A Year with the Church Fathers Quotes

“No other religion has a God who serves His people rather than demanding service of them. This is why for Martin Luther justification was the chief article of the faith. Christ turned over our human expectations so that His glorious grace might be our faith and confession. God destroys our acquisitive holiness by giving us a perfect ransom that we cannot acquire. This ransom frees us from constantly seeking to put ourselves on top. We are free to be last, because Christ exalts us.”
― Scott Murray, A Year with the Church Fathers: Meditations for Each Day of the Church Year

“Jesus also knew that John’s martyrdom was a forerunner of His own. His grief may have been intensified by the horrible loss of His cousin because it clarified that His own death was impending. Every funeral reminds us that death is our enemy also; at some level, we grieve for ourselves. One death is everyone’s death; all the more so for the Savior, because His death would become everyone’s death unto eternal life. Jesus is the Lord who considers precious the death of His people. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” (Psalm 116:15), not least because our death is His death.”
― Scott Murray, A Year with the Church Fathers: Meditations for Each Day of the Church Year