The betrayal, the trials, the crucifixion, and the tomb all remind us that by His wounds we are healed. As we reflect on the events of Good Friday we remember he meets us in our hurts, our failures, our pain, and he alone brings healing.

As Jesus enters Jerusalem the crowds swell and the people cheer. Days later the cheering turns to jeering and the week would end with Jesus on the Cross. Many who encountered Jesus heard his words but did not understand, they saw him without seeing him, they were stirred but their lives were not shaken to core. How do we keep from missing Jesus, allowing him to shake us and shape us?

When Jesus came back from a night of prayer he chose 12 ordinary men to change the world. These 12 would be enlisted by Jesus to proclaim the Kingdom of God. While we might expect the Son of God to enlist the extraordinary, we should find hope in His call to the ordinary.

Rest is something we all long for but often feel we never have enough of. In Jesus’ day, the Sabbath was weekly time to rest, but for some this routine had become just that, routine and ritual. Jesus pushes on the idea of Sabbath and in so doing reminds us He offers a better rest.

Jesus disciples did not act like other Rabbi’s pupils. The reason for this is that Jesus was and is not like other Rabbi’s.

With Jesus there are no “chance” encounters, their are no accidental run ins, and there are not happen stances callings. Deemed an enemy of his people, Matthew, would have been convinced that Jesus could not possibly be talking to him, and yet Jesus calls Matthew and in doing so Jesus makes it clear that the Kingdom is for everyone who changes direction to follow Him.

A group of fierce friends brought a paralyzed man before Jesus in the most unorthodox of ways. After breaking down barriers, social norms, and even a roof, these friends bring that man to Jesus. In turn Jesus brings renovation to the mans life. But as is often the case with Jesus, the results far exceed our own expectations.

Unclean. A word that would cause people to alter course quickly. The unclean were to be avoided because to assocciate with them would make you unclean. But when Jesus encountered the unclean He did not alter course He altered lives, including how we view the unclean, the outcast, the untouchable. Jesus’ humanity reminds us of the image we bear and validates our own human experience. But when the unclean encounters Jesus, it does not change Jesus, rather changes the unclean. This is good news for everyone.

After a long morning of fishing and no success, the last thing Peter wanted to do was cast out his nets again. But as Jesus got in Peter’s boats, it was clear, Peter’s plans were about to change. Because Jesus asked him to push out again, he did it. And Peter would not stop casting nets the rest of his life, although what he was aiming to catch would be very different.

As Jesus made His way throughout Galilee the report about Him began to grow and spread. He wasn’t just teaching with authority, He was living with authority. In the span of a view verses Jesus cast out a demon, heals his mother in law, and leaves town as the crowds grow. There was a purpose and intention to His actions and life the speaks to a clarity of mission that most of us miss. Rightly ordering our hearts will lead to a rightly ordered life.