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The Mountain

March 26, 2026 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.
Luke 9:28 (NIV)

This past spring a friend invited me to climb a mountain. It wasn’t a tall mountain, mind you. The rugged trail to the summit was few miles and the ascent was gentle enough that it didn’t wear me out too much. But, it was a mountain. The view was spectacular. As an Iowa boy living my life on the rolling plains, it was a rare opportunity and experience.

A year or so ago I listened to The Bible Project’s podcast series on mountains in the Bible. In case you didn’t know it, mountains are a whole theme across the Great Story, and in today’s chapter we encounter one of the most crucial examples. it’s a strange one—but once you see the connections (because in the Great Story, everything connects), it opens up in all sorts of ways.

To unpack it, we first have to travel back to our chapter-a-day trek through Exodus. In Exodus 19, Moses and the recently freed Hebrew slaves arrive at Mount Sinai and God makes a covenant with the Hebrew people.

Moses ascends the mountain
A cloud envelops it
God’s voice thunders
His face shines when he comes down
The Law is given

Sinai is fire and fear.
Distance. Boundaries. “Do not come too close.”

It’s holy, yes—but also heavy. The people tremble. Even Moses feels the weight of it.

Now, let’s compare that to what happens in today’s chapter.

Jesus ascends the mountain
A cloud envelops it
God’s voice speaks
Jesus’ face shines like the sun
And… Moses is there

Did you catch that?

Moses—the man of Sinai—now standing beside Jesus.

The Law stands next to its fulfillment.

As I meditate on the two, I find four absolutely delicious echoes.

1. The Cloud

Same symbol. Same presence.

At Sinai: terrifying mystery.
At Transfiguration: intimate revelation.

The cloud hasn’t changed.

But the way we experience it has.

2. The Voice

At Sinai: commands carved in stone.
At Transfiguration: “This is my Son… listen to him.”

That’s not just a statement—that’s a handoff.

From law → to living Word
From tablets → to a person

3. The Shining Face

Moses reflects glory.

Jesus radiates it.

One borrows the light…
The other is the light.

4. The Conversation

Luke tells us what they’re talking about:

They speak of Jesus’ “departure” — the Greek word is exodus.

Oh, that’s not accidental. That’s poetry with teeth.

Moses led the first exodus—out of Egypt.
Jesus is about to lead a greater one—out of sin and death.

Same word. Bigger story.

But the best is yet to come when it comes to what this means for me today as a disciple following Jesus.

Peter, bless his enthusiastic heart, wants to build tents.

“Let’s stay here. Let’s capture this. Let’s make it permanent.”

Oh, I feel that sentiment. I’ve felt it on several spiritual mountaintops.

I love those Sinai moments.
Those Transfiguration moments.
Those flashes of clarity where everything feels bright and certain and… safe.

But then the cloud clears.

And Jesus?

He’s alone.

Moses fades. Elijah fades. The moment fades.

Because the point was never the mountain.

It was always Him… and He never stays there.

If Sinai and the stone tablets say “Obey and live,”
and the mountain of Transfiguration says “Listen to him”…

Then the question quietly slips into my morning like a hand on my back:

Am I still trying to live by laws carved in stone…
or am I actually listening to the voice?

Because it’s possible—oh, dangerously possible—to admire Sinai, respect the law, nod at the glory…

…and still not follow the Son down the mountain.

And he always comes down the mountain.

Toward people.
Toward pain.
Toward Jerusalem.

And when I listen to the Voice…it’s always calling my name.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Promotional graphic for Tom Vander Well's Wayfarer blog and podcast, featuring icons of various podcast platforms with a photo of Tom Vander Well. — These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!

Chapter-a-Day

My Part in Jesus’ Ministry

March 25, 2026 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0iBqoJftHHXlLWv864Nh2S?si=BDrIa68XRYm7Ylk2FGLVQQ

The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
Luke 8:38-39 (NIV)

I regularly get addressed as “Pastor Tom” by people locally, even though I have not been on a church staff for 33 years. I do regularly teach among our local gathering of Jesus’ followers, however, and so many people place the label on me. I’m fine with that. I consider it an honor.

