The withdrawal of the King — part 3 40 blogs of Lent — day 4 At the end of this passage Jesus withdraws, devastated at the loss of a close relative and one of the few people who supported him. Killed on the whim of a corrupt political leader as a present for his step …
Author: balaam
I am married with one wife, three grown kids, one cat and no hair.
Herod and John — Matthew 14:1–5
The withdrawal of the King — part 2 40 blogs of Lent — day 3 In the previous passage in yesterday's blog post Jesus linked this narrative section on Jesus' Galilean ministry back to the previous Galilean section and also linked it forwards by introducing the question, "Who is Jesus?" to be answered at the …
We know who you are — Matthew 13:53–58
The withdrawal of the King — part 1 40 blogs of Lent — day 2 This is a new section of Matthew's gospel, each section except the last one contains a narative sevtion followed by a teaching section and starts with the words "when Jesus had finished this" or something very similar. This is the …
Lent 2021: The plan
Best laid plans... 40 blogs of Lent — day 1 Here we are, Lent, an ancient word for Spring, and a season of the Christian church which is used as a time of preparation for Easter, and which comes around in the late winter and takes us into mid spring, the 40 days signifying the …
God has lavished his grace on us in love
Radio Leeds andHoly Trinity Church, HuddersfieldSunday 14th February 2021 The 'Ruth' window in the north aisle at Holy Trinity, Huddersfield This week I received my Covid vaccination. The invitation came on Tuesday, two weeks to the day after I had received the negative result from my Covid test, I had the jab on Thursday after …
Let them know that you are the Most High over all the earth. — Psalm 83:18
Psalm 83 — Psalms of Asaph This is the last of Asaph's psalms, and it follows the same format as the previous one. It remembers God's protection in the past and like all prophesy calls for the faithfulness of God's people by at the same time pouring the people's laments and asking the people to …
Continue reading Let them know that you are the Most High over all the earth. — Psalm 83:18
Uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed — Psalm 82:3
Psalm 82 — Psalms of Asaph Jesus quoted verse 6 of this psalm. When accused by the Jewish leaders of blasphemy, calling himself Son of God made him equal with God, they said, Jesus pointed out that in this poem that judges are called gods. Welsh judgesmage from wikimedia commons Asaph had a long career. …
Continue reading Uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed — Psalm 82:3
Everything has to change
Holy Trinity Church, HuddersfieldSunday 7th February 2021 A window in the north aisle of Holy Trinity Huddersfield, depicting the story of Ruth A week of very little done. We started the week still isolating from my illness of the week before, and I still haven't been out. Checking up on this service, checking on Mark …
I heard an unknown voice — Psalm 81:5
Psalm 81 — Psalms of Asaph This is a prophetic song. The purpose of God's prophets was not to foretell the future, their job was to say what God is saying now to his people, the importance of the covenant relationship, God subduing aggressive neighbouring countries is part of the blessings of relationship in the …
Make your face shine on us — Psalm 80
Psalm 80 — Psalms of Asaph This is a very structured psalm five stanzas with a refrain after the first, second and last stanzas, which is what you would expect to a song written to an existing tune. There are other ways of translating the introduction, but that ‘The Lilies of the Covenant’ is an …
