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Luke 2:1-14

23 Feb
The above image is called “The Glorious Form” and was created by Chris Stoffel Overvoorde. It is from Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups by Ned Bustard.

2 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.

6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
    and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

Luke 2:1-14

Dear God, this image created by Overvoorde has so much going on. And I don’t understand all of the imagery. I probably should, and I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t get it all, but he certainly put a lot in here. From the outside of the image and going in.

There are 24 people watching. Hold it, wait. I’m remembering something about 24 people in Revelation. I think I prayed about that a few weeks ago. Let me read the description Bustard has for this image. In this case, I think I probably need it to get where the artist wants me to go… Okay, I’m back. Yes, there were 24 elders in Revelation 19, as well as four beasts. So, for Overvoorde, I think all past, present, and future are present to you. You are “I am.” Sow we have the beasts and elders of Revelation. We have doves that I’m going to assume are the Holy Spirit. We have Jesus–you–in-utero. Being nurtured and developed through an umbilical cord. Fully divine (Holy Spirit impregnation). Fully human (grown by a woman’s body).

Bustard quotes Bono of U2 as part of his description. I’ll put the Bono quote here: “The Christmas story has a crazy good plot with an even crazier premise–the idea goes, if there is a force of love and logic behind the universe, then how amazing would it be if that incomprehensible power chose to express itself as a child born in shit and straw poverty?”

Father, this is an amazing story. And it has amazing people. I come to you this morning to lean into just how incomprehensible it is. You are God. You have everything. You love us. You came to us. You keep coming to us. You are the father of the Prodigal Son. You are the Prodigal Father. It is amazing that you care. That you came. That you taught. That you are so loving. And now as I go to teach the Sunday school class this morning on Joseph, create a clean heart in me. And renew my spirit. Fill me with your Spirit. Help me to inspire others to learn more about you. Inspire me to learn more about you. To hunger for you. To need you. I need you, Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. I need you.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 23, 2025 in Luke, Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups

 

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Malachi 4 (The Birth of John Foretold)

22 Nov

The above image is from Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups compiled by Ned Bustard. The Image is called “Intertestamental Angel” and was created by Matthew Clark.

4 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, “The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw. They will be consumed—roots, branches, and all.

2 “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. 3 On the day when I act, you will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

4 “Remember to obey the Law of Moses, my servant—all the decrees and regulations that I gave him on Mount Sinai for all Israel.

5 “Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. 6 His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

Dear God, I was wanting to tap into something more artsy this morning as I prayed to you. I was listening to some secular country music as I showered, and sometimes something in those songs will touch me, but nothing was hitting. Just a lot of sad people in broken relationships. Why do I like those songs so much when I am in a joyous marriage? I don’t know. Perhaps they tap into that insecure boy who grew up listening to them all those years ago. My wife and I have a joke that I like drinking songs, but I don’t drink. It’s a hazy mystery that a therapist could probably help me unlock.

Anyway, I sat down at this desk this morning, and I saw one of my favorite artistic scriptural resources. I found this book years ago at a retreat at Laity Lodge. I have found a lot of value in looking at an artist’s rendition of a Bible story and then looking to see what she or he displayed in their art that I might have missed in my own reading.

So this morning, as I prepare for Advent, I was drawn to this passage and art from Malachi. It’s the last communication the Protestant Bible gives us before John and Jesus will be born 400 years later. First, let me stop and think about that. It was 404 years ago the Puritans landed at Plymouth Rock. So it’s easy to look back over 2,000 to 2,500 years and put 400 years into perspective, but when I zoom in and think of our own time, 400 years ago is 1624 A.D. Four hundred years from now is 2424 A.D. That’s a lot of time to pass between messages from you. I measure time in days, weeks, and months. You measure it in years, decades, and centuries. A thousand years truly is as a day to you! It’s amazing this book from Malachi was even kept and remembered that long.

With all that said, I want to spend a little time preparing for Jesus. Preparing for this Christmas season. The Lent I spent with you in the spring was a special time. Advent should probably be the same.

