An Asian American Christian Posts

The title pretty much says it all. When I’m reading the Bible, it’s helpful to remember that the original language for the Bible was NOT English: Old Testament = Hebrew New Testament = Greek It’s good to remember that all the chapter breaks and section titles are artificial, helpful guideposts. As I’ve paid more attention to close reading, I find the footnotes particularly helpful, especially when they point out the uncertainty of a specific phrase that we see in our English versions. 31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified…

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John 13:34-35 A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. I think Jesus wants us to love one another.

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John 12:47 If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. Reading this made me pause. One of our dangers as Christians is oversimplifying Jesus and the gospel he brings to us. Does Jesus come to judge the world, or not? I thought I remembered one of the Psalms praising him for the way he would bring judgement and righteousness to the earth: Psalm 96:13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge…

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From Matthew 21: 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna[b] to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”[c] “Hosanna[d] in the highest heaven!” 10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” I was reading and re-reading this text in preparation for…

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I used to think the Pharisees were horrible, hypocritical, hyper extreme religious leaders that were in the Bible to teach us a lesson about religiosity. But then an older Christian gently reminded me that the Pharisees loved God too. Some were overly concerned about their power and status, but some were just really earnest in what they believed to be the most faithful way of following God. The only problem is, their desire prevented them from seeing and recognizing Jesus. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief…

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I had an experience this morning that was affirming and confirmed for me: if you allow it to, the Bible really does become alive and “speaks” to you. It doesn’t happen overnight, but in my experience, the more I approach the Bible not to “retrieve and study information,” but just to enjoy and read, or just to absorb more of who Jesus was, the more it seems to reflect back to me my own particular experiences. Those are the times the Bible communicates in a way where it’s like someone is talking to you and you go “aha, I see.”…

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I was reading through John 11 and really trying to pay attention to Jesus’ emotions. I know that Lazarus’ death caused Jesus to weep out of grief. But he also said that it was “for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” I love how he talks about himself in third person, because that was a thing with the Pharisees (and other Jews, for that matter) who didn’t accept himself to be the Son of God. One other verse that I thought was interesting, verse 2 in John 11: Now a man named Lazarus was sick.…

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