Refléter Dieu - Menez une vie sainteRefléter Dieu – Menez une vie sainte

John 16:16-22 To the disciples this was incomprehensible. This One whom they had followed for three years in “a little while” would be taken from them. He was “going to the Father.” They would see Him no more. Jesus had become their life. They followed Him. They absorbed His words. They wondered at His power […]

The post Joy Will Come first appeared on Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living.

Mark 16:1-8 Just after sunrise the cemetery was still. Footsteps crunched on the stone pathway. Three women carrying bundles approached a tomb, the one where Mary saw Jesus’ body placed Friday afternoon. They discussed a problem on the way: Who would roll the heavy stone away from the tomb door? When they arrived the large […]

The post He Has Risen! first appeared on Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living.

Mark 15:42-47 Roman crucifixion was street theater of the most cruel and sadistic sort. It was all to protect the Pax Romana, the brutal way Rome kept the peace. A thief or murderer, even a purported Jewish king, would be summarily tried, flogged until nearly dead, and finally nailed to a cross in full public […]

The post Surprised By Jesus first appeared on Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living.

Isaiah 51:1-6 Chapter 51 of Isaiah invites the Judahites to recall their lowly origins: from one father (Abraham, the rock from which they were cut) and mother (Sarah, the quarry from which they were hewn) God helped form them into a nation.Yet God does not promise freedom from consequences; Judah’s embrace of violent nationalism and […]

The post Righteousness and Justice first appeared on Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living.

Psalm 22:25-31 Psalm 22 affirms some of historic Judaism’s most important claims about the person and nature of God: God cares for the poor and marginalized (not just the wealthy and powerful); God’s transformative love is good news for all nations (not just Israel and/or Judah); and God’s beloved community, which will ultimately triumph, has […]

The post It Is Finished first appeared on Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living.

Psalm 22:1-8 Psalm 22 is a Davidic psalm. Over the course of history, the themes in this psalm have been variously attributed to King David, Queen Esther, the people of Israel generally, and of course Christ himself on the cross. The psalm’s opening line, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” contains some […]

The post Strength and Solace first appeared on Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living.

Mark 15:33-41 Mark tells us that “darkness came over the whole land,” (v. 33). Christ called out desperately: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (v. 34). No one could have more heartbroken than these faithful women—Jesus’ own mother, Mary Magdalene, and Salome, the mother of James and John. After one last anguished […]

The post Darkness, Death, Despair first appeared on Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living.

Mark 15:27-32 To the very end, Christ’s enemies misunderstood His identity and purpose. He was crucified between two violent, criminal insurrectionists (Greek, lestas)—simple robbery was not punishable by death. Christ was himself misrepresented as a threat to the Roman political order by Jewish religious leaders whose authority He undermined. He was mocked by passersby who […]

The post Misunderstood Messiah first appeared on Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living.

Mark 15:21-26 Was Simon of Cyrene Jewish, African, a Greek, or some combination of all three? We cannot be sure. Did he carry Christ’s entire cross, as tradition holds; or just the crossbeam (Latin, patibulum) as was a common Roman practice; or merely an upright torture stake (Greek, stauron) as Mark records? It’s difficult to […]

The post Presumption, Prophecy, and Power first appeared on Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living.

Mark 15:16-20 Mark 15 offers some oft-overlooked insights into the roles that non-Jewish political and military actors played in Christ’s trial and execution. The soldiers mentioned were probably local Gentile recruits. They likely served as a personal bodyguard for Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Many were present for Christ’s arrest in Gethsemane and […]

The post Deadly Consequences first appeared on Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living.