Daily reflections

Pilate asks Jesus whether he is the 'king of the Jews' (verse 2). Jesus gives a very interesting answer: 'So you say.' In Greek it is literally, 'You say.' Apart from that, he doesn't answer his accusers (verse 9) and speaks...

In Luke's story of the Resurrection, it is women who are first at the tomb. They are the ones who will minister to Jesus' body, as they think; a traditional role. It's hard to imagine their feelings as they approached their...

John's Gospel is different from the others. His tone and language are different; there are longer stretches of teaching, and fewer but longer stories, some of them different from the other Gospels. It begins with a unique...

After 2,000 years in which the Church has become a settled part of society, one of the risks we face is that Jesus becomes rather domesticated. He was not really like that, though. Here we read about him chasing out merchants...

John 3.16 is famous: 'God loved the world so much that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.' But perhaps that word 'believe' isn't as straightforward as the word 'look...

Jesus' healing miracles were normally performed face to face. This one is like the healing of the centurion's servant in Matthew 8 and Luke 7; it's from a distance. He is in Cana; the son of a government official is dying...

Zechariah is a book of visions, like parts of Daniel and Ezekiel and the whole of Revelation. Like them, it's not always easy to follow. But there are clues to help us, and God still speaks through the prophet's words.

There are three characters in this chapter: Joshua, Satan and the angel of the Lord. The angel is God's spokesman, who speaks with his voice. Joshua is the High Priest (Ezra 3.2), who with Zerubbabel, whom we will meet in...

The prophet's visions continue. There is an elaborate lampstand which symbolises the wisdom and power of God, and either side of it are two olive trees, an emblem of fruitfulness. These stand for Joshua the High Priest and...