Isaiah 60:20, ‘Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for YHWH will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.’ (also v.4) Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day, and I was asked by my Sister-in-Law to create an image based on Isaiah 60:20 that […]
Colossians 1:15, ‘…πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως…’ (the Firstborn of all Creation). I won’t get into this one too much now for the sake of time….suffice it to say that, though the Son of God is eternal and uncreated, the incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, is not eternal since His humanity is created. So, according to His humanity,
2 Corinthians 12:9, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for [my] power is made perfect in weakness.’ The weakness that Paul speaks of here—weakness in which the anastasiform (resurrection-shaped) power of Christ is brought to completion—are the very same weaknesses that Christ bore in Himself on the cross (Is. 53:3-4). That is to say, they
2 Corinthians 12:9 Read More »
Numbers 6:24-26, YHWH bless you and keep you; YHWH make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; YHWH lift up His face upon you and give you peace. In this blessing, for God’s face to shine upon His people is presented as the supreme blessing they can receive. However, in Ex.
Psalm 46:2, ‘…though the earth gives way…’ In Psalm 46, we see that YHWH God Himself is the unshakable refuge for those who have fled to and hidden themselves in Him. To emphasize this point, the Psalmist employs catastrophic language about the earth itself being shattered, the mountains being hurled into the sea, or the
John 13:3, ‘Jesus, [knew] that the Father had given all things into His hands…’ These same hands into which all things have been given are the hands that would be pierced by Roman nails. Yes, part of the ‘all things’ delivered into the Son’s hands is the suffering, sorrow, death, and damnation of His people,
Matthew 1:25+21, ‘And he called his name Jesus…for He will save His people from their sins.’ Matthew 2:2, ‘Where is he who has been born King of the Jews?” Matthew 27:37, ‘This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.’ The Magi’s question is never answered in the immediate context. Yes, they find Jesus and worship
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2 Corinthians 11:2-3, ‘I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts may be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.’ Paul is doing a lot in these two verses. First,
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Isaiah 42:13, ‘YHWH goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war He stirs up His zeal; He cries out, He shouts aloud, He shows Himself mighty against His foes.’ Like a warrior who roars a battle cry as he plunges into the opposing force, throwing himself into his foes with a might
Luke 12:50, ‘I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!’ The ‘baptism’ in view here is the crucifixion. Much could be said about this passage, but all I wanted to consider in today’s post (and picture) is that Jesus knew what was set before Him
Colossians 3:1-3, ‘If, then, you were raised in Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; set your minds on the things above, not on the things of earth, for you died and your life has been hidden with Christ in God…’ Ch.2 concludes with a
Colossians 2:23, ‘These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.’ What is the ‘indulgence of the flesh’? Certainly something like lust, illicit sexuality, drunkenness, and various forms of addiction come to mind.
Isaiah 1:9, ‘If YHWH of Hosts had not left to us a survivor (or, in the Greek OT, ‘seed’), we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah.’ Ultimately, the judgment humanity has to face is not an attack of Assyrians or an exile to Babylon (the judgments Israel faced when Isaiah wrote the
Exodus 14:14, ‘YHWH will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.’ Moses speaks this promise to Israel as they stand on the banks of the Red Sea. Death is before them in the churning waves of the abyss, death is behind them in the hammering hooves and flashing swords of the Egyptian
The seed that fell on the ‘good soil.’ The ‘seed’—which Jesus tells us is the ‘word of the kingdom, 13:19 —is once again depicted as the crucified and risen Jesus Himself. The only saving word that ever has or ever can be spoken, is the word of Who God Is, declared in the flesh of
Parable of the Soils 4/4 (Matthew 13:1-8; 18-23) Read More »
A bit of a longer post today. Besides creating art for Full of Eyes, I’m also the pastor of a small congregation in rural Ohio. Recently, Anna Mae, the mother of one of our members, fell down the stairs at her home and her frail, 94 year, old body was terribly broken. The prayers and
The seed that fell ‘among thorns.’ As in the other pictures, the ‘seed’ (which is the ‘word of the Kingdom’, 13:18) is represented as the Crucified and Risen Jesus. He is the True Word who—being the perfect declaration of who God is—embraces, embodies & fulfills every word of God. In this picture, the resurrection illumined
The Parable of the Soils 3/4 (Matthew 13:1-8; 18-23) Read More »
This second image exposits the seed that fell ‘on rocky ground.’ The ‘seed’ that Jesus tells us is the ‘word of the Kingdom’ (13:18), is ultimately the crucified and risen Jesus Christ Himself. The essence of the ‘Good News’ that Jesus proclaimed (and which His disciples continue to proclaim) is not some*thing*, but some*one*, namely
The Parable of the Soils 2/4 (Matthew 13:1-8; 18-23) Read More »
2 Corinthians 5:21, ‘For our sake, [God] made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that IN HIM we might become the righteousness of God.’ The union of Christ and His Bride lies at the heart of the Gospel. We see that here in this text. Why is Christ ‘made sin’? Because He
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This first image considers the seed that fell ‘along the path (Matt.13:4,19). First, Jesus tells us that the seed that is sown is the word. Now, the ‘word’ (of God, of the Kingdom, of the Gospel) is ultimately Jesus Christ Himself, as He is known in His Crucifixion and Resurrection (1 Cor.1:17-18ff). Thus the ‘seed’
The Parable of the Soils 1/4 (Matthew 13:1-8; 18-23) Read More »