When I was a child I had a very narrow definition of God’s purposes and callings. This came, in part, from the denominational paradigm in which I was raised. Humanity was spiritually divided into two camps: clergy and laity. Ministry was a profession and only those in the profession could do certain spiritual things. Laity, or “everyone else” was a catch-all. A layperson might attain to more-or-less spirituality, but you were still not in the rarified air of being a “minister.”

This was childish thinking — and it took me a while to outgrow it.

In today’s chapter, I was struck by all of the people around what Jesus is doing…

There’s the twelve, who are without question Jesus’ officially designated disciples.
Within the twelve only Peter, James, and John are allowed to go into the house of Jairus to witness the raising of his daughter. These three would regularly be Jesus’ “inner circle” within the Twelve.
There were several women in Jesus’ entourage. Luke names three but states there were “many” others supporting Jesus’ ministry operationally and financially.
Jesus’ family were also present, and Jesus seems a bit dismissive in today’s chapter, but they will have a large part to play in the Jesus Movement later on. His brother James will lead the Movement in Jerusalem and write the book of James.
The demon-possessed man Jesus heals begs Jesus to let him follow, but Jesus sends him with a mission to tell everyone in his hometown all that Jesus had done for him. Proximity to Jesus was obviously not required for participation in His mission.

As I meditated on these things in the quiet this morning, I was struck by the fact that all of these people had a part to play in what Jesus was doing. Jesus needed the support of the ladies in His entourage. He needed people to spread the word about what He’d done for them. He needed disciples, but He also needed a few disciples that He could entrust with more than others.

They all had a purpose.

Each one had a part to play in what God was doing.

Along my journey I’ve continued to observe individuals who still see the Kingdom of God through the binary lens of professional ministry and everyone else. Being in the “everyone else” camp causes some people to feel diminished regarding God’s purpose for their lives — like they’re sitting in the cheap seats in the Kingdom while others get called onto the field. I’ve observed that some feel it exempts them from even considering things of the Spirit.

Dr. Mary Neal had an extraordinary Near Death Experience she shares in her book To Heaven and Back. She was physically dead for several minutes and experienced going to heaven. In that experience she shared how she was shown how things she had said and done had a ripple effect in the lives of people all over the world. Even her mistakes and failures had redemptive impact in the lives and stories of others in ways she could never have fathomed.

Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth that every one is a part of the “body” of Christ. We may be different parts. We may operate in very different systems required to make a healthy body function. Like each person in today’s chapter, everyone has a part to play in what God is doing. Peter had a part to play. So did Joanna. So did the man healed from demon possession. Each was very different, but all were part of God’s operation.

It begins with…
A loving gesture
A kind word
Peace in my posture
Joy in my smile
A gentle response
Patience with that annoying person
Faithfully doing what I’ve been asked or have promised
Doing a good deed when the opportunity presents itself

If I focus on these things, God will use me in ways I can’t even fathom for purposes I may never realize this side of heaven.

No theology degree or ministerial certificate required.

Take it from Pastor Tom.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Surrendering Expectations

March 24, 2026 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’”
Luke 7:20 (NIV)

Life for John the Baptist has not turned out like he expected.

Jesus said John was at the top of the list of all-time greatest human beings, but John’s life is at an all-time low.

John is rotting in King Herod’s dungeon. According to the historian Josephus, John is languishing in a prison overlooking one of the lowest places on the Earth. Just east of the Dead Sea. The wilderness prophet who wandered free loudly proclaiming the coming of the Messiah, the Light of the World, is alone, isolated, and silenced in the dark.

Why?

He simply told the truth about Herod’s marriage. It wasn’t lawful. John dared to publicly criticize the King.

And, princes of this world find ways to silence their critics.

So there John sits in the darkness, wondering what on earth is going on. This is not what he thought would happen. This is not the way it was supposed to.

What did John proclaim about Jesus just a few chapters back?

“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?”

