Daily reflections

After Jesus' fierce condemnation of Peter, who has tried to turn him away from his path to the cross, Mark tells us of a transcendent experience he shares with Peter, James and John. The great prophets Elijah and Moses validate...

This is a deeply moving story. It portrays a man who has lost his independence with his sight, who has evidently lost any family he had (otherwise they would have cared for him and he would not have needed to beg), and who...

The cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple are linked not only in time, but in what they symbolise. Jesus is hungry, but there's no fruit to eat because it's not the right season. He enters the temple, where...

The Parable of the Tenants is, on the face of it, quite straightforward if you know your Bible reasonably well. The man who plants the vineyard and rents it out is God; the messengers he sends to collect the rent are the Old...

Will Job’s faithfulness to God survive terrible suffering? Satan doesn’t think so. Surely Job only worships God because of the blessings of family, wealth and health he’s received? It’s not just an accusation against...

Job 10 makes interesting reading alongside Psalm 139. There’s a striking similarity in what the writers say about the God who ‘knit [them] together’ in their mothers’ wombs – he is all powerful, all knowing and present...

Job has lamented his suffering, protested his innocence and complained to God, but now Zophar the Naamathite (one of Job’s friends) has had enough. He believes Job’s words are empty and dishonest, amounting to the mockery...

How do you feel when people refuse to listen to and believe you, no matter the arguments or evidence supplied in your defence? In today’s chapter, Job – feeling misjudged and patronised – lets his frustration show and...

Job’s friends supposedly came to comfort him but they haven’t done anything to ease his pain. They seem to have lost sight of his suffering in their desire to win the theological argument at hand. Whether they can’t...