Biblical Stories

    Key moments from the Old and New Testaments, explained with historical and theological context, from Genesis to Revelation.

    A dramatic painting of a small fishing boat tossed by enormous waves in a violent storm, its crew struggling with the sails and rigging.
    Jesus Calms the Storm
    What the disciples were really afraid of on the Sea of Galilee, why Jesus was asleep during the storm, and what the calm afterward revealed about him.
    A Renaissance painting of Jesus standing in the Jordan River with hands folded in prayer, as John the Baptist pours water over his head and a dove descends from above.
    The Baptism of Jesus
    Why John the Baptist tried to refuse baptizing Jesus, what happened the moment Jesus came up out of the water, and why the scene matters theologically.
    A somber baroque painting of Christ wearing a crown of thorns, flanked by two other figures in a dimly lit composition.
    The Carrying of the Cross
    Why a stranger from Cyrene ended up carrying Jesus's cross, what that detail reveals about the journey to Golgotha, and why the moment still resonates.
    A dramatic painting of Jesus raising a whip of cords amid a crowd of fleeing merchants inside a grand columned temple courtyard.
    The Cleansing of the Temple
    Why Jesus overturned tables in the Temple courts, what he actually said while doing it, and why this is one of the only violent acts recorded of him.
    A medieval fresco of Jesus riding a donkey toward a walled city gate, greeted by a crowd waving palm branches.
    The Entry into Jerusalem
    What Jesus's ride into Jerusalem on a donkey actually signaled, why the crowd shouted "Hosanna," and how the same city would turn days later.
    A watercolor illustration of a vast crowd seated across a grassy hillside, receiving food passed down through the rows.
    The Feeding of the Five Thousand
    How five loaves and two fish fed a crowd of thousands, why the disciples wanted to send everyone away hungry, and what was left over afterward.
    A somber painting of a solitary, weary figure sitting on rocks in a barren desert landscape at dusk, hands clasped in thought.
    The Temptation in the Desert
    What the devil actually offered Jesus in the wilderness, why each temptation targeted a real need, and how Jesus answered every one with Scripture.
    A Renaissance painting of Christ transfigured in radiant white light, floating above a mountaintop between two prophet figures, with disciples shielding their eyes below.
    The Transfiguration on Mount Tabor
    What Peter, James, and John saw on the mountain, why Moses and Elijah appear beside Jesus, and what the voice from the cloud actually said.
    A baroque painting of a crowded wedding banquet, with servants pouring water from large jars in the foreground and Jesus seated at the table.
    The Wedding at Cana
    The story of Jesus's first recorded miracle, why his mother is the one who pushes him to act, and what the wedding at Cana signals about his ministry.
    An ancient, weathered icon of Christ with a gold halo and dark hair, his expression asymmetrical between the two sides of his face.
    Christ Pantocrator
    What "Pantocrator" means, why the oldest surviving icon of Christ has two strikingly different sides to his face, and how it survived centuries of destruction.
    A weathered marble statue of a young man carrying a lamb across his shoulders, holding its legs in each hand.
    Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd
    Why the earliest Christians pictured Jesus as a young man carrying a lamb rather than as a king or judge, and what he actually said that image was based on.
    A medieval fresco of Christ enthroned within a mandorla, one hand raised in blessing, surrounded by attendant figures.
    Jesus Christ the King
    What Jesus told Pilate about his kingdom during his own trial, why a pope created an entire feast around that idea in 1925, and what problem he was responding to.
    A warm baroque painting of a family group indoors, with a mother and elderly father gathered closely around a young child.
    The Holy Family — Together
    The one story the Gospels tell about Jesus as a child, why his parents lost track of him for three days, and what he said when they finally found him.
    A Renaissance fresco of Christ stepping out of a stone tomb holding a banner, while soldiers sleep at its base.
    The Risen Christ
    What the women found at the tomb on the third day, what the angel told them to do next, and why the empty tomb alone wasn't the whole story.
