One look at the risen Savior and the disposition of the disciples changed immediately. Knowing the truth of the resurrection and trusting Jesus to fulfill all of His promises results in peace and joy. These characteristics should be the marks of a Christian who fully understands the depths from which they have been saved and...

The post “Jesus the Savior”: Weekly Leader Training—Unit 27, Session 3: Jesus Prepares His Disciples appeared first on The Gospel Project.

Jesus’ death and resurrection shouldn’t have been a surprise to the two disciples. He met their discouragement and confusion with Scripture, revealing that it all points to Him. Jesus could have shown Himself to them and removed their doubt and questioning, but instead, He revealed the truth found in God’s Word about the kind of...

The post “Jesus the Savior”: Weekly Leader Training—Unit 27, Session 2: Jesus Encounters Two Disciples appeared first on The Gospel Project.

Jesus approached the weeping Mary, and rather than announcing His resurrection with fanfare, He instead kindly asked her why she was crying and then revealed who He was by calling her name. She was the first to see the risen Lord, but many would follow. More than five hundred people in total would see our...

The post “Jesus the Savior”: Weekly Leader Training—Unit 27, Session 1: Jesus Is Resurrected appeared first on The Gospel Project.

Mark highlighted the mocking of Jesus more than any other Gospel writer. Jesus was mocked by soldiers. He was mocked by passersby. He was mocked by the two thieves occupying crosses next to Him. Ironically, we still find truths in their mocking. For example, they mocked Him for saying the temple would be destroyed and...

The post “Jesus the Savior”: Weekly Leader Training—Unit 26, Session 5: Jesus Is Crucified appeared first on The Gospel Project.

The contrast of Jesus’ disposition in Mark 14 and the rest of Mark’s Gospel is jarring. Up to this point, Jesus has shown a remarkable sense of controlled confidence. In fact, His calm dignity stirred up awe and amazement among those He encountered. Even when predicting His own death, there wasn’t the slightest hint of...

The post “Jesus the Savior”: Weekly Leader Training—Unit 26, Session 4: Jesus Is Arrested appeared first on The Gospel Project.

The providence and the planning behind the first Lord’s Supper is given to us in this passage. We see that the Lord orchestrated the very room where they would observe the Passover. He planned the meeting between a man carrying water and Peter and John and even instructed the very words that would be spoken...

The post “Jesus the Savior”: Weekly Leader Training—Unit 26, Session 3: Jesus Shares the Lord’s Supper appeared first on The Gospel Project.

The Sadducees tried to set a theological trap, but Jesus revealed that the basis of their misguided question about marriage in the resurrection was flawed. Marriage is something that will not continue in the new heavens and new earth. At first glance, this might rub happily married readers the wrong way. Is Jesus minimizing the...

The post “Jesus the Savior”: Weekly Leader Training—Unit 26, Session 2: Jesus Is Questioned appeared first on The Gospel Project.

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt, He fulfilled a prophecy by the prophet Zechariah five hundred years earlier (Zech. 9:9). Jesus was able to direct the disciples to the exact location and moment where they could secure the colt for Him to ride. Jesus is the Messiah who was foretold. He received worship...

The post “Jesus the Savior”: Weekly Leader Training—Unit 26, Session 1: Jesus Enters Jerusalem appeared first on The Gospel Project.

The Lord specializes in “hopeless” causes. When Jesus got to Lazarus’ grave, there was already a stench. The Lord, it seemed, was four days late. Lazarus was dead. He was deader than dead. In the hands of anyone else, this case would have been hopeless, impossible. But our God is the God of the “impossible.”...

The post “Jesus the Savior”: Weekly Leader Training—Unit 25, Session 4: Jesus Raises Lazarus appeared first on The Gospel Project.

One oddly encouraging thing about the Gospels is seeing just how confused Jesus’ disciples were. When Jesus was being literal, they took Him metaphorically. When He was being metaphorical, they took Him literally. They always seemed to be a few steps behind. Even after the miracle in John 6 when He fed the five thousand,...

The post “Jesus the Savior”: Weekly Leader Training—Unit 25, Session 3: Jesus Teaches Difficult Truths appeared first on The Gospel Project.