John 20:10-17 (KJV)
10Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.11But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,12And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.13And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.14And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.15Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.16Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.17Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
Ps 108:1-13 (KJV)
1A Song or Psalm of David. O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.2Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.3I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.4For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.5Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth;6That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me.7God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.8Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;9Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph.10Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?11Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?12Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.13Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.
It is a remarkable story to hold together. One thing that strikes me is how the Gospel writers never tried to smooth out those small differences — they left the rough edges in, which is either careless or remarkably honest.
Late on Friday, Jesus is crucified, dies about three in the afternoon, and is buried by Joseph of Arimathea in a new tomb before sunset, when the Sabbath begins. That night, the chief priests and Pharisees ask Pilate to seal the stone and post a guard, fearing the disciples might steal the body.
At dawn on Sunday, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome come to the tomb with spices. They find the stone rolled away and an angel sitting on it who tells them Jesus has risen. Peter and John run to check — John arrives first, sees the empty linen wrappings, and believes.
Mary Magdalene stays behind, weeping, and encounters Jesus himself, though she doesn’t recognize him at first until he speaks her name. He tells her not to cling to him yet, because he hasn’t ascended to the Father, and sends her to tell the disciples.
Meanwhile, the other women on their way to find the disciples meet Jesus on the road, and he greets them. They clasp his feet and worship.
That same day, two disciples walking to Emmaus are joined by a stranger who explains the scriptures to them. Only when he breaks bread at their table do they recognize it’s Jesus — and he vanishes.
Back in Jerusalem, Jesus appears to the disciples behind locked doors, shows them his hands and side, breathes on them and says receive the Holy Spirit. Thomas isn’t there, and when they tell him, he refuses to believe unless he sees and touches the wounds.
Eight days later, Jesus appears again with Thomas present. Thomas declares, my Lord and my God. Jesus says blessed are those who haven’t seen and yet believe.
After that come several more appearances over forty days — to seven disciples by the Sea of Galilee where he reinstates Peter over a charcoal fire, to more than five hundred at once as Paul later records, to James, and finally to the apostles on the Mount of Olives, where he commissions them and ascends into heaven while they watch.
The one tension worth naming is the timing of the women at the tomb — Matthew and Mark say they arrive as the sun is rising, Luke says at early dawn, John says while it was still dark. The usual resolution is that they left while it was dark and arrived as dawn broke, so both descriptions are true from different points in the same journey.
Want me to go deeper on any single appearance, like the Emmaus road or the Galilee breakfast?
Yes, it happened after. John’s scene comes first — Mary meets him alone near the tomb, still in the early morning. Matthew’s scene with the women holding his feet comes later the same day, after they’ve already been told by the angel and are heading back toward the city. So the order is Mary first, then the group of women.
As for what Jesus meant, “don’t cling to me” is probably the better sense of the Greek — not a prohibition forever, but “not yet, don’t hold on.” His point was that his ascension to the Father was still ahead, so this wasn’t the moment for her to settle into his physical presence like before the crucifixion. He was redirecting her: go tell my brothers. By the time he meets the other women on the road, that message has been delivered, and there’s no longer that same urgency — he’s on his way to appear to the disciples, and clasping his feet is an act of worship that fits the moment.
Some readers also note that Mary may have been trying to keep him from leaving, almost physically restraining him, while the women’s gesture was pure adoration. Either way, the sequence holds without contradiction.
No — Luke and Acts both place the ascension on the Mount of Olives, just east of Jerusalem. Galilee is where he gathered them for the Great Commission in Matthew twenty-eight — that mountain meeting happened before the ascension, not at it. So the flow is: appearances in Jerusalem, then a trip north to Galilee for the mountain and the breakfast by the sea, then back down to the Mount of Olives for the final departure.
October 24, 2026 Saturday
Ecclesiastes 11 and 2nd Samuel 21 by verse
Jeremiah 2 and 1st Chronicles 13 by chapter
Jer 2:11-14 (KJV)
11Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.12Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.13For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.14Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?
Jer 2:22-23 (KJV)
22For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.23How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;
Jer 2:34-37 (KJV)
34Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.35Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.36Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.37Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head: for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.
1Chr 13:1-14 (KJV)
1And David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader.2And David said unto all the congregation of Israel, If it seem good unto you, and that it be of the LORD our God, let us send abroad unto our brethren every where, that are left in all the land of Israel, and with them also to the priests and Levites which are in their cities and suburbs, that they may gather themselves unto us:3And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we enquired not at it in the days of Saul.4And all the congregation said that they would do so: for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.5So David gathered all Israel together, from Shihor of Egypt even unto the entering of Hemath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjathjearim.6And David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah, that is, to Kirjathjearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up thence the ark of God the LORD, that dwelleth between the cherubims, whose name is called on it.7And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart.8And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.9And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.10And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.11And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzza: wherefore that place is called Perezuzza to this day.12And David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I bring the ark of God home to me?13So David brought not the ark home to himself to the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obededom the Gittite.14And the ark of God remained with the family of Obededom in his house three months. And the LORD blessed the house of Obededom, and all that he had.
Eccl 11:1-10 (KJV)
1Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.2Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth.3If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.4He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.5As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.6In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.7Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:8But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.9Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.10Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.
2Sam 21:1-22 (KJV)
1Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.2And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)3Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD?4And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.5And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,6Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them.7But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD’S oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.8But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:9And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.10And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.11And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.12And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabeshgilead, which had stolen them from the street of Bethshan, where the Philistines had hanged them, when the Philistines had slain Saul in Gilboa:13And he brought up from thence the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son; and they gathered the bones of them that were hanged.14And the bones of Saul and Jonathan his son buried they in the country of Benjamin in Zelah, in the sepulchre of Kish his father: and they performed all that the king commanded. And after that God was intreated for the land.15Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint.16And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David.17But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.18And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant.19And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.20And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant.21And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea the brother of David slew him.22These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
October 26, 2026 Monday
Ecclesiastes 5 and Nehemiah 11 plus Judges 14
The very broad common theme in these chapters is choice. It is our choices to choose what God is pleased with that brings his blessings in our lives. However even choices that are against God’s will can work together for God’s purpose as in the case of Samson who chose a heathen wife that God used for his purpose to take vengeance on the Philistines. Samson’s wrong choices inevitably brought God’s judgment upon his life but still ultimately fulfill God’s purpose through Samson whom God shows to bring judgment upon the Philistines.
Eccl 5:1-7 (KJV)
1Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.2Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.3For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.4When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.5Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.6Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?7For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.
Judg 14:1-4 (KJV)
1And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.2And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.3Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.4But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.
Neh 11:1-2 (KJV)
1And the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts to dwell in other cities.2And the people blessed all the men, that willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem.