Peter is one of the most fascinating and complex people in the Gospels. He’s loud and brash. He speaks his mind. He often leaps before he looks. He’s capable of tremendous insight and yet two seconds later can put both feet in his mouth. One moment he proclaims that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God; the next he tries to keep Jesus from going to the cross. One moment he says he doesn’t want Jesus to wash his feet; the next he’s wanting a complete bath. That’s Peter—wonderful heights of insight and intellect or falling flat on his face in front of everyone.
The Savior in the Old Testament: Jesus and the Commandments
What a sight it must have been! Three months after the Israelites left Egypt they were camped at the foot of a mountain in the Sinai Desert. Through Moses the Lord told the children of Israel that He was going to make a covenant – a solemn promise – with them. If they would now obey Him fully and keep His covenant, then out of all the nations they would be His treasured people (Exodus 19:5). To this all the people responded with one voice, “We will do everything the Lord has said” (Exodus 19:8).
The Savior in the Old Testament: Jesus & Jacob
“Ugh! You are so stupid, Jacob!” Jacob was saying to himself as he pounded his fists against his head. “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!” Jacob cried out loud with tears streaking down his dusty face. “God had promised me the birthright! He had promised me the inheritance! He had promised me the blessing! Why couldn’t I wait?! Why did I have to take matters into my own hands?!”
Ripping Cloth
For centuries, the ripping of clothing was a sign of mourning, repentance, and outrage among the Jewish people. Woven fiber torn from woven fiber. Someone’s labor on the loom lost. The weaver’s work undone. We see the purposeful ripping of cloth many times in the Old Testament. For example, Reuben plans to rescue his brother Joseph, but finds only an empty cistern after his other brothers have taken the initiative to sell Joseph into slavery. Later that day, Jacob tore his robes at the news from his sons that Joseph was dead.
The Savior in the Old Testament: Jesus & Isaac
Can you imagine how Abraham’s heart ached as he was told to kill his son? He had waited so long for a son. All the promises – many descendants, a great nation, the Savior – were tied to that son. But God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
Clinking Coins
Let Light Shine Out of Darkness
In certain movies, it is fairly easy to figure out who are the bad guys and who are the good guys. Many times the bad guys are dressed in black, sinister looking, and even grotesque. In “The Lord of the Rings” you have Sauron, Saurumon, Orcs, Orikai, and the Bellrog, It is fairly easy to see which team they are playing for.
Jesus Vs. the Demons
Spinning head. Projectile vomiting. Levitation. Talking in reverse.
I have those images seared into my memory. I don’t like scary movies at all, but for some reason I watched “The Exorcist” when I was a teenager. With its disturbing focus on the demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl, the 1973 movie, “the Exorcist,” has every right to be rated as “the scariest movie of all time.”
Jesus Vs. Diseases
“She’s a bit down with a fever lately, which is why she missed services today,” Peter told Jesus. Jesus comes to the bedside of Peter’s mother-in-law. He takes her by the hand and raises her up. And the fever left her. Then she put on some tea and made cute little triangle cucumber sandwiches and she served them.