They Fell to the Ground (Caddero a terra)

Italian: «Appena egli disse loro: 'Io sono', essi indietreggiarono e caddero a terra.» (Giovanni 18:6, LND)

English: "Now when He said to them, “' am He,' they drew back and fell to the ground.'" (John 16:6, NKJ)

Call me a Christian with her head in the clouds (or heavenly places as I like to call it); but some of my favorite types of Scriptures are those that speak of how Christ was both God and man.

Ah. Fully God and fully man. What an amazing truth. Just imagine, a man, someone who got hungry and thirsty and felt pain,... could also have the fullness of God dwelling inside His human body.

And I think that Giovanni (John) 18:6 is one of the Scriptures that refer to this truth; although in a not so obvious way. A hidden nugget, a buried treasure, just there waiting for anyone willing to dig a little bit to find it. So what am I referring to? This may take a bit but just stay with me and I'll help you dig.

Lazarus Come Forth! (Lazzaro Vieni Fuori!)

Italian: «E, detto questo, gridò a gran voce: 'Lazzaro, vieni fuori!'» (Giovanni 11:43, LND)

English: "Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth!'" (John 11:43, NKJ)

Have you ever been in a desperate situation where you needed God to step in right away or else something tragic would happen in your life? And were you discouraged because God didn't intervene just then? But... Did God do something you didn't expect that winded up fixing your situation anyway in a manner that let's say... Blew your mind? Well this is basically what happens here in Giovanni, John, chapter eleven.

Jesus had heard that his friend Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, was sick. And the two sisters were expecting Him to come and heal Lazarus. But Jesus, decided to use the situation to stretch their faith. So he waited until Lazarus was fully dead before showing up.

When he arrived on the scene, they thought Jesus was late. But He assured everyone that they yet needed to believe and all would be well. He knew that neither healing from sickness or la risurrezione, resurrection, from the dead, was too hard for Him. For He Himself was la Risurrezione e la Vita, the Resurrection and the Life. There was no need to fear or be sad, because God was about to work in their midst.

True Worshippers (I Veri Adoratori)

Italian: "Ma l'ora viene, anzi è già venuta, che i veri adoratori adoreranno il Padre in spirito e verità, perché tali sono gli adoratori che il Padre richiede." (Giovanni 4:23, LND)

English: "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him." (John 4:23, NKJ)

When I first started learning Italian, (at least the Bible and Christian related words), one of the first things I wanted to know was how to say worship in Italian. Because I wanted not just to understand Italian, or even just read the Bible in Italian. I knew that if I was going to get the full experience of the Italian language, I would have to be able to worship and praise God in Italian.

And though I know that many words can express our praise to God, I like to actually say, "Lord I worship you."

So my research began. And I found the Italian word adorare in use quite often. This was good but it seemed to be a form of worship that expressed only adoration or to adore, (which is what adorare also means).

So I continued my search and came up empty until I realized that there is no separate word in Italian for worship.

My Yoke is Easy (Il mio giogo è dolce)

I remember a time when I'd become very weary of all that was going on in my life and greatly in need of God's rest, as it talks about in Matthew 11:28. We all get to this place at times; several times even. But let's be real. What Matthew 11:30 says it takes to get that rest, accepting that Christ's yoke is easy... just doesn't come easy. When you think of a yoke or a burden, it's something that you know you must bear, but is still difficult to endure. Yoke, easy. Burdens, light. These are pairs of words that don't seem to go together. And if you read the verse in the Italian, it takes this even further. In the Italian Bible, the word used for easy is dolce; which as many know means "sweet."

Can this really be true? Can a bitter trial we experience actually be sweet? Well getting back to the time when I was truly burdened, I felt like it was more than I could bear. Having already walked with Christ for some years, my prayer life had become pretty strong. But under the weight of my trial I found myself going to God in prayer even more. And as I did, something pretty amazing began to happen. I was spending a lot less of that time agonizing over my circumstances and a lot more in delightful fellowship with God. Right in the middle of my troubles!

I remember that this was also a lonely period in my life when no one really seemed to have time for me. There were days when I would literally stare at the phone hoping it would ring, and I'd have someone to talk to. But the truth was, part of my trial was learning how to walk alone, when necessary. And it was really the fact that I didn't have anyone to turn to as I went through this trial, that pushed me to spend more time in the presence of God.

And even though I didn't know anything about the Italian Bible at the time, looking back now I can truly say, that was when I had my first taste. Taste of what you might ask? My first taste of Christ's yoke being dolce, sweet.

