Did you notice that His disciples were as shocked by it as we would have been?
***
Day 5 of 40
Mark 5
Morning Reading
In the first incident of this chapter, notice how the locals showed no appreciation for what Jesus did for the demon-possessed man. They even became frightened when they saw the man clothed and in his right mind, and asked Jesus to go away. Do you think Mark made this story up?
Evening Reading
Consider how the accounts of the synagogue official’s daughter and the woman with the hemorrhage are intertwined. Why would Mark have written them this way unless they happened this way?
***
Day 6 of 40
Mark 6
Morning Reading
A lot happens in this chapter:
- Jesus teaches in His hometown…and gets the bum’s rush.
- Jesus expands His ministry by appointing twelve apostles.
- The gruesome death of John the Baptist is described.
- Jesus feeds five thousand people.
- Jesus walks on water.
- Jesus heals many people.
Evening Reading
Is there anything that stands out to you from this evening’s reading that did not stand out in this morning’s? These accounts are so densely written that it’s normal to see things in re-reading not noticed in a previous reading. The Bible rewards re-reading like no other book.
***
Day 7 of 40
Mark 7
Morning Reading
In the first part of the chapter, notice how Jesus is challenging the entire religious leadership class of his religious nation (Israel). Merely being religious is obviously not enough to impress Him.
Evening Reading
In the last part of the chapter, what do you think about the way Jesus spoke to this Gentile woman? Some people are offended by the way he spoke to her, but isn’t it obvious that he had her best interests at heart?
***
Day 8 of 40
Mark 8
Morning Reading
Jesus fed a crowd of 5,000 in Mark 6. In this chapter, He feeds 4,000. Yet His disciples are slow to remember these miracles – much less learn from them. Are we very much different from them?
Evening Reading
The words “Christ” and “Messiah” both mean the same thing: “Anointed,” which is the way Israel referred to its king. Israel’s prophets wrote of the great king God was going to send who would be even greater than the great King David. This prophesied one came to be called “the” Messiah by the Jews. In other words, all of Israel’s kings were “messiahs” but one would be greater than them all – “The Messiah of messiahs,” you could say.
***
Day 9 of 40
Mark 9
Morning Reading
In this chapter, Mark describes how Jesus was transfigured before three of Jesus’ disciples. We know that Peter was Mark’s source for this story because Peter was Mark’s source for this entire Gospel. Do you think that Peter made up this transfiguration story? Wouldn’t that require him to conspire with James and John? What would have been their motive? Why would they have endured severe persecution to perpetuate such a ruse?
Evening Reading
Even though Jesus was telling His disciples in advance that He was going to be killed, but that He would be raised from the dead, they had a hard time understanding Him. For one thing, they considered Him to be the Messiah – Israel’s promised king – and it didn’t make sense to them that the Messiah would be killed. For another, the Jewish perception of resurrection was of resurrection for everyone at the end of the world – not Messiah being resurrected first, by himself, before everyone else. For yet another, the common Jewish conception at the time was that resurrection was back to earth, not to heaven, and thus they couldn’t see how a death and resurrection of the Messiah would really accomplish anything. Thus Jesus’ disciples were not low IQ – Jesus just understood the Old Testament in a way that no one else had ever taught.
***
Day 10 of 40
Mark 10
Morning Reading
Jesus was a Jew. He taught his fellow Jews about the Law of Moses and how it would change with the coming of the kingdom of God. He would not call Gentiles to His kingdom until almost a decade after He was raised from the dead.
Evening Reading
Jesus was a teacher, but he was also a doer of good deeds. Seeing him as only one or the other is a distorted view of him. He practiced what he preached. No preacher ever practiced what he preached as fully as Jesus did.
***
Day 11 of 40
Mark 11
Morning Reading
This chapter takes place at the beginning of the last week of Jesus’ earthly life. Riding into Jerusalem on a donkey was a tacit admission by Jesus that he was indeed Israel’s long-promised Messiah – heir to the kingdom of Israel. (A new king parading into the capital on a donkey was a Jewish practice that went back to the times of Israel’s earliest kings.) Prior to this moment in his ministry, Jesus would occasionally admit that he was the Messiah, but he never made an issue of it. But now the times were changing…his time had come.
