By Margaret Mowczko “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” (John 11:5). Martha and Mary of Bethany are well-known figures of the New Testament. The two sisters seem to have had different temperaments, and their characters are often polarized in the retelling of their story. These polarized characterisations are caricatures which obscure the real picture of the women, their
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By Margaret Mowczko [I am grateful to Adele Hebert for pointing out to me several of these similarities between Rahab and Lydia.] Rahab in the Old Testament, and Lydia in the New, are separated by thousands of years and by thousands of miles. Despite different cultures and different circumstances, there are some intriguing similarities and comparisons between these two women who
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By Margaret Mowczko Abigail, Nabal and David Abigail is an interesting woman who we meet in 1 Samuel chapter 25. Like several women in the Old Testament, Abigail is described as beautiful. Unlike other women in the Old Testament, Abigail is also described as “intelligent” (NAB, NIV, TEV), or “clever” (NRSV), or “of good understanding” (KJV, ASV), etc. Abigail was married
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By Margaret Mowczko This Christmas one of my gifts was a copy of the Septuagint – the (approximately) 200BC Greek translation of the Old Testament.[1] Thanks Mum! So far I’ve skimmed through the book of Daniel, and I’ve read Psalm 49, (for no other reason than the book fell open at Psalm 49.) This morning I decided to begin at the
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The desire for intimacy can get single men and women into lots of trouble. Being Christian does not diminish that desire. But it does add to the troubles it can cause us. In addition to the basics of picking the right person for the right reasons, the Christian must choose another Christian. This narrows the field some. But the importance
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Pentecost (Ancient Greek: Πεντηκοστή [ἡμέρα], Pentēkostē [hēmera], “the Fiftieth day” In the Old Testament pentacost was the celebration day of the giving of the Law. Interestingly this was also the day the promised Holy Spirit descended upon the remaining apostles and disciples in the upper room (Acts 2), 50 days after Christ’s resurrection ( and the celebration of our freedom
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By Margaret Mowczko Some Christians believe that, because Jesus was (and is) a man, only men can represent Jesus. Many of these same Christians also believe that church leaders somehow represent Jesus to their congregation; and so, because Jesus was male, women cannot be church leaders. This article looks at some of the flaws in these beliefs, and it answers
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By Margaret Mowczko Please read the very short introduction first. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east (or, when it rose) and have come to
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By Margaret Mowczko Please read the short introduction first. The Christmas story is full of interesting characters: angels from Heaven, shepherds of the Temple flocks and astrologers from Persia. At the centre of these characters is the figure of Mary.[1] God chose to bring his Messiah into the world as a human baby,[2] and he chose Mary to be its
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By Margaret Mowczko Please read the short Introduction first. While they were there [in Bethlehem], the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger [phatne], because there was no guest room [kataluma] available for them. Luke 2:6-7 (NIV 2011) Of
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