Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2726 to 2750 of 3160 results

Mark 4:35-41

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... 1–6 is all the more tragic. We should also note that this is one of two sea miracles in Mark, the second found in 6:45–52. It likewise ends with the disciples pictured as failing to see what it really means. Additional Notes 4:35 Evening: This sort of detail, such as the references to other boats (4:36) and the cushion (4:38), are possibly simply the remnants of the firsthand version of the story. Otherwise it is hard to see why they are mentioned. They do not seem to have any symbolical significance. 4 ...

2727. A Dead Girl and A Sick Woman

Mark 5:21-43

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... likely that her problem was a hemorrhage from her womb. Such a problem, according to OT law, renders a woman unclean, and anyone or anything she touches is likewise religiously contaminated (Lev. 15:25–30). There is elaborate discussion of this sort of condition and possible treatment in the Jewish Talmud, the collection of ancient rabbinic teaching. 5:26 Suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors: Records of the treatments prescribed for such conditions illustrate that this is a fair statement ...

2728. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

Mark 6:30-44

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... seeing Jesus as supplying the divine provision for Israel promised in the OT. The other numbers (two hundred coins, five thousand people, two fish) are not so likely to have been purposely symbolic, largely because they do not seem to have acquired the same sort of previous symbolic usage in Jewish life that the numbers twelve and five bore. When we consider the next feeding account (8:1–10), we will examine the numbers there as well to see whether any of them may have been intended to disclose something ...

2729. Clean and Unclean

Mark 7:1-23

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... of a multitude of commandments as a means to religious and social respectability, there can arise the practice of enforcing particular commandments in such a way as to violate others (and plenty of examples in Christian circles are available too!). It is just this sort of error that Jesus attacks in 7:6–13. Note the terms used in the passage that indicate Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees. In 7:3 and 5 the Pharisaic practice is said to be tradition from their elders, referring to sacred tradition ...

2730. The Healing of a Blind Man at Bethsaida

Mark 8:22-26

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... (7:33; 8:23). These two stories are the only ones in Mark that mention Jesus using spittle in the healings (7:33; 8:23). Of course, the healing of the deaf and blind are exactly two of the things mentioned in Isaiah 35:5–6 as the sort of miracles that will accompany God’s final salvation. When we further note that these two stories are unique to Mark, this adds weight to the view that Mark used these events as important components in the narrative. The leading of the person away from the crowd, common ...

2731. Jesus Before Pilate

Mark 15:1-15

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... described (vv. 2–5). All three Synoptic Gospels record a morning meeting of the Jewish Council to deal with Jesus (cf. Matt. 27:1; Luke 22:66), which is further evidence that any hearing held during the night must have been either an interrogation or some sort of pretrial hearing, not a formal trial. Otherwise no additional morning meeting would have been necessary. The reason for taking Jesus to Pilate is not given in the Synoptics, but in John 18:31 we are told that the Jewish Council did not then have ...

2732. The Resurrection

Mark 16:1-20

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... church services and who point to this verse as the basis for their practice. The writer of this passage, however, seems to have had in mind an incident like the one described in Acts 28:1–6, in which Paul is accidentally bitten by a creature of some sort and survives, impressing his host as a bearer of divine power. Place their hands on sick people: The Gospel accounts show Jesus being asked to touch the sick (e.g., Mark 7:32), and the NT indicates that this was a frequent part of the ministry of early ...

2733. The Birth of Jesus

Luke 2:1-7

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... show that Quirinius was governor of Syria on an earlier occasion (see Marshall, p. 103), but this fragment does not actually cite Quirinius by name, nor does it necessarily point to a second governorship of Syria. Furthermore, the suggestion that Quirinius was a sort of military governor of Syria alongside the (civil) governor Saturninus is sheer guesswork, and its date is really too early to be of much help. (3) In Acts 5:36–37 Luke mentions two messianic claimants. Judas the Galilean, we are told, arose ...

