James C. Howell - 40 Treasured Bible Verses: A Devotional

2011 James C. Howell

First edition
Published by Westminster John Knox Press
Louisville, Kentucky

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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952, 1971, and 1973 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ, and are used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.

Book design by Drew Stevens
Cover design by Night & Day Design
Cover illustration: Frank van den Bergh/istockphoto.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Howell, James C.
40 treasured Bible verses : a devotional / James C. Howell. 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-664-23653-3 (alk. paper)
1. BibleMeditations. I. Title.
BS491.5.H7 2011
242.5dc22
2010034953

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H ow strange: a book titled 40 Treasured Bible Verses! The little segmentation of the Bible familiar to us as a verse didnt even exist until the sixteenth century. And how often does the Bible suffer crude misreading because we lop off a verse and make it say whatever we want it to say?

Yet it seems Jesus was utterly familiar with what wed call verses. In a pinch he would quote from memory an especially poignant sentence from Gods Word, whether he was preaching his first sermon (Luke 4:1819) or dying on the cross (Mark 15:34). For many years, humble Christians would memorize Bible verses, unforgettable treasures that shaped thinking and living, providing solace and a true compass in times of duress.

In this book, I have tried to talk about verses with the context and background in mind. The lunacy of this endeavor was selection. The publisher said, Lets do forty. Seemed easy, until I got busy picking: this one belongs, and we must use that one, and heres one I didnt think about at first and it didnt take me long to zoom well past forty. Perhaps such a quandary is inevitable, given the riches of Gods Word.

So we begin. Read, share, reflect, have a conversation with others. And poke around to find your own favorite Bible verses.

The Word became flesh, full of grace and truth.

T he Gospel of John begins like the first notes of some grand symphony, or perhaps the first brushstrokes of a masterpiece on canvas, or the first words whispered to you when you were cradled in your mothers arms. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word became flesh full of grace and truth. Who was Jesus? Was he born to Mary in Bethlehem? Had he always been? John 1 unlocks a mystery. The Word always was God. Somehow, the fellowship that is God, the intimate relationships of love that are Gods heart, have always been, and will always be.

The poetic genius of this overture to Johns Gospel is astonishing and moving. Even in our day, when words are cheap, strewn meaninglessly all over the place, words matter. Johns words are beautiful, for they speak of the one true Beauty. This symphonic ballet of language tries to express the inexpressible. Gods inner self, Gods loving heart, Gods eternal fellowship, spilling over and making a world, knowing full well that theworld would miss the point and would be downright recalcitrant in replybut Love loves anyhow.

Ask anyone: What was the most beautiful moment in your life? At first, most people recall some spectacular sight they once photographed. But if they linger over the question, they arrive at some truly beautiful moment when words that matter were spoken. I love you; will you marry me? I forgive you. I am immensely proud of you. I just learned that I am pregnant. Life is birthed through words.

God created everything effortlessly with a mere word. Let there be light. Jesus is the primal utterance of God, the Word behind the words, framed in the heart of God before time, yet not content to be sequestered outside of time. David Bentley Hart has written elegantly of the scandal of Christianitys origins, the great offense this new faith gave the gods of antiquity, and everything about it that pagan wisdom could neither comprehend nor abide: a God who apparels himself in common human nature, in the form of a servant; who brings good news to those who suffer and victory to those who are as nothing; who dies like a slave and outcast without resistance; who penetrates to the very depths of hell in pursuit of those he loves; and who persists even after death not as a hero lifted up to Olympian glories, but in the company of peasants, breaking bread with them and offering them the solace of his wounds.

We often think of the Word becoming flesh as an emptying: Christ, though he was in the form of God, emptied himself, taking the form of a servant (Phil. 2:67). But this Word isnt a hollow vessel, an empty shell. The humanity of Jesus is full; it is Fullness. The emptying is not an emptying of grace. The Word made flesh is grace. The flesh is Gods glory. Jesus was not merely pretending to be human; he really did enter into our flesh of weakness, mortality, pain. There is no other God, no other secret truth about God. Jesus suffering was no aberration from the truly glorious nature of God. Gods glorious nature is