    A radiant painting of Christ's face and chest, with bright light streaming outward from a glowing heart marked with a small cross.
    The Sacred Heart of Jesus
    What a French nun said Jesus showed her in a series of 17th-century visions, why the image includes thorns and flames, and how a private devotion became universal.
    A devotional depiction of a heavenly throne surrounded by winged seraphim, with smoke and light filling a temple.
    Isaiah's Vision of the Heavenly Throne
    How a prophet's vision of God enthroned amid fiery seraphim, in the year an earthly king died, became one of Scripture's most vivid images of divine holiness.
    A weathered Byzantine icon of Christ crowned and wearing ornate bishop's vestments marked with large crosses, set within an elaborate gold frame.
    Jesus Christ the High Priest
    How the Epistle to the Hebrews reimagines Jesus as a priest unlike any before him, and why that priesthood is described as understanding human weakness firsthand.
    A grand painting of a robed king kneeling before an ornate altar, surrounded by priests and a crowd, with a walled city visible in the background.
    The Dedication of Solomon's Temple
    What happened when the Ark of the Covenant was finally carried into the newly built Temple, and why the priests had to stop their own ceremony halfway through.
    A classical landscape painting of figures offering a sacrifice at an altar beside a lake, with a rainbow arching across the sky above mountains and animals.
    The Rainbow Covenant with Noah
    What God actually promised after the flood, why the rainbow was chosen as its sign, and what it means that Scripture calls it a "war bow."
    A devotional depiction of the Virgin Mary in mourning robes, her heart pierced by seven swords, eyes cast upward in grief.
    Our Lady of Sorrows
    How a single prophetic line about a sword piercing Mary's soul grew, over centuries, into one of Catholicism's most enduring devotions.
    A devotional depiction of Jesus in a white garment with red and pale rays streaming from his heart, one hand raised in blessing.
    The Divine Mercy Jesus
    How a Polish nun's reported visions in the 1930s guided a painter's brush, producing one of the 20th century's most widely reproduced devotional images.
    A devotional depiction of Jesus seated at a table with his apostles, breaking bread and raising a cup.
    The Last Supper — Institution of the Eucharist
    How Jesus reinterpreted a Passover meal with his apostles, transforming an ancient feast of deliverance into a new covenant sealed in his own body and blood.
    A 17th-century painting of Abraham and his family departing on donkeys for the land of Canaan, accompanied by servants and livestock.
    The Call of Abraham
    What God actually asked of Abraham in Genesis 12, what he gave up to answer, and why this one call anchors the rest of the Bible.
    A watercolor illustration of Noah and his sons constructing the wooden ark on a large timber scaffold.
    Noah Building the Ark
    Why Noah spent decades building a boat for a flood no one else believed was coming, and what the story says about obedience without proof.
    A detailed painting of an enormous unfinished tower rising above a city, with construction still underway around its base.
    The Tower of Babel
    What the builders of Babel were actually trying to achieve, why the story ends in scattered languages, and what it says about human ambition.
    A baroque painting of angels ascending and descending a golden stairway toward heaven, above a sleeping man on the ground below.
    Jacob's Ladder
    The story behind Jacob's dream of a stairway to heaven, why he was alone and running when he had it, and what "the gate of heaven" meant to him.
    A baroque painting of the Israelites gathering belongings and armor on the shore after crossing the parted Red Sea, with Moses standing at the water's edge.
    The Crossing of the Red Sea
    What happened at the Red Sea after the Exodus, why the Israelites were trapped before the miracle, and what the crossing has meant ever since.
    A dramatic baroque painting of the young David kneeling over the severed head of Goliath, tying a cord around his wrist.
    David and Goliath
    The real story behind David and Goliath — why no soldier in Israel's army would fight the Philistine champion, and what David said before the stone was thrown.
