When the Hebrew language speaks of God “repenting,” the word most often is “nacham,” referring to inner suffering that needs to be consoled.
Gospel of John: Adulterous Woman Reprise
The scribes and Pharisees condoned and rationalized their own sin while at the same time were eager to see sin punished in other people’s lives, even to the death, rather than to see them forgiven and restored. Who might you and I want to see punished, instead of repent? How willing are we to let that go and pray for Jesus to restore them instead?
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Gospel of John: Woman Caught in Adultery
She was disheveled, rumpled clothes half thrown on, her long hair caught up in the hot wind that constantly blew in the Mediterranean. Two men, angry and sweaty, gripped her as they dragged her up the massive steps of the temple, and into the middle of the outer courtyard. Other men shouted and shoved through the gathering crowd.
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Gospel of John: Protectors Pressured
It was more than the Pharisees could bear, for the temple guard to be taken in by Jesus. Picture the angry exclamations, the accusations, pointed fingers, hands with fingers spread wide shooting into the air for emphasis. Imagine voices all trying to out-roar each other as the Pharisees jabbed the chests of the towering Benjamite warriors, in their fury,
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Gospel of John: A Better Covenant
The giving of the Holy Spirit in a new, never-before way was to be inaugurated by another never-before event.
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Babylonian Stew
And now for something completely different. What's for dinner? A nearly four thousand year old recipe from ancient Babylon!
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Minor Prophets: Jonah or Dagon?
During Jonah's time, the people of Nineveh believed in a divinity who sent messages to them by a person who rose out of the sea, as part fish and part man.
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Gospel of John: Water From the Rock
It was the eighth day, the Sabbath of the Sabbaths, for on this day the land had become theirs, apportioned among the tribes, as foretold. Already in the distance, the temple trumpets sounded from each parapet.
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Gospel of John: Pressure of Persecution
If something is deemed implausible, the likelihood of you or me coming to believe it is vanishingly small. In fact, we will not find or even see what is right in front of us.
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Gospel of John: Pressure of Public Opinion
That is the challenge I want to meet. To be trustworthy in telling the truth, and then to let truth do its work, in God’s time, by God’s power, while I keep loving, and caring for, and being present with all those who will receive me.
