Death

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”

The Dream of Pilate’s Wife

19 While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.” 20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death.Matthew 27:19-20 Pontius Pilate was the fifthContinue reading “The Dream of Pilate’s Wife”

Like a Shadow

There’s so much hidden in the Bible’s shadows. In Judges, Shechem’s ruler Zebul tells Gaal that what he sees coming down from the mountain to wage war are not men but merely “the shadow of the mountains” (Judges 9:36). As we read on, we learn that Gaal has indeed seen Abimelech’s men, but Zebul’s words ring inContinue reading “Like a Shadow”

Five or Six Times: The Death of Elisha

I have that feeling again, of being on the edge of something immensely profound. It’s hard to describe, like a lamp lit in the corner of my mind. Each encounter like this blows me back in my seat. I have to sit a minute and catch my mental breath. In 2 Kings 13, God recountsContinue reading “Five or Six Times: The Death of Elisha”

The Three Ascensions

The powerful prophet Elijah is a punchy character in God’s story, and I can’t stop thinking about him. In 2 Kings 1:8, King Ahaziah’s men describe him as “a hairy man with a leather girdle bound about his loins”. Maybe I have a thing for hairy loners? Maybe I find Elijah so compelling because thisContinue reading “The Three Ascensions”

The Way of All the Earth

In the Old Testament, when a person died, it is said that he “went to be with his fathers.” In Genesis 15:15, God told Abram, As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. Joseph too, when close to death, said, Please do not buryContinue reading “The Way of All the Earth”

The Boy(s) with Two Names

In Genesis 35, a boy with two names is born. He is a boy we don’t often talk about. His brother Joseph gets most of the attention, with his coat of many colours and the saga that is his story. Well, you know. But what of this other boy? In the account beginning in GenesisContinue reading “The Boy(s) with Two Names”

The Gospel of the Nazirites

31 Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly;32 At the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper. 33 Your eyes will see strange things And your mind will utter perverse things. Proverbs 23:31-33 Art and literature play a powerful role in how we read and experienceContinue reading “The Gospel of the Nazirites”