Gateway to the Word

Reading: Matthew 26:57–66; Psalm 16 There was a bleak quietness that must have settled over Jerusalem the day after Jesus was crucified. It was Saturday, the Sabbath, and no Jews were working or doing much of anything, their lives on this day of “rest” heavily...

Today’s Reading: Matthew 26:30–27:66; Titus 2:11–14 Today we follow Jesus from his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane after sundown to his secret trial before the Sanhedrin through the night. Then, his trial before Pilate, his condemnation, the cruel...

Reading for Today: Luke 22:1–39; John 14–17 It stirs our hearts to read that, on Thursday, the last day before he endures the agonies of the cross, Jesus gathers around him the men into whom he has poured his life. These are the men Jesus wanted to...

Reading for Today: Matthew 26:1–16 It’s not entirely clear what Jesus was doing on Wednesday of his passion week, while the imminent day of his crucifixion loomed ever nearer. It seems most likely that he rested in Bethany, a two-mile walk from Jerusalem,...

Reading for Today: Psalm 118; Matthew 21:18–22:45 Psalm 118:24 is one of those familiar Bible verses that nearly all Christians know by heart. This is the day that the Lord has made;        let us rejoice and be glad in it. These words appear on cards...

Reading for Today: John 2:13–21; Mark 11:1–19. Yesterday, “Palm Sunday,” we honored Jesus, who rode on a donkey into Jerusalem just like Solomon going to his coronation (see 1 Kings 1:33–40), to shouts of, “Hosanna!” or, “Salvation! Salvation has come!” But...

If you know the Lord, you have likely asked the question, “What is God’s will for my life?” That’s because you desire to obey God, to invest your time and talents in those things that honor and please him, to do what he wants you to do. Beyond this...

Today is Sunday, an important day for at least three reasons. First and most important, of course, it is the Lord’s Day, all the more significant in a country where believers in the Messiah who died for our sins and rose again on this day are...

Most people who read the Bible realize that their understanding of the text is increased when they can know something about the historical and cultural background of the text and when they can appreciate the relationships between the characters. But...

Neil Armstrong uttered one of the most iconic statements in the history of the world when he first stood on the moon and said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” But when Armstrong visited Jerusalem for the...