Psalm 22 sings with the voice of a king of Israel cut off from God and mocked by others, who clings on and comes through to glorious hope. Jesus takes that Psalm onto his lips as he approaches death. It
The pattern of three
Jesus told his disciples repeatedly that in Jerusalem he would suffer and be rejected, die and then rise again. Now those three steps are being played out before their eyes. Driving home the lesson, the number three echoes through Mark’s
Carry that cross
Pilate’s soldiers now have Jesus in their hands and so it’s time for cruel fun with this “king of the Jews” who’s been rejected by his own. The scene of their tormenting him is an ugly one which captures how
Motives for murder
Pilate tries to free Jesus by getting the crowd to ask for his release. But it goes horribly wrong and Pilate has Jesus killed to save himself trouble. How does it go wrong? Jerusalem’s leaders stir the crowd to turn
Playing politics
Jerusalem’s first century leaders are ready to kill Jesus. But they can’t do it; it has to be the Roman authorities. So they drag him off to the governor, looking to manipulate Pilate into doing their dirty work for them.
Bittersweet finale
The end of Luke’s second book has a bittersweet taste to it. The bitterness comes from the rejection of Paul’s gospel by many of his fellow Jews in Rome, which highlights the power of sin in human hearts. The sweetness
Straight talk
Paul has finally arrived in Rome. His priority is to speak with the Jewish leaders, to assure them that he has committed no crime but that, rather, he has found Messiah – the hope of Israel. Paul had a deep
Missing resolutions
When a new year dawns we may resolve to change our lives. Some of those resolutions may work out well; others not so well. But we should also look for the missing resolutions. The changes that we ought to make
All for nothing?
‘I did all that for nothing?’ Do you ever find yourself asking that? Some 1st century Jews felt that Paul led them to do so. They heard that he now taught Jewish culture was dead and Israel’s past was worthless
Misunderstood at home
Returning to our childhood home can be hard, especially if we have changed in ways which are not clear to those still there. Paul has this on a grand scale as he returns to Israel’s capital, Jerusalem, where he spent