Wade Johnston, Life Under the Cross: A Biography of the Reformer Matthias Flacius Illyricus, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis: MO, 2025.
This ancient “tale of two mothers” concerns far more than theological semantics—it is the difference between a God who sends and a God who comes.
This story points us from our unlikely heroes to the even more unlikely, and joyous, good news that Jesus’ birth for us was just as unlikely and unexpected.

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Christian hope means always hope in God and hope in Christ simultaneously without distinction.
The fact that the LORD answers Job is a great gift of love and mercy, but He does not provide the answers Job seeks.
Hermeneutics in Romans: Paul’s Approach to Reading the Bible is now available from 1517 Publishing
God's new planting will keep the ancient Messianic covenantal promise alive and bring it to fruition.
This is the first direct promise of the Seed who will reunite all mankind to God by defeating Satan on the Cross.
Does Isaiah find himself in the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem Temple, or is this taking place in the Heavenly Temple? Perhaps we might say the answer is “Yes.”
You and I have a God who pardons all our wrongdoing by taking all of them onto himself. He doesn’t zap us into oblivion at the first sign of rebellion.
Sin, death, and Satan may have had more than a puncher's chance to beat us, but when God stepped into the ring, they should have admitted defeat and thrown in the towel.
There is no life when one is separated from the Promised Land because that will be the place where God will send His Messiah.
Israel is all the people who believe in the LORD and gather at His throne. It is no longer a national distinction, it is one of faith.
This Psalm identifies who the people of the Covenant are, and who they are not, and orientates them in relationship to the LORD God.
God always keeps his promises even if/when we don’t. God is always faithful even if/when we aren’t.