You Shall Call His Name (Tu gli Porrai nome…)

I must confess. When growing up, I wasn't too crazy about my first name, Marcie. It wasn't the most common name and it seemed like most people I interacted with had a hard time saying it (at least at first). And forget about anyone spelling it right.

I use to imagine myself with a few other names I thought were more fitting. It wasn't a huge issue for me. I just would have preferred being called something else. That is until as a young Christian, I found out what my name meant… Warrior!

How awesome, I thought. All of a sudden, I liked my name; was proud of it. Even to this day when it seems like life is knocking me  around just a bit too much, I try to remember the name I've been given and remind myself that I can't get stuck being timid and fearful. I have to act more like my name. I have to put up a better fight.

Now I don't think that my parents intentionally picked a name for me that meant warrior. But over and over again in the Bible, we definitely see this happen. And with the opening chapter of the New Testament, we see God setting the stage for Christ's life and work on earth by telling Joseph what His name was to be before He was born.

"You shall call His name Jesus" (Matthew 1:21). That's powerful in and of itself.

But what made this stand out even more to me was the phrase used in the Italian language Bible, "gli porrai nome Gesù." The literal translation of this is more like, you shall put  or set upon him the name Jesus.

The Italian language is known for being a very expressive and colorful language that often describes things differently than many others. This is one of the reasons I've come to love reading the Bible in Italian. After being both a student and teacher of God's Word for more than 20 years, phrases and wording like this allow me to see the Scriptures in a whole new light. The phrase "tu gli porrai nome…" is a perfect example of this.

To say that a name is  placed or set upon a newborn child implies so much more than just something to identify him by. It's more like assigning a role, a calling or  even a destiny to someone. It reflects what or who he is to be.

The name set upon King David meant Beloved of God and we know that God thought of David as a man after his own heart. Before the birth of David's son who was to be the next king, God said his name was to be Solomon which means peace. And during King Solomon's reign, he indeed had a great time of peace.

I Presepi e Natale in Italia/Nativity Scenes and Christmas in Italy

Christmas is not the time of year that attracts most tourists to Italy. But I personally would love to visit during the Christmas season (or anytime for that matter).

And one of the things I'd really love to see are the many presepi that are always on display in Italy around this year. 

A presepe (or also presepio) is a nativity scene recreating the birth of Christ. It includes shepherds, Mary, Joseph, Wise Men and of course a manger (in which Baby Jesus often is placed in until Christmas Eve). 

I hear it's fairly common place for these presepi to be displayed throughout Italy both in homes and public places; and they are often very elaborate, sometimes even life-size.

A Plan for this One Year Journey, Pt. 3

1 Kings 4 tells the story of a married woman who was without child. But one day God's prophet Elisha announced to her that around this time next year she'd be holding a son in her arms.

About this time next year. Think of what that means.

For you and I, it means that within one year we can have something we've never had before. Some of us have never read through the whole Bible or even the New Testament in English; let alone in Italian. But now we're embarking on a journey to do just that.

And I like how it says, about this time next year, or in Italian, In questa stagione. That's in this season, next year.

A Plan for this One Year Journey, Pt. 2

Throughout the Bible, God's people often followed a plan, or disegno in Italian, (as mentioned in Part 1), to accomplish something for His Kingdom. Whether a one-time project or a regular activity, it helps to know what has to be done and when, in order to accomplish your goal.

So here in Acts 20:7 we see the disciples coming together to break bread. And the Bible says that it was the first day (il giorno), of their week (la settimana). It sounds like they did this every week, and on the first day of every week.

Likewise, here on the Insights From the Italian Bible blog you'll find a special setup for a 52 week plan, that requires reading just 1 chapter a day, for just 5 days per week. Each day's reading should take about 15 or 20 minutes. This is how you'll be able to read the entire New Testament in one year. I think it's pretty amazing how reading the New Testament in a year fits into such a neat schedule. It's almost as if we were meant to read this way.

For example, here's the daily schedule for the first week of this journey:

Week 1 (For the week of Sunday, Jan 1, 2017) Day 1 (Mon 1/2/17):  Matthew 1 Day 2 (Tue 1/3/17):  Matthew 2 Day 3 (Wed 1/4/17):  Matthew 3 Day 4 (Thu 1/5/17):  Matthew 4 Day 5 (Fri 1/6/17):  Matthew 5

You can find this weekly reading plan on the blog's home page.

Now here's the part that makes this blog's reading plan fairly unique, (or at least more convenient).