Matthew Clark’s image of the “Intertestamental Angel” is seemingly pretty simple. Let me see if there is anything remarkable I can pull from his rendition of this story:

  • Angels. I forget about angels all of the time. One of the country songs I did hear this morning that made me think about you was “Broken Halos” by Chris Stapleton. He mentioned angels coming down “to help us on our way.” It made me think of the Nancy French book Ghosted: An American Story when she described her in-laws praying for her infant son in the NICU, and asking for an angel to guard him. Later, when he was about three years old, before they had told him about his time in the NICU as an infant, he told her over breakfast about a dream he had of himself in a bubble, alone and reaching for a pacifier that was just out of reach. He was describing her memory of his NICU incubator. But then he said he wasn’t alone. Buzz Lightyear was there…well, not Buzz, but he was big like Buzz. And he was comforting him and telling him he wasn’t alone. The angel was, indeed, there. I just got chills even typing this again. Oh, Father, how I humbly worship you.
  • Wings.
  • The halo around the angel that a lot of Catholic art uses to represent someone is at least a saint.
  • The angel has his arm extended, but we cannot tell if he is pointing, directly, calming.
  • Clark has represented the fire of judgment behind the wings. Is the angel’s arm dividing those who go there and those who don’t?

Bustard’s description of the image:

The fires of judgment are burning hotter than in Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace, but the healing wings of the angel are extended to offer protection for those who fear the Lord. This print is one half of a diptych, and with its other half form one work of art to help convey the idea that the Old and New Testaments form one story.

As I read back over the passage, verse 6 is interesting, and I wonder what it really means:

6 His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

This could be as simple as familial parents and children, but this feels more generational to me in this context. Respecting the faith and life of those who came before me in the faith. Living my life so that I might use it for what you need the future generations to have from it.

Father, Advent is coming. Jesus is coming. Prepare my heart for it this season. Fill me with love. Fill me with joy. Fill me with celebration. There is so much to do over the next six weeks. It is my busiest season at work. But it is also my biggest opportunity to love others well. To let your love flow through me. Help me to do that, oh, Lord! Help me to love you well.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 22, 2024 in Malachi

 

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Colossians 2:8-14

06 Jul

The above image is called “Sacrament” by Richard Gaston and is from Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups, written and compiled by Ned Bustard.

8 Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. 9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. 10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

11 When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. 12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.

13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 2:8-14

Dear God, verse 8 really cuts me to the quick. I listen to a lot of things. I think a lot of thoughts that I think are high-sounding, but are likely nonsense. The truth is, I am dead because of my sin. I still have it in me. I am so sorry. But somehow you canceled the record of the charges against me. It reminds me of what I prayed a year ago about the “thank you/f*** you” scene from Ted Lasso, when Ted has a conversation with his mom and thanks for the good things she did for him, but blasts her for the negative. I thought about making my own set of lists for people in my life when I felt your Holy Spirit remind me that you have a similar list for me and I am adding to both sides of it every day. The good news is that you cannot see the f*** you list for me through Jesus’s blood, so if you can have that much grace for me how much more can I have for those who have offended me? Oh, thank you for forgiving me. I am here right now to repent and tell you I am sorry. I truly am.

As for why I picked this today, I am fascinated by this image. I decided when I sat down to thumb through Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups by Ned Bustard and see if anything struck me. I saw this seemingly simple image called “Sacrament” by Richard Gaston and it caught my eye. What could it mean?

Like most title of poems, which serve as a cypher to break the code of the imagery of a poem, I think the title here is the key for understanding what Mr. Gaston was showing: the body and the blood. The bread and the wine. Jesus sacrifice for me. In the Catholic church there are seven sacraments (baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance and reconciliation, anointing of the sick, holy orders, and matrimony), but no one can do them all. Two are mutually exclusive: holy orders and matrimony. As a non-Catholic going to a Catholic church with my wife, the only ones available to me are baptism, anointing of the sick, and matrimony. But for Catholics, the base foundational one after one is baptized–even before someone is confirmed–is the eucharist. Submitting to and taking in the sacrifice you made of your body and blood are the whole reason for every mass. Everything else is just there to support that one sacrament.

