Category Archives: Scripture

Once again we are in Advent. In a season of thinking about Christ’s coming – and looking forward also to the second Advent of Christ, when he will return. We do that in the midst of days that bring ever more alarming news of increased cost of living at home, and of brutal tyrants atContinue reading “Waiting…”

In Proverbs 31 the author asks the rhetorical question “a wife/woman of worth who can find?”, and the question begins a 22 verse poem about the “woman of worth” – one verse for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in which the author sketches out many different ways a wife in particular could show “worth”Continue reading “Ruth: Real worth”

In looking at Ruth, I’m not going to start chronologically – I think instead I will likely look through the eyes of each main character at least once if not more. I want to start with Boaz, because in many ways he is the most startling character in the book. I say that because inContinue reading “Ruth: Boaz and Real Strength”

The purpose of this blog is to be an encouragement to those in some sort of Christian ministry. We long for our home to be a space for those who are in Christian ministry to be able to come to in order to find a place of rest. But until such a time as thatContinue reading “Ruth I: “In the days when the judges judged…””

For Easter Sunday it is fitting to come to the final stanza of this servant song: Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,    and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,he will see his offspring and prolong his days,    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.11 After he has suffered,    he will see theContinue reading “The Satisfied Servant”

The next stanza of the song highlights the silence of the servant, and seems appropriate for Easter Saturday – the day between Friday and Sunday. He was oppressed and afflicted,    yet he did not open his mouth;he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,    so he did not open hisContinue reading “The Silent Servant”

With today’s stanza we come to the heart of this Servant Song. These verses are among the first that I underlined in my bible I had as a child. I can vividly remembering the impact that the idea that Jesus died for me, in my place, had on me – and indeed still has. HereContinue reading “The Substituting Servant”

As we move on in the song we come to this stanza: Who has believed our message    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,    and like a root out of dry ground.He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.3 HeContinue reading “The Suffering Servant”

I started off Lent blogging through Isaiah 42, intending to look at all the servant songs through Lent. That didn’t quite happen, but as we come towards Easter I thought it made sense to look at Isaiah 52:13-53:12, the final servant song. There are five stanzas to this song (we’d say verses if we wereContinue reading “The Startling Servant”

It has been a while, but I didn’t want to not do this one, since it is around the final lines of this servant song, which is all about the servant’s perseverance – and in particular the servant’s perseverance in bringing about justice. Read these lines again: 42 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,    my chosen one inContinue reading “The Servant’s Perseverance”