You might say this passage describes the first Sunday night service. It takes place on Sunday evening (the first day of Jesus' resurrection). The disciples were gathered for a meal (Mk 16:14) in a room with the door barred against intruders. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in their midst. They had been arguing about the validity of His resurrection, so the first thing Jesus did was to prove He was physically alive. Then He took them through an extensive Bible study of the Old Testament, as well as describing how He wanted them to serve Him in the future. He gave them a message, a ministrv and a promise that they would have the resources they needed to fulfill what He was asking them to do. Today, if we choose to be His disciples, He would give us the same commissioning He gave them.

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If Jesus stood in front of us in white robes, it wouldn't make us believe in Him. Faith doesn't come by seeing. Rather, it is a choice we make. It has to do with our character.

In moments when we are caught off-guard, what we really believe comes out of our mouths and shows on our face. We are going to see this fact occur with two disciples who are walking on the road to Emmaus. These disciples have a remarkable encounter with the risen Jesus. We are going to watch their level of faith get tested.

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Not all the seventy elders of the Sanhedrin agreed with the decision about Jesus. At least two were secret followers of His who disagreed with the majority and watched in dismay at the brutalization and crucifixion. They were prominent, influential men who believed Jesus was sent from God but were still afraid to confess Him publicly. They knew if they did they would lose their positions and probably their lives. They had seen Jesus' miracles and had heard His teaching, and these had convinced them, but neither healings, miracles, nor anointed teaching could move them to "come out of the closet." Yet, when they watched Jesus die on the cross, everything changed. Suddenly, they put concern for their own lives and reputations aside and publicly took down His dead body and buried it. Why would men who were afraid to own Jesus when He was alive risk their lives to show their love forHim in His death? Whatever it was that transformed Joseph and Nicodemus, we all need it in our lives.

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You and I need to understand what it means when we say Jesus died for us on the cross. We say it often with real faith, and we mean it. But what Jesus really did for us isn't particularly clear in our minds. We know He somehow died on a cross. 

But the more we understand Jesus' suffering and the dignity with which He went through the crucifixion, the more we see Him as the Son of God, and the more grateful we are that He carried our sin. 

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The saving of the thief on the cross is undoubtedly the most remarkable salvation of all of those recorded in the gospels. Many people believed in Jesus as they watched Him heal, deliver and perform miracles, but this man believed as he watched Jesus die. He had only a few hours of contact with Jesus, during which both endured the horrors of crucifixion, yet, in spite of this, he embraced the essentials of the gospel and was granted eternal life. No one explained to him what he must do to be saved, but as he watched and listened, his heart told him the truth, and he responded with faith. It would be hard to imagine a situation which better reveals the essential elements for salvation. Let's look closely at this man's experience.

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As I read this passage describing the arrest and trials of Jesus, there is an ingredient present throughout which startles me. It's the degree of anger which is directed toward Jesus. He's not just arrested, tried and executed. He is mocked and brutalized at every turn. In view of the fact that He did nothing more than teach, heal and deliver people from demons, it's remarkable how much fury is unleashed on Him. Certainly, one explanation for this is the devil's hatred. Satan at last has his chance to treat the Son of God the way he has always wanted to. But there are humans through which his hateful spirit is being expressed, and each person or group seems to have their own reason for anger. Today we'll look at this phenomenon of anger toward Jesus in each of the groups who judged Him on His way to the cross, and then we'll examine our own hearts and ask why it is that people still get angry at God.

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In a short span of time these two disciples both experienced a level of personal failure which devastated them. Judas, of course, betrayed the Lord by leading the religious officiais to the Garden ot Gethsemane. Peter blatantly and repeatedly denied knowing the Lord while waiting among the crowd outside the high priest's home. Though Judas' sin was more deliberate than Peter's, both men show great remorse tor their misdeeds afterwards, but at this point the similarities end. Judas ends up committing suicide and perishing, while Peter is restored to his relationship with Christ and his call to ministry. So it's helpful for us to look carefully at the way both of these men handled their personal failures. At some point in time most people bitterly disappoint themselves by doing something they never thought they would do, and if that has or will occur for any one of us, we want to avoid the path Judas took and run with Peter to the empty tomb.

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Every year many Americans make promises to themselves and others called "resolutions." These commitments to improve behavior are notorious failures. People promise all sorts of things, but usually these can't be kept for more than a month or two into the new year. The problem, of course, is that our will power isn't strong enough to resist the temptations that lure us back to old habits. Appetites, fears, tempers and emotions pull on us until resolve weakens, and once again we fall under their control. We may know what's right to do, but we can't seem to make ourselves do it. After several failed attempts, discouragement sets in, leaving us feeling hopelessly trapped. But a Christian does not have to fall prey to this familiar cycle. We have access to a source of power that can enable us to overcome the forces of our flesh and the temptations of the devil. In the garden of Gethsemene we see Jesus laying hold of this power. He explains the principle to us with the statement, "Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is wiling, but the flesh is weak" (Lk 14:38). In our lesson today, we wil learn the secret of overcoming temptations and of experiencing genuine transformation.

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We are still in the upper room with Jesus and the disciples. In these last moments Jesus has before He is arrested, He wants to teach His disciples, among other things, about humility.

After Jesus and the disciples have just enjoyed partaking of the Lord's supper, Jesus watches them break into an argument about who is the greatest. Jesus wants His disciples to be humble; and they are not. 

And just like the disciples, we are prone to the same prideful reactions and fleshly desires. In this episode we will look at several keys to humility so that we would cultivate this important characteristic in our own lives. 

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In this episode, we're going to see the final passover service the Lord served to His disciples. We will look at Judas' betrayal, at the upper room and Passover. And then we will look at the glorious New Covenant Jesus introduced the disciples to through the taking of the first communion.

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