Day 10--Matthew 27-28

On Sunday Jan. 8, our senior pastor invited the church to read the entire New Testament in 90 days. He also invited everyone to use a method of reflecting and applying each day's reading, nick-named S.O.A.P (Scripture, Observe, Apply, Pray). In deciding to this, I also decided as a way to hold myself to it better, I would keep each day's thoughts here, and hopefully spark some conversation. So each day, I'll share a few thoughts on each aspect of S.O.A.P., and we'll see where it goes...And I'll be reading from the new Common English Bible...

SCRIPTURE:

• As Jesus is brought before the council of elders and chief priests, Judas regrets betraying Jesus, gives back his silver, and hangs himself.
• Governor Pilate asks the crowd what should be done with Jesus, to which they answer that he should be crucified. Pilate asks what wrong Jesus has committed, but the crowd only answers for him to be crucified. Pilate says he washes his hands of this matter, sentences Jesus to crucifixion, and has him beaten.
• Soldiers make a bystander carry Jesus' cross up to the place of crucifixion where Jesus is crucified next to two others; people who passed him spat on him and shouted insults.
• Near the end, Jesus cried out, asking God why he had been forsaken, and died shortly after. The earth shook and rocks split, and a centurion approached Jesus and said "Truly this was the Son of God."
• Two women come to tend to Jesus' tomb, meeting an angel in white, telling them that he isn't here, but has been raised from the dead, and to go and tell his disciples. On the way they actually meet Jesus, who tells them that he will meet his disciples in Galilee.
• When the disciples meet in Jesus in Galilee, he tells them "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. I will be with you everyday until the end of this present age."

OBSERVE: What we think is the end is not. Jesus brings a new beginning, fulfilling all he said he would. It is only at the end of this story that we not only see the beginning, but that when Jesus tells his disciples to make other disciples, it is through their sharing the experience Jesus shared with them.

APPLY: The acting of "making disciples" is not about conversion, but about sharing who Christ is. I share the story of Christ and how Christ has changed me, how who he is has impacted me, as a way of making disciples.

PRAYER: God of Resurrection, of new life and new beginnings, show us that the story never ends, that in Jesus we have been transformed. Help us to see past the drudgery and into your guidance for us. Help us to experience that new life and to share that new life with others, and Christ shares it with us. AMEN