“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
— Hebrews 3:15
Entering Through Christ (Luke 7:36-8:3)
“…God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. …while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son…”
—Romans 5:8, 10
Fully God and Fully Man (Luke 7:11-17)
“Following, then, the holy Fathers, we all unanimously teach that our Lord Jesus Christ is to us One and the same Son, the Self-same Perfect in Godhead, the Self-same Perfect in Manhood; truly God and truly Man…
One and the Same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten; acknowledged in Two Natures unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the difference of the Natures being in no way removed because of the Union, but rather the properties of each Nature being preserved, and both concurring into One Person… not as though He were parted or divided into Two Persons, but One and the Self-same Son and Only-begotten God, Word, Lord, Jesus Christ…”
— The Chalcedonian Definition, 451 AD
Components of Exemplary Faith (Luke 7:1-10)
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
— The Letter to the Hebrews
Proclaiming the Lord’s Death Until He Comes (1 Corinthians 11:17-34)
“When God’s Son took on flesh, he truly and bodily took on, out of pure grace, our being, our nature, ourselves. This was the eternal counsel of the triune God. Now we are in him. Where he is, there we are too, in the incarnation, on the cross, and in his resurrection. We belong to him because we are in him. That is why the Scriptures call us the Body of Christ.”
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is in the Manger, December 30
Remember, Listen, and Eat (1 Corinthians 10:1-22)
“How are we supposed to be able to help those who are without joy and courage, if we ourselves are not borne by courage and joy? What is meant here is not something made or forced, but something given and free. With God there is joy, and from him it comes down and seizes spirit, soul, and body. And where this joy has seized a person, it reaches out around itself, it pulls others along, it bursts through closed doors. There is a kind of joy that knows nothing at all of the pain, distress, and anxiety of the heart. But it cannot last; it can only numb for a time. The joy of God has gone through the poverty of the manger and the distress of the cross; therefore it is invincible and irrefutable.”
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is in the Manger, December 28
How Do We Discern the Body? (Exodus 24:12-18)
“The Word has become flesh! It has become flesh never to be separated from that flesh again! Not even presently on the Throne. ... The Word having become flesh creates therewith the real possibility that this Child takes your place and that this Child of flesh and blood saves, reconciles, and glorifies you, made of flesh.”
— Abraham Kuyper
The Origin & the Product of Joy (Exodus 19:1-6)
“I will underline the quality common to the three experiences; it is that of an unsatisfied desire, which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction. I call it Joy, which is here a technical term and must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and from Pleasure. Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic, and one only, in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again. Apart from that, and considered only in its quality, it might almost equally well be called a particular kind of unhappiness or grief. But then it is a kind we want. I doubt whether anyone who has tasted it would ever exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. But then, Joy is never in our power, and pleasure often is.”
— C. S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy
What Happens in the Wilderness? (Exodus 15:22-27)
“… [I]t begins with a grumbling mood, and yourself still distinct from it: perhaps criticising it. And yourself, in a dark hour, may will that mood, embrace it. Ye can repent and come out of it again. But there may come a day when you can do that no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticise the mood, nor even to enjoy it, but just the grumble itself going on forever like a machine.”
— C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
God Leads, Protects, and Saves His People (Exodus 14:1-4)
“And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.”
—Genesis 1:6-10
Quisque iaculis facilisis lacinia. Mauris euismod pellentesque tellus sit amet mollis.