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Called to Be Holy
First Peter 1:17–23 is part of the lectionary readings for the third Sunday of Easter, April 26. In this passage, the author summoned us to cultivate hope, holiness, and love in our lives, especially during trials. Many Bible scholars consider this early Christian letter to be part of the persecution literature of the New Testament (which also includes Hebrews, Revelation, and possibly James). The epistle would have been written during one of the three periods of Roman persecution endured by early Christians—under emperors Nero (AD 62–64), Domitian (AD 90–97), and Trajan (AD 111). If one holds to Peter’s authorship of the letter, the only period that fits would be the…
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Living Proof
John 20:19–31 is the Gospel lectionary reading for the second Sunday of Easter, April 19. The focus is on the risen Lord appearing to His disciples. Jesus first appeared to ten of His followers on the evening of Easter Sunday, with Thomas being the only person absent. (Judas Iscariot had already committed suicide.) Then, a week later, Jesus appeared again, and this time Thomas was present, along with the rest of the disciples. Like the other Gospel writers, John concluded his account of Jesus’ life with His resurrection. Yet, John’s presentation shows us that Jesus’ resurrection was not only a decisive affirmation that He is God and Savior, but it…
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Victory Overtaking Defeat
John 20:1–18 is part of the lectionary readings for Easter Sunday, April 12th. The eyewitness testimony recorded in this passage reminds believers that Jesus truly rose from the dead in space-time history. There is no better message of hope that Christians can proclaim, especially as people around the globe struggle under the crushing weight of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The Savior’s crucifixion is the prelude to His resurrection from the dead. After the crowd outside the Praetorium (the official Jerusalem residence of Judea’s Roman governor, Pilate) insisted on Barabbas’s release, Pilate ordered his soldiers to flog Jesus. The military personnel pressed a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head and wrapped…
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Jesus, the supreme example of humility
The lectionary readings for Sunday, April 5th (Palm Sunday in the church calendar), include Philippians 2:5–11. As the worldwide body of Christ, along with the rest of the global community, endures the current pandemic crisis, Paul’s observations about the humiliation and exaltation of the Messiah seem especially pertinent. In verses 1–2, the apostle called the recipients of his letter to unity, humility, and obedience. As long as the congregation remained divided, they would not be able to withstand opposition from their antagonists (1:28). Most likely, this hostility was linked to the resistance originating from the pagan residents in Philippi. They had created a mob scene in which Paul and Silas…
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Believing and Living
The Revised Common Lectionary for Sunday, March 29th, spotlights Jesus’ restoration of Lazarus to life. This amazing account, as recorded in John 11, offers believers timely hope amid an ongoing global pandemic. As Jesus’ prospect of suffering and death grew closer, He returned to the area of Jerusalem. Though the religious establishment spurned Him (10:39), His closest followers loved Him. Even rejection and scorn could not dim the glory of the Messiah as displayed through the restoration of Lazarus to life, a miracle that likely occurred in the winter of AD 29. The record of the above incident is important, for it serves as an undisputed, confirming sign of the…
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God’s shepherding love
Psalm 23 is part of the lectionary readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent on March 22nd. It is a fitting passage of Scripture to spotlight, especially given our current circumstance of national and global crisis brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. Of the 150 songs in the psalter, Psalm 23 is perhaps both the simplest and the best loved. On the one hand, the poem was written by David from the perspective of a shepherd. On the other hand, the ode represents the prayer and meditation of a person with a mature spirit. From an historical perspective, David’s confession of faith, hope, and trust in the Lord as the…
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A prayer to the Creator in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak
May our sons in their youth flourish like well-nurtured plants. May our daughters be like stately corner pillars that are carved to adorn a palace. May our granaries be filled with every kind of produce. May our sheep increase by the thousands, and by the tens of thousands in our open fields. May our oxen pull heavy loads of produce from the harvest. May there be no enemy breaking through our walls. May there be no one exiled into captivity. May there be no cries of distress heard in our public squares. How blessed are the people for whom these realities are true! How blessed are the people whose God…
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Making sense of intriguing correlations between the Gospels (Part 2)
My previous blogpost spotlighted Lydia McGrew’s treatise, Hidden in Plain View (DeWard Publishing; 2017). In it, she explores a variety of “undesigned coincidences” appearing in the Gospels and Acts to affirm the reliability of the Gospels. I used McGrew’s foundational premise to consider an episode recounted in the three Synoptic Gospels, in which Jesus and His disciples experienced a violent windstorm while in a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee. In the current blogpost, I want to lift up for consideration a second episode involving Jesus, His disciples, and the Sea of Galilee. The intent is to showcase another example of how seemingly unrelated details in various Gospel accounts…
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Making sense of intriguing correlations between the Gospels
Within New Testament studies, extreme versions of historical criticism approach the question of the Gospels’ historicity and reliability with a hermeneutic of suspicion. In its most cynical expression, advocates question everything in the Gospels and affirm virtually nothing. Adherents of the preceding view contend that the final form of the Gospels has little, if any, connection to real people and actual historical events. Instead, all that is left are faint memories or kernels of truth about the way Christians eulogized, or wanted to commemorate, Jesus of Nazareth. Some proponents even allege that the Gospels are an amalgam of later additions, revisions, and redactions spanning the following centuries, until the dominant…
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Christianity’s Hamster Wheel of “Spiritual Advancement”
The heading for this piece takes its cue from an article Casey Chalk wrote, which was posted on January 9, 2020, at The American Conservative website.[1] The main title is, “America’s Hamster Wheel Of ‘Career Advancement’”, followed by the subtitle: “We’re told that getting ahead at work and reorienting our lives around our jobs will make us happy. So why hasn’t it?” Regretfully, the same sort of attitude can be found in various forms of Christianity. It’s characterized by a hamster wheel of “spiritual advancement.” Supposedly, if Jesus’ followers do A, B, and C, as well as avoid X, Y, and Z, they can expect to make steady, measurable progress…