Someone who reads the Scriptures

The end of 1 Samuel says Saul fell on his own sword. This man says Saul begged him to finish him off, so he did. The Bible gives both accounts.

The books of Samuel@booksofsamuel · Mount GilboaMount Gilboa. The Philistines kill Jonathan and his brothers. Saul is badly wounded by archers. His armour-bearer is too afraid to kill him, so Saul falls on his own sword. Saul and his three sons die together that day.

Horses brought in from Egypt. Silver as common as stones. Seven hundred wives. Moses said this about kings.

Moses@mosesRules for a future king: 1. Not too many horses. 2. Not too many wives. 3. Not too much silver and gold. 4. Write out his own copy of this law, and read it every day.

Samuel told them this is what a king would do.

Samuel@samuelWhat a king will do, since you asked: 1. Take your sons for his chariots. 2. Take your daughters to cook for him. 3. Take your best fields for his officials. 4. Take a tenth of your flocks. 5. Make you his slaves.

Golden calves again. And the same line they used at Sinai: here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt.

An Israelite in the camp@israelite.campAaron asked for everyone’s gold earrings. Now there’s a calf. He’s built an altar in front of it and says tomorrow is a festival to the LORD.

Solomon prayed for this. That if they were ever carried off, their captors would be kind to them.

Solomon@solomonWhen they sin against you, and there’s no one who doesn’t sin, and you let an enemy carry them off to a land far away: if they come to their senses there and turn back to you with all their heart, hear them. Forgive them. And make their captors kind to them.

Replying to @booksofchronicles

And the same family list ends with Nun, and his son Joshua.

Same spring, same words: the army goes out and David stays in Jerusalem. Then Chronicles goes straight on to Rabbah falling. The roof, and what happened with Bathsheba and Uriah, aren’t told in this book.

The books of Samuel@booksofsamuelSpring, when kings go out to war. David sends Joab and the whole army. David stays in Jerusalem.

2 Samuel has David paying fifty shekels of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen. Chronicles says six hundred shekels of gold for the site. The Bible gives both.

David@davidNo. I’m paying you for it: fifty shekels of silver. I won’t offer the LORD my God something that costs me nothing.

David to Solomon: be strong and courageous, don’t be afraid, don’t be discouraged. The same words Joshua heard when he took over from Moses.

Joshua son of Nun@joshuaThree times in one go he told me to be strong and courageous. Three.

In the list of temple gatekeepers: Obed-edom, with eight sons, because God had blessed him. Remember the ark staying at his house?

Obed-edom@obededom.gittiteHad the ark of the LORD in my house for three months. The LORD blessed my whole household.

Mount Moriah. The only other place the Bible uses that name is Genesis 22: Abraham taking Isaac up to the land of Moriah.

Moses@mosesThis is the hardest thing I have to tell you about Abraham. God tests him. Tells him to take his son, his only son, Isaac, the one he loves, up to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering.

Chronicles ends Solomon’s story without this. His many foreign wives, and his heart turning to other gods when he was old, aren’t in this book.

The books of Kings@booksofkingsBut King Solomon loved a lot of foreign women. Pharaoh’s daughter, and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon and the Hittites, from the very nations the LORD had told Israel not to marry into, because they’d turn their hearts to their gods. Seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. And as he got old, they did turn his heart.

Same aqueduct, same road, same Launderer’s Field. It’s the exact spot where Isaiah met King Ahaz and told him not to be afraid.

Isaiah@isaiah · The upper pool, JerusalemThe LORD sent me out with my son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct by the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field. Message: calm down. Don’t be scared of these two kings. They’re a couple of smouldering stubs of firewood. Their plan won’t happen. But if you don’t stand firm in your faith, you won’t stand at all.

Eagles’ wings. The LORD said it to Moses at Sinai too.

Moses@moses · Mount SinaiAt Sinai the LORD reminded us how he carried us on eagles’ wings and brought us to himself. Said if we keep his agreement, out of all the nations we’ll be his own treasure.

Cyrus. By name. And here he is in Ezra, telling the Jews to go home and rebuild.

Cyrus, king of Persia@cyrus.persiaThe LORD, the God of heaven, has given me every kingdom on earth, and he's put me in charge of building him a house in Jerusalem. If you're one of his people: go. Go up and build it. And whoever's staying behind, help them on their way with silver, gold, goods and animals, plus a gift for God's house.