Here is what Bustard says about this image:

In this passage Paul sues the Greek words eucharistia (meaning “thanksgiving,” from which comes the word “eucharist”) and baptismo (meaning “I wash,” which was used in Jewish texts for ritual purification washings). During his earthly ministry Jesus instituted baptism–replacing the gender-based covenantal membership rite of circumcision–and the Eucharist. In this print either of these two sacraments seem to appear. The artist is either depicting the Spirit descending on the water, the minister raising his hands over the wine in consecration, or both.

I was tracking with Bustard until his last description. I didn’t see the minister raising his hands over the wine. I saw Jesus as the figure as the “body” and the cup, which he is standing in, as representing the blood. I can see where he might get the Holy Spirit coming down to the water, but I don’t see the minister raising his hands. I see Jesus. But I could be wrong. I’m likely wrong.

Father, I come to you this morning grateful for the sacrifice you made. I would like to think it’s a weird plan until I try to think of how else you should have done it. No, I have no problems with you or your plan at all. I am a small-minded fool. I was nowhere when you laid the foundations of the earth. My life is so little and so small. I’m just here to worship, bow down, and say that you’re my God.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 6, 2024 in Colossians, Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups

 

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Numbers 21:4-9

29 Jun
“Desert Serpents” by Tanja Butler as presented in Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups by Ned Bustard.

4 Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient with the long journey, 5 and they began to speak against God and Moses. “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?” they complained. “There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!”

6 So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died. 7 Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people.

8 Then the Lord told him, “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!” 9 So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!

Numbers 21:4-9

Dear God, before I get into praying about this passage, I want to just spend some time with this image. Is there anything here I can learn from Tanja Butler’s “Desert Serpents”?

  1. I see Moses holding his staff which is shaped like a shepherd’s crook. Is that right? Were all staffs that way? It’s not important, I suppose, but it reminds me of all of the images of Joseph in the stable with Mary and the baby Jesus that portray Joseph as holding a shepherd’s crook. Why?
  2. The serpents on the ground are mainly black while the serpent on the staff has much more white in it.
  3. Moses has his hand up towards the serpent and he is looking at the serpent.
  4. I’m trying to tell what that is behind Moses. Is it supposed to be a hut? A pile of hay? I’m not sure.
  5. The staff upon which the serpent is mounted looks a bit like a cross as we perceive the Roman crosses to look later in history.

Really, that’s about all that I’m noticing. Bustard points out in his commentary that later in 2 Kings 18:4, the Israelite king breaks destroys this very serpent because the Israelites had turned it into an idol. And of course, Jesus references this serpent in John 3:14-15 when he’s talking to Nicodemus and he compares himself with this life-saving serpent.

I think about human nature and our wont to complain. Our wont to take over our lives ourselves and abandon you. Our wont to only submit to you after we’ve come to the end of ourselves.

I was listening to an interview yesterday with John Dickson, an Australian who was comparing Christianity in the United States with Christianity in Australia 12 years ago. I’ve heard him before. He is where I got the line that Jesus gave us four tools and four tools only to impact our world because they are the only tools he used: prayer, service, persuasion, and suffering. One comment he made is that now that Christians are a minority in Australia they no longer have the option of political power and enforcing their will on the minority, so they are having to lean into these four tools. His perspective is that even with Christians still in the majority in the U.S., if we don’t limit ourselves to Jesus’s example and continue to push to politically force our will on the rest of the country, we will only hasten our decent into what Australia has become.

Father, the thing I need to be better at is persuasion. I need to first understand why I believe what I believe. I need to not just spout off opinions without thought, but to think through why I believe what I believe and then form those thoughts into coherent, legitimate arguments to persuade my neighbor. And if I lose, then I need to lose well and prepare harder for the next time, both in exploring why I believe what I believe and then articulating it in a good way. So help me to do that. Help me to be the man you need me to be in the lives of others. Help me to love well.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 29, 2024 in Numbers, Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups

 

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Galatians 5:16-26 – “Still Life with Fruit”

10 Feb
The above image is from Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups, written and compiled by Ned Bustard. The image is called “Still Life with Fruit” and was created by Kreg Yingst.

