Archive for December 2021

John 21:15-25, Revelation 22, Job 42, Malachi 1-4 John 21:15-25: The end of the story, but not without a punch of rhetorical power and application impact. First, the famous three questions to Peter about whether he loves Jesus. The much misused underlying Greek differentiation between different words for “love” is not indicative of the kind of love that…

Job 41:12-34, Hosea 10-14, John 21:1-14, Revelation 21 John 21:1-14: Again Jesus reveals himself (21:1). This time his disciples are going fishing (21:3). There is no suggestion in the text that they have abandoned their vocation by going back to the fishing business and moving away from the apostle calling. They are simply going fishing.…

Hosea 6-9, Job 41:1-11, John 20:24-31, Revelation 20 John 20:24-31: The story of “doubting” Thomas is at once a strange one, and at the same time an encouraging one. It is encouraging because for many people they find themselves at one point or another in their lives in the shoes of Thomas. It is encouraging…

Job 40, Zechariah 1-5, John 20:19-23, Revelation 19   John 20:19-23: Somehow, the doors being locked, Jesus came and stood among them. Jesus’ resurrection body is recognizably him, but yet that body is now able to move through a locked door. This resurrection body is a template of the “spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:44) that those who…

Job 39, Haggai 1-2, John 20:10-18, Revelation 18 John 20:10-18: While the other disciples went home, Mary Magdalene, overcome with grief, stood outside the tomb weeping. Still weeping, she looked into the tomb and saw two angels. They were sitting where Jesus’ body had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. What a sight…

Job 38:22-41, Zephaniah 3, John 20:1-9, Revelation 17   John 20:1-9: Oh, glorious day, when the stone was rolled away! But what does it mean? Could it all have been invented? And if it was true, then what implications does it have? John introduces us to the reaction of three firsthand eyewitnesses to show us how to…

John 19:38-42, Revelation 16, Job 38:1-21, Zephaniah 1-2   John 19:38-42: Many legends have been told of Joseph of Arimathea, but so little is truly known about him. Yet what we do know of him is itself instructive. He was a secret disciple of Jesus. But that he was secret—out of fear of the Jewish leaders’ reprimands and…

John 19:28-37, Revelation 15, Job 37, Habakkuk 1-3 John 19:28-37: Even at this moment all is happening according to plan—or more specifically according to the promise of the Old Testament Scriptures. Take comfort that not only is it true that nothing that happens is outside of the sovereignty of God, but also that the rescue of God is…

Job 36:16-33, Nahum 1-3, John 19:17-27, Revelation 14 John 19:17-27: Jesus is crucified. Could it be? What kind of world do we live in where the most righteous, the most humble, the most glorious, the most extraordinary person who ever was, is killed for being who he was? The answer: the kind of world that needs saving…

Job 36:1-15, Micah 6-7, John 19:1-16, Revelation 13 John 19:1-16: By this point Pilate is desperately trying to have someone take the responsibility for Jesus out of his hands. In order to achieve a lesser end of Jesus’ significant humiliation and physical torture, he has him flogged. Such floggings were no minor corporal punishment, but could themselves…