Evening Reading
That Jesus was well received by the common folk and children while being rejected by the ruling elite was telling. It is still that way on the earth. As for the incident recorded at the end of the chapter, consider that if the chief priests, scribes, and elders had answered Jesus’ question, they would have answered their own question. Agnosticism in a situation like this is a cop-out position. Rulers like being first in the minds of the people; therefore, installing Messiah as king would be a demotion for them. That’s why they wouldn’t seriously consider whether or not Jesus might actually be Israel’s Messiah.
***
Day 12 of 40
Mark 12
Morning Reading
Consider Jesus’ parable of the vineyard and keep in mind that He is telling this parable during the last week of his earthly life. Can you imagine yourself being in that crowd and how you would feel about what you were seeing and hearing that day?
Evening Reading
What do you think about these various challenges that Jesus faced? Specifically, how well do you think he handled them? How does his behavior compare with that of other people you’ve seen under repeated personal attacks?
***
Day 13 of 40
Mark 13
Morning Reading
In this chapter, Jesus is prophesying of how the ancient nation of Israel would come to an end. And, indeed, all ancient history – Christian and otherwise – affirms that it did. That is, Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD – in that generation, just as Jesus said in verse 30.
Evening Reading
Because there is a pattern to the way nations rise and fall, can you see the similarities between Israel’s position when Jesus spoke these words in the early 30’s AD and what happened with the way things are going on in America these days? We are so divided in America these days that we cannot even agree on what is good and what is evil. We need someone to decide between us. Do you think there is someone more qualified than Jesus to be this judge?
***
Day 14 of 40
Mark 14
Morning Reading
Particularly momentous events take place in this chapter: the Last Supper with the apostles, praying in the garden of Gethsemane, Judas’s betrayal and Peter’s denial, and the trial that would seal Jesus’ fate.
Evening Reading
I’m putting myself in your shoes and trying to remember what I felt when as an adult I first read of these events. I had heard of them since I was a child, but there is something special about reading them for yourself the first time as an adult. It changed the course of my life. I want you to be convinced enough of the reality of Jesus that you want to spend portions of every day for the rest of your life reading of His life…finding guidance in it and drawing strength from it as I do.
***
Day 15 of 40
Mark 15
Morning Reading
The event described in this chapter is even more momentous than those described in the previous chapter. I’m speaking, of course, about the crucifixion of Messiah. Why did such a good man have to die such a horrible death? (Hint: It has something to do with you and me.)
Evening Reading
Recall how Jesus had prepared his disciples for his death by prophesying to them also about his resurrection – even reminding them the night before he died (Mark 14:27-28). Notice, however, that there is no sign that they believed him…or even understood him. Jesus’ resurrection would catch everyone off guard – everyone except Him!
***
Day 16 of 40
Mark 16
Morning Reading
Notice how resistant the disciples were to believing in Jesus’ resurrection – even after He had told them multiple times (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34; 14:27-28) that he would be killed and then raised from the dead. People who think that the disciples “made up” the resurrection story have no appreciation for the way the disciples thought and for the reality that they were so slow to accept.
Evening Reading
How can a man who declares that Jesus is taking everyone to heaven also be pleading with men to repent? I have never seen any disconnect between these two things. If you do, then ponder this: Why didn’t Jesus just die peacefully in His sleep before His resurrection from the dead instead of submitting to the torture and humiliation of a crucifixion?
***
Day 17 of 40
Luke 1:1-4
Morning Reading
Today I want you to read this brief portion of Luke’s Gospel. Though it is short, it says a lot. Much of what Luke says applies as well to Mark’s Gospel, which you’ve just completed. In fact, all four Gospels are eyewitness accounts. Matthew and John were eyewitnesses themselves, whereas Mark and Luke wrote down the eyewitness accounts of others. (Mark transcribed Peter’s memories, while Luke wrote down the firsthand accounts he learned from the many eyewitnesses of Jesus he met in his travels with Paul.)
