God isn’t making things easy for David on the road towards being king. But the hard tests he faces prepare him for future service. Thus, David finds no refuge even amongst his Judahite kinsman and, having been betrayed, ends up
You’ll see
Jerusalem’s leading men – the Sanhedrin – want Jesus condemned to death, but the evidence is severely lacking. So the High Priest demands to know if he claims to be God’s Son. Yet the man will not name God in
Silence is golden
In the darkness of night, away from the city, following a violence encounter, in the hands of armed enemies and with no support, Jesus could meet his end. However, it will not be so. His opponents – Israel’s leaders –
Muffled voices
As Jesus’ popularity grows, he has to take care with the crowds since they could easily try to fit him into their expectations and ideas rather than listen to his teaching about God’s will. So Jesus uses parables to find
A Jonah moment
Shocking drowning incidents occur at a number of places in the Bible. The Flood is the first and most terrifying (Ge 7). There is also the crossing of the Red Sea (Ex 14) and the frightening storm on Galilee (Lu
Rotten royals
Many love a gossipy royal story, especially when it involves immorality, corruption, power and greed. Well, those were certainly part of the lives of the family of Herods who appear for the last time in Scripture here with King Agrippa
Slave to love
Jesus is God’s eternal Son (He 1:1-4). Yet his life on earth was slave-like (Ph 2:6-7), lived under the brutal authority of worldly powers and often utterly exhausting. Why? In order to save his people from sin (Ph 2:8; 1Jo
Cat among the pigeons
The tower of Babel is the Bible’s true story of a very ancient and very arrogant human empire, which God pulled apart through a confusion of language (Ge 11:1-9). Later, the Bible records other sinful societies brought down by God,
Why do you persecute me?
In the 1st century, Israel was a nation with a long history, embedded customs, strong bonds and great pride. To see such a nation radically changed is hard work; to see such a nation changed when all you can do