2734. The Calling of Levi

Luke 5:27-32

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... the wrong kind of people, he also had adopted wrong habits. The major difference between the outlook of the Pharisees and the approach taken by Jesus was that whereas the former were separatistic and exclusivistic, Jesus called people of every sort to himself. Jesus was not interested in isolating himself from sinners, but was interested in bringing change to the lives of sinners. Thus, the difference in religious philosophy between Jesus and the Pharisees was fundamental, making conflict inevitable. 5:27 ...

2735. Peter's Confession of Christ

Luke 9:18-27

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... , then the passion predictions are usually rejected out of hand (but see above note). 9:27 some who are standing here will not taste death: This curious statement is really an idiom of emphasis, meaning “most surely,” and is not a prediction of some sort. It is quite possible, however, that this saying was understood among early Christians as a prediction that some of Jesus’ contemporaries would still be living when Jesus returned to inaugurate the kingdom (see John 21:21–23; Schweizer, p. 158).

2736. Repent or Perish

Luke 13:1-9

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... was often a time of political unrest, a time when Jewish patriotic feelings ran high and Roman concerns were justifiably aroused. (Jesus was crucified under precisely such circumstances.) These Galileans (how many is unknown) were seemingly caught up in some sort of plot or activity deemed treasonable by Pilate. Whatever the circumstances, the death of these unfortunate pilgrims evokes the question that Jesus asks in v. 2, a question that reflects the Pharisaic belief that misfortune was often brought on by ...

2737. The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

Luke 16:1-15

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... J. Duncan M. Derrett (“Fresh Light on St Luke xvi: I. The Parable of the Unjust Steward,” NTS 7 [1961], pp. 198–219), followed by Fitzmyer (pp. 1097–98), that what the dishonest manager has done is to cancel out the profit that was due him (sort of a commission). By canceling the commissions, the debts were reduced, an action that would no doubt result in future kindness being shown the dishonest manager. Thus, the rich man has not at all been cheated by this final action of the fired manager. The ...

2738. The Coming of the Kingdom of God

Luke 17:20-37

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... been influenced by Deut. 30:11–14 and in no case represents an older or more original form of the saying than what is found in Luke. The phrase translated “within you” should probably be translated “among you,” for the kingdom is not within people in some sort of mystical or spiritual sense (as Marshall [p. 655] supposes), but it is among people in the sense of Jesus’ presence (so Fitzmyer, p. 1161; Tiede, p. 300). 17:22 Son of Man: See note on 5:24 above. 17:23 Do not go running off after them ...

2739. The Parable of the Persistent Widow

Luke 18:1-8

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... cf. 1 Thess. 5:17), but that their lives should be characterized by prayer (Fitzmyer, p. 1178; Marshall, p. 671). Of course, the major item for which the disciples are to pray is the Lord’s return (Ellis, p. 213). 18:2 a judge: What sort of official this “judge” is supposed to be in the context of first-century Palestine is not clear (nor does the parable require that the reader know). Marshall (p. 672) notes that “there does not appear to have been a uniform, organised system.” Most matters ...

2740. God's Righteous Judgment

Romans 2:1-16

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... do princes and secular rulers help themselves to all game and fowl, so that no one but they can go on the hunt? If an ordinary man would do such a thing, he would rightly be called a thief … but when the rulers do something of this sort, they cannot be thieves because they are the rulers.… In the same sense, Blessed Augustine says in The City of God: ‘What else are the great kingdoms but great robberies?’ In the same place he tells this story: ‘When Alexander the Great asked a pirate who had ...

2741. Peace and Joy

Romans 5:1-11

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... be like him” (1 John 3:2). 5:3–5 It is one thing to be a Christian with the wind at one’s back. How frequently the Christian life is depicted as a state of insulation and ease, where believers are supposedly endowed with some sort of “executive clemency” from the knocks of life. Increasingly in our day the Christian life is depicted in terms of triumphalism and success. Paul, however, says that the believer must learn to rejoice not only in the future hope of glory, but also in our sufferings ...

