And why did He call the grace of the Spirit water? Because by water all things subsist; because water brings forth grass and living things; because the water of the showers comes down from heaven — Cyril of Jerusalem Water is one of the most important symbols of spiritual rebirth in Read more…
And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. — Matthew 3:16 The Holy Spirit’s descent upon Jesus as he’s coming up out Read more…
Living the Christian life without the Holy Spirit is like having the wind knocked out of you: painful and scary. Our spiritual life and health are entirely dependent on a constant, unwavering dependence on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, like breath, is life-giving. The Holy Spirit fuels us, strengthens Read more…
The day that God poured out the Holy Spirit on believers—Pentecost—marked the beginning of a new ear. On that day, God changed the normative way in which his redeeming presence manifested in the world. At Pentecost, the tabernacling glory of God transferred from a building (the temple) to a people (Jesus’s Read more…
One of the most memorable stories in the Old Testament is the story of Moses and the burning bush (Ex 3). According to the story, Moses was shepherding his father-in-law’s sheep when God showed up in a burning bush with a big, world-changing job for Moses. When Moses approached the Read more…
On Palm Sunday we read about how the people shouted “Hosannah!” while Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. This proclamation is directly from Psalm 118 and means “save us!” This cry for rescue is the perfect introduction to Holy Week. Holy Week is the week in which we turn Read more…
Today we celebrate Palm Sunday, which is the last Sunday before Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Palm Sunday commemorates when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and the people celebrated and praised him as their long-awaited Messiah. In their act of celebration they waved palm branches along the streets Read more…
Another passage under consideration as we prepare for Holy Week is Matthew 27:46, which records Jesus saying while on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Not a few preachers and other interpreters of the Bible have concluded that because this is the moment in which Read more…
One of the passages that comes into focus as we approach Holy Week is Isaiah 52:13–53:12. This is the poem of the suffering servant which foretold Jesus’ substitutionary death. One of the things that often gets overlooked in the passage is the complete obedience of the servant. Rightfully so, the Read more…