16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

Galatians 5:16-26

Dear God, as much as I love Galatians 5:22-23 about the “Fruits of the Spirit” I cannot believe I haven’t seen this image in Bustard’s book yet. But I have to tell you, before even reading anything about the image or studying the image too closely, the title that the artist, Kreg Yingst, gave it has my mind spinning: “Still Life with Fruit.”

Normally, a painting or photograph of a bowl of fruit is called a “still life.” So it would be called a “still life of fruit.” But Yingst subtly changed the of to with and it makes a big difference for me. Instead of the word “fruit” relating to the apple on the table or the painting on the wall behind the man in the picture, the fruit are the nine items Paul lists in Galtians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control. The “still life” portrayed in the image is the man. Him being an example of a “still life” is due to the Holy Spirit, as referenced by the dove outside the window descending, him studying your Word (presumably a Bible) laid out before him, and the “fruits” of the Spirit exuding from his hands. The man is making himself still and at the same time the Spirit is meeting him and making him even more still.

So that’s my take on the image. Let’s see what Bustard has to say. Bustard’s words:

Followers of God do not pick one fruit over another to exhibit in their lives. For example, a person may want to say they have faithfulness and joy but simply can’t muster forbearance and self-control. For the Christian, such selectiveness is unacceptable. The fruit of the Spirit is a unified process. Over time, a life truly lived in the Spirit will produce the fruit. Speaking of fruit, a title such as the one for this print generally refers to a picture like the one hanging over the man’s left shoulder. But this still life incorporates a man, a Bible, an apple, a cup of coffee, and a descending dove. These symbols (along wit the words protruding from the man’s fingers) suggest that a life of prayer, study, and waiting on the Spirit–that is, a still life–leads to a person becoming transformed into the Fruit that God desires.

So I think I got that one pretty close to the way Bustard saw it. That’s kind of affirming and refreshing. But the truth of the concept is the important thing.

Psalm 46:10 has this important pull quote from you:

“Be still, and know that I am God!
    I will be honored by every nation.
    I will be honored throughout the world.”

In the rest of the psalm, the psalmist(s) point out everything you are, but then he/they give us these words from you and they start with “be still.”

Father, it is hard sometimes for me to simply be still. And when I am still, I’m not really still. It’s a lazy still that uses distraction to check out the way some people use alcohol or drugs. So as I go into this day, give me the vision for the right kind of stillness, and the strength and self-discipline to embrace it. Let my life be a portrait of a “Still Life with Fruit.”

I pray all of this in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on February 10, 2024 in Galatians, Psalms, Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups

 

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1 Corinthians 6:15-7:6

27 Jan

The above image is from Revealed: A Storybook Bible For Grown-Ups by Ned Bustard. The Image is called “Psalm 1: Slow Dance“ and was created by Steve Prince.

15 Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! 16 And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.” 17 But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

18 Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. 19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

7 Now regarding the questions you asked in your letter. Yes, it is good to abstain from sexual relations. 2 But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.

3 The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. 4 The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.

5 Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 

1 Corinthians 6:15-7:6

Dear God, it’s interesting that Bustard paired this image with this passage since the passage is from 1 Corinthians and the image includes Psalm 1 in its title. For reference, Psalm 1 says:

1 Oh, the joys of those who do not
    follow the advice of the wicked,
    or stand around with sinners,
    or join in with mockers.
2 But they delight in the law of the Lord,
    meditating on it day and night.
3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
    bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
    and they prosper in all they do.

4 But not the wicked!
    They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.
5 They will be condemned at the time of judgment.
    Sinners will have no place among the godly.
6 For the Lord watches over the path of the godly,
    but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

Frankly, I initially feel like the image better fits with 1 Corinthians that Psalm 1, but let me spend some time with it and see what I see. So what do I see Mr. Prince showing me in his image?