    A 19th-century painting of Jesus seated on a rock outcropping, raising one hand, teaching a crowd gathered around a hillside.
    The Sermon on the Mount
    The setting and structure of Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, why the Beatitudes open it the way they do, and why the crowds reacted the way they did.
    King David dancing before the Ark of the Covenant, pen-and-ink drawing by Simeon Solomon
    David Dancing Before the Ark of the Covenant
    Why King David danced through the streets of Jerusalem before the Ark of the Covenant, what his wife Michal thought of it, and what the scene means in 2 Samuel 6.
    Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones, engraving by Gustave Doré
    Ezekiel's Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones
    What Ezekiel saw in a valley full of dry bones, what the vision meant to a people in exile, and why it remains one of the Bible's most striking images of hope.
    Moses holding the tablets of the Ten Commandments, by Rembrandt
    Moses — Leader of the Exodus, Receiver of the Law
    How a fugitive shepherd became the man who confronted Pharaoh, led Israel out of Egypt, and carried the Ten Commandments down from Sinai.
    Icon of the prophets Solomon and Isaiah from the prophets tier of an iconostasis
    Old Testament Prophets Every Catholic Should Know
    A roundup of the major and minor Old Testament prophets — Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the twelve minor prophets — and what each one is remembered for.
    The Virgin Mary presenting the rosary to Saint Dominic, painting by Caravaggio
    Our Lady Gives the Rosary to Saint Dominic
    The traditional account of Mary appearing to Saint Dominic and entrusting him with the rosary — a cherished legend, not a documented historical event.
    The betrothal of Mary and Joseph before the high priest, painting by Raphael
    The Betrothal of Mary and Joseph
    What Mary and Joseph's betrothal actually meant under first-century Jewish law, what the Gospels say about it, and the later legend of Joseph's flowering staff.
    God separating light from darkness, fresco by Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling
    The Creation of Light — "Let There Be Light"
    What Genesis 1:1-5 actually says about the first divine command, why light comes before the sun, and what "Let there be light" means as an act of speech.
    God separating the waters and dividing the earth, fresco by Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling
    The Creation of the Sea and Sky
    What Genesis 1:6-8 means by the "dome" that becomes the sky, how ancient cosmology shaped the verse, and why day two is the only day God doesn't call "good."
    God creating the sun, moon, and stars, fresco by Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling
    The Creation of the Stars and Moon
    What Genesis 1:14-19 says about the creation of the sun, moon, and stars on the fourth day, and why the passage was a quiet argument against worshiping them.
    The wise and foolish virgins from the parable, watercolor by William Blake
    The Parable of the Ten Virgins
    Why five bridesmaids were locked out of a wedding feast in one of Jesus's most unsettling parables, and what "keep your lamp full" has meant to readers ever since.
    Entry into Jerusalem by Giotto, fresco of Christ's arrival on Palm Sunday, Scrovegni Chapel
    Holy Week Explained: From Palm Sunday to Easter
    A day-by-day guide to Holy Week: Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, and how each day prepares the Church for Easter.
    Gethsemane, painting by Carl Heinrich Bloch showing Jesus praying in agony before an angel
    The Agony in the Garden
    The night before his crucifixion, Jesus prayed alone in Gethsemane while his closest friends fell asleep — what happened there shaped Christian prayer since.
    James Tissot's painting of Christ preaching the Sermon of the Beatitudes on the mount
    The Eight Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount
    The eight Beatitudes from Matthew 5:3-12 — what Jesus meant by calling the poor, the meek, and the persecuted "blessed," and why they open the Sermon on the Mount.
    The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple, painting by William Holman Hunt showing the young Jesus among the teachers
    The Finding of Jesus in the Temple
    For three frantic days, Mary and Joseph searched Jerusalem for their missing twelve-year-old son — and found him teaching in the Temple.
