Where in the Bible …is Suffering
“I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” Galatians 6:17 There is a pattern to our sufferings in this life. For Christians, no hurtful wound is merely random or meaningless. It is the goodness of God’s providence that makes our sorrows meaningful, for suffering always precedes glory, as the Savior said of his own wounding (Luke 24:26). Paul encouraged the little, struggling church in… Read more »
Where in the Bible …is the GOSPEL
Acts 6:8-7:60 Luke’s account of the death of Stephen is unmistakably patterned after the suffering and glory of Jesus. Stephen, like Jesus, was full of grace and power, working signs and wonders among the people (Acts 6:8). He charged the religious leaders of Jerusalem with killing God’s prophets (Acts 7:52), just as Jesus had done (Luke 11:47). As a result, the Jews were incensed against… Read more »
Where in the Bible …is Resurrection
Recalling Adam and the first garden, with its two trees of death and life in the midst (Gen 2:9), the evangelist poetically places Jesus’ cross in the midst (John 19:18) of his account of the Garden of Gethsemane (John 18:1) and the Garden Tomb (John 19:41). It is upon the cross, then, that John presents Jesus as the new Adam, whose own tree of cursing… Read more »
Where in the Bible …is Resurrection
“Joseph…said to them, ‘You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land!’…So he put them (Jacob’s sons) all together in prison three days. Now Joseph said to them the third day, ‘Do this and live, for I fear God’” (Gen 42:9, 17-19)Genesis 42:1-22 The drama of Joseph’s confrontation with his brothers, who had come to Egypt seeking bread in a time… Read more »
Where in the Bible …is Resurrection
There is an evident pattern of remarkable deliverances from a decree of death, whether pronounced by God or the king, taking place on the third day. This theme runs through the entire Old Testament. This section will survey the suffering and glory pattern by such a deliverance as seen in the accounts of Isaac, Joseph’s brothers, the spies of Joshua, the Gibeonites, David, Daniel, and… Read more »