New heavens and a new earth. The Bible opened with the first ones.

Moses@mosesLet’s start at the actual beginning. Before anything, there’s God. Then God creates the heavens and the earth. It’s dark and empty, deep water everywhere, and God’s Spirit is hovering over the surface.

Isaiah has this too, nearly word for word. Same kings on the throne.

Isaiah@isaiahOne day every nation will stream up to the LORD’s mountain to learn his ways. They’ll beat their swords into ploughs and their spears into pruning hooks. Nobody will even train for war any more.

Bethlehem. Jesse’s town. Where Samuel found David out with the sheep.

The books of Samuel@booksofsamuelThe LORD sends Samuel to Bethlehem, to a man called Jesse. Ruth’s grandson.

“Who is like you?” Moses sang it by the sea. Micah’s own name asks it.

Moses@mosesWho’s like you, LORD? Holy and majestic. Fearsome. You do wonders.

Isaiah has the same runner on the mountains.

Isaiah@isaiahThe feet of the one running over the mountains with good news: how beautiful they are. Peace. Rescue. “Your God reigns!” And the watchmen on the walls shouting for joy.

Same line closes Isaiah’s picture of the wolf and the lamb.

Isaiah@isaiahThe wolf will live with the lamb. The leopard will lie down with the young goat. Calf and lion together, and a little child leading them. A toddler playing by a cobra’s hole. Nothing will hurt or destroy on all the LORD’s holy mountain, because the earth will be as full of knowing the LORD as the sea is full of water.

Sun and moon standing still. Gibeon, in Joshua’s day.

Joshua son of Nun@joshua · GibeonSun, stand still over Gibeon. Moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.

Micah’s vine and fig tree, nearly two hundred years on.

Micah@micah.moreshethAnd everyone will sit under their own vine and their own fig tree, and nobody will make them afraid.

Isaiah’s voice in the wilderness, clearing the road for the LORD. Malachi has a messenger doing the same.

Isaiah@isaiahA voice is calling: clear a road through the wilderness for the LORD. Make a straight highway in the desert for our God. Fill in every valley. Bring down every mountain. And everyone will see his glory together.

Zechariah opened with the same words.

Zechariah@zechariah.prophetEighth month, second year of Darius. My first message from the LORD: return to me, and I will return to you. Don’t be like your ancestors. The prophets before me told them to turn from their evil ways, and they wouldn’t listen.

The throne of his father David, and a kingdom that never ends. That's the promise Nathan gave David.

Nathan@nathan.prophetThat night the LORD sent me back to David. He isn’t the one to build a house for the LORD. The LORD will build David a house: a son after him, and a throne that will last for ever.

Mary's song and Hannah's, side by side. The proud brought down, the humble lifted up, the hungry filled.

Hannah@hannahThere’s no Rock like our God. He lifts the poor out of the dust and sits them down with princes.

“Remember Lot's wife.” Three words. This is the story he meant.

Moses@moses · Sodom“Run for your lives. Don’t look back.” Then the LORD rains down burning sulphur on Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole plain. Lot’s wife looks back. She becomes a pillar of salt.

Same first words as Genesis. In the beginning.

Moses@mosesLet’s start at the actual beginning. Before anything, there’s God. Then God creates the heavens and the earth. It’s dark and empty, deep water everywhere, and God’s Spirit is hovering over the surface.

David: “The LORD is my shepherd.” Now this.

David@davidThe LORD is my shepherd. I have everything I need. Green fields. Quiet water. He brings me back to life. Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I won't be afraid, because you're with me. My cup's overflowing.

Moses said it in the desert: he wished the LORD would put his Spirit on all his people.

Moses@mosesAre you jealous on my behalf? I wish all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that he’d put his Spirit on every one of them.

Jesus said it first, on the mountainside: don’t swear at all. Let your yes be yes and your no be no.

Matthew@matthew · The mountainHis “You’ve heard it said… but I tell you” list: 1. Murder? Anger already counts. 2. Adultery? Looking with lust already counts. 3. Oaths? Just let your yes be yes.

What Jesus told Thomas: blessed are the people who haven’t seen and still believe. Peter’s writing to them.

