To say it broke my heart is to make it too light. It crushed me right into the ground. After Mary told me she was pregnant, I couldn’t do anything but cry my eyes out. I couldn’t face anyone. I love her so much. I thought she loved me too.

Psalm 115 begins with a perfect prayer, an expression of humility that should be the start of any study or any work undertaken in the Lord’s service:  “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” (verse 1) Perfect.  Whatever is going to follow, it is begun with the absolutely right attitude.

At this time of year, and generally only this time of year, we’re hearing bits of the wonderful music penned by George Frideric Handel, in his Messiah oratorio. If nothing else, we’re hearing the “Hallelujah” chorus and the “Unto Us a Child is Born” chorus.

A tiny moment of inattention can change everything in an instant. A few days ago, I was driving on a narrow mountain road. I lost concentration for a moment, and did not realize I was drifting toward the sheer rock wall to my right. Didn’t realize, that is, until the front wheel struck a fallen rock at the foot of the wall. The loud bang that restored my attention was a combination of the front suspension being torn apart and all the airbags deploying. The car was totaled. Thanks to our heavenly Father, I and my two passengers were uninjured other than some bruising. It could have been so much worse.

These words of Jesus are very familiar. He spoke them at the “last supper”, the meal he shared with his disciples the evening before his death. But it wasn’t only a meal. It was the final teaching he was leaving with them to sustain them when he was condemned and executed. John devotes 5 full chapters to what he had to say that night. In the middle, he records Jesus saying this:

The disciples once asked Jesus, “Increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5) We all feel that way sometimes, don’t we? What do we think would do the job, to increase our faith? I think a lot of people feel like they would believe, if there was just some physical evidence. Some kind of sign—not something obscure, something tangible and unmistakable.

You’re familiar with Jesus’s encouragement not to worry about the future: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:34)

Yellow, gold, orange, red, and some remaining green. Where I live autumn is on full display. Whenever I have my eyes open, actually noticing what’s around me, seeing the Creator’s hand in what He has made, I am filled with awe. He built such incredible beauty into everything. Even in the leaves on the trees, turning so beautiful…as they die.

Cell phones are everywhere, at least almost everywhere. Billions of calls and messages cross the network hourly, and those voices and messages all go to the exactly correct device. In spite of many thousands of phones connected to any given tower, the system accurately knows where every bit of traffic is supposed to go, and it gets there—instantly.

Paul wrote his letter to the church in Philippi from prison in Rome. It was more of a house arrest than a prison as we might think of it, but still, he did not have freedom of movement and was under guard. Awaiting trial. He was pretty sure he would not be condemned to death. But still, the possibility of execution was real. If it were me in that situation, I might not feel a lot of joy. But he did. He wrote about it, and apparently really dwelt on it.

There are certain phrases that bring instant recognition, even though they appear only once. We know where they are, we know the context, we know what they mean. They resonate powerfully with us, they speak for us.

On two different occasions, Jesus said, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” (Matthew 12:39 and 16:4) Both times, it was in response to religious leaders; the first time they asked, and the second time they demanded, a sign to prove who he was.

What makes a shepherd? Not a trick question – what makes a person a shepherd is that he or she takes care of sheep. No sheep, not a shepherd.

Here’s a hypothesis: The miracles Jesus did were previews of the Kingdom, and/or parables of the Kingdom no less than the spoken parables. Let’s kick this around and see if it holds up. Here are two occasions when (it seems to me) Jesus plainly states that it’s true.

What portion of our lives is given to things that don’t last, things that are gone in a few years, or gone next year, or gone tomorrow? A lot, I’m guessing. Over 90%? 95%? 98%?

You’ve read these verses any number of times. Take a look at them again—in fact turn them up and read the full context. Jesus is the speaker in all these: “Be like men who are waiting for their master to come home… You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Luke 12:35-40)

In the Tabernacle, built by Moses at the Lord’s command, a veil (or curtain) separated the Holy place from the Most Holy. The priests went regularly into the Holy—to offer incense, to tend the golden lampstand, to lay out the “bread of the presence”. But the Most Holy, which contained the Ark of the Covenant, was only entered once a year, only by the High Priest, only on the Day of Atonement. The details are found throughout Exodus and Leviticus.

Paul addresses his audience: “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours… “ (1 Corinthians 1:2)

Recorded for us are two parables of Jesus that deal with someone begrudging someone else. In the “Prodigal Son” (Luke 15:11-32), the older brother begrudges the welcome given to his returning brother. And in the “Laborers in the Vineyard” (Matthew 20:1-16), those hired early begrudge those hired later, for getting the same pay.

It’s the final evening before his arrest, trial and execution, and Jesus gives his disciples an intense class on what lies ahead for them—without him being physically present. It’s the longest conversation recorded in the whole Bible. He concludes the class with these words: “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) After that he prays for them (John 17), and then heads out to the Garden of Gethsemane.