“The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Herod is one of the brood of vipers, and there appears to be no wrath pouring out on him. John is the one who’s been snake-bit.

And where in the world is Jesus with His ax and holy fire wrath for Herod?

Jesus a hundreds of miles to the north wandering among small, rural villages on the north shore of Galilee.

He’s not in Jerusalem cleaning up corruption.
He’s not sitting on an earthly throne.
And there is no sudden justice. No holy fire falling.

So, John sends his disciples to Jesus.

“Are you the One, or not?”

At least, that’s the surface question. The questions hiding in the subtext are the important ones.

“Will you get me out of this prison?”
“Will you please deal with evil like I told everyone you would?”
“Please help me understand. This is not how my life should look!”

Jesus reply is chilling. He answers subtext with subtext.

Jesus sends John’s disciples back with a loose paraphrase of the words of the prophet Isaiah, including this from Isaiah 61:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,

Jesus echoes Isaiah — but noticeably leaves out the part about freedom for captives or prisoners released from dark dungeons.

John wants fire from heaven. Jesus is on a mission of mercy.

John’s story is not going to end the way he’d like, and Jesus is not the type of Messiah John expected.

And in the quiet this morning, those are the two sobering realities that I, as a disciple of Jesus, must embrace.

As I follow Jesus, I have no guarantees regarding what my story will look like on this earthly journey or how that story will end. I’d like to believe it will be a long life full of blessings. It could be full of hardship and tragedy. I am called to trust the story, and know that God will be faithful no matter what the chapters of my future contain.

I, like John the Baptist, must also surrender my expectations of who I want Jesus to be. Faith is not about shaping Jesus into who I expect Him to be—but allowing Him to shape me into who I am meant to become. In that relationship and my resulting transformation, I begin to know God for who He is — not what I desire or what I’ve heard others say about Him.

And so, I enter another day — and whatever God has written for me and my story.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Into the Quiet

March 23, 2026 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2OzBLIP40Q6e4bL1kEPSaT?si=pS1sy9xGQo2BihyLItGDng

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
Luke 6:12 (NIV)

This past week I fulfilled a long time desire. A friend and I drove to New Malleray Abbey in northeast Iowa and spent 24 hours in a personal retreat. The Abbey is home to Cistercian monks and they welcome guests to stay with them. It’s not on a mountain, but northeast Iowa is about the closest thing we have to it.

For a small donation, I was given a simple room—bed, desk, chair, bathroom. Seven times a day at set hours, the monks gather for prayer, beginning with Vigil at 4:30 a.m. and ending with Compline at 7:30 p.m. We attended each during our stay. Otherwise, we were in our “cell” in complete quiet.

No phone.
No television.
No internet.

My Bible, my journal, and silence.

There was no set agenda or program. My friend and I discussed before we left what we intended to do in the quiet. I went into the time with some things on which I wanted to pray. Three things on which I wanted to meditate.

As I read today’s chapter, I found myself back on that mountainside. Before choosing His twelve disciples, Jesus went up on a mountain-side, by Himself, to pray through the night.

A few verses later, Luke reports that a “large crowd of disciples” were gathered to hear Jesus teach.

Jesus had a crowd of disciples.
He knew He needed to choose twelve.
He went off by Himself for a day and a night of silence and prayer.

After our twenty-four hours, my friend and I had a three-hour drive home during which we stopped for lunch. We not only processed what we had experienced in our first time at the Abbey, but we also processed what we had learned and heard in our extended time in prayer and the issues we brought with us on our list.

There were no angelic visits. No miraculous moments. But something quieter—and perhaps more enduring—took place. There was, however, a trinity of progressive outcomes.

First, there was increased clarity about the issues we each prayed about.
Like Jesus getting clarity about who the twelve should be.

This led to the second outcome. As my friend and I processed the clarity we received in our time of silence and prayer, it led to very intimate and transparent conversations with one another about them. This, in turn, created even more clarity and moved the needle for both of us.

The final outcome was that we realized how much we needed this, and we’ve already begun to discuss our next silent retreat.

