In the memoirs of Pierre Van Paasen there’s a story about Nazi storm troopers who seized an elderly Jewish rabbi and dragged him to headquarters, to a room where another Jew was being beaten to death. Then, stripped naked, he was ordered to preach the sermon he’d prepared for the Sabbath. The rabbi asked for his yarmulke, and the Nazis, grinning, agreed. Poked and prodded by his captors, the trembling rabbi delivered, to the cries of his dying neighbor, a sermon on humility.
Read More surrender, reconciliation, Christ’s deathAslan, the Christ-figure of CS Lewis’s Narnia tales, is a good lion but not a safe lion. Some Greeks discovered Jesus is likewise good but not safe. They came expecting an intriguing conversation and instead were told to give up their lives and serve him wherever he goes.
Jesus wasn’t interested in meeting people to satisfy their curiosity.
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The southern kingdom of Judah is on shaky ground. With the fall of Samaria and the northern empire all but gone, King Hezekiah’s vast territory is now in the crosshairs of an Assyrian threat.
So Hezekiah – at the advice of his royal counselors – concocts a preemptive strike.
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Life is short and then we die. Seemingly cynical words about our lot but actually a biblically sound observation. Psalm 39 finds David frustrated with himself, other people, the world and God, his maker. He attempts to govern his passions and keep silent when contending with fools, …
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