  • The couple appears to be black. That seems intentional.
  • There is a crucifix on the wall. I suppose they are Catholic.
  • The way the wood floor is drawn makes me think the house is more of a shack.
  • I see a radio against the wall, and records underneath it, although I don’t see anything capable of playing the records. The record showing its title says, “Love.”
  • Although there is a lamp on the table, the light bulb hanging from the middle of the ceiling with a string as its switch is very prominent. Another indication the house is a shack.
  • They are barefoot. It does look like there are shoes coming out from under the bed or whatever that is on the left side of the image. I suppose they belong to one of the dancers.
  • It looks like the TV is on in the room through the open door and the news is playing.
  • The expressions of the couple could be interpreted in several ways. Perhaps all are correct. They seem tired and droopy. They also seem focused on each other. Blocking out the rest of the world, including the news.
  • A wedding picture that is presumably theirs is above the radio. They look dressed formally in the picture. If that is her, her hair is very different from the picture to the present.
  • There is a symbol I don’t understand on the man’s sleeve.

Going back to Bustard’s use of the 1 Corinthians passage here, this makes me think of commitment. They’ve come a long way since their wedding day. My wife and I were talking yesterday about how things always change from what a couple dreams their lives will be and how things actually turn out. It almost never works out like you think it will. Ours certainly hasn’t. There is disappointment. There are also pleasant surprises. No one sets out looking for pain, but pain will always come. And even if you brace yourself for it, you’re never ready for it when it hits. It can be hard. But there is a peacefulness that comes with this commitment to each other. The mutual submission Paul describes. We are not our own. We were bought with a price.

Now, let me look at what Bustard says about this piece. Here is what he says:

A married couple is dancing in their bedroom to a love song that is playing on their old stereo phonograph. In the next room a television is blaring, but separating them from the noise of the world is a wall bearing a symbol of their covenant vows and a symbol of the faith that covers their marriage. A sliver of the ceiling shows two intersecting barrel vaults forming a “groin vault.” The groin vault in this print symbolizes the pelvis regions of the couple’s bodies: the two complimentary vaults stabilize the building as the two complimentary pelvises stabilize the marriage. The wife is wearing a translucent negligee for their time of coming together. A runaway slave motif can be seen o the husband’s pajamas, symbolically alluding to the fact that–in spite of the great pain and separation African Americans have endured generation to generation–these two have still found love.

So I missed the whole pelvis vault thing, and I still can’t make out what he’s describing. And I didn’t know what that image was on the man’s sleeve, but now I do. Interesting.

Father, as I move into this day, you have given me a wife. You have given me a wife to not only love, but to make me a better man. To make me into the man you need me to be. So I give you this day, but I give this day to her as well. Thank you for this rich blessing in my life.

I pray all of this to you in Jesus’s name,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 27, 2024 in 1 Corinthians, Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups

 

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Mark 15:37-47 “The Descent from the Cross”

06 Jan

The above image is from Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups, written and compiled by Ned Bustard. The image is called “Descent from the Cross by Torchlight“ and was created by Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn.

37 Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

39 When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

40 Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph), and Salome. 41 They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there.

42 This all happened on Friday, the day of preparation, the day before the Sabbath. As evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was an honored member of the high council, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.) 44 Pilate couldn’t believe that Jesus was already dead, so he called for the Roman officer and asked if he had died yet. 45 The officer confirmed that Jesus was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. 46 Joseph bought a long sheet of linen cloth. Then he took Jesus’ body down from the cross, wrapped it in the cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone in front of the entrance. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where Jesus’ body was laid.

Mark 15:37-47

Dear God, the moments after Jesus’s death are some of the most precious to me because they represent the depths of misunderstanding and lostness for his followers and family, and the wicked delight of those who were threatened by him and killed him. Regarding Caiaphas and those with him, I wonder what the Passover was like for him over the next 24-36 hours. Did he feel convicted over what he had done? Was he afraid of what Jesus’s followers would do (as represented by him asking for guards for the tomb)? Or was it a time of celebration and calculated caution? I don’t know. I do know how Judas felt–guilt to the point of suicide.

