Sermon and Worship Resources

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 251 to 275 of 344 results

251. The Validity of Jesus’ Testimony

John 8:12-30

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... fail to see. Jesus bears the full authority of God! But here at last Jesus indicates when they will perceive: at the cross (8:28). This is the second passion prediction in John (elsewhere 3:14 and 12:32–34; cf. the same triple prediction in the Synoptics: Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33–34). The metaphoric language in all three passion sayings is critical: the cross is the lifting up of Jesus (not his destruction). “Lifting up” (Greek hypsoō) is often used for exaltation (Acts 2:33; 5:31). His elevation on ...

252. The Claims of Jesus About Himself

John 8:48-59

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Jesus’s spiritual critique is now turned back on him, and he is assailed with words not even found in the Synoptics (8:48–49). If the Jews here are children of the devil (8:44), then Jesus is demon possessed (7:20; 8:48). The nearest parallel to this is in Mark 3:22–27, where Jesus is said to be in league with Satan. But John 8:48 cuts deeper. ...

253. Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

John 9:1-12

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

In chapter 9 Jesus brings light to a blind man. Cast in the form of so many Synoptic conflict stories, this narrative is closely connected with the previous chapter. We are still at the Feast of Tabernacles setting, and Jesus is still affirming that he is “the light of the world” (9:5; cf. 8:12). Here the light of Jesus is parabolically viewed in the service of ...

254. The World Hates the Disciples

John 15:18--16:4

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... of the Jews with a rejection of Jesus’s revelatory signs. Nevertheless, the disciples will not be alone in these conflicts. Jesus reminds them again of the Paraclete (cf. 14:16, 26), who will be their aid. This promise dovetails with similar promises in the Synoptics (Mark 13:11), but John has heightened the judicial setting. In the Book of Signs (John 1–12) we saw how Jesus’s ministry was described in forensic terms: he was on trial before a world that was weighing the evidence (signs). Now this ...

255. Jesus Prays for Himself

John 17:1-5

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Having concluded his discourse, Jesus now turns to prayer. Each of the Synoptic Gospels records a time of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:36–46; Mark 14:32–42; Luke 22:40–46), and no doubt John 17 should be compared with this. If John 14:31 was the terminus of the upper room teaching, then John may want us ...

256. Jesus Before Pilate

John 18:28-40, John 19:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... in death (19:19–22). Pilate meets with the Jewish leadership outside his residence so that they might not become ritually unclean due to contact with Gentiles (18:28). The accusation that Jesus is a criminal is less clear than the Synoptic charges that bring political offenses to mind (especially Luke 23:2). Pilate is initially unmoved and prefers to leave the case in Jewish courts, but his audience reminds him of the Roman restriction prohibiting the Jews from carrying out capital punishment. Pilate ...

257. The Crucifixion

John 19:17-27

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... severe flogging with a metal- or bone-tipped whip, the victim was forced to march to the site of death carrying the crossbeam, even though often the individual was already fatally injured. Jesus had already been scourged thus (19:1; cf. Mark 15:16–20). The Synoptics mention that Jesus’s condition is so serious that he cannot carry anything as he walks, but a passerby named Simon of Cyrene is forced into service (Mark 15:20–21). Golgotha is the Aramaic word for skull or cranium (19:17), and may derive ...

258. Jesus' Death and Burial

John 19:28-37, John 19:38-42

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... cross two veiled allusions indicate the connection between the Spirit and the hour of glory. In 19:30 Jesus says, “It is finished,” and bowing his head “he gave over the Spirit” (author’s translation). The phrase is different from that in the Synoptics and is found nowhere in Greek literature for death. “Give over” (Greek paradidōmi) means handing something on (1 Cor. 15:3), and here Jesus directs himself not to the Father but to those followers below. Hence this is a symbolic actdepicting an ...

259. The Resurrection

John 20:1-9

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... appears to his disciples and during his visit breathes on them the Holy Spirit (20:19–29). Mary’s arrival at the empty tomb (20:1–10) is before morning (20:1; on Mary see 19:25 and Luke 8:2), and although John mentions her alone, the Synoptic Gospels say that she is accompanied by other women (cf. Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:10). Rolling-stone tombs were not impossible to reopen and were designed to offer future access to a tomb for secondary Jewish burial or for additional primary burials. Mary ...