One of the themes of Luke’s version of the Jesus Story is Jesus penchant for spending times in solitary prayer. He mentions it nine times. More than any of the other three gospel writers. In today’s chapter, Jesus finishes His message talking about the difference between those who hear His teaching and apply it, and those who hear His teaching and don’t.

As I meditated on this in the quiet this morning, it struck me that Jesus’ teaching was not just in His words — He was teaching with His life.

It turns out that mountainsides aren’t just for Jesus.

As I mentioned at the beginning of today’s post, my silent retreat at the Abbey has been a long-time desire.

I regret that it took me so long to do it.

It won’t be long before I do it again.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Every Day People, Every Day Lives

March 18, 2026 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”
Luke 5:8 (NIV)

When I’m asked to deliver a message, I often take a few moments before I speak to survey the room. I look at the people sitting there. If it’s among our local gathering of Jesus’ followers I know most of them. I know many of their stories.

In those moments I allow myself to consider the very real struggles that are represented by every face.

Fear, anxiety, and depression
Marriages struggling to survive
Bodies carrying pain
The quiet ache of loneliness
Financial pressure
Struggles at work
Children in full rebellion

Sometimes I will start with a prayer and simply name these things out loud. I want my message to meet people where they are. That’s the whole point of Jesus’ message —He meets people where they are.

Today’s chapter is filled with simple, every day people with every day struggles.

Empty nets.
Incurable disease.
Paralysis.
Social conflicts.
Religious judgement.

God has moved into the neighborhood, and He brings abundance.

An abundance of fish to fill empty nets
An abundance of healing — lepers cleansed, the lame walking
An abundance of grace — sins forgiven, feasts with sinners
An abundance of challenge — it’s the religious He confronts

What I find fascinating is the change that takes place when individuals have an encounter with Jesus.

Peter, James, and John walk away from the biggest catch of their lives.
Matthew leaves his lucrative career in an instant.
A leper and lame man become walking billboards of what God can do inside and out.

But the religious fundamentalists? They dig in deeper.

As I meditated on this in the quiet this morning, it struck me that this is exactly why I take that moment before the message. In that room are living representatives of all the people in today’s chapter. Every day people with every day struggles. And yes, there are always religious fundamentalists in the room more concerned about rules than real righteousness.

My job, as I see it, is to bring the same Jesus we meet in today’s chapter. There will always be religious rule-keepers — that doesn’t change. But Jesus truly changes people when they have an encounter with Him at the intersection of their very real, every day lives.

I know I did. And that’s a Message worth sharing.

After all, it’s why God moved into the neighborhood in the first place.

I will be done the next two days on a little personal retreat.
Lord willing, I’ll be back next Monday.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

A Different Way

March 17, 2026 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Luke 4:5-7 (NIV)

We forget evil.

Along my life journey I’ve observed that God gets a lot of the rap for all the misery in the world. Yet, at the very beginning of the story we learn that human beings chose to be their own gods—with a serpent whispering them on. They are forced to leave God’s Garden and enter… the world.

This world.

And in this world, the serpent holds dominion, power, and authority. Human beings continue to choose they’d rather be their own gods.

Chaos.

And when everything falls apart we blame… God.

The Great Story is a story of good and evil. The kingdoms of this world are ruled by the Prince of this World, that old snake. They operate by a well-worn playbook that doesn’t change much.

Look out for number one.
Be beautiful, powerful, popular, and rich.
The one with the most stuff wins.

In today’s chapter, Luke shares the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Jesus begins His ministry by going into the wilderness by Himself. He fasts. He prays.

And then the snake shows up. This world is his dominion after all, and having God’s Son running around is a threat to that dominion. The temptations he offers Jesus are about identity.

These are not random sins—they are messianic shortcuts.

Each begins with a subtle seduction:

“If you are the Son of God…”

Not prove it—but define it on your own terms.

Bread = meet your own needs first
Power = take the crown without the cross
Spectacle = force God’s hand

In other words: be your own kind of Messiah. Do it the world’s way. It’s quick, it’s easy, and the snake has the power to make it happen.

