All of the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages. . . Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. . . Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that we hear, each of…
These men destroyed Jerusalem
As Jesus came near and saw Jerusalem, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” Luke 19:41–42 Examine the faces of these two Romans: Vespasian and his son Titus. Together they commanded armies that…
To hell with the pigs!
Jesus asked the man possessed, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. They begged Jesus not to order them to go back into the abyss. Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. Luke 8:30–32…
Jesus and state-sponsored terror.
Jesus also suffered outside the city gate in order to sanctify the people by his own blood. Let us then go to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. Heb 13:12-14 Jesus did not die “on…
A king with his pants down
. . . there was a cave; and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. The men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hand ….
Like seeing the face of God
Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and four hundred men with him. . . Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. . . Jacob said, “truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God.” (Gen. 33:1-11) Jacob had reason…
Angel in a Speedo suit
In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort . . . He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; . . . One afternoon at about three o’clock he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God coming in and saying…
Elijah, PTSD, and food for the journey
[Elijah] went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life.’” Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get…
A robe dipped in blood
Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True . . . He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white…
I’m right! You’re wrong!
Debates in church and politics can get painfully polarized, especially when participants hear only from like-minded people. Within our respective echo chambers, voices on both sides of an issue become shrill. We are tempted to demonize others who disagree. Buildings that house the Dead Sea Scrolls in Jerusalem have architecture symbolizing such binary thinking. Underneath…
Holy Lands Peace Pilgrim 