by His wounds

We were discussing the sea yesterday in class.  The sea is an odd thing in the Bible.  It is not inherently evil, but because of the corruption of Creation, it is defiant toward God's authority.  It is one of the most powerful and unpredictable forces in Creation, and because of this, the sea was always a place of mystique and fear for the ancient peoples, as it often is for us today.

And then something new happened.

A Man came, and He had the power with one word to calm a raging sea.  When He did this, His followers asked, "Who is this?"

Just look at the Bible.  Who is the One Who has power over the defiant sea?  Who is the One at Whose words it flees?  Who caused even the unwilling sea and its creatures to give up His servant Jonah?  It's the same One Who came as a man, calming angry seas, healing broken bodies, redeeming chained souls-- Jesus.  He knew the power He had; He Himself compared His death and resurrection to Jonah's time in the great fish.

"Listen to the Old Testament," my professor told us.  "The sea never takes God down.  Wait three days and you'll see that the sea, the grave, death, sin, never takes God down.  The resurrection of Christ is the greatest demonstration of God's creation plan."

We are powerless against the sea, against death, sin, the grave, but Jesus is not powerless.  His conquering, glorious resurrection proves His power.

And He reaches out in His power and mercy and love to free us.


He
is
risen.

know your name

I hate how people throw around the word "intimacy."  It's like throwing around the topic of sex, or the name of God-- like playing frisbee with fine china.

How on earth is one supposed to be known by another human if one has no idea who one is?
Even supposing that is possible and happens . . . how is one supposed to know that one is known?