If Jesus Did Not Rise . . .

The Gospel of John tells of Mary Magdalene who, upon discovering the empty tomb, is panicked by the idea the Lord has been “taken away” (John 20:13). First she deals with Jesus’ death, and now the possibility someone has stolen his body, perhaps as some cheap stunt. Whatever hope she had placed in Jesus seems READ MORE

To Be Like Mary

For any of us, and particularly for those of us embedded in vocational ministry, living life as did Zechariah is all too common. Perhaps you know his story well. Luke 1:5 and following spell it out for us. He is a priest of the Most High God, invited to serve in the Temple in Jerusalem. READ MORE

The Dividing Line

According to Mark 3:20-21, Jesus’ family was desperate to find Jesus with the hopes of getting him to temper his efforts; it might appear that his popularity was beginning to take a toll on them. “He’s crazy,” was their conclusion. Verse 31 picks this theme back up, with Mary and her sons, and perhaps her daughters, having READ MORE

Legitimizing the Lord

Tucked tightly between the passage about Jesus’ healing the man with the withered hand and the calling of the twelve apostles is a seemingly modest account of a great crowd coming to Jesus for physical healing. Read carefully what Mark has penned about this particular moment in Jesus’ remarkable life: Jesus withdrew with his disciples READ MORE

The Holy One of God

It is not just a mere man who has come to bring light into the darkness, to meet us in the wilderness, to rescue us from bonds of evil, and erase our shame. Consider the following passage from Mark 1:21-28 for proof: And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the READ MORE