Jesus resists each with Scripture. Not flexing divine muscle—but anchoring himself in trust.

What follows in the rest of the chapter is a study in how God’s ways differ from the ways of this world. Jesus does exactly the opposite of what the world’s playbook prescribes for fame, power, and fortune.

He speaks hard truths. He makes people angry. They reject Him.

He sets up His ministry in rural, blue-collar villages far from the halls of worldly power and influence.

When the crowds surge, He steps away.

And in the quiet this morning, Jesus example, in contrast to what the world has to offer, has me asking myself “What kind of Messiah do I want?”

Because the temptations offered Jesus are the same ones I often prefer:

A Jesus who makes my life easier (bread)
A Jesus who gives me control (power)
A Jesus who proves himself on demand — for my benefit (spectacle)

But the real Jesus?

He walks into wilderness.
He speaks uncomfortable truth.
He extends grace to people I’d rather exclude.
He slips away when I want him to perform.

Meanwhile, I find myself constantly tempted…

To grasp instead of trust
To impress instead of obey
To control instead of surrender

Because the enemy rarely shows up with fangs…

He shows up with reasonable alternatives.

So, I find myself at the beginning of another day with yet another opportunity to choose the ways of this world, or to follow in Jesus’ footsteps – the way He operated.

I want to walk into this day like Jesus walked into the wilderness:

Not proving.
Not performing.
Not panicking.

Just…

Spirit-filled.
Scripture-anchored.
Prayer-centered.

And when the crowd presses in—whether with praise or pressure—

I will slip away, even for a moment,
and find my center again.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Putting the Mission to Work

March 16, 2026 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
Luke 3:11 (NIV)

In over thirty-years of my career with Intelligentics, I have been incredibly blessed. I do, however, have a small number of painful memories. Most of the agony traces back to mistakes we discovered involving client data — mistakes that were consequential. In each case, our company’s modus operandi was to do what our mission states:

“…by applying the principles of God’s Word to our lives and work, we become examples of servant leadership and integrity…”

Go to the client.
Honestly confess.
Agree to make it right.
Refund what they paid for the project.

I am happy to report that I can easily count on one hand the number of times we were required to do this. It was never fun, and the amount of money we refunded was not small.

Today’s chapter is all about setting and preparation. Luke lays out the historical setting for Jesus making his entrance in ministry. He lists seven actual names of people at the top of the org charts of the kingdoms of empire, commerce, and religion — individuals who will conspire to have Jesus executed in just three years. Luke then introduces Jesus’ cousin John, a herald in the wilderness preparing the way for the Messiah.

As I meditated on John’s words, I found it fascinating that Luke specifically notes that tax collectors and soldiers went to hear John’s message. These were both despised groups of people. Tax Collectors were despised because they were seen as working for the enemy (Rome) and they profited by extorting their own people. Soldiers were despised as occupiers, and those who leveraged their power to oppress innocent people.

When they asked John what they should do, John gave specific answers.

“Don’t collect more than you have to.”
“Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

John didn’t tell them to get a different job. He told them to act differently in the job they already had.

When I was a young man, I was convinced that I would spend my life in vocational ministry. God had other plans. I’ve spent my career helping clients measure and improve their customers experience. Along the way, God taught me that my job gave me the opportunity to work with all sorts of people, from all walks of life, whom I would otherwise never meet. He revealed to me the opportunity I’d been given to teach people principles that would not only improve the quality of their work, but the quality of their lives and relationships.

And, I would also be given the opportunity to exemplify what I say I believe…

Honestly confessing a mistake.
Making it right.
Refunding money.

John’s message was the warm-up act for Jesus — but their messages dove-tailed perfectly. John called all people, saints and sinners alike — to take a spiritual heart check. Then turn a changed heart into tangible, specific acts of goodness in every day life.

Repentance, according to John, wasn’t a feeling. It was visible. It showed up in the way people treated others, handled money, and used their authority.