2742. Slaves to Righteousness

Romans 6:15-23

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... thy self, That is, to thy obedience; therein stand.’ ” Freedom, then, obligates one to obey grace, and only in obedience to grace is one free. The auto racer who drafts or slipstreams a car in front of him experiences this freedom in a rough sort of way, for by pulling into the wind pocket of the car ahead and “obeying” it, the second car achieves a speed and economy of fuel impossible on its own. It is neither the dispassionate ascetic nor the supposedly unbiased critic who exemplifies grace, but ...

2743. God's Sovereign Choice

Romans 9:1-29

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... does not formally define the cause of his distress, but verse 3 reveals his torment over the failure of his people to receive Christ. One might expect the Apostle to the Gentiles to distance himself from his unbelieving Jewish kinsfolk, but he does nothing of the sort, referring to them rather as my brothers and my own race. So inseverable is Paul from his fellow Israelites that he would be willing to forfeit his own salvation if it would gain theirs: I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from ...

2744. Israel's Unbelief

Romans 9:30--10:21

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... through persons. Where the gospel is not personal, it is not the gospel. The incarnation of Jesus Christ was, of course, the perfect and consummate example of God’s revelation of himself in history. Apostles, prophets, and witnesses of all sorts are not simply individuals who have had “religious experiences” or who have “studied theology,” but individuals who by God’s gracious will have been called to the person of Jesus Christ, endowed with his authority, and commissioned in his service ...

2745. Living Sacrifices

Romans 12:1-8

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... behavior. Paul, however, makes no appeal to moral principles. He appeals solely to God’s mercy. If Christian morality were simply a deterrence of divine wrath, then it would not be morality at all, for it would not be free. It would simply be some sort of moral ransom rooted in fear. If it were done in hopes of receiving something from God, then it would be manipulative and egocentric. True Christian ethics, on the other hand, are ethics of gratitude. The obedience pleasing to God is characterized by free ...

2746. The Weak and the Strong

Romans 14:1--15:13

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... . The expression with one heart (v. 6) might also be considered “alien unity.” The Greek word behind it, homothymadon, means a unity that comes from outside ourselves rather than from any denominator common to ourselves. Demosthenes once used the term to describe the sort of oneness that results when a group of soldiers is attacked by an enemy; whatever their differences, the threat of destruction welds them into a fighting unit. So it is that grace draws us into a new relation with God and one another ...

2747. Personal Greetings

Romans 16:1-27

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... for commend (v. 1), synistēmi, was roughly the Greek equivalent to a letter of recommendation today. In antiquity inns and hotels were not only sparse but of dubious reputation, and persons who travelled to foreign parts needed such recommendations as protection against all sorts of liabilities, especially if they were unknown women. Paul asks the church to receive her, as was the custom throughout early Christianity (e.g., 15:7; Matt. 25:31–46), in a way worthy of the saints. 16:3–4 Phoebe’s name is ...

2748. The Collection for God's People

1 Corinthians 16:1-4

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... in Jerusalem, Paul is engineering a meeting of the Jerusalem Christians and representatives of the predominantly Gentile churches, who were sometimes subject to skepticism by the believers in Jerusalem. The Corinthians’ active role would necessitate a summit of sorts between the ethnically diverse members of the universal church of Christ. Thus, the love of the Pauline congregations would be physically represented in Jerusalem by real persons as well as by the material elements of collection itself. Paul ...

2749. 144,000 Sealed

Revelation 7:1-8

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... in the NT (e.g., James 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:1; cf. Rom. 9–11) including Revelation (14:1), then the 144,000 could refer to an “extra special” remnant within the church, perhaps to its martyrs who exemplify fearless devotion to God of the sort John encourages. While there is no indication in the text that the 144,000 enumerate the remnant of martyrs, it does make sense of the immediate context to identify this group with those who earlier cry out for vindication (6:10). This first part of the visionary ...

2750. The Angel and the Little Scroll

Revelation 10:1-11

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... statement or sentiment. While Christ’s coronation testifies to the fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation, there is a delay in its earthly effects. The full (i.e., historical) experience of God’s salvation awaits Christ’s parousia. The sort of ambiguity that results from living betwixt and between these “last days,” when sin and death are defeated but still experienced and when life and holiness are real but hard possibilities, is characteristic of the church’s current situation. This ...

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