Matthew 22:4, “Come to the wedding feast.” I read three parables this morning. The parable of the two sons (21:28-32), the parable of the tenants (21:33-44), and the parable of the wedding feast (22:1-14). Each one of these parables is told in response to the Scribes and Pharisee’s question about Jesus’ authority, and Jesus’ […]
Amos 5:21,23-24, “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies…Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” God’s people are worshipping Him with
John 17:19, “For their sake I consecrate myself that they may be sanctified in the truth.” I’m not sure why the ESV translators use the two words “consecrate” and “sanctify” here, but the Greek word is the same. Jesus says that He consecrates / sanctifies / sets Himself apart so that His people might be
Hosea 11:10-11, “They shall go after YHWH; He will roar like a lion; when He roars, His children shall come trembling from the west…and I will return them to their homes, declares YHWH.” Matthew 27:50, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit.” John 11:52, “[Jesus died] to
Hosea 11:10-11 + Matthew 27:50 + John 11:52 Read More »
John 20:16, “Mary.” Short Thoughts: Because He has gone before them through suffering into glory, when the Risen Christ calls His sheep by name, He turns their mourning to joy, their sorrow to laughter, and their death into life. Long Thoughts: John 10:3-4, “…He calls His own sheep by name and leads them
John 18:38, “what is truth?” – Pilate John 14:6, “I am…the Truth…” – Jesus Short Thoughts: Truth is the Person we meet in the suffering, dying, and rising Jesus. Long Thoughts: John 18:37, “For this reason I was born and for this reason I came into the world, in order to bear witness
John 18:38 + John 14:6 Read More »
John 16:20, “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.” Short Thoughts: As Christ turned water into wine at a wedding (John 2:9), so too —at the wedding supper of the Lamb—the slain and risen Bridegroom will turn the “water“ of His Bride’s sorrow into the “wine” of her eternal joy.
John 16:14-15, “He will glorify me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine…” Short Thoughts: This is how we know the One True God: the Holy Spirit shows us the glory of the Son who dies and rises again, whom to see is
John 14:26-27, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things an bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I love with you…” Short Thoughts: The Spirit illumines and ignites the self-revelatory words of the Son so that, in
John 14:26-27, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things an bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I love with you…” Short Thoughts: The Spirit illumines and ignites the self-revelatory words of the Son so that, in
John 13:8, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Short Thoughts: Just as the Lord of glory left His throne and descended to serve as one of us, so too here He leaves His seat of honor to wash His disciples feet. And this same divine identity will move Him
John 12:48, “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.” Short Thoughts: The word of Christ cannot be ignored and will confront us on the last day, to our vindication or condemnation. Long Thoughts: The
John 1:29, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” This morning I was at a prayer meeting and there is one elderly woman in particular who I am always glad to hear pray. She lives all by herself and often walks to the church during the week and
John 8:32, “…and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” The truth will set you free…not some generic truth, but the truth that comes from abiding in Jesus’ word (8:31). And what is His word? Typically in John’s gospel, the “word” (λόγος) of Christ refers to His teaching about Himself
John 7:7, “but [the world] hates me because I testify concerning it that its works are evil.” Short Thoughts: In the light of the sin-bearing death and righteousness-giving resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are ALL revealed as evil to the core… The world hates Him for this… But His sheep will accept that revelation,
John 6:63, 65, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe…This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is
John 4:24, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (See also John 3:6; 14:6,9; 16:14-15). Short Thoughts: Much worship is false worship…There is no worship of God happening unless it is happening as the the Holy Spirit reveals to us the truth about who the One
John 3:18, “The one believing in Him is not judged, but the one not believing has already been judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Short Thoughts: How our hearts respond to the gospel of the glory the crucified and risen Jesus gives us a
John 17:19, “For their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth…” In John 17:19, Jesus speaks of His coming passion and death as a “consecration” that He enacts of His own power and will (similar to 10:18). There is much to say about Jesus’ “setting Himself apart” or “consecrating
John 17:19 + Exodus 29:1 Read More »
Psalm 60:4-5, “You have set up a banner for those who fear you, that they may flee to it from the bow. That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer us!” I read these verses again today and was reminded of a journal entry from back in
