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 […]
Holy Saturday 2024 – Genesis 2:3 Read More »
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
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
Colossians 1:18b, ‘…He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the Dead.’ This is the fifth picture in the planned Colossians 1:15-20 board book. When Jesus walks out of the tomb, the New Creation has begun. But Jesus is not raised from the dead *into* the New Creation (as we are now in union to Him
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.’ Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Each day’s particular illumination draws out certain aspects of the same, infinitely meaning-filled event—the Crucifixion of the Risen Lord. In the final picture we see the crucified
Resurrection Sunday – 2023 Read More »
Colossians 1:15, ‘He is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation, for by Him, all things were created…’ This is the artwork from the first two pages of a planned board-book based on Colossians 1:15-20. I’ve recited these verses over our son almost every night of his life as a way
Isaiah 9:6, ‘For to us a child is *born,* to us a son is *given*…’ In the literary structure of Isaiah 9, the eschatological light, joy, freedom, and peace promised in verses 1-5 are entirely grounded upon v.6 and the brith of this child, the giving of this son. Now, the Apostle John certainly read
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
Matthew 2:2, ‘For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.’ John 12:12, ‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ The coming of the magi to worship the newborn Jesus is the first fruits of the eschatological in-gathering of the nations
Ephesians 5:20, [give] ‘thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…’ Consider that the Holy Spirit calls us to give thanks *always* and for *everything.* Of course, this is easy (though we still often forget) when our bodies are healthy and our loved ones are safe
Matthew 13:44, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field…’ In this picture, I wanted to focus on the ‘hiddenness’ of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God—the reign of the risen King—is a treasure, to be sure; it is a treasure worth all that we are and have. And yet, it is
Psalm 46:4-7, ‘There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; He utters His voice, the earth melts. YHWH of
Psalm 127:1, ‘Unless YHWH builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.’ And what is the ‘house’ that YHWH builds? Ultimately, it is the House of the Crucified and Risen Jesus Christ. Christ Himself is The House built by the Lord on the cross and from the tomb, raised up from the ashes
Psalm 27 Rather than a specific verse, this image attempts to visually exegete some of the central movements of the 27th Psalm. So, perhaps the best way to explain it is to walk through the elements of the image in the order that they appear in the Psalm. David begins by confessing that YHWH
Lam. 3:21-23, ‘this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of YHWH never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.’ The steadfast love of YHWH *never ceases*. At least one implication of that statement is that in the midst of
Lamentations 3:21-23 Read More »
Habakkuk 2:14, ‘…the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the glory of YHWH as the waters cover the sea’. Habakkuk does not say that the earth ‘may’ be, or ‘could’ be filled with the knowledge of the glory of YHWH, he—and so the Spirit of God through him—says that it *shall be.* Whatever
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
Jeremiah 33:10-11, “Thus says YHWH: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’…there shall be heard again the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride…” Joy will sing in the *very place* where sorrow now holds
This picture is based on John 6:35-40 and was created for a pastor friend in Minneapolis. The specific focus my friend was eager to see expressed was Jesus’ call to “come to,” “look to,” and “believe in” Him, and so these became the center of the image. Jesus’ invitation for any and all to
Mark 5:21-43 Notice the way that Jesus penetrates into the heart of hopelessness in the story of Jarius’ daughter. At first, Jarius comes to Jesus and asks for help because his daughter is dying, and Jesus agrees to go, v.24. When they draw near to the house, they find out Jarius’ daughter has died