What I do know is that the followers and Mary were devastated. Disillusioned, even. This wasn’t what they had dreamed of. This wasn’t what they thought about. Where was the kingdom James and John aspired to help Jesus rule from his right and his left (Mark 10:35-45)? Where was the power? Why was Rome still in charge? What would their standing now be in the church.

With that, I want to look at Rembrandt’s image and see what details he thought about as he pondered this story:

  • Someone is preparing a stretcher on which they can carry his body to the tomb.
  • It looks like they used a sheet to lower Jesus from the cross with someone on the ladder and someone catching him below. The person on the ladder almost looks like a woman with no facial hair and long hair, but I can’t be sure. After reading John’s account, I would think this is Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus (John 19:38-42), but I think Rembrandt had another picture of this.
  • The person on the far right of the image has a special hat so I am assuming this is a Pharisee. Perhaps Caiaphas.
  • There is someone down below the man holding Jesus to the right. It looks like he is ready to help should the man holding Jesus lose his balance.
  • There are faint images of others behind the man preparing the stretcher. I assume these are just onlookers.
  • There is the man holding the torch. This is a unique thought. I don’t think anyone ever thought about the need for light. I would actually assume it wasn’t dark yet because they had to get the body down before sundown for the Passover (that’s why the broke the legs of the other two and put a spear into Jesus’s side (John 19:31-34), but because the Sun wasn’t down yet doesn’t mean they didn’t need a little more light.
  • Now here’s the big one I noticed this morning that I’ve never thought of: The man on the other side of the cross from the man with the torch. He’s on the very edge of the image, and he’s holding a hammer. That’s when I looked to see that one of Jesus’s feet is still nailed to the cross and the man with the hammer is banging it out from the other side. Perhaps one of the feet tore off of the spike as they removed him, but they couldn’t get the other one off without banging it out. I had never thought about removing the spikes before, but Rembrandt must have as he pictured this image in his mind.

Here is the commentary Bustard gave for this scene and story:

One single torch illuminates the extinguished Light of the World. Joseph of Arimathea lays out a white shroud as others struggle to remove Christ’s broken body from the Cross, while one figure still reaches out towards the Savior: But he is not alone. What at first seems to be a very lonely scene upon further inspection fills with a crowd of onlookers and mourners. All their hope is lost for the present, but joy will come on Sunday morning. “We are told that Christ was killed for us, that his death has washed out our sins, and that by dying he disabled death itself. That is the formula. That is Christianity. That is what has to be believed.” –C.S. Lewis.

The only thing I would add to Bustard’s description is that their “hope” and expectation was wrong. They wanted the wrong thing. They wanted what you didn’t want. And you knew better than to give them what they wanted.

Father, you know better than to give me what I want too. I was thinking earlier today about some regrets I have–especially as a parent. There is one decision I made that was the best one I knew to make at the time and was done with an earnest heart, but I would love to change it and have gone down another road. But I started wondering what the unintended consequences of that would have been. As much as I don’t like some of my current circumstances, would the alternative have been even worse? There is obviously no way for me to know this, but that’s where I have to not look back or even forward, but keep myself in this moment. This moment is my reality, and this moment is the one that interfaces with you. Not the past. Not the future. So I offer this moment to you. I worship you. I give you my heart and ask that you would redeem the mistakes I’ve made. Heal those harmed by them, including myself. Let your life and fruit live in and grow out of me.

I pray all of this in your holy, Triune name: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on January 6, 2024 in Mark, Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups

 

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The Mockery of Baal – 1 Kings 18:25-40

28 Dec
The above image is from Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups written and compiled by Ned Bustard. The image is called “Prophets of Baal” and was created by Diego Jourdan Pereira.

25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “You go first, for there are many of you. Choose one of the bulls, and prepare it and call on the name of your god. But do not set fire to the wood.”

26 So they prepared one of the bulls and placed it on the altar. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noontime, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no reply of any kind. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.

27 About noontime Elijah began mocking them. “You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed, “for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!”

28 So they shouted louder, and following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out. 29 They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no response.

30 Then Elijah called to the people, “Come over here!” They all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down. 31 He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel, 32 and he used the stones to rebuild the altar in the name of the Lord. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold about three gallons. 33 He piled wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood.