260. Mission Possible!

John 1:43-51

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... works than him. We have been given power through the Holy Spirit to be like Jesus in this world. This is why our mission to make disciples is possible! Jesus not only spoke about the power to be like him in John. It is also mentioned in the synoptic gospels — Matthew, Mark, and Luke. We give a lot of credence to his last words. We believe what people say is important before they leave the earth. Have you ever paid attention to Jesus’ last words to his disciples before he left the earth? In Matthew 28:16 ...

261. The Beatitudes

Matthew 5:1-12

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... favor when the messianic king would “preach good news to the poor” (Isa. 61:1; cf. Matt. 5:3) and “comfort all who mourn” (Isa. 61:2; cf. Matt. 5:4). 5:5–6 The third beatitude promises the earth as an inheritance for the meek. In the Synoptics the word for meek (praus) is used by Matthew alone, and only on three occasions. In 11:28–30 Jesus invites the weary and overburdened of this world to take upon themselves his yoke and discover that he is “gentle and humble in heart.” At the close of ...

262. The Man With Leprosy

Matthew 8:1-4

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... It is then suggested that Matthew has put together these two chapters in such a way as to parallel the ten plagues of Moses in Egypt. The conjecture is unlikely. It is true, however, that Matthew has brought together material that is scattered throughout the other Synoptics. Six of the miracles are also found in Mark, but located in chapters 1–10. By recording the miracles in a form more concise than Luke’s, Matthew makes the statements of Jesus stand out more distinctly. 8:1–2 As Jesus came down from ...

263. A Warning Against Hypocrisy

Matthew 23:1-39

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... sorcery (Lev. 20:27). Again and again, Jesus wanted to enfold the nation in his arms as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but they would not let him. The phrase how often indicates that, although it is not recorded in the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus taught in Jerusalem on repeated occasions, undoubtedly during religious festivals. This serves as a reminder of how sketchy our information really is. John was right: if everything Jesus did had been written down, not even the whole world would have room for ...

264. Signs of the End of the Age

Matthew 24:1-35

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... (1 Macc. 1:54). Among the many things he did in his attempt to defame Judaism was a directive to “sacrifice swine and unclean animals” (1 Macc. 1:47) in the temple (cf. 2 Mace. 6:1–11). A comparison of the synoptic accounts reveals interesting differences. Mark (13:14) uses a masculine participle for “standing” (hestēkota), although it modifies the neuter word “abomination” (bdelygma). This would indicate that he understood the critical phrase as referring to a person. Some have thought that ...

265. Who Is the Greatest?

Mark 9:33-37

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

9:33–37 These verses must be seen as part of a collection of Jesus’ words that includes the whole of 9:33–50, all concerning discipleship. Careful study of the parallels to these sayings in the other Synoptic Gospels will show that they appear in various contexts and in varying forms, which indicates that Mark has gathered the sayings into a block of material of his own arrangement. In its Markan form, this material all seems to address relationships among Jesus’ followers, as we shall see in our ...

266. Signs of the End of the Age

Mark 13:1-31

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... material was considered very important and instructive in the early church and was used and re-used in its teaching and preaching. We ought, therefore, to pay careful attention to the material ourselves, both because of the importance it obviously has in all the Synoptics and because of the long and sometimes regrettable history of interest in things pertaining to the end of the world and the return of Christ. At the outset of our examination of chapter 13, two things must be emphasized. First, as verses 1 ...

267. The Crucifixion

Mark 15:21-32

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... the central event in the story of Jesus’ obedience to the will of God is narrated with such stark simplicity and economy of words (compare the Lucan version, 23:26–43). The mention of Simon, the Cyrenian Jew (v. 21), a person included in all the Synoptic accounts of the crucifixion (cf. Matt. 27:32; Luke 23:26), looks like an echo of early tradition. In Mark, there is the distinctive reference to two sons of the man (Alexander and Rufus, v. 21), perhaps indicating that the men were known to the first ...

268. Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

Luke 4:14-30

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... , but himself teeming with sores,” Euripides, Fragments 1086) and Jewish (“Physician, heal your own lameness,” Genesis Rabbah 23.5) traditions (both examples are taken from Fitzmyer, p. 535). The saying in the Gospel of Thomas 31 probably represents a variant version of the Synoptic saying: “A physician does not heal those who know him.” 4:24 I tell you the truth: Lit. “Amen [truly] I say to you.” This is the only Hebrew word that Luke retains from his sources. The word “amen” comes from a ...

269. Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit

Luke 4:31-37

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... –42, 49–56). Jesus states in Luke 7:22 that “the dead are raised” without any apparent reference other than that of the Nain widow’s son. The word “raised” is in the plural, so presumably other resuscitations are in mind. Outside of Luke (and the Synoptic tradition) there is the dramatic account of the raising of Lazarus in John 11:43–44. (Of course, Jesus’ own resurrection from the dead is a related miracle, but it was not performed by him, nor was it part of his public ministry, so it is ...

270. The Calling of the First Disciples

Luke 5:1-11

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... 67) notes that although it was customary for a rabbi to teach in the synagogue or academy, there are many examples of rabbis teaching out in the open. 5:5 In this verse Jesus is called Master for the first time in the Gospel of Luke. Whereas the other Synoptic Gospels refer to Jesus as “Teacher” or “Rabbi,” only in Luke is he called “Master,” and only by his followers (see Luke 8:24, 45; 9:33, 49; 17:13). 5:8 Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!: Fitzmyer (p. 567) has correctly noted that ...

271. The Healing of a Demon-possessed Man

Luke 8:26-39

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... :28–34), Luke has abbreviated this story, which he has taken from Mark 5:1–20. Like Mark, however, Luke describes only one demon-possessed man and not two, as does Matthew (8:28). This story is certainly the strangest episode in the Synoptic tradition (with the possible exception of Matt. 27:52–53). The setting, the principal characters, and the grotesque outcome create an eerie atmosphere. Jesus and his disciples enter the predominantly Gentile region of the Gerasenes (see note below), where they are ...

272. Jesus and Beelzebub

Luke 11:14-28

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... to Him, ‘Blessed are the womb which bore You and the breasts which nourished You.’ He said to her, ‘Blessed are those who have heard the word of the Father and have truly kept it.’ ” Although some scholars have concluded that some of the synoptic-like tradition in Thomas may be as early as the canonical tradition (and even earlier in a few instances), this particular saying appears to be dependent on Luke (see also Luke 23:29). Lachs (p. 287) cites the following rabbinic saying that is spoken in ...

273. Warnings and Encouragements

Luke 12:1-12

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... rabbinic parallel: “In the end everything in this world which is done in secret will be publicized and made known to mankind, and for this reason, fear the Lord” (Targum to Eccl 12:13). 12:4 friends: This is the only time in the Synoptic Gospels that the disciples are called “friends” (see John 15:13–15). 12:6 sparrows: Lit. “small birds” (sparrows were not actually eaten). The reference is to small birds sold for food. A “penny” (lit. assarion) was the smallest of Roman coins, worth 1 ...

274. A Crippled Woman Healed on the Sabbath

Luke 13:10-17

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... to demonstrate God’s power over Satan? Jesus’ answer was not lost on his enemies, for they were humiliated (but were still angry at Jesus); while in stark contrast, the people were delighted. Additional Notes 13:10–16 According to C. G. Montefiore (The Synoptic Gospels, 2 vols. [New York: Ktav, 1968], vol. 2, p. 501), “The argument which Jesus employs is scarcely sound. The ox must be watered every day, or it would suffer greatly. Cruelty to animals was abhorrent to the rabbis. But the woman, who ...

275. Jesus' Sorrow for Jerusalem

Luke 13:31-35

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... he might meet his end. There is, however, no hint of animosity in this passage. These particular Pharisees (some Pharisees) may very well have been supportive of Jesus’ ministry and wished to warn Jesus of a very real danger. This piece of synoptic tradition is probably very early and has not yet been filtered through the lens of anti-Pharisaic polemic that is otherwise pervasive in the Gospels (see Fitzmyer, p. 1030). However the warning is understood, the central concern occurs in the following verses ...

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