Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic
Showing 2501 to 2525 of 2815 results
Teach the Text
R.T. France
... down and taught the people from the boat. For sitting as the accepted posture for teaching, see 4:20. The use of a boat as a “mobile pulpit” facing the crowd gathered on the shore is mentioned by Matthew and Mark as the setting for their collection of Jesus’s parables (Matt. 13:2; Mark 4:1). By teaching the crowd from the boat, Jesus begins to model the metaphor of “fishing for people,” which he will develop in 5:10. 5:5  because you say so, I will let down the nets. It is unlikely that Jesus, a ...
Teach the Text
R.T. France
... some of the ethical implications of discipleship, with special reference to how we should treat other people and to the effect that this may have on our own relationship with God. The sermon will then conclude in 6:39–49 with a series of parables about the demands and the outcome of discipleship. This whole complex of teaching adds to our growing awareness of the unique authority of Jesus, who can make such radical demands on the allegiance of those whom he has called to follow him. Historical and ...
Teach the Text
R.T. France
... “inside” attitude of “greed and wickedness” (11:39). Jesus instead summarizes internal purity in the single demand: “Be generous to the poor.” It is by such ethical behavior, not by ritual observance, that the true orientation of the heart is revealed. Compare the parable of the good Samaritan, with its focus on love expressed in doing. 11:42  you give God a tenth. The principle of giving a tenth of all produce to God (to provide for the upkeep of the priesthood) was clear in the Torah (Lev ...
Teach the Text
R.T. France
... internal to people’s minds, a matter of our attitudes and values. The more likely sense is “among you (corporately)”; that is, God’s kingship is already a reality, that it has established itself even without your having noticed it (cf. 11:20; see also the parable of the mustard seed [13:18–19]). 17:22  one of the days of the Son of Man. Even though the “kingdom of God” is not to be understood as simply a future event, there is a future event for disciples (notice the change of addressees ...
2505. Two Testing Questions
Luke 20:27-40, Luke 20:20-26
Teach the Text
R.T. France
... Jerusalem, he has set himself up as a regular teacher in the court of the Gentiles (19:47; 20:1). This has quickly provoked the temple-based leadership into challenging his authority (20:1–8), to which Jesus has responded with a parable that in turn questions their legitimacy as leaders of Israel (20:9–19). The two encounters in these verses are with different groups within the “coalition” that makes up the Sanhedrin. Their theological and political agendas were different, but they were united ...
2506. The Trials of Peter and of Jesus
Luke 22:66--23:25, Luke 22:63-65, Luke 22:54-62
Teach the Text
R.T. France
... synonym. Luke’s separation of the question gives it a special weight of its own, drawing out the implications (“then”) of his claim to heavenly authority in 22:69. Jesus has not called himself “Son of God” publicly, though the title is at least implied in his parable in 20:9–18, but Judas may have briefed them on such private declarations as 10:22. You say that I am. This reply is positive, without being quite straightforward, as in 23:3 (cf. Matt. 26:64; 27:11; Mark 15:2). It should probably be ...
Teach the Text
C. Marvin Pate
... lifestyle. There and then he committed himself to God and his family. The mercy of God led him to repentance. Illustrating the Text Unlike humans, God judges everyone impartially in truth. Bible: One could refer to 2 Samuel 12:1–7, where Nathan uses a parable to expose David’s sordid sins, and Amos 1–2, in which the Lord delineates the sins of the Gentile world and then turns to also censure Judah and Israel. Both of these provide famous “gotcha” stories reminiscent of Romans 2:1–11. Television ...
Teach the Text
C. Marvin Pate
... states, “For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Likewise, in Matthew 22:14 Jesus summarizes his preceding parable by stating, “Many are invited, but few are chosen.” In Romans 11 Paul is much more explicit. Not only does he use the term “remnant,” but also in 11:2–5 he connects his argument specifically to the remnant idea in 1 Kings 19:18 (“I have ...
