Cross

‘And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “ Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”’ (Mark 15:34). What exactly was happening on the cross when Jesus spoke these words? Was the Trinity torn asunder in this moment, Father turning has face...
After reading through this prophecy, one doesn’t need to make it further than the first five chapters to realize that there is a profound problem. The people of God know the right things to say. In 1:15, they spread out their hands in prayer. They know the right things to do. In 1:11, they...
Perspective, having the right perspective, is often times the difference between life and death. It was Joseph’s unique perspective that allowed him to look back on all the suffering he endured, all the evil done to him, and be able to conclude it was all meant for good under God’s hand of...
Exodus Old and New Michael Morales is professor of Biblical Studies at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and his most recent book is getting some well-deserved attention. It’s titled Exodus Old and New , and Michael tells us how the book—which is not a commentary—traces the Exodus motif...
He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Mat. 28:6 NKJV Very early in the second century, a Roman historian named Publius Cornelius Tacitus referred to the resurrection of Christ as a “pernicious superstition.” Gaius Suetonius, another Roman historian...
Hebrews 2:9 “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” Once the public ministry of Jesus commenced the pressures upon him, the...
John 12:27–36 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said...
Johann Heermann and the Comfort of the Cross In the spring of 1630, while the Thirty-Year War raged around Europe, pastor and poet Johann Heermann wrote a hymn to inspire his congregation to meditate on Christ’s suffering. Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended, that we to judge thee have in hate...
After rising from the dead, ascending into heaven, and being enthroned at God’s right hand, Christ poured out the Holy Spirit on the church. The significance of this event cannot be exaggerated. It is the culmination of Christ’s exaltation short of his second coming. It is here that every benefit...
Following his death on the cross, Scripture affirms that Jesus was buried. All four Gospels included an account of his burial, [1] and it is mentioned in both the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds. But why is this fact included in every Gospel and in brief summaries like the early catholic creeds? What...