    Simeon holding the infant Jesus in the Temple as Mary and Anna look on
    The Presentation of Jesus: An Old Man's Final Wish
    Mary and Joseph bring the infant Jesus to the Temple, where a dying man's decades-long wait ends and a prophetess named Anna begins to speak.
    Rembrandt's painting of Moses holding the tablets of the Ten Commandments
    The Ten Commandments Given to Moses at Sinai
    The story of the Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 20:1-17), their meaning, and the traditional Catholic numbering.
    The Virgin Mary visiting her cousin Elizabeth, both women pregnant and embracing
    The Visitation: When Two Unborn Prophecies Met
    Mary travels in haste to her cousin Elizabeth, whose unborn child leaps for joy — the encounter that gave the Church the Magnificat.
    Cain raising a stone against his brother Abel, painting by Pier Francesco Mola
    Cain and Abel
    The first murder in Scripture happens between brothers over an offering, and God's question afterward — "Where is your brother?" — still echoes through Genesis.
    Daniel kneeling calmly among lions in the den, painted by Briton Riviere
    Daniel in the Lions' Den
    Why Daniel kept praying with his windows open even after it became a capital crime, and what King Darius did the moment he realized his mistake.
    Thomas placing his finger in Christ's wound, painting by Caravaggio
    Doubting Thomas
    Thomas missed the first appearance of the risen Christ and refused to believe secondhand — then got the exact proof he'd demanded, and something more than that.
    Elijah ascending to heaven in a chariot of fire as Elisha watches, 18th-century painting
    Elijah and the Chariot of Fire
    How the prophet Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind, witnessed by his successor Elisha, and why he never actually died in the biblical account.
    Queen Esther approaching King Ahasuerus to plead for her people, Baroque painting
    Esther Saves Her People From Annihilation
    How Queen Esther risked execution by approaching the Persian king uninvited to stop a planned massacre of the Jewish people — the story behind Purim.
    Joseph's brothers selling him into slavery to merchants, 17th-century painting
    Joseph Sold Into Slavery by His Own Brothers
    How jealousy over a colorful coat and two dreams led Joseph's brothers to sell him into slavery in Egypt — and how the story became about mercy, not revenge.
    The Holy Spirit descending as tongues of fire over Mary and the apostles, painting by Cesare Nebbia
    Pentecost
    A sound like a violent wind, tongues of fire, and a room full of frightened disciples suddenly understood by pilgrims from a dozen different nations at once.
    Ruth pledging her loyalty to Naomi, Pre-Raphaelite painting
    Ruth and Naomi: A Loyalty That Outlasted Grief
    Why Ruth's vow to her widowed mother-in-law Naomi became one of scripture's most quoted lines about loyalty, and how it led to King David's family line.
    Samson asleep in Delilah's lap as she prepares to cut his hair, Renaissance painting
    Samson and Delilah: Strength, Betrayal, and a Final Prayer
    The story of Samson's downfall at Delilah's hands, the secret of his strength, and the last prayer he prayed pulling down a Philistine temple.
    The three Magi kneeling before the infant Jesus, fresco by Giotto
    The Adoration of the Magi
    Foreign astrologers followed a star to a toddler in an ordinary house, opened boxes of gold and embalming spices, and knelt. Here's what Matthew actually records.
    The Angel Gabriel kneeling before Mary in Fra Angelico's Annunciation
    The Annunciation
    The moment a teenage girl in Nazareth was asked to say yes to something that made no biological sense — and the single sentence she answered with.
    Christ ascending into heaven as the apostles look on, Baroque painting
    The Ascension of Jesus: Why the Disciples Kept Staring at the Sky
    What happened when Jesus was taken up to heaven forty days after the Resurrection, and why two angels had to tell the disciples to stop looking up.
    Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac as an angel stays his hand, Baroque painting
    The Binding of Isaac: Abraham's Hardest Test
    The story of God testing Abraham by commanding the sacrifice of his son Isaac, and the angel's last-second intervention that stopped it.
