With one word, he declared the gospel, comforted our restless hearts, and silenced the threat of death. With one word he defeated our fears of inadequacy, of never being enough, of hopelessness and of eternal separation. He ushered in life and offered freedom. As he was dying, he knew exactly what he was doing and exactly what he was saying.
The ultimate redemption in Christianity is Christ’s sacrifice – described really eloquently in Hebrews 9. But even within the Christian faith, the depth and complexity of redemption find their origins far earlier than Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
While the depth of grief experienced varies widely from one person to the next, it is remarkably democratic in its presence across the spectrum of humanity. We all experience grief to some extent – some of us more than others. But what do we do with it? Where do we put it? On occasions where grief’s downpour overcomes our capacity to contain it, how do we enlarge our soul to hold grief’s waters?
“Meditate” is used 23 times in scripture, and all but one are in the Old Testament. Let’s build an understanding of the author intent! Let’s pursue a greater understanding of God’s Word to us… I believe He honors this effort.
So, over the next few months, we’re going to work through some language used in scripture together, using it as a springboard to explore the Bible more deeply. We’ll look at a few words, and might even get into some wordplay and passage-level study. I encourage you to join in and apply what we do to your own study. My hope is that you’ll discover layers of biblical epiphany that stretch on (wait for it) indefinitely.