May 8 Imagine having to sit outside your place of worship, destined to beg for your daily needs. You have been unable to walk your entire life, and you have to depend on your family members to take you there every day to beg. You sit there every. Single. Day, just hoping to be given…
January 26 John 20 records Thomas’ first encounter with Jesus after His resurrection. The other disciples had already seen Jesus, but Thomas wasn’t there. When they said they had seen Jesus, Thomas scoffed, “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in His hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and…
January 24 John has much to say to us about authority and truth in this eighteenth chapter, and how we as humans can handle or mishandle it. Judas has now betrayed Jesus, selling his friendship for a mere thirty pieces of silver—the cost of a common slave. Think about the message in that… everything Judas…
January 16 There are several Marys mentioned in the Gospels, and sometimes it’s easy to get confused distinguishing between them. The Mary in today’s Bible reading is Mary of Bethany—the sister of Martha and Lazarus (the friend Jesus raised from the dead in John 11). This Mary is not to be confused with Mary Magdalene;…
In today’s Bible reading in Acts 12, we see that Herod kills James. Because the Jewish leaders respond favorably, Herod imprisons Peter, presumably to be executed. Knowing how badly things have turned out in the past with Jesus and His followers, Herod assigns four squads of soldiers to guard Peter. This seems like overkill since there were…
You’re probably somewhat familiar with the Magi in the Christmas story in today’s Bible reading. Normally, when we think of the Christmas story, we think of the shepherds and the three Magi who bring their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to Jesus in the stable. Unfortunately, that’s not the way the story is presented…
