This traditional place for Jesus’ birth is marked with a silver fourteen-pointed star. Why fourteen? It is for the three lists of fourteen ancestors in Jesus’ genealogy in Matthew 1. The birth stories of Jesus are favorites, especially with the magi, the shepherds, and the baby in the manger, but few of us would say we enjoy this long list of names. However, to much of the Eastern part of our world, what to us is a boring list of names is actually extremely important and interesting. An organization that distributes audio Bibles reports that one out of three people […]
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Advent – A Season of Anticipation
Some Christian traditions celebrate Advent in the weeks before Christmas. The word comes from Latin (adventus) and means “coming” or “arrival” (parousia in our New Testament’s Greek). While most people focus on Advent’s preparation for Christmas, the Bible’s use of the term is usually about Jesus’ Second Coming. While it is wonderful to remember the time of Jesus’ incarnation and birth, we must never forget he has a second advent that we must all be prepared for. The main thing Jesus and the apostles taught about his return was to be ready. A little baby in a manger makes us […]
Why is Pentecost important for Gentile believers?
Yesterday was Pentecost. Because of its importance, I want to add one more post. We’ve already looked at how it most likely took place at the temple and how Luke tied it into the giving of the Torah. But, both of these are Jewish connections. Is there any special significance for those of us Gentiles (non-Jews)? Reversing Babel In Genesis 11, we read how people try to build a tower to the heavens: The people rebel against God. Each person seeks his own way to the heavens as they desire to make a name for themselves. God comes down in […]
What does Pentecost actually celebrate?
Many Christians think of Pentecost solely as a Christian holiday without realizing it goes back much farther. The Feast of Weeks is a feast initially prescribed by God to celebrate the first of the wheat harvest (Leviticus 23:15-21, Numbers 28:26-31, Deuteronomy 16:9-12). In Hebrew, it is called Shavuot, which means “weeks” (7 weeks after Passover); in Greek, it is Pentecost, meaning “fiftieth” (50 days after Passover). By the era of Jesus (and still today), it also became a time to celebrate God giving the Torah on Mount Sinai. Jewish sages had studied the Scriptures and made this time correlation between […]
Where in Jerusalem did God pour out the Holy Spirit?
This Sunday is Pentecost, remembered this weekend by some churches. Christians associate Pentecost with Acts 2 and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. I want to explore a few aspects of it, starting by focusing on its location. Below is a picture of the Cenacle, a Crusader-era structure built over the site believed by some to be the “Upper Room” where Jesus held his last Passover, the Last Supper. Most tourists are told that this is the location where the events of Acts 2:1-4 and the outpouring of God’s Spirit occurred. But who cares where the outpouring of the Spirit […]
The Road to Resurrection
That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. Luke 24:13-15 Friday, all their hopes and dreams had been shattered. Life had changed in a moment as they saw their Rabbi and Lord die on a Roman cross. Reaching For Redemption Imagine that first Easter morning, two days later. Rumors are circulating. Jesus is dead – or is he alive? The tomb […]
Double Blessing of the Third Day
This post went live on Tuesday, 2/22/2022 at 2:22 am EST. In light of this fun date alignment, I thought I’d share a few thoughts. In Genesis 1, God creates the world in six days, resting on the seventh (Sabbath). The flow of each day is mostly the same. First, God speaks order into the chaos, and things come into existence. Then, God calls what he made good, and time progresses. Creation in Pairs However, a careful reading reveals a more nuanced and complex structure. Reality starts formless and empty. To fix this, God creates in two sets of three […]
Advent of the Suffering Son of Joseph
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”“Joy to the world!”“‘Tis the season to be jolly!” In our culture, Christmas has become synonymous with a time of merry celebration. But, there are hurting people all over our broken world today that holiday clichés of cheer fail to help. Maybe you’ve lost a loved one this year, and this is your first Christmas with an empty chair. Maybe this is the 20th year in a row of being isolated from family or friends. I write this for you: understanding the meaning of Christmas won’t immediately take away your grief or loneliness. […]
Remembering the Resurrection
I want to take a week off from Habakkuk to reflect on today, Easter. I’ve been remembering my time celebrating it in Jerusalem three years ago. Days of Easter Past After a sunrise service on the Mount of Olives, we walked back to the city. Making our way down the hill, we wandered past the traditional location of the Garden of Gethsemane and decided to duck in for a few minutes. I’d been there many times before, but that day brought a different feeling to the place. Typically people visit to remember Jesus fervently praying that night before his arrest, […]
40 Days in Spiritual Quarantine
The LORD said to Moses, “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has an infectious skin disease or a discharge of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean because of a dead body. Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.” Numbers 5:1-3 Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I stumbled across that the English word “quarantine” comes from a Latin root meaning “forty”. This word was first used when ships containing people or goods would “quarantine” at a port for […]