Some deep questions and froyo

This week at biblestudy we started reading Luke chapter 22 which is the start of the passion of Jesus. We read through how Judas decided to betray Jesus and the last supper. We had a lot of questions and interesting discussion. Here are some of the main ones that we talked about... interesting things to think about.

How did the masses of people go from believing Jesus as the messiah to shouting Crucify him?

If it was God's will for Jesus to go to the cross, why was it bad for Judas to betray him?

Peter denies Jesus, Judas betrays Jesus... why is Peter restored and Judas not?

Why did Jesus take bread and say - this is my body? What does that mean?

When Jesus died on the cross, did God die? did a man die? did God leave the man of Jesus?

When Jesus rose again - was it the same body? (people didn't recognize him, but he had scars, he could walk through walls, but he still ate food.)

Our brains got tired, so we decided to go eat frozen yogurt. We'll continue to read this story next week so if you have comments to share, we'd love to hear em.

The good shepherd

After Jesus was raised from the dead, the disciples were still a little confused about what they were supposed to do. Not having any better ideas, they decided to go fishing because it was familiar, it was "normal." They were out all night and didn't catch anything and in typical Jesus style, Jesus appears and tells them where to cast their nets so that they may catch a lot of fish.

Recognizing Jesus, Peter, in very typical Peter style jumps out of the boat and swims to shore to greet Jesus. But he does something very peculiar, he puts all of his clothes ON. Why?

Peter is in the doghouse a bit. If we can remember, Peter said he would follow Jesus to the cross and yet on the night Jesus was on trial, Peter denied even knowing Jesus 3 times. So he was eager to "make things right."

Peter reaches the shore and finds Jesus cooking over a campfire. Jesus asks Peter if he loves him. Peter says yes. Jesus asks Peter 3 times - this really hurts Peter's feelings because it feels a bit as if Jesus is rubbing it in. Peter gives up.

"Jesus, you know. You know how I feel."

Then Jesus, who has told his disciples many times that he is the good shepherd and that he takes care of the people, tells Peter to feed his sheep and tend his lambs. Jesus hands over the reigns to Peter and puts him in charge.

The Good Shepherd comes to, restores, forgives, heals and carries each of his sheep even and particularly when they mess up.

He has Risen indeed, how lazy am I?

Alleluia! Three weeks late. The business of lent and holy week knocked me off my feet. Much like the bewildered disciples on Easter day I was tired and almost wondered if the whole thing was a hallucination. But, with time and rest, the truth of Easter and the joy of the Gospel stand firm.

As the disciples encountered a risen and even more perplexing Jesus, they wondered "What now?" They had been following Jesus for 3 years. Do they go back to old jobs? Do they hang out and wait for Jesus to take them to heaven? What now?

At Crossings we ask the same questions - is this real? what now? Over the next few weeks, we will read stories of how Jesus comes to the disciples in the midst of their doubt, confusion and struggles to guide them on the path of becoming a church.