Evening Reading
Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles as well as this Gospel that bears his name. He was one of the eight men responsible for writing the 27 writings we collectively call the New Testament. All eight men were contemporaries of Jesus. Here are the eight men’s names and the number of writings each produced:
- Paul (apostle) – 14
- John (apostle) – 5
- Peter (apostle) – 2
- Luke (helper of Paul) – 2
- Matthew (apostle) – 1
- Mark (helper of Peter and Paul) – 1
- James (brother of Jesus) – 1
- Jude (brother of Jesus) – 1
- Total – 27
***
Day 18 of 40
Acts 26
Morning Reading
Before turning to the Gospel of John, I wanted you to read the story of the apostle Paul’s conversion. (He was known as Saul of Tarsus while an unbeliever but was usually referred to as Paul once he became a believer and an apostle.) Paul’s conversion story is told three different times in the book of Acts, which was written by Luke – the same Luke who wrote the Gospel that bears his name. This is the third time Luke reported on it (Acts 9 and Acts 22 were the two previous times). The conversion itself took place a couple of years after Jesus’ ascension into heaven. This third telling occurred 25-30 years after Paul’s conversion.
Evening Reading
Had Jesus truly ascended into heaven after His resurrection from the dead? The changed life of the apostle Paul – also known as Saul of Tarsus – emphatically and dramatically testifies that He had! Jesus spoke to Peter and the rest of the twelve apostles on earth, but He spoke to Paul from heaven.
***
Day 19 of 40
John 1
Morning Reading
John begins his Gospel very differently from the way Mark began his. John writes from much reflection, while Mark records action from the beginning to the end. John will get to action and dialogue in due time, but he wants to lay a foundation of thought first. Mark is the shortest Gospel; John is the deepest.
Evening Reading
We see how Jesus was introduced to his first disciples. They knew from the beginning that they were dealing with someone extraordinary. They just didn’t realize how extraordinary. We’re still in the process of realizing how extraordinary Jesus was…and is.
***
Day 20 of 40
John 2
Morning Reading
Mark, as well as Matthew and Luke, report many miracles that Jesus performed. By contrast, John writes of Jesus’ miracles more selectively and includes more explanations from Jesus related to each miracle. John often calls them “signs”…because they signify truths as well as accomplish good for someone in need.
Evening Reading
The people misunderstood what Jesus was saying about the temple. This will be a theme throughout John’s Gospel: people misunderstanding things Jesus said. Even Jesus’ closest disciples misunderstood him – at least at first. Like children, we can be slow to learn – but that doesn’t mean we can never learn. Eventually, we can catch on…just as John and the other apostles did. The apostle John learned so much during his long lifetime that by the time he wrote the book of Revelation, he was being misunderstood as much as Jesus was.
***
Day 21 of 40
John 3
Morning Reading
This chapter contains perhaps the most well-known Bible verse in our generation: John 3:16. Today, you’ll be reading this verse in its context. Any statement by any person is best understood when its context is known. One of the many benefits of reading the Bible daily is periodically coming across every Bible verse you’ve ever heard…in its original context.
Evening Reading
The second half of this chapter gives us insight into how Jesus was viewed by John the Baptist. Jesus was Israel’s Messiah, and John was sent ahead of him to prepare the people for what Messiah would say and do. You could say that John the Baptist was “the opening act” for Jesus the Messiah – at least insofar as the Jews were concerned. John never preached outside of Israel. This makes sense, of course, because Gentiles (that is, non-Jews) were not trained in God’s promises as Jews had been. Therefore, the Jews needed someone to connect the dots between what God had spoken previously about Messiah and what He would be saying through Messiah. The Gentiles, not having the Scriptures, had no such dots to connect.
