Category: Bible (Page 138 of 418)

I loved a certain professor’s lectures in college. The topic was Histology (microscopic anatomy), and although it may not sound sexy, he made the inner workings of a cell dance in my head. Enthralled, I arrived early and found a good seat. I asked questions and even met with him after class. A great teacher brings life to their students.

Jesus was such a teacher magnified. Notice how people swarmed to his lectures:

In the meantime, when so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples…

It’s easy from a distance to overlook the drawing power of Jesus. No social media announced his arrival, no media consultants chimed in, no PR firm represented Jesus, nor did newspapers send reporters. Even the government initially ignored Jesus. His reputation spread simply by word of mouth.

And how it spread. People rioted trying to get close to Jesus. I’ve attended a lot of lectures, and listened to countless sermons (even given several myself), but no one stomped on anyone else to get a seat. Maybe only to get out!

Jesus conveyed a powerful vision when he taught about the kingdom of God. Listeners couldn’t get enough. Even today nothing matches the message of Jesus. But the cacophony of our world buries its power. It does me well to pause and review his wisdom.

If tomorrow Jesus started touring, then after a few lectures people would run over each other to get in. I might squash a little old lady if that’s what it took. It sounds chaotic, but a lecture from Jesus is one we wouldn’t want to miss.

Luke 12:1 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Keren Fedida

I tend to imagine Jesus working his way around the countryside trailed by his band of twelve. But a lot more people joined his entourage, including many women. Luke shares this insight:

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.

Joanna followed Jesus throughout his ministry years. She was one of several women (along with Mary Magdalene) who took spices to anoint the dead body of Jesus and found an empty tomb instead. Mary Magdalene may have been the most devout disciple of Jesus, men and women included. She followed wholeheartedly, and after suffering through the crucifixion Jesus appeared to her immediately upon his resurrection.

These women not only joined Jesus and the twelve, but supported the work out of their personal resources. Joanna, Mary, Susanna and others formed a financial network for the ongoing ministry of Jesus. They freely gave of their time, money, influence and expertise.

It takes a wide group of people to run a successful enterprise. Let’s not overlook the women who made Jesus’s work possible, and let’s not take for granted the many diverse followers who quietly make the work of Jesus possible today.

Luke 8 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Jehyun Sung

While traveling up the Rhine Gorge in Germany this week, I spotted a peculiar building set on a low rock in the middle of the river. Pfalzgrafenstein Castle was constructed in 1327 as a defensive stronghold and toll-collecting station.

Despite numerous wars over the centuries, no enemy ever conquered the fortress. More astounding, the annual onslaughts of ice and floods from the Rhine never washed it away. It seems impossible when viewing the position of the castle to believe it’s stood there for 700 years.

Which reminds me of these words from Jesus:

As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.

The words of Jesus embody solid ground. As we struggle to live by them, we slowly anchor our foundation onto bedrock. We eventually become castles in the river, not succumbing to ice sheets or raging waters or blistering attacks.

Open the Good Book and build your house on solidity and permanence.

Luke 6 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Jörg Braukmann

Are you flailing or flourishing? Sometimes it’s hard to tell. The Scriptures warn against flailing, and give clear direction towards flourishing. Moses exhorted the people of Israel:

The Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day.

The statutes of the Lord, the commands and directions found in the Bible are for our good always. Popular thinking considers the Bible restrictive, the ways of living revealed within as harmful, even evil if applied rigidly. Bashing the directives found in Scripture gets an easy high-five.

But what if those public commentators have it wrong? What if they don’t understand the end results of their philosophies? What if the path to human flourishing doesn’t follow an inner voice, but instead follows the mandates of God? What if the ten commandments and the morality of Moses and the teachings of Jesus form the soil from which vibrant living springs?

The one guaranteed formula for a life you will look back upon with satisfaction is found in the ways of the Lord as described in the Bible. The canon of scripture is indeed restrictive—you cannot do anything you want and follow Jesus—but leads to our flourishing.

For our good always makes for a guarantee that’s hard to ignore.

Deuteronomy 6 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