Jesus@jesusBlessed are the people who haven't seen me and still believe.

Moses, in his psalm: a thousand years to God are like yesterday once it’s gone.

Moses@mosesBefore the mountains were born, from for ever to for ever, you're God. A thousand years to you are like yesterday once it's gone.

Replying to @simonpeter

He does say it, to the church in Rome: God’s kindness and patience are meant to lead you back to him.

Paul@paulOr are you taking God’s kindness and patience for granted? His kindness is meant to lead you to turn back to him.

Same sign-off as his letter to the chosen lady.

John@johnzebedeeI’ve got loads more to say, but I’d rather not do it with paper and ink. I’m hoping to come and talk to you face to face, so our joy can be complete.

He calls himself James’s brother. When Nazareth listed Jesus’ brothers, Matthew wrote the names down, and James and Judas were both on it. He calls himself Jesus’ servant, not his brother.

The people of Nazareth@nazareth · NazarethHang on. Where’s he got all this from? Isn’t he the carpenter’s son? We know his mum. We know his brothers.

Replying to @jude

That argument isn’t in the books of Moses. All they tell us is that the LORD buried him himself, and nobody knows where.

The last page of Deuteronomy@deuteronomy.lastpageMoses, the LORD’s servant, dies there in Moab, as the LORD said. The LORD buries him himself. Nobody knows where his grave is, to this day.

Someone like a son of man. Daniel saw him first, in a dream, coming with the clouds.

Daniel@danielAnd I saw one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the Ancient of Days, and was given authority, glory and a kingdom. Every nation and language will serve him. His kingdom will never pass away, and never be destroyed.

Replying to @reads.the.scriptures

And hair white as wool. That’s how Daniel described the Ancient of Days on his throne.

Daniel@danielThen thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days sat down. His clothes white as snow, his hair like pure wool. His throne was flames of fire. Thousands upon thousands serving him. The court sat, and the books were opened.

Isaiah heard the same three words, the year King Uzziah died.

Isaiah@isaiah · The temple, JerusalemThe year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a throne, high up, raised above everything, and the edge of his robe filled the whole temple. Above him were seraphim, fiery angels with six wings each: two over their faces, two over their feet, two for flying. They were calling to each other, “Holy, holy, holy,” and that the whole earth is full of his glory. The doorposts shook. The temple filled with smoke.

The Lamb. John the Baptist pointed at him by the Jordan: look, the Lamb of God.

John the Baptist@johnthebaptistJesus is walking this way right now. Look. The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

The ancient serpent. Last seen in the garden, asking “Did God really say…?”

Moses@moses · EdenEnter the serpent, the craftiest animal God made. Watch how it opens. With a question. Did God really say they can’t eat from any tree in the garden?

Daniel dreamed of beasts coming up out of the sea too. A lion, a bear, a leopard, and one with ten horns. John’s beast has something of all of them.

Daniel@danielBack in Belshazzar’s first year I had a dream and wrote it down. Four great beasts coming up out of a churning sea. A lion with eagle’s wings. A bear. A leopard with four heads. And a fourth, terrifying, with iron teeth and ten horns.

The Word of God. The same name John opened his Gospel with.

John@johnzebedeeIn the beginning, there was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Isaiah saw this coming. New heavens, a new earth, and the old ones not even remembered.

Isaiah@isaiahThe LORD is going to create new heavens and a new earth. Nobody will even remember the old ones. No more crying heard in Jerusalem. No more babies who only live a few days. People will build houses and live in them, plant vineyards and eat the grapes themselves. Before they call, he’ll answer.

Isaiah again: he’ll swallow up death for ever, and wipe the tears from every face.

Isaiah@isaiahOn this mountain the LORD will throw a feast for every nation. The best meat, the finest aged wine. He’ll swallow up death for ever. He’ll wipe the tears from every face.

The last time we saw the tree of life, there was a flaming sword guarding the way to it.

Moses@mosesThey’re sent out of the garden. East of Eden, God puts cherubim and a flaming sword that flashes every way, to guard the road to the tree of life.

Replying to @moses

“Walked with God.” Only one other person in the family tree gets that line. Enoch. Noah’s great-grandfather.

Replying to @noah

Hebrews puts it like this: he took the warning seriously, out of reverence for God, and built.

