The scriptures read are Ruth 1-4. Psalm 79 and John 14.
Ruth 1-4. This wonderful little pastoral romance washes away the bitter taste of God's people descending into anarchy in Judges. Ruth really bonds with her mother-in-law. Even after both are widowed, Ruth, a foreigner, sticks with Naomi as the older woman returns home. There she meets Boaz. The rest reads a bit like a prototypical romance, complete with complications that get worked out. And there's a twist ending. It turns out this pleasant little romance was all part of God's plan to give Israel a great king.
Psalm 79. A lament for the fall of Jerusalem.
John 14. In the upper room, Jesus tells his disciples that he wil be leaving them to prepare places for them with his Father but he'll be back. And they know the way. "I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life." (For more on this, click here.)
And if you've seen Jesus, you've seen God. Jesus is the very image of God. When we look at Jesus, we see what God is like, in a form we can comprehend, a person living in time and space like us.
Jesus promises the Holy Spirit, referring to him by a Greek word with no single equivalent in English: Encourager, Character witness, Advocate. Peterson uses Friend. Another inadequate word.
Then it's time to get going. Next stop: Gethsemane.
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