Teach the Text
C. Marvin Pate
... in 2 Samuel 9. The customary practice of victorious kings was to kill the descendants of the vanquished ruler. Mephibosheth anticipated his own death. Not only did David let the man live, but also, in an extraordinary act of mercy, he gave him a place at his table. Bible: Jesus’ parable of the unmerciful servant (Matt. 18:23–35) is one of the strongest literary statements concerning God’s mercy toward Israel and Israel’s rejection of salvation for the Gentiles.
Teach the Text
C. Marvin Pate
... who challenges the prevailing orthodoxy finds himself silenced with surprising effectiveness. A genuinely unfashionable opinion is almost never given a fair hearing, either in the popular press or in the high-brow periodicals.4 This little novel is a satiric parable that shows the subtle way in which people are deceived and then deceive others. Quote: Irenaeus. The church father Irenaeus (ca. AD 115–202?) wrote, “Error, indeed, is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest, being thus exposed, it ...
2511. Message to Laodicea
Revelation 3:14-22
Teach the Text
J. Scott Duvall
... , love, rebuke, discipline, standing at the door and knocking, coming in to renew fellowship, eating with the person, and giving the right to sit on his throne. This longing and waiting on the part of Jesus appears also in the Father character in Jesus’s parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32). This passage begs to be applied to complacent believers since they were the original audience. Although it’s popular to use Revelation 3:20 as a proof text for evangelism (Jesus knocking on the door of an ...
2512. The Bowl Judgments
Revelation 16:1-21
Teach the Text
J. Scott Duvall
... As Resseguie reminds us, “the great eschatological battle turns out to be an individual spiritual battle.”[6] In Jesus’s eschatological discourse, he repeatedly warns his followers to stay alert and remain watchful (e.g., Matt. 24:4, 42, 44; 25:13). In the parables that conclude the discourse, he defines watchfulness as faithfulness (Matt. 24:43–25:30). To stay alert means to stay focused on doing what God has told us to do. This passage offers a prime opportunity to help people discern what is most ...
2513. God’s Judgment of Babylon Calls for Celebration
Revelation 19:1-10, Revelation 18:1-24
Teach the Text
J. Scott Duvall
... this passage linked in some way to God’s answer to the prayers of the martyred saints in 6:9–11. How long, O Lord? Answer: a little longer. But one day God will bring justice. One day God will answer. It’s reminiscent of Jesus’s conclusion to the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:1–8: “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son ...
2514. The Burnt Offering
Leviticus 1:1-17
Teach the Text
Joe M. Sprinkle
... artist CeCe Winans. We must seek God’s favor by giving him what he asks for. Literature: The Lost Princess: A Double Story, by George MacDonald. In this wise and convicting children’s story (first published in 1875 as The Wise Woman: A Parable), George MacDonald, a great British writer whose works influenced C. S. Lewis, shows the importance of following God’s commands. His godly heroine is the Wise Woman, who tries to teach two young girls the evil of their selfishness and direct them toward ...
Teach the Text
Joe M. Sprinkle
... 15:14), and keep Passover if circumcised (Exod. 12:48). The Israelites’ experience as foreigners in Egypt has given them a basis for empathy. “Love them as yourself” echoes Leviticus 19:18b. The foreigner is the Israelites’ neighbor too. Compare Jesus’s parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37). 19:35–36  Do not use dishonest standards. Scales were used to weigh grains of silver used as money before coins were invented. 19:37  I am the Lord. See “Additional Insights” following this ...
Teach the Text
Joe M. Sprinkle
... rather, he longs for them to repent and live (Ezek. 33:11). There is in fact rejoicing in heaven whenever a sinner repents (Luke 15:7, 10). God is quick to provide forgiveness to the genuinely penitent, as the father receives back his prodigal son in Jesus’s parable (Luke 15:11–32). Thus, though we will sin, we can take comfort in the fact that we have a God who forgives and heals those who turn to him. Illustrating the Text We will never know how “what might have been” can be destroyed by sin. Film ...
Teach the Text
Robert B. Chisholm Jr.
... achieved fame. What makes this sonnet (1652–55) so pertinent to the principle above is that as he writes it, he is concerned about how he can serve God in such a condition. As he works through his dilemma, he compares the situation to the parable of the talents. He wonders if God demands “day-labour, light denied.” He hears the answer that though God doesn’t need our gifts, we must bear his yoke and serve him. Milton then concludes that, at that moment, it must mean standing and waiting, submitting ...