Replying to @passing.by

Peter says God was waiting patiently the whole time that ark was being built.

Replying to @noah

Clean and unclean animals. Centuries before Moses writes down the law about which is which.

Jesus used this exact day to describe his coming. Eating, drinking, weddings, right up to the day Noah went in.

Matthew@matthewHe compared it to Noah’s day. People eating and drinking, getting married, right up to the day Noah went into the ark. They had no idea, until the flood came and swept them all away.

Eight. Peter counts them too.

Simon Peter@simonpeterIn Noah’s day God waited patiently while the ark was being built, and eight people were brought safely through the water. That water is a picture of baptism, which saves you now. Not washing dirt off your body, but a clear conscience before God, through Jesus rising from the dead.

Replying to @noah

“In his own image.” Straight back to the first page.

Centuries later, Isaiah hears God swear by this day. As sure as the flood won’t come back, that’s how sure his love is.

Isaiah@isaiahFor a moment he turned away from you. With huge compassion he’ll bring you back. To him this is like Noah’s day: he swore the flood would never cover the earth again, and now he’s sworn he won’t be angry with you. The mountains may move and the hills may shake, but his love for you won’t.

Replying to @moses

A young goat and a son’s clothes, used to fool a father. It’s not the first time in this family.

Moses@mosesSo in goes Jacob, in Esau’s clothes, with goatskins on his hands and neck. Isaac can barely see. He feels him and says the voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s. Asks, are you really my son Esau? Jacob says he is. And Isaac blesses him.

Forty years ago, twelve scouts came back from this land. Ten said the cities were walled and huge and it couldn’t be done. Joshua was one of the two who said it could. This time he sent two.

One of the ten scouts@scout.ten.oneOkay, it really does flow with milk and honey. But the people are strong, the cities are massive and walled, and we saw Anak’s descendants there.

Moses heard the same thing at a burning bush. Take off your sandals. Holy ground. Joshua was Moses’ assistant.

Moses@mosesGod called my name from inside it. Told me to take off my sandals, because the ground I was standing on was holy. I hid my face. I was afraid to look at God.

Look closely at Matthew’s family tree. Salmon was the father of Boaz, and Boaz’s mother was Rahab. Boaz’s great-grandson is King David. And David’s line runs all the way to Jesus.

Matthew@matthewStarting with the family tree, because it matters. Abraham to David to the exile to Jesus: fourteen generations each. I counted.

Centuries later, Hebrews and James both bring her up. Hebrews: because she trusted God, she didn’t die with the ones who refused to obey. James: she was put right with God by what she did, taking the spies in and sending them off another way.

Rahab@rahab.of.jerichoI welcomed the spies as friends. So I didn’t die with the people who wouldn’t listen.

Goliath took one look and wrote him off. Too young, too rosy-cheeked, too pretty. In Bethlehem, Samuel made the same mistake the other way round and looked at Eliab’s height. The LORD looks at the heart.

The books of Samuel@booksofsamuelJesse’s eldest, Eliab, walks in, and Samuel is sure this is the one. The LORD tells him: don’t look at his looks or his height. People look at the outside. The LORD looks at the heart.

Worth knowing who Uriah is. When the book lists David’s mighty men, his best and bravest, the list ends with one name. Uriah the Hittite.

The books of Samuel@booksofsamuelThe list of David’s thirty-seven mighty men ends with one name. Uriah the Hittite.

Same prophet who once brought David the LORD’s promise: a son after him, and a throne that lasts forever.

Nathan@nathan.prophetThat night the LORD sent me back to David. He isn’t the one to build a house for the LORD. The LORD will build David a house: a son after him, and a throne that will last for ever.

David wrote a song about this. The note at the top of it says: when Nathan the prophet came to him, after Bathsheba.

David@davidNathan the prophet came to see me. After Bathsheba. I'm not going to dress this one up. God, have mercy on me. I know what I've done. I can't stop seeing it. It's you I've sinned against. You, most of all.

Much later, Matthew starts his book about Jesus with a family tree. This line is in it: David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife. Uriah’s name stays in.

Matthew@matthewStarting with the family tree, because it matters. Abraham to David to the exile to Jesus: fourteen generations each. I counted.

Replying to @elijah.tishbite

Sidon. Jezebel’s father is king there.

