Paschal Trilogy – 2024: Resurrection Sunday John 20:19-20, ‘He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.’ What does the Risen Jesus show His disciples in this passage? His nail-torn hands and spear-pierced side…These wounds are the wells of our sin, the gashes of our grief, the […]
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Paschal Trilogy – 2024: Holy Saturday Genesis 2:3, ‘So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it, God rested from all His work that He had done in creation.’ In context, these words refer to YHWH’s creation of the cosmos in six days and His ‘rest’ on the seventh. However, read
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Paschal Trilogy – 2024: Good Friday Micah 7:19, ‘He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot.’ Micah draws his prophecy to a close with a vision of the eschatological redemption by which YHWH will definitively manifest His identity to the cosmos such that the nations will cover their mouths in
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John 20:16, “Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’” Mary stands weeping outside Jesus’ empty tomb…She weeps over the loss of her beloved Lord, but more than this, in weeping over Christ’s death—in which all the pain, grief, sin, death, and damnation of the redeemed creation are borne—she weeps for all the sufferings of the world. In
Psalm 139:10, ‘…even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.’ Verses 7-10 of Psalm 139 form something of a meditation on the inescapable presence of YHWH. David poetically maps out the heights (‘If I ascend to heaven’), the depths (‘If I make my bed in Sheol’), and the width
Psalm 23:5, ‘You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies…’ A prepared table implies things like peace, security, fellowship, and joyful celebration…none of which would be expected ‘in the presence of my enemies.’ This tension is designed to slow our reading and cause us to question: ‘How is it that YHWH
Revelation 12:1-6 With one week left til Christmas, I wanted to share this year’s new Christmas picture; a visual exegesis of Christ’s birth as found in the book of Revelation… At the literary center of John’s vision lies the ‘great sign’ of a celestial woman in the agonies of giving birth (v.1-2). A seven-headed dragon
Psalm 144:1, ‘Blessed be YHWH, my Rock, who trains my hands for war…’ Psalm 144 is written from the point of view of the Davidic king in the face of adversity. Its entire structure may be mapped onto—and, indeed, is ultimately grounded in—the Crucified and Risen Jesus Christ, who is Himself the true David and
Psalm 29:10, ‘YHWH sits enthroned over the flood; YHWH is enthroned as King forever.’ Psalm 29 poetically describes the onset of a violent storm that shakes the earth and splinters the trees and leaves humanity humbled in awe; at every point, the Psalmist is clear that it is YHWH Himself who stands behind and orders
Romans 11:35-36, “…who has given a gift to [to the Lord], that he might be repaid (Job 41:11)? For from Him and to Him and through Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.” The verses just cited form the conclusion to Romans 9-11, in which we read one of the most towering
Colossians 1:20b, ‘…making peace through the blood of His cross.’ Here’s the picture for the final two pages of my planned Colossians board book. With the art all finished up, it’s time to start setting type and then looking over publishing options. But first, a brief write up for today’s image. The ‘peace’ that Paul
If I were to summarize the message of 1 Peter in one sentence, it’d be something like this: ‘In the Suffering and Glorified Christ, Christ-imaging exiles suffer in the living hope of glory.’ The Christ-follower is united to Christ Himself (Peter is no less emphatic about this than Paul or John), and—as such—can expect the
Colossians 1:19-20a, ‘For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven…’ [This illustration is for pages 8-9 of the upcoming Colossians board book.] Two life-alteringly beautiful realities are bound up in these few words of the Apostle.
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Isaiah 53:5, ‘He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds, we are healed.’ See how substitution is expressed in the very structure of Isaiah’s words, like lashes falling on the Lord’s back, we hear the repeated refrain ‘He…for
Psalm 57:8, ‘[I will sing and make melody!] Awake my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn!’ The Glory of God is that Body that hangs in terrible beauty upon the cross. That Crucified Lord, that Pierced One, that shattered Heart, that One who gives His flesh as food and His
Revelation 21:4, ‘And He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and Death will be no more, neither will there be morning, or crying, or pain any more; the former things passed away.’ In the presence of God dwelling with us in Christ every tear is wiped away…mended beyond imagination….comforted beyond all conceiving….healed so deeply
Psalm 31:7, ‘I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul…’ /// This Psalm is written from the depths of affliction. Though v.8 presents YHWH’s salvation in the past tense, it is a past tense of David’s faith, not yet
1 Thessalonians 5:8, ‘But we belong to the day, we should be vigilant, having put on the breastplate of faith and of love, and the helmet of the hope of salvation’ Consider, specifically, what it means to have the ‘hope of salvation’ as our helmet (περικεφαλαίαν, literally, that which is ‘around the head’). A helmet
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Isaiah 51:3, ‘…YHWH comforts Zion; He comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her deserts like the garden of YHWH; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.’ On the cross, our Lord and God enters into, bears, and—indeed—becomes the ‘waste places’ of His Bride’s