Teach the Text
Robert B. Chisholm Jr.
... make the first move (Deut. 30:1–2, 10). The Lord will then respond in compassion (vv. 3–6). This balance between human responsibility and divine sovereignty is apparent in Jeremiah 29:10–14 (cf. Ezek. 18:30–32; 36:26–27) and in Jesus’s parable of the prodigal son. The wayward son, exasperated by the consequences of his sin, decides to return home to his father, who rushes to meet him and greets him with open arms and great rejoicing (Luke 15:11–32). b. Repentance can have a corporate dimension ...
Teach the Text
Robert B. Chisholm Jr.
... people for their ultimate good (cf. Heb. 12:7–11). Forgiveness does not necessarily eliminate the need for discipline (see, e.g., Num. 14:17–25; 2 Sam. 12:13–14). Illustrating the Text God extends his mercy to those who reject him. Bible: The Parable of the Prodigal Son, a story of waste, purposelessness, jealousy, and love (Luke 15:11–32); Hosea and Gomer, a tale of degradation and restoration. As Jean Fleming puts it in a book called The Homesick Heart, Neither Gomer nor the prodigal son could see ...
Teach the Text
Daniel J. Estes
... 6:17 that Yahweh will open the eyes of his servant to see the invisible divine forces protecting Elisha. Daniel 10 speaks of angelic conflict that affects the success of nations. Although the book of Job may have been written as an imaginative parable rather than as literal historical narrative (see the discussion in the introduction), in either case the reference to the adversary in Job 1–2 may be compared to other biblical passages. If the adversary is a member of the divine council who assists Yahweh ...
Sermon
Maxie Dunnam
... shuttle Atlantis in 1990? Its mission was secret, but it’s launch was delayed five days. First, there was a $3 million computer problem. Then came bad weather. But an even bigger hold-up stopped the launch—the astronaut had a common cold. Isn’t that the parable of life? We can perform heart and liver and kidney transplants, but we can do little to cure the common cold. That ought to give us perspective and keep us humble. And we need to stay humble. We need to know that without Christmas, life is ...
2522. Solomon's Splendor
1 Kings 10:14-29
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... a completely new position as a competitor on the worldwide stage. As I suggested earlier, however, Solomon’s enormous wealth has the elements of a test: how will the king handle these resources? Will these riches be used faithfully, or—as in the parable of the soils in Mark 4—will they prove to be a snare? Deuteronomy 17 advises against multiplying gold because of the sinister potential that causes so many to wander astray. That same text further proscribes the accumulation of horses, yet horses get ...
2523. The Account of Ahaz
2 Chronicles 28:1-27
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... kingdom, but in this case a prophet (Oded) confronts the victorious northern army (with its capital at Samaria), calling them to care for their southern military captives in a merciful way (strikingly similar to the actions of the Good Samaritan in Jesus’s parable in Luke 10). Against the brightness of this northern response, the darkness of Ahaz’s behavior in the south in 28:16–25 will be seen even more clearly. Faced with further divine discipline through military attacks from the east (Edom) and ...
2524. Eliphaz
Job 4:1–5:27
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... intent beckons Job to “submit to God and be at peace with him” (22:21). 4:1–5:27: First cycle Review · Eliphaz seems intent on encouraging Job here, drawing from self-proclaimed experience and a quiver full of rhetorical devices: parable, proverb, vision report, beatitude, doxology, and exhortation. Everyone, he offers, is guilty of some error. Suffering is divine discipline (5:17–19) that addresses human impurity. It is those who repent and acknowledge God who are blessed and free from calamity ...
2525. Epilogue
Job 42:7-17
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... , and which God has declared an atrophied understanding of life. The book and its insights elude neat tidiness. We want clear answers, ready answers in life, and we especially want them from the Bible. But the elusive answer is biblical, seen elsewhere in the parable, particularly as used by Jesus, and the riddle (e.g., Prov. 1:6). With the whole book in mind, the return to order in the face of God’s contemplation and celebration of the wild and chaotic severs monologic understanding of the book. There ...
Showing results