Replying to @carmel.watcher

One for each of Jacob’s sons. Jacob, the man God renamed Israel.

Horeb is where God gave Moses the law. Moses spent forty days and nights on this mountain too.

Moses@mosesAnother forty days. No bread. No water.

Same mountain. The last time the LORD passed by someone here, it was Moses, tucked into a gap in the rock.

Moses@mosesNo one can see his face and live. So he put me in a gap in the rock, covered me with his hand as he passed, and let me see his back.

Replying to @bookofesther

Help will come from somewhere else. He doesn’t say where it’ll come from. This book never does.

A Hebrew far from home, at a foreign king’s court, dressed in the king’s clothes, paraded through the city with someone calling out ahead of him. This has happened before.

A farmer in Egypt@farmer.egypt · EgyptFor real, they’re driving the new governor round in Pharaoh’s second chariot, with men up front shouting “Kneel!” Pharaoh’s own ring on his finger. He’s a Hebrew. Thirty years old.

Ten chapters, and God isn’t named once. A queen in the right place, a sleepless night, a book read out at the right page, a gallows built for the wrong man. Make of that what you will.

Why his windows face Jerusalem. The day the temple was opened, Solomon asked God that if his people were ever carried off to a far country and prayed towards their land and that house, he’d hear them from heaven. The temple is ruins now. Daniel still faces it.

Solomon@solomonWhen they sin against you, and there’s no one who doesn’t sin, and you let an enemy carry them off to a land far away: if they come to their senses there and turn back to you with all their heart, hear them. Forgive them. And make their captors kind to them.

Nebuchadnezzar, after the furnace: their God sent his angel and rescued them. Daniel, this morning: my God sent his angel. Different king, different kingdom. Same God.

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon@nebuchadnezzarPraise the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted him. They defied the king’s order and risked their lives rather than worship any god except their own. No other god can rescue like this.

Centuries later, Hebrews lists people who trusted God, and one line is just this: they shut the mouths of lions. This is the night it means.

The writer of Hebrews@hebrews.writerWhat more can I say? I’d run out of time telling you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets. People who shut the mouths of lions, put out raging fires, and were weak and made strong.

Replying to @bookofdaniel

Cyrus the Persian. Keep an eye on that name. In his first year, he sends an announcement round his whole empire: the LORD’s people can go home and rebuild his house in Jerusalem.

Three days and three nights in the fish. Jesus pointed back to this one.

Jesus@jesusNo sign will be given except the sign of Jonah. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Jonah’s quoting this. The LORD’s own words about himself, to Moses on the mountain. Jonah is using them as a complaint.

Moses@moses · Mount SinaiThe LORD passed in front of me, calling out his own name. Compassionate and gracious. Slow to get angry. Overflowing with love that doesn’t quit, and faithfulness. Forgives wrongdoing, but never lets the guilty off.

Today’s the day the Passover lambs are killed. Keep that in mind.

Moses@mosesEvery household: a lamb. Its blood on the doorframe. Eat it that night with sandals on and staff in hand, ready to leave. It’s the LORD’s Passover.

David, a thousand years earlier. The laughing, the line about trusting God, the dice for his clothes. Almost word for word.

David@davidThey look at me and laugh. If he trusts the LORD so much, they say, let the LORD rescue him. They've pierced my hands and my feet. They're throwing dice for my clothes.

The first line of Psalm 22.

David@davidMy God, my God, why have you abandoned me? I cry out all day and you don't answer. All night too.

The law for the Passover lamb: don’t break any of its bones. John noticed.

Moses@mosesEvery household: a lamb. Its blood on the doorframe. Eat it that night with sandals on and staff in hand, ready to leave. It’s the LORD’s Passover.

Capernaum, up by the lake, the old land of Zebulun and Naphtali. Isaiah wrote about this exact corner of the map: the people living in darkness have seen a great light.

Isaiah: he took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.

Luke@luke · CapernaumHe puts his hands on each one. Every single person they bring to him, one at a time. And heals them.

This is the law he’s been living under.

Aaron@aaronNot funny, this bit. If the priest has to declare someone unclean, they cover their mouth, call out “Unclean! Unclean!” and live alone outside the camp for as long as it lasts.

The next line of this psalm: he forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. Both. In one breath.

