“You’re gonna regret it.” I waved away the warning without turning around. What was to regret? I took the shortcut. I was on my way to a picnic. The tables sat on the other side of a marsh. The parks department had kindly constructed a bridge over the marsh, but who needed a bridge? I ventured in. The mud swallowed my feet. Squiggly things swam past me. I think I saw a set of eyeballs peering in my direction. I backpedaled, flip-flops sucked into the abyss. I exited, mud covered, mosquito bitten and red faced. I walked over and took … Listen Now

Hebrews 10:12 says, “After he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, [he] sat down at the right hand of God.” Of course Jesus sat down. All that needed to be done had been done. Why don’t you receive this great miracle of mercy? Let the grace of God flow over you like a cleansing cascade, flushing out all dregs of guilt and shame. Friend, nothing separates you from God. Your conscience may accuse you, but God accepts you. Others may dredge up your past, but God doesn’t. As far as he is concerned, the work is once-and-for-all-time finished. Keep … Listen Now

“And bowing His head, Jesus gave up His spirit” (John 19:30). His head did not fall forward or slump – He bowed his head. Jesus was no exhausted, swooning sufferer. “No one takes it [my life] from me,” he had promised, “but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:18). The man on the center cross commanded center stage. He was sovereign, even in—especially in—death. The family business to which he referred as a boy was finished some twenty-one years later and half a mile to the west, on the hill of Golgotha. Exactly what was finished? Well … Listen Now

“It is finished” Jesus declared as recorded in John 19:30. Tetelestai. Three words in English, only one word in Greek. Remove your hat, take off your shoes, silence all chatter, lower your eyes. This is a holy word, a sacred moment. When Jesus was twelve years of age his parents found him in the temple, talking with the rabbis. “Did you not know I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49). Even as a boy, Jesus had a sense of the family business – the work of redemption. Indeed, the Greek word tetelestai carries overtones of a business term. … Listen Now

John 19:30 says, “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” Does the crucifixion qualify as a miracle? By all means. It embodies every feature of the other miracles in John’s gospel. Water didn’t become wine, but sinners became saints. On Calvary Jesus didn’t heal a servant with a proclamation; he healed all generations with an affirmation. On Good Friday Jesus didn’t tell a lame man to walk; he invited all of us to dance. With a single proclamation Jesus fed more than a crowd, stilled … Listen Now

Romans 6:5 says, “We will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like His.” Do you believe this promise? Do you believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life? Jesus’ question to Martha is his question to you. You see, death is the great equalizer. What do the billionaire and the peasant have in common? Both will die; we all will. But not all will face death in the same manner. Let the story of the resurrected Lazarus remind you: Jesus’ authority extends over even the cemetery. Do you believe this? The question is personal. What’s more, … Listen Now

Jesus told them to roll the stone away. He offered a prayer of gratitude, and “then Jesus shouted, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ And the dead man came out, with his hands and feet bound in grave clothes, his face wrapped in a head cloth” (John 11:43–44). The Resurrection and the Life issued a command into the cavern of death. Somewhere in heaven an angel heard the familiar voice of the Shepherd and smiled. Somewhere in hell a fallen angel mumbled, “Oh no.” And Lazarus? He didn’t want to go back to earth, of that I’m certain. But when Jesus commands, his … Listen Now

Look again at Martha’s words: “Lord, if only, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask” (John 11: 21–22 NLT).  Something moved Martha from complaint to confession. And Jesus responded with a death-defying promise: “Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying…Do you believe this?’” (v. 25). Martha has had plenty of time to give up on Jesus. Yet now He asks, “Martha, do you believe that I am Lord of all, even of the cemetery?” Martha wasn’t ready to say … Listen Now

Yet “[Jesus] stayed where he was for the next two days” (John 11:6 NLT). The crisis of health was exacerbated by the crisis of delay. Days came and went. No Jesus. Lazarus began to fade. No Jesus. Lazarus died. No Jesus. Israel’s rabbinic faith taught that for three days a soul lingered about a body, but on the fourth day it left permanently. Jesus was a day late, or so it seemed. Verses 21-22: “Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give … Listen Now

“A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha…So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, ‘Lord, your dear friend is very sick’” (John 11:1, 3 NLT). Lazarus was a real person with a real problem—he was sick. But he had Someone going for him. Others were fans of Christ; Lazarus was friends with him. So the sisters of Lazarus simply wrapped their concern in a sentence, and and they left it with Jesus. They did not tell him how to respond. No presumption. A lesson for us perhaps? Christ … Listen Now