Tagged: daily bread

“The Lord God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own kinsmen: you shall listen to Him in everything He says to you. Anyone who does not listen to that Prophet shall be ruthlessly cut off from the people.” –Acts 3:22-23 In the early Church, many believed in the risen Christ because of the prophetic power of Jesus and His followers. Jesus was the Prophet prophesied by Moses (Acts 3:22; Dt 18:15ff). The words of the risen Christ and His witnesses “were as a flaming furnace” (Sir 48:1). Their words were like fire in their...

“The people saw him moving and giving praise to God.” –Acts 3:9 The Lord told the prophet Ezekiel to wade through fields of dry bones (Ez 37:1ff). These bones represented the state of the chosen people, Israel. Then, the Lord told Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones. The bones began to rattle. This symbolized the Israelite nation beginning to rise from the dead. When something moves that can’t move, it may be a sign of the Resurrection. Peter and John healed a forty-year-old man who had been paralyzed from birth (Acts 3:7). When this man who couldn’t move moved, ran,...

“Go to My brothers…” –John 20:17 The above verse is the first time in the Gospels that Jesus specifically calls His apostles “brothers.” Jesus’ Father can now become the Father of the apostles and of us because He will now be able to give them the Holy Spirit. The Spirit comes from the Father. Thus Jesus, Who ascends to His Father, knows that His disciples can be re-born as God’s children (see Jn 3:5), and therefore, literally be His brothers and sisters, children of the same Father. The apostles had done the will of God even through the cross. They...

“At this Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid! Go and carry the news.’ ” –Matthew 28:10 The guards at Jesus’ tomb felt the earth quaking (Mt 28:2). Then an angel, who looked like “a flash of lightning,” rolled the stone away from Jesus’ tomb (Mt 28:2-3). “The guards grew paralyzed with fear of him and fell down like dead men” (Mt 28:4). Nevertheless, a few hours later these same guards were not afraid to take a bribe to lie about Jesus’ Resurrection (Mt 28:12-13). These lies have been so successful that they circulate “to this very day” (Mt...

“He is not here; He has been raised up.” –Luke 24:6 Jesus is risen! “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor 15:54-55) Praise Jesus, “the Resurrection and the Life”! (Jn 11:25) A few years ago, I celebrated the Easter Vigil at an inner-city church about to be closed. After the church’s lights were turned on following the blessing of the new fire and the lighting of the Easter candle, I was shocked. There were almost as many people in the small choir as in the rest of...