In keeping with the “religion and
story” balance, I think it is only right that I follow up my list of movies a
couple weeks ago with a list of Bible verses. The following passages are not
only my personal favorite, but also what I think are some of the key verses in
the Bible, demonstrating the main doctrines of Scripture or representing the
crucial turning-points of the Bible’s narrative.
10. The Priestly Blessing, Numbers
6:24-26
The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his
face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his
countenance upon you and give you peace.
9. A Definition of Faith, Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the assurance of things
hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
8. Double Entendre, Matthew 27:24-25
So when Pilate saw that he was gaining
nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his
hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it
yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our
children!”
7. The Beatitudes, Matthew 5:2-12
And he opened his
mouth and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those
who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
“Blessed are the
meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are the
merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure
in heart, for they shall see God.
“Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
“Blessed are those
who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.
“Blessed are you when
others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you
falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven,
for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
6. Things of First Importance, I
Corinthians 15:3-5
For I delivered to you as of first
importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance
with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in
accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the
twelve.
5. A New Covenant, Jeremiah 31:31-33
“Behold, the days are coming, declares
the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the
house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day
when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my
covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For
this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those
days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on
their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
4. The Word, John 1
…And the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us,
and we have seen his
glory,
glory as of the only
Son from the Father,
full of grace and
truth.…
3. The Burden of Christ, Matthew
11:28-30
“Come to me, all who labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from
me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
2. The Greatest Commandment & Shema,
Matthew 22:36-40
“Teacher, which is the great
commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the
great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your
neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the
Prophets.”
1. The Christ Hymn, Philippians 2:5-11
Your attitude should
be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very
nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but
made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in
human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and
became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to
the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and
every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the
Father.
Amen.
Labels: burden of Christ, Christ Hymn, Greatest Commandment, Scripture, Top 10