Jn 3:27-30, “John answered, ‘A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven…The one who has the Bride is the Bridegroom. The friend of the Bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoices greatly at the Bridegroom’s voice…this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.’” […]
In today’s picture, I’m offering a suggestion on how we might follow John’s textual markers so as to read Genesis and the Gospel in parallel. You can read a *brief* overview in the points below. For a longer explanation, see this video. Day 1 [Gen.1:3-5] Light; division of light and darkness / [Jn.1:1-28] The
John 1 + Genesis 1 Read More »
1 John 4:10, “In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” What is LOVE according to 1 John 4:10? It is that in God which moves Him to send His Son—and moves the Son to harmoniously respond
Colossians 1:15-20 — The Christ Hymn Over the last year or so I’ve been slowly making art for a board book on Colossians 1:15-20. Today I’m able to share the final piece of that project: the cover art for the entire book. Updates on getting this all into print will follow. Most of my visual
Colossians 1:15-20 Read More »
Jeremiah 23:18, “…Who among them has stood in the council of YHWH to see and to hear His word…?” Ultimately, the ‘council of YHWH’—the place where His Wisdom and Word are declared with definitive finality—is Resurrection-illumined Calvary. Here is where all of the Lord’s councils and Wisdom find full and perfect expression….here is where every
Romans 11:35-36, “…who has given a gift to [to the Lord], that he might be repaid (Job 41:11)? For from Him and to Him and through Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.” The verses just cited form the conclusion to Romans 9-11, in which we read one of the most towering
Colossians 1:19-20a, ‘For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven…’ [This illustration is for pages 8-9 of the upcoming Colossians board book.] Two life-alteringly beautiful realities are bound up in these few words of the Apostle.
Colossians 1:19-20a Read More »
John 19:26, ‘Then Jesus, seeing…the Disciple whom He loved…’ The author of John’s Gospel never gives us his name (it is tradition that assigns it to the Apostle John), rather he refers to himself as ‘the Beloved Disciple,’ or ‘the Disciple whom Jesus loved.’ Similarly, he is never described to us as standing at the
Isaiah 49:3-4, ‘And He said to me, “You are my Servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” But I said, “I have labored in vain and have spent my strength for nothing and vanity…”’ Here we see a glimpse into the human soul of Jesus as He hangs on the cross….This is the moment
Colossians 1:17, ‘And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.’ Two brief points: First >> Jesus Christ (precisely as the crucified and risen one), is *before* all things in at least 2 ways: 1) The slain and risen Son precedes all other realities in worth—He is beyond all things in
This year’s Holy Week Trilogy is a series of three visions of the crucifixion, each primarily illumined by one of three different ‘light sources,’: Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Resurrection Sunday. Each day’s particular illumination draws out certain aspects of the same, infinitely meaning-filled event—the Crucifixion of the Risen Lord. The first picture receives its
Good Friday – 2023 Read More »
Isaiah 6:2, ‘Each [Seraph] had six wings; with two *he covered his face*…’ Isaiah 53:3, ‘He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men *hide heir faces*…’ In the depths of His agonies, Jesus Christ became as one from whom men hid their
Job 11:7-9, ‘Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is *higher* than heaven—what can you do? *Deeper* than Sheol—what can you know? Its measure is *longer* than the earth and *broader* than the sea.’ Ephesians 3:18-19, ‘[I pray] that you, being rooted and
Job 11:7-9; Ephesians 3:18-19 Read More »
Hebrews 3:7-8, ‘Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion…’ Why does the author of Hebrews cite Ps.95 (and so allude to Exodus 17) in this context? How does this situation apply to his readers? It would seem that the parallel to the ‘voice’ of Ps.95 / Ex.17
John 1:23, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord,” as the prophet Isaiah said.’ John the Baptist’s citation of Isaiah 40 is significant since, in the context of Isaiah, the one whose way is prepared is YHWH Himself. John implies, then, that he is
1 John 5:14-15, ‘And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have (or ‘are having’) the requests that we have asked of Him.’ The Passage
Exodus 33:20, ‘…you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.’ Isaiah 50:6, ‘I hide not my face from disgrace and spitting.’ No human being can see the face of God and live. This is the reason that YHWH hides Moses in the cleft of the rock on Sinai when He
Exodus 33:20; Isaiah 50:6 Read More »
Isaiah 57:15, ‘For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’’
Numbers 16:45, ‘Get away *from the midst* of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.’ Numbers 16:47-48, ‘So Aaron…ran *into the midst* of the assembly…he put on the incense [onto his censer] and made atonement for the people.’ And he stood between the dead and the living…’ In Hebrew, the same word
Numbers 16:45, 47-48 Read More »
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,
