Biblical Thoughts

    As Jesus passed by Jericho, there was a blind man who shouted out Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me (Luke 18:38). A blind man addressing Jesus as son of David is as startling as ever. Neither the learned Pharisees, the Jewish priestly class, the Roman elite, nor those who witnessed his miracles could recognize who Jesus was. Here we have a blind man who had no physical vision possessing unimaginable knowledge of who Jesus was. How could this blind man address Jesus by his Messianic and prophetic title “son of David?” God had spoken to David “When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever (2 Samuel 7:12-13). Jesus came from the tribe of Judah same as David, and his kingdom is eternal and timeless. This prophecy is fulfilled through Jesus. ...

  Faith is the assurance of things hoped for (Heb 11:1). So then fear is the assurance of things dreaded for.   Faith is the assured conviction of the unseen we hope for, fear is the assured conviction of the unseen we dread for. Faith is borne out of our dependence in God’s faithfulness. Fear is borne out of our dependence in Satan’s unfaithfulness. Faith takes you beyond the visible, while fear traps you within the visible. Faith propels you into the unknown, while fear fills you with fear for the unknown. Faith pulls you out of the cage of circumstances; fear keeps you bound. Faith emerges from the ashes; fear burns and bleeds in the ashes. Faith builds imagination, fear kills it. Faith is faithful, fear is fearful. Faith drives you into your future, fear holds you in the past. Faith creates the future, fear destroys it. Faith releases, fear restricts. Faith set you free into the freedom in Christ, but fear sets you into slavery to satan. Faith is God-confiden...

    Esau had fallen out of the covenant as he traded his precious covenantal birthright for a bowl of soup. Later he picked his wives from the pagan world (Gen 36:3) much to the disappointment and disagreement of Isaac and Rebekah. He mixed his blood with the pagan’s. He even married his cousin Basemath who was the daughter of Ishmael (Gen 36:3) who himself was driven out of the home of promise by Abraham and Sarah. As we read through Genesis, we chance upon chapter 36 which is exclusively kept for the descendants of Esau. It happens precisely after the burial of Isaac in chapter 35. Why was one chapter of Genesis devoted to Esau by the Providence? Did the author plan to bring a focus on Esau before he loses his presence among the descendants of Jacob, the children of promise? What do we learn from this chapter full of antique names? What is its significance?     When Rebekah found the twins struggling in the womb, she reached out to God and the Lord said to he...

  There are many lessons to be learnt from Paul’s final sea voyage to Rome which turned out to be a major disaster due to crew’s disobedience to God’s word and yet a salvage due to God’s grace. This voyage tells how God sustains a fallen world through his people though they remain a thin minority. It tells how much leadership Godly people can demonstrate in a hostile world if they are led by the Spirit from the example of Paul. Paul was undergoing a trial under procurator Felix after Jews accused him of being a ringleader of the sect of Nazarenes and stirring up riots among them (Acts 24:5). The case dragged on for more than two years. Festus who replaced Felix did not declare his innocence to please the Jews though no charges could be proven. Meanwhile Paul made an appeal to be tried before Caesar. Festus consented as Paul was a Roman citizen and was taken to Rome for a trial. A centurion named Julius was given the charge to escort him to Italy. Paul was accompanied by Luke as...

    Faith and Unbelief go hand-in-hand if unbelief remains unchecked. Many believers fall into this habit of living in faith and unbelief at the same time without being aware of it. This is a state in faith life which can turn a believer ineffective in their faith journey. This is a trick played by Satan from the days of Jesus where he keeps a person free from guilt of not having faith yet fills him or her with unbelief for a given situation. Jairus came to meet Jesus and pleaded with him saying, “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her that she may be healed, and she will live”. So, Jesus went with him (Mark 5:23, 24). It is clear that Jairus had full conviction that Jesus could heal her even from the point of dying. So, he was a man of extraordinary faith. Jesus reciprocated to his faith by deciding to go to his house. The decision of Jesus to go with him is enough to conclude that the life of his daughter is completely taken care ...

  Paul wrote to Corinthians famously; the letter kills but the Spirit gives life (2 Cor 3:4). Paul, who was once a student of Gamaliel writes that the law of Moses kills but the Spirit of God gives life. What led him to make such a bold declaration? Why did he decide to deny his whole Jewish background once he met with Jesus? The answers to these questions could best be found by studying the life of Paul besides his epistles. Paul was born in the cultural, commercial, cosmopolitan capital of the Roman province of Cilicia, Tarsus. He was born to the dispersed Jews who settled outside the Holy land. Tarsus equaled Athens in Greece and Alexandria in Egypt as a dominant center of education. All of them stood out like bright jewels around the shores of the magnificent Mediterranean Sea. Being situated at a cross junction of civilizations, Tarsus had traders and learned people bustling the streets where a young and aspirant Saul (Paul’s Hebrew name) grew up. Though he grew up in a ...

Bible begins with the expression “In the Beginning”. Fiction writers invented the expression “Once upon a time” and we read them in bedtime stories from childhood days. The expression “Once upon a time” suggests that according to the author the event happened at a certain point in time in history and is unsure when it happened. Such an expression also suggests there are events that have happened prior to this moment. If Bible began with an expression, ‘Once upon a time God created heavens and earth’, it would have led to the obvious question what God created prior to this moment. The expression “In the Beginning” refers to the very beginning of time. It was a point in time where time itself was introduced. It was a point in time where the Spiritual initiated the physical. Time is necessary for the physical world to function unlike the spiritual world which is not time bound. For them a thousand years is like a day (2 Pet 3:8) of ours. This expression was well endorsed by John...