“You Know Him?”
“You know him?”
It’s a cry from her heart, a cry of holy jealousy, of longing. It’s as if she says, “Wait! You two have met him? You walk with him? You’ve seen him heal? Heard him preach? Had your lives changed because of him? You are his friends? You know him? I want to know him too!”
When was the last time someone asked me that? When was the last time someone asked you that?
Rescued from the Tyrant’s House
What’s the big deal about baptism? Why do we do it? Isn’t it just some empty ritual? To answer that, it might be helpful to turn to Colossians 1:13. Paul writes, “He [God the Father] has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.”
Let’s Run
As I prayed with these words from Luke earlier this week, however, the line the Lord italicized and bolded for me was this one, “Let us go over to Bethlehem.” Given the familiarity I just confessed to, I oftentimes simply stumble into Bethlehem rather than journeying to Bethlehem, intentionally as did the obedient and attentive shepherds. Some translations of this passage tell us that the shepherds not only left for Bethlehem but that they ran!
What’s In a Name?
Some years ago, Archbishop Vigneron of Detroit shared something about the name “Emmanuel” that I have never forgotten.