    The Samaritan lifting the wounded traveler onto his horse, etching by Rembrandt
    The Good Samaritan
    Why Jesus made the hero of his most famous parable a man his audience had been raised to despise, and what that choice was really asking of them.
    Shepherds kneeling in adoration before the newborn Christ, painting by El Greco
    The Nativity of Jesus
    Why the birth of Jesus was announced first to shepherds working a night shift, not to anyone with status, and what the Gospel actually says happened in Bethlehem.
    The father embracing his kneeling son in Rembrandt's Return of the Prodigal Son
    The Prodigal Son
    The parable Jesus told about a father who ran to embrace a son who had already spent everything — and the other son who never left, and never forgave.
    Jesus calling Lazarus from the tomb before the astonished crowd, Baroque painting
    The Raising of Lazarus: Jesus Wept, Then Called Him Out
    How Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead after four days in the tomb, the shortest verse in the Bible, and what the sign meant for his path to Calvary.
    The disciples recognizing the risen Christ at the supper table in Emmaus, painting by Velazquez
    The Road to Emmaus
    Two disciples walk seven miles with the risen Christ and don't recognize him until the exact moment he breaks bread at their table.
    Jesus speaking with the Samaritan woman at the well, painting by Rembrandt
    The Woman at the Well: A Conversation That Changed a Town
    How Jesus's conversation with a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well broke two social taboos at once and led an entire town to believe in him.
    Zacchaeus perched in a fig tree looking down at Jesus, 18th-century painting
    Zacchaeus in the Tree: A Short Man's Big Change of Heart
    How a wealthy, despised tax collector climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus and ended up giving away half his fortune the same day.
    A Renaissance altarpiece depicting the adoration of the Holy Trinity by saints, angels, and the faithful.
    All Saints
    A feast built for the saints history forgot to name — the martyrs whose stories were lost, and the quietly holy who never made a calendar at all.
    A 16th-century painting of the Virgin Mary interceding for souls in Purgatory.
    The Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed (All Souls' Day)
    Not everyone who dies in friendship with God is ready for heaven's full presence, the Church teaches — one November day is set aside to pray them onward.
    Devotional painting of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, showing Mary in a blue veil with her hand on her heart, pierced by a sword and encircled by roses, against a gold background.
    The Immaculate Heart of Mary
    The feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Aug. 22) honors Mary's total, sinless love for God — its history, meaning, and link to Fatima.
    Caravaggio's Madonna di Loreto, showing Mary standing in a doorway holding the infant Jesus, as two barefoot pilgrims kneel before her.
    Our Lady of Loreto
    Why a small stone house in an Italian hill town became one of Catholicism's most visited shrines, and why Mary under this title is now patroness of air travel.
    Carlo Dolci's portrait of the Virgin Mary in prayer, hands joined, eyes raised to heaven, wrapped in a blue mantle against a dark background.
    The Saturday Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary
    Why the Catholic Church sets aside Saturdays for Mary, and how a custom rooted in early monastic prayer became a fixture of the universal liturgical calendar.
    A dramatic Renaissance painting of the Virgin Mary rising bodily into heaven, surrounded by angels.
    The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
    In 1950, a pope closed a debate that had run for over a millennium, formally declaring what Christians had already believed about Mary's end for centuries.
    A 17th-century altarpiece panel depicting the raising of the True Cross.
    Exaltation of the Holy Cross
    An empress in her seventies traveled to Jerusalem in search of the wood Christ died on, and tradition holds she found it beneath a pagan temple built to bury it.
    A Baroque painting of the Virgin Mary in prayer, hands folded, eyes lowered.
    The Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary
    A feast born out of gratitude for a battlefield victory against an Ottoman siege still carries the older, harder question of what Mary's own name actually means.
    Murillo's Immaculate Conception, showing Mary standing on a crescent moon in a white gown and blue mantle, hands joined in prayer, surrounded by cherubs.