On this Monday morning, entering another work week, that’s a good reminder. It’s one thing for my company to have a mission statement. It’s another thing for me to actually do business like I believe it.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Book Summary List

Luke (Mar-Apr 2026)

March 13, 2026 Tom Vander Well 2 Comments

Each photo below corresponds to the chapter-a-day post for the book of Luke published by Tom Vander Well in March and April of 2026. Click on the photo linked to each chapter to read the post.

Chapter-a-Day

At the Table

March 13, 2026 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

“This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Luke 2:12 (NIV)

In a couple of weeks I will celebrate my 20th anniversary of this chapter-a-day blogging and podcasting journey. I’ve been mulling that over a lot over the past year. The truth is that this was in many ways an overflow of a daily practice I carved out for many years before that. Each morning I crawl out of bed, I grab a cup of coffee and I show up at the table. There, I spend some time with God, meditating, praying, and thinking about where I find myself on life’s road.

Along this journey, I’ve observed that many people hope for a connection with God at their weekly church service. The hope is that being in a building they believe is God’s House, somewhere amidst the music, the spectacle, the communal worship, and the spoken word they will experience something special.

As a follower of Jesus I am called to gather with fellow believers regularly, and God does inhabit and work in-and-through the praise and worship of His people. I have observed, however, that this lends itself to wanting or expecting something amazing, emotional, and spectacular. Sometimes churches even try to create those moments intentionally — crafting services designed to stir powerful emotions.

My own experience is that this misses the point.

It wasn’t a conscious choice on my part to move from the story of Esther to Luke’s version of Jesus’ story. Yet, in the first two chapters I’m finding connections I’ve never seen before. In yesterday’s chapter, it was the fact that God raises simple, faithful, unassuming people into key players within the Great Story. In today’s chapter, it’s reversals. The story of Esther is known for all of its reversals of fortune. Wouldn’t you know it, today’s chapter is full of them, as well.

The best and the brightest of religious minds and thinkers expected God’s Messiah to arrive in pomp. The Messiah, it was believed, would establish an earthly throne, wipe out the Roman Empires and subdue the nations, reign in earthly glory in Jerusalem where the entire earth would come to worship him.

But through the prophet Isaiah God had already said:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.”

Building on yesterday’s chapter, we find that the Messiah enters human history quietly through unassuming people of simple faith. In today’s chapter, Luke methodically present this reversal:

What People Expected	What God Actually Did
The Messiah would arrive in royal splendor	A baby is born quietly to a young couple of simple faith
The King would be announced to rulers and priests	Angels announce Him to shepherds in a field
The Messiah would enter the world through power	He enters through vulnerability, lying in a manger
The religious elite would recognize Him first	Two elderly saints quietly recognize Him in the Temple
God’s presence would remain centered in the Temple	Jesus begins forming relationships around everyday tables
The kingdom would overthrow Rome by force	The kingdom begins by transforming hearts

Jesus did show up at the Temple. In fact, He does so twice in today’s chapter. Once as a baby and then as a twelve-year-old. But God’s Son is already establishing that His ways are not the ways of religious institutions. His focus will never be the Temple, because He knows that the Temple will be rubble in 40 years. He even tells His disciples this. His focus is on the table…

The table he learns to craft with his earthly father’s training
The table he shares daily with family and community for thirty years
The table where he eats with His disciples
The table where he dines with tax collectors and sinners
The table where he has a midnight conversation with Nicodemus
The table where Pharisees host Him as a guest
The table where Lazarus throws a dinner party in His honor
The table where He celebrates one final Passover and blesses bread and wine

In the quiet this morning, Luke reminds me that a major paradigm shift has already begun. Jesus would go to the Temple for festivals, but His focus was never on the spectacle and bustle of the Temple. His focus was daily spent quietly at the table with others.

It’s no accident that Luke’s version of Jesus’ story begins with a baby laid in a feeding trough and ends with bread broken at a table. From the beginning, God was inviting us not to a spectacle, but to a meal.

