Posts by Deborah van Kroonenburg
Children of Israel
My life was given over to holiness. The Law of the Lord was uppermost in my mind, from my earliest days. We were children of Israel, the Lord God’s children by adoption, living under the Law in a holy covenant. Among my people those of us who lived for holiness sought to separate ourselves from…
Read MoreAmong Heavenly Hosts
Nathanael speaks God gave me gifts; a love for my people, a love for his word and visions of his glory. I was also given a longing for him which is endless. From boyhood I wrestled with His words and tried to live my life in simple docility to my God who was companion of…
Read MoreA Disciple Speaks
The Pharisees and teachers of the law came from Jerusalem, to watch and listen and confront our rabbi. Swathed in an air of purity they passed through the crowd, and the people stood aside as they moved, to honour them and to spare them from being contaminated by the common man and woman. They even…
Read MoreLiving Tabernacle
‘Moses erected the tabernacle … He brought the ark into the tabernacle and put the screening veil in place … the cloud of the Lord rested on the tabernacle by day, and a fire shone within the cloud by night, for all the House of Israel to see.’ ‘How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord,…
Read MoreOn This Rock I Will Build My Church
Simon speaks He brings us to a pagan place, Caesarea Philippi, and we are tested. It is a place of wild and chilling beauty, haunted by the strange gods and elementals who had inhabited the land forever, horrors who knew the battle was lost, was always lost, but lingered on the mountainside, ready to lead…
Read MoreTrue Authority
‘What authority have you?’ ‘Who gave you authority?’ In this episode from Mark’s Gospel, we are in Jerusalem with Jesus and the disciples, during the last week of his public ministry. Jesus has thrown out those who were trading in the Temple, in the court of the Gentiles, and he has been teaching there. I…
Read MoreTaking Your Yoke
At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; … “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke…
Read MorePrecious Ointment
‘My chosen one in whom my soul delights’ … ‘the house was full of the scent’ Who is it, who delights the very soul of God, the God who created the world and ‘gave breath to its people and life to the creatures that move in it?’ Isaiah points us to His ‘chosen one, ’…
Read MorePersevering in Faith
The author of Hebrews has assured us in this chapter that, through his obedience to the Father and through his offering of himself, Jesus has opened the way for us to enter into the life of God, once and for all. Now he calls us to take courage, to press on through the challenges which…
Read MoreThe Stage is Set
The scene The stage is set and in today’s Gospel we see a drama acted out that will shift our focus and change our view of the little family who we follow, as they move into the great arena of the Temple of Jerusalem. As the scene opens they appear overshadowed by the glory of…
Read More