Joseph returned home from a busy day at the shop. He smelled like cedar with a hint of balsam. Sons of David deserved a table fit for kings. Mary would love it. He could hardly wait to enjoy their first meal around it as a family. Then the unthinkable happened. Joseph hadn’t seen Mary in three months. She had gone to visit her older cousin Elizabeth who was pregnant with […]
“For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Mk 12.25). The Sadducees were the 1st-century version of the 21st-century liberals. They denied all things supernatural, especially any notion of bodily resurrection from the dead (cf. Mt 3.7; 16.1, 11-12; 22.23, 34; Lk 20.27; Acts 4.1-2; 5.17; 23.6-8). Sola Torah (Torah alone) was their creed. They didn’t believe anything […]
“It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment” (Lk 23.54-56). Luke loved the underdog, especially if the underdog was a woman. Between Luke-Acts, he used γυνή 60 times […]
“Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God” (Gal 4.7). The gospel of Jesus Christ is decidedly masculine but it is neither discriminatory nor chauvinist. In fact, the glory of the gospel is wrapped up in its masculinity rightly understood. Given the context of Scripture and the people among which the gospel spread, we want a masculine gospel. God […]
Did Jesus promise to build each of his followers a mansion for their eternal enjoyment? After all, Jesus is God and was a carpenter. Our God also builds houses? He must be able to build us the best mansions the universe has ever seen. We all have our dream home. What could be better than having God design a city whose golden streets are lined with dream homes Jesus built […]
Zacharias was an old man (Lk 1.7). A really old man (Lk 1.18). His wife was also, shall he say, “advanced in years.” (That’s a good lesson for godly husbands. We may get old but our wives only “advance in years.”) Having a child at their age was biologically impossible. We could excuse Zacharias for being skeptical. But, God didn’t. Gabriel muted him for nine-plus months (Lk 1.20). Zacharias had […]
“But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be […]
“. . . and the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne” (Rev 12.4-5). For nearly 200 years we have loved the […]
“In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him and saying, ‘He saved others; he cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. HE TRUSTS IN GOD; LET GOD RESCUE him now, IF HE DELIGHTS IN HIM; for He said, “I am the Son of God.”‘” (Mt 27.41–43) Tell me if […]
White cops, Dead black men. Black snipers, Dead white cops. White, black, brown, or olive, Cain by any other name is still Cain (Gen 4.1-8). A spear. Brother-killer. The antithesis of God’s son (1 Jn 3.11-12). The spirit of antichrist that is already in the world (1 Jn 4.3). Most white cops don’t shoot black men. Most black men don’t snipe cops. Nevertheless, we exchanged God’s world of […]