Christ Church Jerusalem

The story of Jesus silencing the storm not only tells us something essential about Jesus but also about his disciples - both ancient and modern. Like the disciples in the boat, our faith can be overcome by fear and can fail us during times of upheaval and uncertainty. At such times we can become offended by what we consider to be God’s lack of concern for us, just like those disciples being swampe...

The Nazirite vow is a bewildering tradition in Torah, seemingly appropriated by the era of the Judges in many odd ways. The foretold birth of Samson in Judges 13:2-25 gives us some clues as to how traditions had changed in the era without a prophet or king to guide Israelites in Torah-living.

The world is filled with terrors—disease, disasters, violence, and death, reminiscent of the trials faced since Adam and Eve. Psalm 116 acknowledges these fears but expresses unwavering trust in God’s deliverance. Paul, in II Corinthians 4:12-5:1, echoes this faith amidst persecution, driven by his belief in the resurrection of Jesus. Both the Psalmist and Paul remind us that our earthly struggles...

As the evangelical world rediscovers the Jewishness of Jesus, we enrich our understanding of His full human identity. But it can be difficult to understand his "Jewishness" in contrast to his contemporaries, most notably among the Pharisees. When we find him accused of breaking Torah (Mark 2), and when he criticizes Pharisaical practices in turn, we are thrown into the same confusing debate alongs...

IN THE WILDERNESS | Hosea 2:1-22 with John Arnold by Christ Church Jerusalem

MY LAWS | Jeremiah 16:19-17:14 with John Arnold by Christ Church Jerusalem

The celebration of Trinity Sunday gives us the opportunity to deepen our understanding of God and His saving work. It is so much more than the forgiveness of sin and justification. It also means healing and transformation, enabling us to put away our harmful individualism and self-interest and become the children of God, living with one another in a way that displays that holy life our Father shar...

Amidst some of the highest praise and evident joy in all of his writings, Paul in Romans chapter 8 guides us through Gospel resources in the face of suffering. He posits that our suffering is felt alongside Creation, and that the Holy Spirit Himself knows this suffering well and communicates it on our behalf to the Father. Readings: John 16:4-15; Romans 8:18-27

The Year of Jubilee is like a great reset for the children of Israel. Every 50 years, at the culmination of 7 cycles of the "Shabbat year," all land reverts back to its earliest family ownership. Debts are cleared, indentured servants are freed, and countless families' connection to their land is reestablished. Jeremiah relied on this teaching in Torah when he chose to purchase land from his cousi...

The Levites are a unique group within the children of Israel. They are a 13th tribe not allotted any territory and yet chosen to render eternal priestly service on behalf of their brethren. Ezekiel, Isaiah, and other prophets all envision the Levites persisting even into the New Creation and maintaining their unique identity in it. Who are they to us today?

Holiness is not built by good behaviors, but itself characterizes those who obey God's commands. Holiness, then, is not bought with righteous behavior; but without righteous behavior, there is no evidence of holiness, even where there should be. This is what Ezekiel sees and condemns.

The Ascension of our Lord is not an act of abandonment, but of commission. In John's Gospel, we are told that only after Christ's Ascension can we receive His promised Holy Spirit, Who empowers us to live out the calling he gave us. "Just as the Father sent me," Jesus says, "so I am sending you." May we ever seek to find Him present among us in Spirit, until the day we will see Him face to face. R...

Many people, even some Christians, think that the Old Testament is only about Law and the New Testament is Love. But the ancient revelation was not changed by Jesus or Paul, although our ignorance of the Hebrew Bible, and perhaps even some anti-Semitism prevents us from seeing the connection. God’s election of the people of Israel was an unmerited act of grace and love, and only then is Israel com...

Ezekiel is doubtless one of the harshest books of scripture, and this week's Haftara pairs with one of the harshest rituals in Torah: the double-sacrifice of a live goat and a scapegoat. This sacrifice on the Day of Atonement cleanses the people of both ritual and moral impurities. In it, we see the ancient connection between obedience and life; we also see the connection between disobedience and...

From the Fifth Sunday of Easter, this sermon draws parallels between Deuteronomy 4:32-40, John 15:1-8, and 1 John 4:7-21, emphasizing the profound significance of history and love in the context of faith in action–or faithfulness. Through Moses's words, listeners are urged to reflect on the unparalleled actions of God throughout history, contrasting His active involvement with the inactivity of fa...

At the very heart of the gospel is the story of Passover: that final night in Egypt when God completed His judgments against the rebellious Pharaoh and called His own people out into freedom. We often think of Christ's death through the lens of atonement for sins, but its coinciding with Passover tells us something else about the gospel–namely, that we are shielded from wrath and invited into peac...

The image of shepherds and shepherding in the biblical text stands in sharp contrast to the romantic pictures of fat sheep on luxuriant, green hillsides that we see in popular Christian culture. The biblical image, best reflected in Psalm 23, is set in the dangerous Judean wilderness with wild animals, “the valley of the shadow of death”; sporadic grass and rain which (even today) can suddenly tur...

Our current age, like all others that came before, is one full of trauma and death. And though both are such common realities, neither of them feel "normal" to us. They can render us illogical and reveal significant gaps in our faith. We see this well in the story of Thomas. The same Thomas who had claimed readiness to die with Jesus (John 11:16) would later reject that Jesus had been raised from...

Of the four Gospel accounts of Jesus' Resurrection, Mark's is the most shocking. His "shorter ending" (Mark 16:1-8) does not end in an appearance of the risen Jesus, but only a proclamation of His Resurrection to the faithful women who went to his tomb. Still, their initial act is to withhold this message out of fear and confusion. Throughout Mark's gospel the reader is being called into the same...

How do lepers relate to their former and future communities? Leviticus 14 makes ample provision for declaring a leper clean, giving them a way to rejoin the people. 2 Kings 7 shows us the remarkable role that 4 lepers of Samaria played in saving the city. In a moment of conviction and charity, they chose to share good news of the LORD's miraculous salvation to a community that they themselves coul...

Purity in Leviticus finds its opposite most starkly in death itself, and leprosy is the disease most closely resembling death and decay. For this, stringent laws are given on how to handle leprosy, and to receive miraculous healing of it is exceptionally meaningful. This makes Naaman's healing in 2 Kings 5 all the more potent, as his turning from the gods of Rimmon to rather worship the LORD is ju...

Holiness, for all its many benefits and credits, can be deadly. The sons of Aaron, Abihu and Nadab, would learn this firsthand after offering strange fire to the LORD. So would King David, seeing Uzzah die for reaching out to steady the Ark of the Covenant. This week, we review the importance of holiness in both extreme and (seemingly) mundane examples.

What is the purpose of sacrifice in the Bible? Leviticus makes it clear that there are actually very many purposes behind sacrifice, and understanding them is equally as important as giving them.

Readers and hearers of Leviticus will often come away confused about purity. On its face, purity seems to be a prerequisite for communion with God, one that we accomplish on our part before attempting to worship Him. But chapter 8 tells us something counterintuitive: purity itself is also a gift of God, given to us in anticipation of our communion with Him. Ezekiel 36 makes this quite clear, as Go...

What do a colt and palm branches have to do with a King? The cries of Hosanna heard around the world today started, not on Palm Sunday, but long before–from Israel’s oppression in Egypt and on through the Psalms and Prophets. The colt of a donkey and palm branches tell the story of a ruler who is both righteous and victorious. The expectations of Israel and the expectations of the church and the w...