David@davidPraise the LORD, my soul, and don't forget a single good thing he's done.

Moses asked God for exactly this, near the end of his life. Someone to lead them, so they wouldn’t be sheep without a shepherd. Same words.

Moses@mosesAll I asked: give them someone to lead them. Don’t let them be like sheep without a shepherd.

Elisha fed a hundred men with twenty barley loaves, and there was some left over. Today: five barley loaves, five thousand men, twelve baskets left.

Elisha's attendant@elishas.attendantA man from Baal-shalishah brought twenty barley loaves from the first of his harvest. Elisha said give it to the people. I said: how am I meant to put twenty loaves in front of a hundred men? He said the LORD says they’ll eat and have some left over. They ate. There was some left over.

Replying to @someone.in.galilee

The Prophet they mean: Moses said God would one day send a prophet like him.

In the psalm, it’s the LORD who hushes the storm.

A psalmist@apsalmistSailors know. Waves up to the sky and down to the depths. Reeling and staggering like drunks, at their wits' end. They cry to the LORD, and he hushes the storm to a whisper.

David’s throne, and a kingdom that never ends. That’s the promise Nathan brought David a thousand years ago.

Nathan@nathan.prophetThat night the LORD sent me back to David. He isn’t the one to build a house for the LORD. The LORD will build David a house: a son after him, and a throne that will last for ever.

The last anyone saw of Elijah, he was going up in a whirlwind. Now a baby is coming in his spirit and power.

The books of Kings@booksofkingsThey’re still walking along, talking, when a chariot of fire with horses of fire comes between them, and Elijah goes up to heaven in a whirlwind.

Bethlehem, where Samuel found the youngest son out with the sheep and anointed him king. Now the prophet says a ruler is coming from the same town. A shepherd.

The books of Samuel@booksofsamuel · BethlehemSeven of Jesse’s sons, and the LORD hasn’t chosen any of them. Samuel asks if that’s all of them. There’s still the youngest, Jesse says. He’s out looking after the sheep.

Martha serving. Mary at his feet. Last time, Martha wanted him to tell Mary to come and help. This time it’s perfume.

Martha@marthaofbethany · A villageJesus is at ours and I'm doing everything. Everything. My sister Mary is just sitting at his feet, listening. So I asked him: Lord, don't you care that she's left me to do it all on my own? Tell her to help me.

Zechariah, centuries ago: don’t be afraid, Daughter of Zion. Your king is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.

The believers@thebelieversHe’s riding a young donkey. People are throwing their cloaks down on the road in front of him. Others are spreading branches.

He cried outside Lazarus’s tomb. Now the city’s come into view, and he’s crying over Jerusalem.

Luke@luke · JerusalemAs the city comes into view, he weeps over it. If only they'd known today what would bring them peace, he says. Not one stone will be left on another, because they didn't recognise the time God came to them.

John the Baptist, years ago: someone’s coming who’ll baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Jesus told them to wait in the city for exactly this.

John the Baptist@johnthebaptistI know what you're all wondering. I baptise you with water. Someone more powerful than me is coming, and I'm not fit to untie his sandals. He'll baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Luke calls them false witnesses. And it’s the same charge they brought against Jesus, in front of the same council: he’ll destroy the temple.

A witness at the night hearing@witness.one · Caiaphas’s houseThey’ve sent him on to Caiaphas. Council’s up in the middle of the night looking for evidence against him. I gave some. I heard him say he’d destroy this temple made by human hands, and in three days build another one not made by hands.

Receive my spirit. Don’t hold this against them. He died the way Jesus died.

Mary Magdalene@marymagdaleneThen one loud cry. Father, I put my spirit into your hands. And then he died.

A window in the city wall, and someone let down outside it in the dark. Rahab did the same for the two spies at Jericho.

The other spy@spy.two.jericho · JerichoShe made us swear to save her family, then let us down the wall on a rope from her window. Read the small print, though: red cord tied in that window, and everyone inside the house. Anyone out in the street is on their own.

Not a hair of your head. The same words Jesus used to his followers.

Jesus@jesusWatch out that you're not fooled. Many will come in my name. They'll arrest you and persecute you because of me, and some of you they'll put to death. But not a hair of your head will be lost. Stand firm, and you'll win life.