Not purification but preparation. Jesus didn’t need any purification. His baptism wasn’t for his purification; rather, it was a sign of his dedication, his official consecration, if you will. His…
David in the desert of Judah: a dry, desolate place. Why was the favored one, the man after God’s own heart, in such a God-forsaken place? He was wanted, dead…
This purple season of Lent began in the early centuries of the church as a time of preparation and for refocusing upon our discipleship. That isn’t just for Lent. It…
Jesus emerges. He emerges from the bright, cool waters of the Jordan; he emerges from the hard, dark tomb. He reaches through the twilight of our confusion, our sorrow,…
Sometimes, to go forward, we have to go back. The first steps on the long journey to the cross, the tomb, and Easter take Jesus and us into the wilderness. …
We hear this list of names at the beginning of this third chapter of Luke’s account, and we probably don’t think much about it. There are so many lists of…