In today's devotional, we concluded application of the lessons we learned as we read through the gospels. Amongst many, our emphasis today was on the power and importance of prayer and the role of serving others. Jesus taught the disciples to pray by demonstrating it practically; "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Mark 1:35 NIV. Jesus not only prayer in front of them, but they also learned he had his special place to pray; it was usually solitary or on mountains. "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."

Luke 5:16 NIV. We must re-awaken ourselves to the place of prayer in the life of the believer, prayer is not just a way to connect to the source of power but an opportunity to fellowship with the almighty God, what a privilege. "“This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

Matthew 6:9‭-‬10 NIV. Secondly, again and again, Jesus demonstrated to his disciples and listeners the power of service, in fact, he told them the power who leads must be the servant and demonstrated it practically by washing the disciples feet. "Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles Lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:42‭-‬45 NIV. You want to make an impact? Serve!

In today's devotional, we continued applying the lessons we've read and learned from the life of Jesus. Our first lesson today was on love. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16 NIV. God loved us so much he gave us Jesus. Jesus himself loved us so much he laid down his life for us. Love I said today can cover a multitude of sin. The lesson is to love one another just as God in Christ loves us. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

1 John 3:16 NIV. Let's love one another today, give up on hate and bigotry, it is not the Christian way. Our second lesson was on obedience as Jesus told the disciples the proof of their love for him would be to obey his commandment; "“If you love me, keep my commands. Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me."

John 14:15‭, ‬23‭-‬24 NIV. Obedience is the key to true happiness in God.

Having read through the gospel, we use the next few days to draw lessons from the life of Jesus Christ; when your hear the name Jesus Christ, what comes to mind? I started today's devotional by speaking about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ; his sacrifice first to choose to die for sinners and then about how this one sacrifice became the atonement for the sins of mankind. Sacrificing for others is a quality every Christian must learn from. Next I spoke about the humility of Jesus and about how Jesus often turned impossible situations around by trusting in God. Happy listening.

In today's devotional, we read our final chapter of the gospel about Jesus. We've seen this study together as reading about the life of Jesus from his birth to his death. In today's reading; John chapter 21, Jesus impresses on his disciples the eed to remain resolute and focused on him. Remember that before now, Peter whom Jesus was asking this question had denied Jesus and all the disciples were hiding in fear of the religious leaders. Jesus appears to the disciples just when some were deciding to go back to their former way of life; fishing, and asked Peter; "When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

John 21:15‭-‬17 NIV. How much do you love Jesus? Do you love him more than these? More than that job, that relationship that is causing you to compromise your faith, more than riches and fame, do you love Jesus more than these? Our final charge is simple, keep your eyes on Jesus and let nothing be sufficient to cause you to forsake him.

As we begin concluding our harmonised study of the gospel, we shared together Jesus' message and charge to his disciples after his resurrection and through the book of John clarified what the gospel of Jesus is about.

In Matthew, Jesus tells the disciples; "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:18‭-‬20 NIV. The purpose of the gospel is clear, it is not just to make us citizen of heaven, but as ambassadors, we are to change this world for the Father.

According to Mark, Jesus says; "He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Mark 16:15‭-‬18 NIV. Same message with a promise that Jesus himself will back us up as his witnesses.

According to Luke, Jesus gives us the theme of our message and with the promise that the Holy Spirit was coming.

In John, we get an idea of the entire purpose of the gospel, our message is simple; "Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John 20:30‭-‬31 NIV. Our message is this, Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing in, trusting in, surrendering to, sinners will have eternal life in Jesus' name.

Halleluyah!

After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to different people, one of them was Mary Magdalene. Mary saw and spoke to Jesus; "Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

John 20:11‭-‬18 NIV. Most of us will never see Jesus like Mary did, our faith tells us he is alive. Halleluyah!

In today's devotional, we read the most gladdening message mankind has ever received from God; "He is risen". As his death and burial, the resurrection of Jesus is meticulously captured in the all 4 gospel authors. Our focus today was on Matthew and Mark, however, the message and theme across all 4 gospels is the same; "The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

Matthew 28:5‭-‬7 NIV. There are at least 500 personal testimonies of people who saw Jesus after his resurrection. We can be certain about their testimonies because the resurrection is the reason why the hold of death and sin has been, it is reason why we are children of God.

In today's devotional, we took Luke's and John's account of what happens after Jesus dies. All 4 gospel writer agrees that Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Jesus and buried him in his tomb. We also confirmed that all 4 gospel tells us that Jesus dies on the Day of Preparation which is the day before the sabbath. "who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

Luke 23:51‭, ‬53‭-‬54 NIV. The book of John tells us the same; "At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there."

John 19:41‭-‬42 NIV.

With this facts, we said we have some vital information to confirm the day Jesus died, who buried him and the fact he was in the grave for 3 days.

In today's devotional, we study the events around Jesus' burial in preparation for his resurrection. The death of Jesus is unmistakable, apart from tbe fact that darkness covered the whole land from 12 noon till about 3pm, the Bible says at the moment Jesus died; "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.

Matthew 27:51‭-‬52 NIV. In other words, there was a massive earthquake. At the least those present knew this was not ordinary. Secondly, we noted Joseph of Arimathea was the one who asked for the body of Jesus and that Jesus was buried in his new tomb and on the request of the Jewish leaders, the tomb was sealed and soldiers posted. Lastly, we noted that the sealing actually happens on the sabbath which mean Jesus was buried the day before, also called Preparation Day or Paraskevi in Greek, what we would call Friday. "As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.

Matthew 27:57‭-‬60 NIV.

"The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

Matthew 27:62‭-‬64 NIV. Why are all this information vital? When our study is over, we want to be able say exactly what day Jesus died, was buried, and what day did he rise again. Was he in the grave for 2 or 3 days?

In today's devotional, we concluded our study of the crucifixion of Jesus by reading the words of king David spoken 960 years before Jesus was killed on that cross, and the words of the prophet Isaiah also spoken 700 years before Jesus. Both prophets confirm that what happened on the cross was not a mistake, it is an undeniable fact. King David, speaking by the anointing of the Holy Spirit said; "But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast."

Psalms 22:6‭-‬9 NIV. These events happened as captured to us by all 4 writers of the gospel. Speaking further, King David said; "All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment."

Psalms 22:17‭-‬18 NIV. These were the exact things the soldiers did to him. The prophet Isaiah prophesied 700 years before Jesus shows up on the way to the cross and gives us a rundown of exactly why this was happening; "He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

Isaiah 53:3‭-‬12 NIV. Jesus dying on the cross was God's to atone for sin, once and for all. Thank you Jesus.