Open the Bible UK Daily

They lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And [Naomi] said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods…” Ruth 1:14-15 Orpah is a sad example of temporary faith. Ruth and Orpah had come under the influence of Naomi, and there is good reason to believe that they had made some profession of faith. But while Ruth pe...

Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The LORD grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband! Ruth 1:8-9 The book of Ruth is a love story. As events unfold in these ordinary lives, we will see three distinguishing marks of genuine love. First, we see that love considers. Naomi had moved...

The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel!” Ruth 4:14 When you bring ordinary people and our extraordinary God together, you get a story of redemption. The words redeem, redeemer, and redemption occur 23 times in the 85 verses of the book of Ruth, so in order to understand this book, you have to meet the...

I will bless you… and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Genesis 12:2,3 Right from the start we need to understand that the lives, loves, and losses of these ordinary people are woven into God’s hidden plan to bring blessing to the world. This story is about Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz. But the central character is God Himself. Everything good comes from His hand, and we will see thr...

A man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. Ruth 1:1 Here we come to a question that will affect how we understand and apply this story. Some commentators castigate Elimelech and Naomi for moving to Moab. Should they have stayed in Bethlehem and trusted God to provide? God’s Word offers other examples of faithful believers moving in times o...

There was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. Ruth 1:1 There was a famine… in the Promised Land! This was the land God gave to His people—a land flowing with milk and honey. And the famine was in Bethlehem, which means “house of bread.” The fields in the area were especially fertile, so why was there a fami...

In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land. Ruth 1:1 The book of Ruth is one of the most beautiful stories in the Bible. It is a story about ordinary people, and it is a story about our extraordinary God. When you bring ordinary people and our extraordinary God together, what you get is a story of redemption. Many of the stories in the Bible are about unusual people who do re...

“Behold, I and the children God has given me.” Hebrews 2:13 The gospel story won't be finished until the day Jesus stands in the presence of the Father and says these words. Jesus has come to us. Now we must come to Him. The Gospels are given so that you will know this Jesus to whom you must come. The disciples came to Him in Galilee. We come to Him at the right hand of the Father. How are we to d...

“Go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” Mark 16:7 Mark ends his Gospel with an invitation for the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee. This invitation is for you, not to meet Christ in Galilee, but to come to Him by faith. Notice, there is something for you to do. Imagine a family living in poverty. They have no money....

“He has risen.” Mark 16:6 Christian faith hangs not only on what God has done, but on God’s explanation of what He has done. If all we had at Christmas was the story of a baby born to a virgin, lying in a manger, we would never know who this child is, so God gives us the explanation: Jesus is the Son of God. If all we had on Good Friday was the story of Jesus dying on the cross, we would never act...

“Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.” Mark 16:6 Notice that it was an angel from heaven who tells the women that Jesus has risen. Mary did not go into the tomb, find it empty, and say to Salome. "Jesus must have risen from the dead.” That thought did not even occur to the women. It was the angel who told...

Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? Romans 6:1 If you’re asking this question, it means you’ve understood the gospel. In Romans 5, Paul explains what Jesus achieved on the cross. Then in Romans 6, he begins with this question. Once you’ve understood the gospel, this is the natural question. And the apostle Paul’s answer is: “No!” The free grace of the Lord Jesus Christ won’t lead you...

He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. Isaiah 53:5 Jesus suffered under the judgement of God so that, in Him, you would be saved from God’s judgement. There’s a movie called Double Jeopardy, in which a man fakes his own death and then frames his wife for his murder. She is convicted and sentenced to prison. Whi...

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Mark 15:34 Here we come to the deepest suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. We will never be able to fully take in what this meant for Jesus. The Father delights in the Son, and the Son delights in the Father. The love of the Son for the Father and the love o...

And when the sixth hour [midday] had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. Mark 15:33 At the birth of Jesus, we’re told that shepherds were watching their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them (Luke 2:9). When Jesus was born, there was light at midnight, but when Jesus was crucified, there was darkness at no...

They crucified him. Mark 15:24 Why crucifixion? Why did Jesus die this way rather than another way? No one was crucified in the Old Testament. Among the Jews, capital punishment was by stoning. The Old Testament had one rite that helps us to understand the meaning of crucifixion: "If a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall...

They brought [Jesus] to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. Mark 15:22-23 The wine mixed with myrrh had the same effect as a mild sedative. Crucifixion was so barbaric, and the pain involved so horrific, that according to tradition some relief was offered to the victim just before he was nailed to the cross....

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 Jesus gave His life as “a ransom.” You need to know that there are a growing number of teachers in the church today who deny precious truths like this. These folks think it is “unworthy” to speak about God’s wrath or judgement. If you don’t believe there is wrath or judgement for sin...

This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God… Acts 2:23 The Bible gives us not only a description of what people heard and saw when Jesus died on the cross, but also an explanation of what God saw in Jesus' death. And in this explanation, God reveals what He was doing at the cross: Christ died for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3). If you had been there, you wouldn’t have...

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Mark 15:34 The New Testament tells us about the death of Jesus in two important but different ways: God gives us both description and explanation. And it’s important to hold these two together. The Gospels describe what actually happened. Mark gives us an eyewitness account. If you had been there, here is what you would have seen: The soldiers dividing J...

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16 Here are three things you can do when you are suffering: Come to Jesus for comfort. Your Saviour has been tested in every way, and yet He was without sin. He knows what it is like to be bound, to be falsely accused, to endure great pain, to be ridiculed and t...

When they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak… Mark 15:20 The charge against Jesus was that He claimed to be king. The soldiers picked up on this, and they put a purple robe on Him (15:17). This was not a bright purple robe. It was an old, worn-out cloak rubbed in the dirt. Mark said it was purple. Matthew said it was scarlet. Either way, it was faded, and its true colour could h...

Pilate… having scourged Jesus… delivered him to be crucified. Mark 15:15 Jesus endured unspeakable physical pain. And His physical suffering speaks into our lives today. Some of us have experienced physical pain inflicted by another person. It’s a terrible thing. Most of us have experienced physical pain at some point in our lives, perhaps through an accident, or an illness, or even through an ong...

The chief priests accused him of many things. Mark 15:3 Roman law is one of the great legacies of the Roman Empire. And the governor, Pontius Pilate, was responsible for upholding justice by protecting the innocent and confronting the guilty. But when Jesus came before Pilate, there was no protection. The crowd was calling for Jesus to be crucified. And Pilate asked, “Why? What evil has he done?”...

They bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. Mark 15:1 Try to take this in: The hands that healed were bound, and so were the feet that brought good news. The Son of God was delivered into the hands of those who hated Him and wanted to hurt Him. And God allowed it to be so. Doesn’t Jesus have all power? Couldn’t He break those bonds? No, and here’s why: God had determined th...