    The Immaculate Conception of Mary
    What the Immaculate Conception means, why it isn't the Virgin Birth, and how a 19th-century dogma reaches back to an ancient greeting from Nazareth.
    A Renaissance fresco depicting the birth of the Virgin Mary, attended by women in a domestic interior.
    The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
    No Gospel records Mary's birth, yet by the sixth century Christians in Jerusalem kept a feast for it, built on a story that never made it into the Bible.
    A Renaissance painting of the young Virgin Mary ascending the Temple steps.
    The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
    An elderly, once-childless couple bring their three-year-old daughter to live at the Temple — a story absent from Scripture, yet it shaped Christian art.
    A Baroque painting of the Virgin Mary crowned as Queen of Heaven.
    The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
    In the aftermath of a devastating world war, a pope crowned Mary queen in a formal encyclical, drawing on royal imagery scattered across the biblical text.
    The Theotokos of Vladimir, a 12th-century Byzantine icon of Mary holding the infant Jesus, his cheek pressed against hers, against a gold background.
    Mary, Mother of God
    Why the Church opens every calendar year by calling Mary "Mother of God" — a title born from a 5th-century fight over who Jesus really is.
    Raphael's Sistine Madonna, showing Mary holding the infant Jesus, standing on clouds between green curtains, flanked by Saint Sixtus and Saint Barbara.
    Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
    Why the Catholic Church calls Mary "Mother of the Church," from Christ's words at the cross to a title Pope Francis added to the universal calendar in 2018.
    Piero della Francesca's Baptism of Christ, showing Jesus standing in the Jordan River with hands joined in prayer as John the Baptist pours water over his head and the dove of the Holy Spirit descends.
    The Baptism of the Lord (Feast)
    Why the Church gives the Jordan River scene its own feast day, closing the Christmas season — and what the feast celebrates that the Gospel narrative alone does not.
    The golden IHS monogram of the Holy Name of Jesus surrounded by a sunburst and gilded cherubs above the high altar of the Church of the Gesù in Rome.
    The Most Holy Name of Jesus
    Why the Church keeps a feast for a name — what "Jesus" actually means in Hebrew, why Saint Paul called it the name above every name, and how devotion to it spread.
    Saul thrown from his horse and struck blind by a heavenly light on the road to Damascus, from Caravaggio's Conversion on the Way to Damascus
    The Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle
    The Damascus road story that turned Christianity's fiercest persecutor into its greatest missionary, and what the three biblical accounts actually say.
    A painting of Jesus Christ walking across turbulent waters toward a small boat during a storm at sea.
    Jesus Walking on Water
    In a storm on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus walked toward his terrified disciples across the waves — and Peter, for a few steps, walked out to meet him.
    A 19th-century painting of Joseph, newly freed from prison, interpreting Pharaoh's dream of the seven cows before Pharaoh and his court
    Joseph Interprets Pharaoh's Dreams — Genesis 41
    From a forgotten prison cell to Pharaoh's court in a day — how Joseph's gift for dreams turned seven fat cows and seven lean ones into a nation's survival plan.
    A painting of Simon Peter, lit by firelight, shown at the moment of denying he knew Jesus while bystanders look on.
    Peter's Denial of Jesus
    Hours after swearing he would never abandon Jesus, Peter denied even knowing him three times before a rooster crowed — and the Gospels don't look away from it.
    A fresco depicting Judas Iscariot embracing and kissing Jesus while soldiers with torches and weapons surround them.
    The Betrayal of Judas
    For thirty pieces of silver, Judas Iscariot led soldiers to Jesus in Gethsemane and identified him with a kiss — one of the most haunting scenes in the Gospels.
    A dark, somber painting of Jesus Christ crucified on the cross, his head bowed, against a black background.
    The Crucifixion of Jesus
    At Golgotha, Jesus spoke seven final words from the cross and a Roman centurion confessed him as the Son of God — the scene at the heart of the Passion.