***
Day 22 of 40
John 4
Morning Reading
Can you imagine yourself in a one-on-one conversation with Jesus? How do you think you’d have responded to him if you had been at the well that day?
Evening Reading
In the time of Jesus, the nation of Israel was under the control of the Roman Empire. Israel’s land was divided into three regions – Galilee in the north (where Jesus lived), Judea in the south (where the capital Jerusalem was situated), and Samaria being the central region between the two. All three regions are mentioned in this chapter. This was all the ground that Jesus covered during his earthly life. Israel as a whole was roughly the size of New Jersey. That might not seem big, but keep in mind that he did not have a car.
***
Day 23 of 40
John 5
Morning Reading
Do you think the apostle John was making up any of the incidents he includes in his writing? If so, how do you think he got other people to believe him…enough to hold on to and revere this Gospel he wrote? And what would have been his motive? (Same questions go for the other seven men who wrote texts that are part of the New Testament.)
Evening Reading
When you see references to “the Scriptures” in the New Testament, they are referring to what we call the Old Testament. Have you noticed how Jesus and his opponents all consider the Old Testament to be authoritative, but that he interprets it differently from the way they interpret it? Do you think it’s possible for one man to be right about something even when a large group of important people disagree with him?
***
Day 24 of 40
John 6
Morning Reading
This is a long chapter…with a lot to chew on.
Evening Reading
Assuming Jesus is asking the question in verse 67 of you today, what’s your answer? Not your answer to me or to anyone else – what’s your answer to Him?
***
Day 25 of 40
John 7
Morning Reading
Notice the skepticism of Jesus’ brothers. Many people today think that ancient people were gullible, but there’s nothing modern about skepticism. It’s been on earth as long as people have. At least two of Jesus’ four brothers – James and Jude – changed their minds about Jesus after he was crucified and raised from the dead. We know this because they wrote the New Testament books that bear their names.
Evening Reading
Further to the subject of skepticism, consider how much Jesus polarized people. They either loved him or hated him. He was not universally admired; on the contrary, he was either loved or hated. Same as today.
***
Day 26 of 40
John 8
Morning Reading
Be sure to allocate enough time to read this chapter reflectively. It contains more than the average number of mind-arresting thoughts. Such thoughts deserve a moment or two to properly consider them.
Evening Reading
You’re probably used to hearing verse 32 without realizing that it’s part and parcel of verse 31. Think of the difference it makes in the meaning when someone hears verse 32 out of its context. Such is the case with many Bible verses. The value of reading the Bible over these forty days and nights is that you daily get to see many of Jesus’ statements in context.
***
Day 27 of 40
John 9
Morning Reading
There is humor to be found in the Bible, but it is very dry so you have to read thoughtfully to catch it. Notice what is going on with the man healed of congenital blindness. His plainspokenness is too much for his critics and it leads to some hilarious exchanges. Aside from the humor, how different – and how much better – would our world be today if people were as honest and straightforward as this young man?
Evening Reading
As we saw in John 7, ancient people were not the gullible rubes that many modern people imagine them to be. Reflect on what it says about ancient cultures that the healed blind man could say without fear of contradiction, “Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.” People in New Testament times were as startled by the miracles Jesus performed as we would be. Fortunately for us, the honest ones couldn’t deny what their eyes had seen.
***
Day 28 of 40
John 10
Morning Reading
Have you noticed that Jesus is always speaking for God? Do you believe this is legitimate? I myself cannot figure out a basis for denying the legitimacy of Jesus speaking for God, given the life He lived and His resurrection from the dead.
Evening Reading
In Mark and John, as well as in the other two Gospels, Jesus is focusing his attention on fellow Jews. Yet there are occasions, and John 10:16 is one of them, when he hints of his broader interest in, and ministry to, the entire world.
***
Day 29 of 40
John 11
Morning Reading
The question that Jesus asked Martha in John 11:25-26 is the question he’s asking you today. What’s your answer? (Give it to Him, not to me.)
