This year’s Holy Week Trilogy is a series of three visions of the crucifixion, each primarily illumined by one of three different ‘light sources’: Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Resurrection Sunday. Each day’s particular illumination draws out certain aspects of the same, infinitely meaning-filled event—the Crucifixion of the Risen Lord. In part 2 of the […]
Holy Saturday – 2023 Read More »
Hebrews 12:2, ‘…looking to Jesus, the originator and perfector of faith.’ One of the surest ways to descend into a labyrinth of confusion, apprehension, and spiritual weakness is to make our own faith the object of our scrutiny. ‘Am I really trusting?’ ‘Is my faith sincere?’ ‘Is my faith strong enough?’ etc. Questions like those
Hebrews 2:8-9, ‘we do not yet see everything in subjection to Him. But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.’ Notice the
Hebrews 11:19, ‘…[Abraham] considered that God was able to raise [Isaac] from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.’ See the place that resurrection plays in Abraham’s faith. In this passage, resurrection is the unexpected—yet necessary—conclusion that arises from the equation of God’s Promises + Death. The Genesis 22 command
Hebrews 3:7-8, ‘Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion…’ Why does the author of Hebrews cite Ps.95 (and so allude to Exodus 17) in this context? How does this situation apply to his readers? It would seem that the parallel to the ‘voice’ of Ps.95 / Ex.17
Hebrews 9:14, ‘Christ…through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God…’ This text is primarily about the superiority of Jesus’ death in relation to the sacrifices of the Old Covenant). However, what I’m focusing on in today’s visual exegesis is the absolutely reality-re-shaping implication that is tucked away inside the author’s main argument: Namely,
Hebrews 13:5, ‘Be content with what you have, for He has said, ‘I will never leave you, nor forsake you.’ Why are the recipients of this letter to be content with what they have? Because God in Christ has promised always to be with them, never to forsake them. The groaning of discontentment is a
Hebrews 11:1, ‘…faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.’ You’ve probably heard someone ask, ‘If God wants people to believe in Him, why not give us irrefutable proof?’ But that line of thinking misses the point entirely. The desire to have ‘proof’ is the desire to have specific
Hebrews 7:25, ‘…He is able to save to the uttermost the ones drawing near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede on their behalf.’ The author of Hebrews uses two related words here. The word translated ‘to the uttermost’ is παντελής which combines ‘pan’ (for all) and ‘telos’ (as
Psalm 102: 24-26, [v.24] ‘Oh my God,’ I say, ‘take me not away in the midst of my days—you whose years endure throughout all generations!’ [v.25] Of old you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. [v.26] They will perish, but you will remain… Heb. 1:10 cites
Heb.13:8, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. How crucial is the grace of faith that looks into the past and sees who God has declared Himself to be in the Passion of His Son, and that turns toward the impenetrable veil of the future and believes He will always be as He
Ps 89:9-10, ‘You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them. You crushed Rahab like a carcass…’ Here we find a poetic description of YHWH’s creation of the world, which may also be understood as a poetic recounting of the Exodus. How do we know this? First of all, the
Ps 83:16-18, ‘Fill their faces with shame, THAT they may seek your name, O YHWH. Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, THAT they may know that you alone, whose name is YHWH, are the Most High over all the earth.’ Two points — First, there is a
Isaiah 40:11, “He will tend His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms; He will carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.” The One who mercifully shepherds His people is also the One who humbles the world by His might (v.10), and the hands
Psalm 61:6-8, “Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations! May he be enthroned forever before God…So will I ever sing praises to your name…” Notice that God’s prolonging of the king’s life and His enthronement of the king in His presence *results in* or *forms the ground of* the
Psalm 65:3-4, “When iniquities prevail against me, you atone [ἱλάσκομαι/כָּפַר] for our transgressions. Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!” Notice the transition into verse 4, “Blessed is the one…” We move almost
Ps. 52:8-9, “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever…I will wait for your name, for it is good…” David as a tree in God’s house is an image for his trusting in the Lord. As in Ps. 1:3—and
Hebrews 10:34, “…you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” If we honestly consider what the Spirit is saying to us in these words, it truly is revolutionary. How do disciples of the slain and risen Lord respond when—because they
Hebrews 9:27, “It is appointed unto for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…” At any given moment, the veil that separates us from the unmediated face of the risen Jesus Christ is as thin as a single heartbeat. As long as the muscle in our chest continues to pulse, a thin—yet,
