The risen Lord was about to be revealed, first to Mary, then to the women who had come to complete his burial, and finally to the disciples and all those in his inner circle of on hundred and twenty devoted supporters and friends. Continue reading Gospel of John: He is Risen!
The fellowship of finding another like-minded believer seemed to give both Joseph and Nicodemus the courage and resources they needed to do for Jesus what they could not find a way to do alone, or separately. Continue reading Gospel of John: A Race Against Sunset
Why did Jesus cry out the first line of Psalm 22? I found two very different ways of understanding this moment, and it all rests on the nature of the Trinity. Continue reading Gospel of John: His Last Breath
John must have been there to hear everything Jesus said, and those words must have sunk deep into John’s soul. Over the centuries, these words were gathered lovingly by the church to become the Seven Sayings of the Cross. Continue reading Gospel of John: The Sayings of Christ
Zephaniah 3:17-20 is the fulfillment of human longing. At last, those who love God and have put their faith God, will find themselves fully restored in a glorious life that will be lived fully in communion with God, in the peace, and love, and joy of the Lord. Continue reading Minor Prophets: Zephaniah Look Beyond
After John’s chiasm come seven vignettes that describe the crucifixion of Christ. This is the segue. Continue reading Gospel of John: A Street Called Straight
Every person has been given the outward revelation of a Creator with eternal power and divine nature, and the inward revelation of God’s righteousness and justice, carried within their own hearts. Continue reading Minor Prophets: Zephaniah, Look Around
The chiasm outlined by Jo-Ann A. Brant has a classic seven-point structure. A Exterior: John 18:29-32, Jesus is brought to Pilate with a demand for execution; Pilate refuses B Interior: John 18:33-38, Pilate asks about Jesus’s royal claim … Continue reading Gospel of John: Hail Caesar
John notes when Pilate heard -why- the temple officials wanted to put Jesus to death, he was “far more afraid.” Continue reading Gospel of John: Where Are You From?
The inward movement of John’s chiasm reached its climax in this shedding of the Lamb’s blood. Now would come the process by which the innocent Lamb of God would be offered up to die and become accursed, hanging on a “tree.” Continue reading Gospel of John: Son of God