Then he said, “Fill four large jars with water, and pour the water over the offering and the wood.”

34 After they had done this, he said, “Do the same thing again!” And when they were finished, he said, “Now do it a third time!” So they did as he said, 35 and the water ran around the altar and even filled the trench.

36 At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. 37 O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”

38 Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”

40 Then Elijah commanded, “Seize all the prophets of Baal. Don’t let a single one escape!” So the people seized them all, and Elijah took them down to the Kishon Valley and killed them there.

1 Kings 18:25-40

Dear God, I whenever I use these images from Ned Bustard’s book Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-ups, I start with the image, but today I want to start with Elijah’s prayer to you. Why did he do all of this? He did it for your glory. “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. 37 O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”

I wonder how much more I should be calling on you to prove your existence to those who do not believe. How much more should I be taking you to them and letting them know about the God who loves them and wants the best for them? I should probably be more mindful of doing this.

Now, as for the image, this is a difficult one for me to see what’s going on. I seethe bull in the bottom right. I see the sun overhead. I see bearded faces in the background. And I see a man in the foreground, but, honestly, I can’t tell if he is Elijah or one of the prophets of Baal working in vain. I haven’t read the description of the image until now, but I’ll go ahead and read it. Okay, so Bustard didn’t interpret the image, but instead talked more about the story in his description. But in the description, he quotes D.A. Carson: People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith…we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, this is a reminder to me to not drift, but to be bold. As I experience vacation this week, there is certainly a tendency to “drift” towards lethargy. But there is so much to do in your name. Whether it is ensuring my heart is pursuing you and loving you with everything it has or loving on others in your name, there is work to be done. So help me to do this work today. Help me to do it in great faith. Be glorified through my little life.

I pray all of this in the joy of my reconciliation to you through Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on December 28, 2023 in 1 Kings, Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups

 

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1 Timothy 2

29 Jul
This image is from Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups compiled by Ned Bustard. The image is called “Eve with Fruit” and was created by Tanja Butler.

2 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. 5 For,

There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. 6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone.

This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. 7 And I have been chosen as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about faith and truth. I’m not exaggerating—just telling the truth.

8 In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy.

9 And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. 10 For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do.

11 Women should learn quietly and submissively. 12 I do not let women teach men or have authority over them. Let them listen quietly. 13 For God made Adam first, and afterward he made Eve. 14 And it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result. 15 But women will be saved through childbearing, assuming they continue to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty.

1 Timothy 2

Dear God, I have to say, this is a tough one for me, starting with verse 11. Paul was so good with women and liberating to them. Jesus was the same. That’s what makes 1 Timothy 2:11-15 really hard for me. That and the fact that I know so many women who have something to teach me. Locally, my favorite preacher I’ve heard in town is a woman. She is the associate pastor of a church, but if I ever happen to visit on a day when she is preaching it is a good thing. I like her.

And I have to say, Paul blaming Eve for the fall back in the garden seems a little harsh too. Was Adam not there? Not a part of it? I just stopped this prayer to go and grab a biblical commentary written by Gary Demarest. He leaned into the idea of supporting women in leadership and confining Paul’s words to Timothy’s specific situation where he was serving and not women overall. He used Paul’s words in support of women serving and playing a major part in Christianity in other books such as Romans and Philippians to back that up. Overall, I don’t think Paul thought we would be still reading this specific letter he was writing to Timothy 2,000 years later.

With all of that said, what is this image of Eve created by Tanja Butler and what did she see in this story that she put down through this image? Frankly, it is hard for me to make a lot out in this image.

  • I see Eve with long hair cascading over her body. She appears to have not clothes, so this is “pre-fall.”
  • She is looking up as if looking at the fruit in the branches of the tree.
  • I see leaves and round items that I assume are the fruit she eats.
  • It looks like her hands are clasped together, but I don’t think she has a piece of the fruit yet. I think she’s just eyeing it longingly.
  • I’m surprised that I don’t see the serpent or Adam. I think Butler has her alone in this moment. I assume Satan has done his work and left her to sit with her temptation. Adam isn’t there to talk through it with her. It’s just her and the fruit. I’ve had that loneliness with temptation before. Just me, alone, longing to do something I shouldn’t do.

