See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. –Mt 21:5
When I first heard about the “Stele of Bethphage,” I laughed.
Author Archives: Mike Mason
The Stones Cry Out (Chapter 47 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out. –Luke 19:40
What is more inert, more inanimate, more incapable of voice than a stone?
The Destruction of Jerusalem (Chapter 46 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
Do you see all these great buildings? Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down. –Mark 13:2
Jesus could be such a killjoy. One of His band of Galilean rustics, agog with wonder at the sights of the big city, exclaims, “What magnificent buildings!”
Christ the Cornerstone (Chapter 45 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. -Mt 21:42
Here we come to one of the central messianic images in the Bible.
The Forbidding Placard (Chapter 44 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility. –Eph 2:14
So far we have examined impressive first-century remains from the Temple Mount platform and from some of its auxiliary structures. When it comes to the Temple itself, however, the fact is that not a single positively identifiable stone survives.
Coins (Chapter 43 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
A poor widow put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. –Mark 12:42
If we want to get technical in this book about stones in the life of Jesus, we must admit that a number of miscellaneous materials—including pottery, glass, and metals—are all forms or components of stone.
Who Moved the Stone? (Chapter 63 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away?” –Mark 16:2-3
On the first Easter morning, the women who wanted to anoint Jesus’ body with spices had a problem. Who would move the stone from the tomb entrance?
The Rock of Calvary (Chapter 61 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). –Mark 15:22
Just inside the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is a narrow stone staircase, at the top of which are two ornate chapels. The one on the right commemorates the nailing of Jesus to the cross. The one on the left marks the site of His crucifixion.
The Golden Gate (Chapter 49 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
This gate is to remain shut. It must not be opened; no one may enter through it. It is to remain shut because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it. –Ezra 44:2
The Golden Gate is the entrance to Jerusalem that Jesus would have used for His triumphal ride on Palm Sunday. For over 500 years it has been closed; not a single soul has passed into or out of it.
Solomon’s Colonnade (Chapter 42 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. –John 10:23
Every once in a while in the gospels we get a glimpse into the life of Jesus as an ordinary man: asking for a drink of water, asleep in the bottom of a boat, cooking fish over a charcoal fire by the lake.