Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / February 2 - Luke 23

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February 2 - Luke 23 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends. It's Sean here and it is
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  February already. Can you believe it?
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  It's the second day of the second month of this year, 2026.
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  And it's great to have your company this year, which is
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  going to look pretty different from last year for me.
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  Yesterday it was announced that I am, after 10 years, leaving my
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  role as the leader of the pastoral care department at my
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  hospital and I'll be going back into parish ministry.
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  Yes, I will be a minister at Saint Clements, where I have
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  been for the last 10 years. It's a wonderful place, a place
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  that's been our home and now a place that I get to be a part of
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  the ministry team there so that it's really exciting.
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  That happens at the start of March.
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  So what's going on for me? And I just thought I'd let you
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  know, but we are not here to hear about me.
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  We are here to hear about Jesus because we are in the midst of
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  the end of this story of Jesus earthly ministry.
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  Jesus has been taken into custody and Peter has just
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  denied his Lord three times. And we are about to reach Good
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  Friday. And so we just come before you,
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  Holy Spirit, and we pray that you, through this reading, teach
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  us more about you and your love and your character so that we
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  can know you more and love you more.
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  All right, friends, prepare yourselves.
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  Let us read together. Luke chapter 23.
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  Then the entire council took Jesus to pilot the Roman
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  governor. They began to state their case.
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  This man has been leading up people astray by telling them
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  not to pay their taxes to the Roman government and by claiming
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  he is the Messiah, a king. So Pilate asked him, Are you the
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  king of the Jews? Jesus replied, You have said it.
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  Pilate turned to the leading priests and to the crowd and
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  said, I find nothing wrong with this man.
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  Then they became insistent. But he is causing riots by his
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  teaching wherever he goes, all over Judea, from Galilee to
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  Jerusalem. Oh, he is a Galilean, Pilot
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  asked when they said that he was.
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  Pilot sent him to Herod Antipas because Galilee was under
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  Herod's jurisdiction and Herod happened to be in Jerusalem at
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  the time. Herod was delighted at the
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  opportunity to see Jesus because he had heard about him and had
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  been hoping for a long time to see him perform a miracle.
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  He asked Jesus question after question, but Jesus refused to
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  answer. Meanwhile, the leading priests
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  and the teachers of religious law stood there shouting their
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  accusations. Then Herod and his soldiers
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  began mocking and ridiculing Jesus.
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  Finally they put a royal robe on him and sent him back to Pilate.
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  Herod and Pilate, who had been enemies before, became friends
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  that day. Then Pilate called together the
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  leading priests and other religious leaders, along with
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  the people, and he announced his verdict.
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  You brought this man to me, accusing him of leading a
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  revolt. I have examined him thoroughly
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  on this point in your presence and find him innocent.
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  Herod came to the same conclusion and sent him back to
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  us. Nothing this man has done calls
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  for the death penalty. So I will have him flogged and
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  then I will release him. Then a mighty roar rose from the
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  crowd and with one voice they shouted, Kill him and release
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  Barabbas to us. Barabbas was imprisoned for
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  taking part in an insurrection in Jerusalem against the
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  government and for murder. Pilot argued with them because
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  he wanted to release Jesus, but they kept shouting crucify him,
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  crucify him. For the third time he demanded
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  why? What crime has he committed?
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  I have found no reason to sentence him to death.
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  So I will have him flogged, and then I will release him.
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  But the mob shouted louder and louder, demanding that Jesus be
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  crucified, and their voices prevailed.
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  So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded.
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  As they had requested, He released Barabbas, the man
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  imprisoned for insurrection and murder.
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  But he turned Jesus over to them to do as they wished.
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  As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon who was from Cyrene,
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  happened to be coming in from the countryside.
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  The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him
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  carry it behind Jesus. A large crowd trailed behind,
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  including many grief stricken women.
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  But Jesus turned and said to them, Daughters of Jerusalem,
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  don't weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your
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  children. For the days are coming when
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  they will say, fortunate indeed are the women who are childless,
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  the wombs that have not borne a child, and the breasts that have
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  never nursed. People will beg the mountains
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  fall on us, and plead with the hills bury us.
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  For if these things are done when the tree is green, what
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  will happen when it is dry? Two others, both criminals, were
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  led out to be executed with him. When they came to a place called
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  the Skull, they nailed him to the cross.
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  And the criminals were also crucified, one on his right and
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  one on his left. Jesus said, Father, forgive
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  them, for they don't know what they are doing.
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  And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.
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  The crowd watched and the leaders scoffed.
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  He saved others, they said. Let him save himself, if he is
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  really God's Messiah, the Chosen One.
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  The soldiers mocked him too, by offering him a drink of sour
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  wine. They called out to him.
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  If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.
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  The sign was fastened above him with these words.
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  This is the king of the Jews. One of the criminals hanging
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  beside him scoffed. So you're the Messiah, are you?
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  Prove it by saving yourself and us too while you're at it.
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  But the other criminal protested.
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  Don't you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die?
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  We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn't done
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  anything wrong. And he said, Jesus, Remember Me
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  when you come into your Kingdom. And Jesus replied, I assure you
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  today you will be with me in paradise.
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  By this time it was about noon and darkness fell across the
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  whole land until 3:00. The light from the sun was gone,
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  and suddenly the curtain in the sanctuary of the temple was torn
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  down the middle. Then Jesus shouted, Father, I
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  entrust my spirit into your hands.
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  Amid those words, he breathed his last.
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  When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw
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  what had happened, he worshipped God and said, surely this man
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  was innocent. And when all the crowd that came
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  to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went home in
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  deep sorrow. But Jesus friends, including the
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  women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance
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  watching. Now there was a good and
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  righteous man there named Joseph.
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  He was a member of the Jewish High Council, but he had not
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  agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious
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  leaders. He was from the town of
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  Arimathea in Judea, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God
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  to come. He went to Pilate and asked for
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  Jesus body. Then they took the body down
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  from the cross and wrapped it in a long sheet of linen cloth and
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  laid it in a new tomb that had been carved out of rock.
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  This was done late on Friday afternoon, the day of
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  preparation, as the Sabbath was about to begin.
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  As his body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and
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  saw the tomb where his body was placed.
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  Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to anoint
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  his body. But by the time they were
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  finished, the Sabbath had begun, so they rested as required by
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  the law. Jesus, thank you for all that
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  you have done for us, for your most sacrificial love that you
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  lavish on us, and the way that even in the midst of this
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  darkest hour before you, your heart is filled with compassion
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  and forgiveness. Our Lord, when we find ourselves
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  backed into a corner having our worst day, it is hard for us to
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  find our best selves. But here you are, and here we
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  see your truest colours, your truest character, which is one
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  of love and compassion when all the chips are down.
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  And thank you that this love and compassion you gift us, and we
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  see that not just with your words, but hear so clearly in
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  your actions of love and compassion for us.
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  Ah, you are wonderful. And we're so grateful for all
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  that you have done for us and all that you continue to do for
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  us. And all that you have won for us
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  is freedom, this forgiveness, this life with you forever.
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  You're the best and we love you. And we pray all of this in your
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  saving name, Jesus, Amen.