“He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:10-11). Here is the tragedy of Christmas: the Word was made flesh, but the creation failed to know its very own Creator. […]
Throughout Luke’s gospel, the advancement of the kingdom of God has evoked one of two responses: acceptance or rejection. In the healing of the crippled woman in Luke 13, we see both (v.17). Immediately following this miracle, Jesus gives two parables to explain how, despite opposition, the kingdom of God would spread and make an […]
Chapter 9 in Luke’s gospel is profound. After Peter makes the monumental confession that Jesus is “the Christ of God” (Luke 9:20), Jesus responds by saying: “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Luke 9:22). Yet […]
What are we to do when faced with trials, suffering, hardship, sickness, or death? How are we to respond when God’s timing and purposes seem to be the complete opposite of what we expect from him? The interweaving stories of Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood both point us to our compassionate Savior and what it […]
In preparing the way for the Messiah, John the Baptist made known that God’s judgment on the unrepentant was imminent. He had proclaimed: “His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” (Luke 3:17). Yet when Jesus finally came, he came […]
Galatians 4:13 is crucial in our understanding of suffering in the life of believers: “You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first.” For the Apostle Paul, suffering is most definitely to be included in the “all things”, of Romans 8:28-29, that work together to bring […]
When the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church at Pentecost, believers were empowered to be witnesses of the gospel of Jesus Christ, spreading the good news of the kingdom of God throughout the earth (Acts 1:8). And even in the face of severe persecution that broke out against the early church – intense suffering, hostility, and […]
“Where is God in all of this?” This question is often asked in the face of devastating trials, intense persecution, and horrible calamities. Even as believers we can sometimes be tempted to believe that God is distant, unconcerned, or even helpless when disaster strikes. In Acts 12 we see the early church facing such difficulties […]
When one hears the name “Job,” it’s not long before the word “suffering” comes to mind. In some churches, when sermons are preached on Job, it’s not long before even the word “prosperity” is brought up. But it’s a rare occurrence that we ever associate Jesus Christ or the gospel with this particular book. Nevertheless Job makes […]
