On the night He was betrayed, Jesus knew He had but a few hours before He would be handed over to the authorities. So, He gathered His beloved disciples around Him and shared with them those things which pressed most urgently on His heart. He began by washing their feet. We know that washing of the feet was a common practice. After all, the people wore sandals, if any shoes at all. And although major [...]
On the night He was betrayed, Jesus knew full well what He was about to suffer. As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will hand Him over to [...]
Sometimes people wonder, “Is Jesus really the only way? Is there truly no path to salvation through any other? Why Jesus?” After the miraculous events surrounding the birth of Jesus, His childhood years were spent in relative anonymity. We get a glimpse of Jesus at twelve years of age when He went with His family to attend the Passover Feast in Jerusalem. Traveling with a large caravan as they journeyed home, Jesus’ parents did not [...]
There is a simple Christmas carol called, I Wonder as I Wander (John Jacob Niles, 1933). Do you know it? With its haunting melody and simple words, it reflects the awe of the coming of Jesus as Immanuel, God with us. I wonder as I wander out under the sky How Jesus the Saviour did come for to die For poor orn'ry people like you and like I; I wonder as I wander out under [...]
When someone mentions angels in connection with the Christmas story, what do you think of first? The angel Gabriel announcing God’s plan to Mary? A great chorus of angels singing “Glory to God!” while the shepherds looked on in awe? Angels played an integral part in communicating certain specific instructions from God for events surrounding the birth of Jesus: Announcing the birth of John: An angel announced to Zacharias the birth of a long-awaited son. [...]
As I was thinking this morning about the shepherds, an image of Charlie Brown’s Christmas came to mind, particularly the scene where Linus explains to Charlie Brown what Christmas is all about. Linus walks center stage with his blanket, and recites Luke’s account of angels announcing the good news of the Savior to shepherds out in the fields: Luke 2:8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over [...]
Pictured: A middle-eastern sheepfold. Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth… When we think of Bethlehem, we think of the manger. We think of Mary and Joseph traveling from their home in Nazareth while Mary was heavy with child. We think of their arrival in Bethlehem to find no room for them because of the crowds arriving for the [...]
Advent is the name we traditionally give to the weeks preceding Christmas. In Latin, advent means “coming.” During Advent, we prepare to celebrate the coming of Jesus as a sweet, helpless infant sent to be our Savior. In this series, I invite you to join with me in contemplating the Christmas story from these perspectives: Prophets, Bethlehem, Shepherds, Angels, Christ. First, the Prophets. To fully grasp the significance of prophecy as it describes the [...]
The decisive battle for salvation was won at the cross. But the decisive battle for the cross was won at Gethsemane. Each of the four gospels describes Jesus’ time of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Matthew, Mark and Luke all focus on Jesus agonizing over what He was about to face (Matt 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46). Being a physician, Luke describes in clinical detail the physical manifestation of the emotional and mental agony [...]
