Scripture
Profound verses from ancient texts
Verse of the Day
Scripture · The Gospels
Take Up Your Cross
Mark 8:34
— NLTThen, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.
Jesus calls the crowd and disciples: whoever would follow him must deny himself and take up his cross.
The passageBede reads self-denial as leaving one’s former ways; cross-bearing includes abstinence and compassion for a neighbour’s suffering.
Scripture · The Gospels
The Beatitudes
Matthew 5:3-12
The nine blessings, each beginning 'Blessed are', that open the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:3-12.
The passageAugustine understands the poor in spirit as the humble and God-fearing, whose spirits are not swollen with pride.
The FindingAugustine, who died in 430, allowed either two sermons or one address on a level mountainside to reconcile Matthew and Luke.
Scripture · The Gospels
Jesus Walking on the Water
Matthew 14:22–33
Matthew 14:22–33: Jesus walks on the Sea of Galilee; Peter walks, sinks and is saved.
The passageAugustine reads the sea as this world, the boat as the Church; Peter walks by Christ's bidding, not his strength. For Chrysostom the all-night storm trained the disciples to endure.
The FindingOnly Matthew has Peter walk. Around 400 Augustine's Harmony of the Gospels noted Mark's silence and explained Mark's line that Jesus would have passed them by.