SCRIPTURE: Mark 15:38-41 The law of attraction – or ‘like attracts like’ – helps us understand why so many women were drawn to Jesus. They were accustomed to being used, abused, treated as second-class, or less. They also had the mother’s heart, which is an image of God’s heart, sensitive to suffering and need. Jesus was…
Author: Norm
When death dies
SCRIPTURE: Mark 15:33-37 The people do not get what is happening here. The human Jesus dies, the curse of death and hell is fulfilled. Like Jesus, we will all die, and we will all take our last breath. But more is going on here… Jesus is God in human form, dying death for us. In a…
The king of the hill!
SCRIPTURE: Mark 15:27-32 Save yourself! – this is the motto of the ‘ubermensch’, the superman. Survival of the fittest, the king of the hill, only the strongest survive, every person for themselves. So much for Jesus king of Israel, the only hill He is king of is Golgotha. Jesus defies this motto, He refuses to play…
Let all those whose hearts are honest praise Him
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 64 Do you know anyone who is evil? I don’t mean in the general sense that we’re all sinners… but someone like David describes. They make evil plans, their tongues are swords, their words are arrows, they attack the innocent, they cleverly scheme ways to bring them down, they have no fear of getting…
Make my hands stronger
SCRIPTURE: Nehemiah 6-10 All of them were trying to frighten us. They thought, “Their hands will get too weak to do the work. So it won’t be completed. But I prayed to God. I said, “Make my hands stronger.” (Nehemiah 6:9) Discouragement, distraction, deception, despair… tactics of the enemy to keep us from doing God’s work. Whenever…
Nowhere for Jesus to lay His head
Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes. Birds of the air have nests. But the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” (Matthew 8:20) Sculpture of Jesus the Homeless Rejected by Two Prominent Churches By Leslie Scrivener, The Star Jesus has been depicted in art as triumphant, gentle or suffering. Now, in a controversial new sculpture…
Impacted by Jesus through their dad!
SCRIPTURE: Mark 15:21-26 Who are Alexander and Rufus, why does Mark mention them in his gospel? Apparently they are known to the Christian community, likely they were followers of Jesus themselves. Maybe they were with their dad Simon that day for the Passover Feast, maybe they followed their dad as he carried Jesus’ cross. Maybe the…
God feels our pain
SCRIPTURE: Mark 15:16-20 I cannot stomach violence, any kind of bullying bothers me. How can people become so cruel, so careless? God enters the cursed world, and embraces our brokenness. God in Jesus feels our pain, endures our misery. God can relate to injustice, oppression, abuse, torture, horrific pain… God stands with victims all over the…
While we were sinners
SCRIPTURE: Mark 15:6-15 What is the right thing for you to do… what is the best thing for you to do – the answer ought to be the same. People often mistake the best for the easiest, the safest, the most pleasurable… The right thing for Pilate to do was to release Jesus, but he wanted…
Quiet strength under pressure
SCRIPTURE: Mark 15:1-5 You are standing before your superior (teacher, boss, leader), accused of wrongdoing. Everyone is speaking against you, no one stands up for you. The accusations are ridiculous, unfair, unbelievable, yet everyone seems to believe them. How do you respond? Anger, vehement denial, your own accusations against your accusers? Pilate is amazed, he knows…