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The God of our forefathers raised up Jesus, whom you seized and killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Acts 5.30-31

Before the Sanhedrin, the high Jewish court, Peter and the other apostles answered, for the second time, for preaching about Jesus. With courage and truth, they made clear the great acts of God, in spite of the actions of the council. Continue reading →

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Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Isaiah 53.10 ESV

Isaiah speaks of the suffering servant in terms of the people of Israel, of the remnant, and finally of a single person. He narrows the identification of the servant until he arrives in chapter 53. In this chapter, he reveals details of how the servant would suffer for the sins of others. Continue reading →

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When I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, and the one who lives! I was dead, but look, now I am alive—forever and ever—and I hold the keys of death and of Hades!” Revelation 1.17-18

These were some of the first words of the Lord Jesus to the apostle John when, on the Lord’s day, he found himself in the Spirit. John had already registered a word from God the Father, that he was the Alpha and the Omega, in verse 8. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet; omega, the last. Continue reading →

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Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory—the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father. John 1.14

Becoming flesh means that Jesus became a human being. He also was born according to the will of God and not by human means, John 1.13. He participated fully in human life. He lived among us and experienced all that people do—hunger, thirst, tiredness, emotions, suffering—minus one—sin. He was God and man at the same time. Continue reading →

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What mercy! One of the privileged few:
The world transformed the day Christ entered
My barren life, created anew;
Around the Lord all life is centered,
In him is Yes, the promise kept;
By rousing, robust grace I’m mentored
To share the news, to walk where he stepped.