Reading your Bible for today March 26

March 26: Luke 23:50-56

Key Verse: Luke 23:56
Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.

Devotion:
Have you ever been in a “state of limbo”, waiting for something to happen after a life changing event? The disciples were in a bit of a state after Jesus died on the cross. I am sure that they wondered what was going to happen to themselves after their Master had died. I'm not too sure whether they actually expected Him to die! By their actions, I would say they had expected something to happen immediately and it wasn’t.

When Jesus said to the disciples it was necessary for His temple to fall and to be raised up three days later, He was talking about the temple of His body. In order to fully defeat Satan, once and for all, Jesus had to make sure His perfect, sinless, blameless, human body was a perfect sacrifice for us all. He had to make sure He was killed, so He could raise Himself three days later after which there could be no arguments. Joseph, a counsellor, had not agreed with what had happened to Jesus and stepped forward to give Jesus a proper burial. He was given charge of Jesus body which he took and buried in his own tomb. He was a Jew, so knew that Jesus body must be buried before the Sabbath to keep within the Jewish laws. He was still waiting for the Kingdom of God.

After Joseph and the ladies had made sure Jesus’ body was secure, they went back home to quickly prepare spices and ointments before the Sabbath. Meanwhile, the disciples went into their state of not knowing what to do. I'm pretty sure doubt set in and they would have thought maybe they had got it wrong, maybe Jesus was not who they were lead to believe. Satan has the ability to cast doubt in amongst the most favourable circumstances!

There is nothing more dangerous than a day of rest if you have any doubt about a situation. The disciples still wanted to believe they had got it right, but doubt started to set in because their beloved Master had actually died. Their faith was being put to one more test. They had been told that everything would be revealed, but they had allowed a little doubt to start to settle in.

Points to Ponder:
How often do you find yourself doubting your actions?

There is no space for doubt in our faith. We do serve a real Saviour?