Pastor's Page
Pairs at the Death of Jesus
Matthew 27:45-56 recounts the death of Jesus. Going through the text, Matthew seems to make an intentional use of pairs, whether of words or themes. I am not entirely sure what Matthew’s underlying purpose might be for this, though my first guess is that it acts as a symbolic “double” witness, establishing the veracity of ...
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Chiastic Structure of Matthew 27:27-31
In preparing for Sunday’s sermon on Matthew 27:27-44, the following structure for the first section of the text emerged:
A. The soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters (27).
B. Jesus stripped of his garments and clothed in a scarlet robe (28).
C. Jesus’ head crowned with thorns (29a).
...
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Dark Knight Trilogy Chiasm
Douglas Jordan came up with the following structure of the Dark Knight Trilogy, and, since he doesn’t have a blog, he gave me permission to reproduce it here. Due to significant formatting issues, I had to insert the chiasm as a JPEG, so my apologies regarding the clarity and the ongoing formatting issues below it. ...
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The Holy Innocents and Life
Today marks the Feast of the Holy Innocents, founded upon the bloody Christmas story recounted in Matthew’s Gospel:
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for ...
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Tiny Tim and Newtown
In Charles Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol, Ebeneezer Scrooge visits the Cratchit family with the Second Spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present. Bob Cratchit and his son, Tiny Tim, have just returned from church on Christmas Day, and Mrs. Cratchit asks, “And how did little Tim behave?” “‘As good as gold,’ said Bob, ‘and better. ...
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Peter’s Fall
In his comments on Peter’s denial of the Lord in Matthew 26:70, John Calvin remarks, “In short, as a bold and open confession edifies all the godly, and puts unbelievers to shame, so apostasy draws along with it the public ruin of faith in the Church, and the reproach of sound doctrine. The more eminent ...
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Quoting Calvin
From John Calvin’s comments on Matthew 26:56: “While all things are mingled in confusion, and while the devil, by spreading darkness abroad, appears to overturn the whole order of the world, let us know that the providence of God shines above in heaven, to bring at length to order what is confused; and let us, ...
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Music for Reformation Sunday
This Sunday is “Reformation Sunday” in Protestant circles, and one of the primary ways that we will celebrate the Holy Spirit’s work in the Church during this period is by the psalms and hymns that we will sing. Of course, Martin Luther is a central figure, not only for nailing his 95 Theses to the ...
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Autumn
The rake leans against the tree
Waiting for a pair of hands
To sweep fall’s confetti
Of oranges, yellows, and reds;
The sun’s frozen imprints.
Graceful embers tumbling
In the mischievous breeze,
Composing a burnished collage
Of winter’s prelude upon the ground;
Summer’s parade having passed....
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The Substance Is Come, and the Shadow Has Gone
Isaiah 65:17-19: For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. 19 I will rejoice ...
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