Author Archives: Valerie Hobbs

Those Who See the Sun – Video Meditation

Readings: Ecclesiastes 7:1-14; 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 Ecclesiastes is medicine for the wounded and their helpers and especially those with visions of empire. Grand designs! High hopes! Victorious visions! We set out to overturn oppressors, rescue castaways, sort out all the systems, win the world! Ecclesiastes speaks back. “Vanity of vanities,” its writer declares. “All isContinue reading “Those Who See the Sun – Video Meditation”

Two Can Resist Him: Matthew 18 and the Power of Two

Key Texts: Ecclesiastes 4; Matthew 18:1-20 Jesus’s words in Matthew 18 about confronting a brother in sin are among the most frequently weaponised in service of power and against the persecuted. “But have you approached this person privately about this? Have you followed Matthew 18?” These are questions that so many of us will recogniseContinue reading “Two Can Resist Him: Matthew 18 and the Power of Two”

Those who see the sun

Readings: Ecclesiastes 7:1-14; 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 Ecclesiastes is medicine for the wounded and their helpers and especially those with visions of empire. Grand designs! High hopes! Victorious visions! We set out to overturn oppressors, rescue castaways, sort out all the systems, win the world! Ecclesiastes speaks back. “Vanity of vanities,” its writer declares. “All isContinue reading “Those who see the sun”

The Only Good Samaritan

Readings: Isaiah 53:1-12; Luke 10:25-37 An expert in Mosaic law tries to test Jesus, wanting to justify himself. He knows the law and articulates it in perfect orthodoxy, yet cannot grasp that deeper Truth which only the Spirit can inscribe on any human heart. Speaking in parable, Jesus’s multi-layered answer turns this lawyer’s question onContinue reading “The Only Good Samaritan”

The kingdom of God has come near to you

Key Readings: Exodus 3:1-9; Luke 10:1-16 The phrase ‘come near’ in verses 9 and 11 of Luke 10 is common across the Biblical text. One well-known early instance is in Exodus 3, when God calls to Moses from the burning bush, warning, “Do not come near here.” Moses must remove his sandals, discarding the dustContinue reading “The kingdom of God has come near to you”

A Stone’s Throw Away

The Bible’s rocks and stones have come up in my previous studies here and there, but there’s still more mystery on which to meditate. A while back, I considered the interplay between iron and rock. Ironwork was considered the work and weapon of the enemies of God (Ex. 20:25, Jdgs 1:19, 1 Kgs 6:7, 2 SamContinue reading “A Stone’s Throw Away”

The Girl is Asleep: Salvation in Luke 8

Until this morning, in my reading of Luke 8:40-56 I’d focused on Jesus’s two miracles in isolation. I’ve written already, for example, about the symbolic meaning of the colours in Jesus’s healing of the woman with the flow of blood. And in the story of Jairus’s daughter, I have previously reflected on striking parallels betweenContinue reading “The Girl is Asleep: Salvation in Luke 8”