Footsteps to Zion

In the Bible, there is a beautiful passage sung by Mary, the mother of Jesus, which we now call as the “ Magnificat .” The word Magnificat literally means “an utterance of praise” (Merriam-Webster). Mary sang this after the Angel Gabriel revealed to her that she will conceive and give birth to the Christ Jesus. As we read the Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55 , we can easily sense Mary’s joyful spirit as she sang this. However, what we often fail to realize is the challenging situation in which she was praising God. At that time, she was just a humble teenager engaged to marry but also about to bear a child. People could have easily thought of her child as one born out of wedlock. That could have even been considered adultery which was punishable by stoning in Jewish law. Mary could have feared for her own honour and dear life. Yet in spite of all these, she chose to magnify the Lord. And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, a nd my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour."...

Image credit to: LUMO Project Many accounts have been written on the miracles of Jesus – on how He healed the sick, made the lame walk, gave sight to the blind, and many more. But an even greater miracle is how God shows His immense mercy to forgive us of all our sins, no matter how many and how grave those sins are. Such a miracle happened in the life of a woman whose story is written in John 8:1-11. Throughout her story, from the beginning to the end, we witness God’s mercy as she was forgiven of a very immoral sin. GOD SHOWS MERCY TO REVEAL OUR SECRET SINS Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “ Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. ” (John 8:3-4) The story takes place in the temple where Jesus came to teach. While He was there, some of the scribes and Pharisees who sought to test Him brought to Him a woman who was caught in the act of adultery. In Jew...