    A baroque painting of Israelites dancing and celebrating around a small golden calf statue on a pedestal, with Moses and Joshua visible descending the mountain in the background.
    The Golden Calf
    Why the Israelites built an idol while Moses was still on the mountain, and what happened when he came down and saw it for himself.
    Rembrandt painting of King Saul seated and troubled, listening to the young David playing the harp to soothe him.
    The Kings of Israel — Saul, David, and Solomon
    Israel's united monarchy lasted three reigns — a farmer's son chosen by lot, a shepherd who became its greatest king, a builder whose wisdom outlived his kingdom.
    Renaissance altarpiece painting of the Virgin Mary being assumed into heaven, surrounded by angels, with the apostles gathered below.
    The Life of Mary — A Complete Timeline
    From a childhood outside Scripture to her Assumption into heaven, follow Mary's life event by event through the Gospels and the Church's oldest traditions.
    Renaissance fresco of Jesus Christ handing the keys of heaven to a kneeling Saint Peter in a piazza before a domed temple, surrounded by the other apostles and onlookers.
    The Life of Saint Peter — Fisherman to Pope
    From mending nets on the Sea of Galilee to leading the early Church, follow Peter's full arc — his call, his failures, and his final years in Rome.
    A baroque painting of a shepherd carrying a rescued lamb across his shoulders through a rocky landscape.
    The Parable of the Lost Sheep
    Why Jesus told a story about a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to find one, and what it reveals about who he came to seek out.
    A Renaissance painting of a farmer scattering seed by hand across a field, with a village and rolling landscape visible in the background.
    The Parable of the Sower
    Jesus's parable about seed scattered on four kinds of ground, why he taught in parables at all, and what he told his disciples it really meant.
    El Greco painting of Jesus Christ kneeling in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, with sleeping apostles and an angel nearby.
    The Passion of Christ — A Complete Walkthrough
    From the Last Supper to the empty tomb, walk through the events of Holy Week in order, with the Gospel text and tradition behind each moment.
    A dramatic Romantic-era painting of a violent hailstorm with lightning striking down over the land of Egypt, dark clouds looming over fleeing figures and livestock.
    The Ten Plagues of Egypt
    How ten escalating disasters, from blood in the Nile to the death of the firstborn, broke Pharaoh's resistance and set the Exodus in motion.
    A baroque painting of the rich man feasting at his table while the beggar Lazarus, covered in sores, lies at the gate below with a dog beside him
    The Rich Man and Lazarus — Luke's Parable Explained
    Jesus's parable of the rich man in purple and the beggar Lazarus at his gate — a story about a chasm no one crosses, and a warning about who we walk past.
    Rembrandt painting of the elderly patriarch Jacob laying his hands on his grandsons to bless them, with Joseph and his wife looking on.
    The Twelve Tribes of Israel Explained
    Jacob's twelve sons became the twelve tribes of Israel — here is who they were, how they got their names, and why the number still echoes in Revelation.
    A painting of Jesus kneeling to wash the feet of one of his apostles at a gathering of the twelve disciples.
    The Washing of the Feet
    Before the Last Supper's bread and wine, Jesus knelt to wash his disciples' feet — a servant's task turned into a lesson Peter almost refused to accept.
    A watercolor painting of a poor widow in dark clothing dropping a small coin into a temple offering box while wealthier onlookers watch.
    The Widow's Mite
    The story of a poor widow whose two small coins, given in the Jerusalem Temple, Jesus called a greater gift than the large sums put in by the wealthy.
    A Renaissance painting of Christ kneeling and writing on the ground while scribes and Pharisees stand around a woman accused of adultery
    The Woman Caught in Adultery — John 8 Explained
    Scribes drag a woman before Jesus demanding a verdict under the law of Moses. He bends down, writes in the dust, and answers with a single sentence.