Evening Reading
Have you answered the question from this morning? British writer C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) famously said this:
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
(This paragraph comes from Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, 1952, The Macmillan Company. Lewis put this book together from transcriptions of radio talks he had been asked by the BBC to give to Great Britain during World War II. The talks were broadcast from August of 1941 to April of 1944. Although half the talks, including this one, were untitled, the title Lewis gave to the chapter that has this as its closing paragraph was “The Shocking Alternative.” Shocking indeed! Wonderfully shocking.)
***
Day 30 of 40
John 12
Morning Reading
People who question the existence of God often demand to see a miracle in order to believe in miracles. But you have seen throughout the Gospels of Mark and John – including this chapter – that even when people witness miracles, they still find ways to excuse their unbelief. It’s just a fact that being a physical witness to a physical miracle is no guarantee that someone will believe. The human will to not believe can resist any and all evidence.
Evening Reading
Notice that in John 12:24, Jesus is comparing himself to a seed. That is, he believed that once he was killed and buried, he would become like a seed in the ground that would sprout up (by rising from the dead) to an even more fruitful life. This goes back to a promise God made in the garden of Eden after Adam and Eve sinned (Gen 3:15) – a promise that a “seed” would remedy the consequences of sin. This is one of many examples of how the Old Testament provides prophecies of Messiah as guideposts for, and signs of, his life. By these promises, Jesus knew that while Lazarus was going to die again after his resurrection, Jesus Himself was not.
***
Day 31 of 40
John 13
Morning Reading
In this chapter, the apostle John begins his description of what happened the night before Jesus was crucified. This description continues all the way through John 17.
Evening Reading
The meal described here is called “the Last Supper” because it was the last meal Jesus had before he was arrested, tried, and executed. You can see that it was a Passover meal, for Jesus and all his chosen apostles were Jews. The Passover meal had been first instituted in the time of Moses, which was about 1,500 years before Jesus’ time. All the Passover meals between the time of Moses and the time of Jesus were pointing to this all-important one.
***
Day 32 of 40
John 14
Morning Reading
As in the previous chapter, the action here is taking place in an upper room of a house in Jerusalem. Jesus and his twelve disciples are partaking of the annual Passover meal. Moses instituted the Passover to memorialize Jewish freedom from Egyptian slavery; Jesus is transforming the ritual to also memorialize human freedom of its slavery to sin and death – an immeasurably greater achievement.
Evening Reading
Is there anything Jesus is offering in this chapter – or any of the other Bible chapters you’ve read, for that matter – that appeals to you? Any man who’s not interested in freedom from sin and death is more enslaved to sin than he realizes.
***
Day 33 of 40
John 15
Morning Reading
If you don’t think Jesus has the answers to the most pressing questions of this life, who do you think does?
Evening Reading
This “Helper” Jesus is speaking about (in John 15:26) is the Holy Spirit, building on what he said about the Holy Spirit in the previous chapter (in John 14:16-17, 26). The Holy Spirit is “the still, small voice of God” you hear in your heart, guiding you into all truth – all truth being centered and grounded in Jesus Christ. Of course, there is much more to the Holy Spirit than this – but understanding this much is the key to understanding the rest.
***
Day 34 of 40
John 16
Morning Reading
Jesus is still speaking to his apostles in the upper room in Jerusalem the night before he was crucified. This chapter records the conclusion of what he had to say to them that night. The only other words to be spoken before they leave the room is the prayer he prayed – which we’ll read in the next chapter.
Evening Reading
Let the words of the last verse in this chapter settle deeply in your heart.
***
Day 35 of 40
John 17
Morning Reading
We have reached the concluding moments of the time Jesus and His disciples spent in the upper room partaking of the Passover meal the night before He would be crucified. This entire chapter consists of a prayer Jesus prayed for them before they all left the room.
Evening Reading
Consider where you stand with respect to Jn 17:20. It’s a very good place to be.