My relationship with Jesus began in a church. Worship with my local gathering of Jesus’ followers is an essential part of the spiritual rhythm of my life. But it’s not the most transformative part. The most transformative part of my relationship with Jesus is here in the quiet of my office, every morning, at the table.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

When the Spirit Hovers Again

March 12, 2026 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

https://open.spotify.com/episode/221UBgz4HNJ06Vzdkw6lPk?si=5HadTM96QC6kL9mbIi-bnw

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”
Luke 1:35 (NIV)

Yesterday we finished our trek through the story of Esther in which God providentially works through two unassuming individuals to save the Jewish people from genocide. Mordecai and his niece Esther were exiles and foreigners in Persia. Mordecai was a bureaucratic paper pusher. Esther was just a young girl.

God loves to work through unassuming people of faith.

As we begin our Lenten trek through Luke’s biography of Jesus, we see this same paradigm again.

An old priest and his wife who live in the back-country hills of Judah.
A young girl in the backwater town of Nazareth.

These are nobodies. Simple people living faithfully where life has planted them. But through them, God is going to begin a new creation.

When Mary asks the angel Gabriel how she could be pregnant, since she was a virgin, he said that God’s Spirit would “overshadow” her. That’s a fascinating word to use. The Greek word means “to overshadow,” the language used when God’s presence fills the tabernacle. It also echoes the opening chapter of the Great Story in which God’s Spirit “hovers” over the chaos and creation begins. Gabriel is announcing that through Mary a new creation is about to begin, and Mary will become like an Ark of the New Covenant.

The Ark of the Covenant was the most sacred object in Israel.

Inside it were three things:

The stone tablets of the Law
A jar of manna
Aaron’s priestly staff

Above it rested what was known as the mercy seat, and God’s glory—the Shekinah—was said to dwell there. In other words, the Ark represented the place where God’s presence touched the earth. And when the Ark was placed in the tabernacle, Scripture says the cloud of God’s glory “overshadowed” it — and there’s that word again.

Now watch what Luke does.

Luke structures Mary’s visit to Elizabeth so that it mirrors an earlier story in Israel’s history.

The story appears in 2 Samuel, when King David brings the Ark to Jerusalem.

Let’s compare the passages.

Ark Story	Mary Story
David travels to the hill country of Judah	Mary travels to the hill country of Judah
David asks: “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”	Elizabeth asks: “Why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
The Ark stays in the house of Obed-Edom three months	Mary stays with Elizabeth about three months
David leaps/dances before the Ark	John leaps in Elizabeth’s womb

Now, let’s compare what was in the Ark of the Covenant and what is inside of Mary…

Ark Contents	Fulfillment in Mary
Stone tablets of the Law	Jesus — the living Word
Jar of manna	Jesus — the bread of life
Aaron’s priestly staff	Jesus — the ultimate High Priest

Luke begins his version of Jesus’ story by telling us that God’s glory no longer lives in a golden box inside a temple.

Instead, it lives:

in the womb of a teenage girl
in a stable outside Bethlehem
in the life of a wandering rabbi with the calloused hands of a carpenter

God has moved out of the temple and into the neighborhood.

And what neighborhood?

Not the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, nor in glorious Rome— but to a back water town in Galilee. A rural nowhere where you’ll find simple people of faith living quiet, every day lives.

The kind of unassuming people God loves to use.

The same Spirit who overshadowed:

the waters of creation
the tabernacle in the wilderness
Mary in Nazareth

now chooses to dwell in ordinary lives that say yes to Him.

In the quiet this morning, my heart is mulling over the reality that God tends to create the most world-changing things in hidden places. The very theme I saw all over the place in Esther’s story.

Before creation, there was dark water.
Before redemption, there was a quiet womb.

The Spirit doesn’t only move in thunder.

Sometimes He hovers.

Over a life.
Over a calling.
Over a slow, unseen work of grace.

And when He does, creation happens all over again.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Wayfarer

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Just another wayfarer on life's journey, headed for Home. I'm carrying The Message, and I'm definitely waiting for Guffman.

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Just another wayfarer on life's journey, headed for Home. I'm carrying The Message, and I'm definitely waiting for Guffman.