Easter
Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem: The unexpected way of salvation
Matt 21:1-11 As I mentioned elsewhere on this blog, my father was barred from entering university by the Communist regime back in 1950s’ Hungary. Every year for fifteen years, he sat the entrance exam with success but failed in the…
Who is Messiah: Jewish and Christian expectations
Isa 9:2-7; Zech 9:8-10 As we are approaching Easter, I am interrupting our study of Habakkuk to engage with questions relating to what Jesus came to achieve and the various expectations around it. As Christians, we look to Jesus as…
How to understand the sign of Jonah (Matt 12:38-42)
Matt 12:38-42 Knowing that I believed in God, a classmate in school challenged me, ‘Tell God to appear to me and I will believe in Him’. God, however, is not at our beck-and-call to come running, as if we were…
The path to life (Psalm 16)
Psalm 16:1-11 This psalm is used both by Peter at Pentecost and Paul later (Acts 2:27-33; 13:34-39) to support the idea that Messiah had to die and be raised to life again, thus it is an appropriate passage to reflect…
Remember what He told you! (Luke 24:1-12)
Luke 24:1-12 A girl in my youth group wished she had lived in Jesus’ time and could have met Him in the flesh. I suspect we can all relate to that desire. How much better it would be if we…
Where do we stand? What do we see? (Luke 23:44-49)
Luke 23:44-49 If one googles ‘optical illusions’, there is usually a drawing of a woman among the images. Some see her as young with her head turned away, others as old and in profile. Most notice one or other of…
Moving from despair to hope (Ps 22:21-31)
Ps 22:21-31 When we are miserable and the world looks bleak, moving from despair to hope seems impossible. It is what the disciples must have felt looking at Jesus dying on the cross. In our lives too, when God’s power…
No fair-weather faith (Psalm 22:1-21)
Ps 22:1-21 Many non-Christians think of religion as a crutch. ‘How wonderful that you have faith to comfort you’, they say, as if faith were a magic pill that took the pain away. The truth is though that it can…
The Suffering Servant III. (Isaiah 53)
Between Good Friday and Easter Monday, we have had ample opportunity to reflect on what Jesus had achieved for us in His suffering, death and resurrection. As we move into the post-Easter period, the question remains what the implications of…
The Suffering Servant II. (Isa 52:13-15; Isa 53:10-12)
Isa 52:13-15; Isa 53:10-12 As we celebrate Easter and remember that Jesus has overcome death and rose again, I want to continue our reflections on the Suffering Servant, which sets out the pattern fulfilled by Jesus. As we look at…