***
Day 36 of 40
John 18
Morning Reading
Consider the exchange between Jesus and Pontius Pilate in John 18:33-38. Does it surprise you that a 1st-century Roman governor thinks similarly to many 21st-century people, asking rhetorically, “What is truth?”
Evening Reading
Think about the connection between John 17:20 and John 18:20-21. That is, after Jesus died, people would be dependent on the apostles for the knowledge of what Jesus taught; that’s why he prayed for people like us – recipients of that knowledge. In reading the apostle John’s Gospel, we are listening to his testimony about what Jesus said and did – and find ourselves in the shelter of the prayer Jesus prayed in John 17 when we believe that testimony.
***
Day 37 of 40
John 19
Morning Reading
Consider how Jesus handled the unfairness of this experience. Is this how you react when you are mistreated? Are you willing to let Him help you imitate Him?
Evening Reading
Notice that the apostle John is reminding us in the 35th verse that his Gospel is a report of what he saw and heard regarding Jesus. Is there any good reason for rejecting John’s testimony about Jesus?
***
Day 38 of 40
John 20
Morning Reading
When Jesus told his disciples that he would rise from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion, they couldn’t imagine the Messiah being crucified and weren’t sure what he meant by rising from the dead. Their minds were boggled every time Jesus told them what would happen to him. Still, you’d think that once they saw him crucified, it would trigger a motivation to be camped out at the tomb on the third day to see what happened. But none of them camped out. Why do you think they were so surprised by his resurrection?
Evening Reading
Are you willing to accept the blessing Jesus pronounced in verse 29? All you have to do to receive that blessing is accept the apostle John’s testimony in the two verses that follow it.
***
Day 39 of 40
John 21
Morning Reading
After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples in a variety of circumstances, individually and in groups. The individual appearances were valuable, but the group appearances had the additional benefit of on-site confirmation from others that they were seeing and experiencing the same thing. Jesus would also include meals in some of these appearances…probably more to calm their nerves than to fill their bellies. Moreover, eating together with him would be one more way to confirm in their minds that they hadn’t been hallucinating. These varied post-resurrection appearances continued throughout the 40 days between His resurrection from the dead and His ascension into heaven. This is why in the years that followed they were able to keep preaching when the pressure to stop would otherwise have been overwhelming. We don’t get the proofs that they did, but then we haven’t been assigned the job they were assigned…and therefore are highly unlikely to die the way they died. And besides, don’t forget what Jesus said to Thomas in the previous chapter (Jn 20:29).
Evening Reading
Let us notice how thoroughly Jesus forgave Peter for denying Him (John 18:25-27). Keeping Peter in the game instead of benching him was a sure sign that Jesus forgave Peter. A thorough forgiveness is the only kind Jesus offers. But remember that He expects us to reward his forgiveness with obedience, and to be as generous with our forgiveness as He is with His.
***
Day 40 of 40
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Morning Reading
This short but meaty passage from Paul is a fitting way to conclude your 40-day process. It summarizes key eyewitness testimony that Jesus – as a matter of historical fact – was raised from the dead. The formulaic way in which it is written indicates that it was probably incorporating elements of recitations of fact and faith that preceded Paul; this was a way that believers in that age passed on important truths to each other before there was a completed New Testament. In addition to this passage, you have read the Gospels of Mark and John, the preface to Luke’s Gospel, and Paul’s account of his own conversion in Acts 26. You have done well, giving yourself a solid foundation for your faith in Christ. If your faith gets weak, you can always repeat this process.
Evening Reading
If for any reason, you still find yourself unsure of Jesus Christ – that is, uncertain about whether you should trust and obey Him – please explain below and I will respond. I cannot promise that I will be able to answer every question you have, but I can promise that I will not leave you helpless. Neither will He.
If you haven’t already, I now invite you to join me every morning at Daily Help, where I will provide you yet more resources for your daily devotional time with Christ. These resources will not only help you as a man, they will help you lead your family in daily devotions that will keep all of you close to Christ, which is to say, close to God.
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