Bustard has an interesting take on the Adam and Eve story in his commentary on this passage and piece of art:

In a perfect world the only perfect and sinless woman that ever lived was fed the first lie…[ellipses his] and she bit. In the Garden of Eden, while sitting under the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Eve was tricked. On the other hand, her husband was not taken in. Adams broke the Law knowingly. And he was punished for his disobedience. But that was not the end of it. Since Adam was the representative for all of humanity, his wife and all of their children were also punished for his sin in perpetuity. Part of the punishment was that both Adam’s labor and Eve’s labor were saddled with pain. As men and women have complementary gifts, they also have complimentary cursings. yet there is hope. Paul says that even in spite of the conditions of the curse (like the dangers of childbirth), the descendants of Even and Adam will be saved–if they continue on in the faith.

Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups, page 242.

Father, I think for me and this image, what is sticking with me is the solo image of Eve struggling with temptation. As I said, I’ve been alone with temptation before, whether in my office at work thinking through options to a problem, to being at home and wanting to do things that might satisfy my own desires and/or addictions. I guess this gives me a fresh look at the words, “And lead me not unto temptation, but deliver me from evil.” I offer that to you as my prayer this morning.

I pray this through the grace you offer me in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 29, 2023 in 1 Timothy, Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups

 

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1 Corinthians 5:9-11, 6:9-11

22 Jul

The above image is from Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups compiled and written by Ned Bustard. The image is called “The Monkey and the Bride” and was created by Ned Bustard as well.

1 Corinthians 5:9-11, 6:9-11

9 When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10 But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer[j] yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.

9 Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, 10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. 11 Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Dear God, I read this passage and then I spent some time looking at this image. What did I see?

  1. A woman bent over
  2. A monkey riding on her back as if riding a horse and using her hair as reins (the monkey is holding a banana with his/her tail for good measure)
  3. I see a broken piggybank below her
  4. There is some kind of portrayal of a round man next to the piggybank. Is this gluttony? A false god? Not sure, but it doesn’t seem good
  5. Is that a church in the backgroud, down the road? The Holy Spirit fire coming out of the top?
  6. Certainly, there is a dove representing the Holy Spirit (triangle for Trinity) offering the woman a crown

One thing I didn’t notice without Bustard’s description of the piece is that the woman is “bruised and battered by the ravaging effects of sin.” Isn’t it funny that the part of me that is still sexist expects the sinful person to be portrayed as a man and not a woman. I just don’t think about women being in sin as much as men. For example, when I think of alcoholics, I think of men and not women. My wife visits a treatment center for women once a month, and when she first started doing it I was just having a harder time thinking about the women being so flawed. What it is about me that sees men as much more flawed and sinful than women? Is it my knowledge of myself and knowing how awful I can be? How awful men can be?

Regardless, there is the Holy Spirit in the bottom of the picture, positioning himself where the woman can see him. Not flying in from above, circling the woman. Not waiting over by the church. No, Bustard put the Holy Spirit on the ground, right below her, right in her line of sight, offering her the crown that you offer to all of us and a path to your community (the church). Will she accept? Will she reject the monkey, confess the things that bring her shame and then move towards your peace? Or will she continue to walk on by, rejecting the Holy Spirit’s offer?

Father, this is the part when I try to put myself in the woman’s place. What monkeys are riding me and using my hair as reins to control me? Are they the sins of sexual immorality, greed, or idolatry? Maybe it’s the sins of lethargy and self-indulgence. Even today, I’ve had all day to spend with you, but I waited until a slow moment in the afternoon–after 4:00pm–to break from my own selfish agenda and discipline myself to sit here. But I am here now. I’m sorry it took me so long to get here. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for nudging me and bringing me in here. Thank you for the freedom you offer me from the monkeys/demons that want to destroy me and steal the joy you have for me. Thank you for…well, everything.

I pray all of this through the grace of Jesus,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 22, 2023 in 1 Corinthians, Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups

 

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