Beginning Lent with Jesus :: Ivan Kramskoi, “Christ in the Desert”

Ivan Kramskoi, "Christ in the Desert," 1872 (oil on canvas) The journey of Lent begins with attention on Jesus. We trace His pathway through incarnate life to death on the Cross. One of the first inklings we have in the Gospels that Jesus' life will bring salvation at a great cost comes in the prophetic …

Jesus and Four Competing Approaches to God’s Kingdom

When Jesus proclaimed that “the kingdom of God has come near” (Mark 1:15) He drew upon a powerful idea that pervades the Hebrew Scriptures. The prophets, particularly Isaiah and Daniel, spoke of God’s kingdom catastrophically breaking into the world. They described a figure – the Messiah or Son of Man – who would inaugurate God’s …