Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3051 to 3075 of 5000 results

Mark 6:30-44

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... in the time of Moses. 6:33 There: There is no indication in Mark of where the feeding incident is located. It is notoriously difficult to try to put together Jesus’ travels and deeds in Mark into a clear itinerary. The many attempts only illustrate the disagreements among students of the text. Since Mark does not mention a location, he probably considered the matter unimportant. The Luke 9:10 parallel locates the event near Bethsaida (see note on 6:45). 6:37 Eight months of a man’s wages: Literally ...

3052. Clean and Unclean

Mark 7:1-23

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... to God and wished to be distinct from the masses of sinners and less scrupulous Jews. Jesus’ reply does not at first glance seem to speak directly to the question of ritual washing; instead he replies with a counteraccusation (7:6–8) and then an illustration of what he considers to be the perverse effect of the accumulated body of Jewish tradition (vv. 9–13). It is only in 7:14–23 that the original question of “clean/unclean,” which lies at the base of the hand-washing practice, is taken ...

3053. The Faith of a Syrophoenician Woman

Mark 7:24-30

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... gentile Christians, conscious of not being part of the chosen nation of Israel, would have seen themselves in the woman and would have found great encouragement in her story, and this is just what Mark intended. This passage is an excellent illustration of how the Gospel writers tried to make Jesus’ historical teachings and actions relevant for the readers of their own day, while also attempting to describe his ministry as the tradition portrayed it. Thus, in the present story, Jesus at first indicates ...

3054. Signs of the End of the Age

Mark 13:1-31

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... before the end; verse 13, endurance over the long haul is what is needed (cf. vv. 21–23, and comments on these verses). That is, the disciples’ questions in verses 3–4 do not really tell us what the teaching of Jesus is about here; instead, they illustrate the kind of excitement that Jesus (and Mark!) wishes to replace with a sober and disciplined life necessary for the trying times to come. In verses 5–13 the repeated warnings (watch out, v. 5; do not be alarmed, v. 7; be on your guard, v. 9 ...

3055. The Crucifixion

Mark 15:21-32

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... planted in the ground. From the skeleton of a crucified man executed in the first century A.D., we know that the victim’s ankles were placed together and one large spike was driven through them from the side. (See the more complete description and illustration in IDBSup, pp. 199–200.) Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get: This detail both adds to the picture of Jesus’ complete shame and the callous indifference of the executioners and also seems to allude to Ps. 22:18 ...

3056. Introduction

Luke 1:1-4

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... down” the apostolic gospel tradition from which he will attempt to compose his own account. Those who from the first were eyewitnesses refers to the original disciples who became Jesus’ apostles and were eyewitnesses of his life and ministry. This is illustrated in Acts 1:21–22, where Judas’ replacement must have been an eyewitness from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, commencing with the baptism of John. Luke, however, may also intend to refer to the eyewitnesses of the various episodes involved ...

3057. John the Baptist Prepares the Way

Luke 3:1-20

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... (see v. 15) will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire (see also John 15:1–6). These grim warnings were readily understood, and so the crowd asked, “What should we do then?” (v. 10). John replies by giving two specific examples that illustrate the general principle of compassion and generosity: providing food and clothing to those without (v. 11). This reply, as those in vv. 13–14, reflects Luke’s concern with the use of wealth and possessions. The question of the tax collectors furthers the ...

3058. The Baptism and Genealogy of Jesus

Luke 3:21-38

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... end of the narrative (e.g., Ruth 4:18–22). Because of his own humble ancestry, Herod the Great confiscated and destroyed most of the records of Davidic descent, fearing a claim to the throne more worthy than his own. This jealousy and fear for his throne is dramatically illustrated in Matt. 2:1–18. 3:23b of Joseph: We are told that Joseph was of Davidic descent (1:27; 2:4; cf. Matt. 1:20). After the infancy narrative and the story of the boy Jesus in the temple (Luke 2:41–52), Joseph drops out of the ...

3059. The Temptation of Jesus

Luke 4:1-13

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... now at least, emerged unscathed. Finally, we may inquire into the nature of Jesus’ actual experience. Does the temptation story reflect a historical, observable event? Or, was it, as some scholars have maintained (Leaney, p. 115), a vision or a parabolic illustration of the devil-inspired opposition to Jesus’ ministry? It is not easy to decide, for problems attend all of these interpretations. But the one that seems the most plausible is the view that Jesus’ temptations were visionary. The context for ...

3060. Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

Luke 4:14-30

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... the context for an expanded account of one such teaching episode in a synagogue (4:16–30). 4:16–30 The sermon at the synagogue in Nazareth provides the reader with an example of the content of Jesus’ proclamation. This passage illustrates vividly Jesus’ theology in contrast to the popular assumptions held by many of his Jewish contemporaries. In a very real sense this passage may be described as programmatic of the evangelist’s theological concerns. The themes that are here presupposed and ...

3061. The Calling of the First Disciples

Luke 5:1-11

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... preparation for his ministry as an apostle. Jesus has been teaching throughout Galilee (4:43), has performed healings and exorcisms (4:33–35, 40–41), and now, through the catch of fish, has extended his first call of discipleship (5:11). The miracle itself aptly illustrates Jesus’ words in v. 10: from now on you will catch men. Peter the fisherman, a man who had expended his energies trying to catch fish for a living, has now left his nets behind and has begun his life’s training as one of Christ ...

3062. Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman

Luke 7:36-50

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... and other questions that might be raised need not detain us. In the previous section Jesus referred to himself as one who “ate and drank” and as one who is a “friend of sinners” (v. 34). It may be, then, that Luke understood this episode to be an illustration of this description, for in this episode Jesus is seen eating and drinking and in the company of a sinner (Talbert, p. 85). For Luke the main issue emerges in the Pharisee’s comment in v. 39: If this man [Jesus] were a prophet, he would know ...

3063. Jesus Calms the Storm

Luke 8:22-25

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... it. Also, in Mark the disciples are portrayed as not yet having faith (see 4:40), but in Luke the disciples apparently have only suffered a momentary lapse (see 8:25a: “Where is your faith [i.e., at the moment]?”). Luke sees in this episode a dramatic illustration of obedience to the spoken word of Jesus. In 8:4–21 the emphasis falls on the need to hear and obey Jesus’ message (esp. vv. 15, 18, 21). In the stilling of the storm Luke shows that even nature obeys Jesus. It is as though the underlying ...

3064. Samaritan Opposition

Luke 9:51-56

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (see NIV footnote), is probably inauthentic, but it certainly does capture the essential point in this passage. We shall see throughout the Travel Narrative examples that illustrate how Jesus views people and their religious assumptions. The episode just examined portrays a loving and gracious Lord who does not seek vengeance, while the passages that follow depict Jesus extending God’s summons to those who appear outcast and left ...

3065. Repent or Perish

Luke 13:1-9

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... Their accidental death most certainly does not indicate that they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem. From this episode Jesus draws the same lesson: Unless you repent, you too will all perish. 13:6–9 The Parable of the Fig Tree illustrates that people will not always have an opportunity to repent and turn over a new leaf. Just as the reports concerning those who died (vv. 1–5) should awaken one to the realization of the nearness of judgment, so the present parable underscores that ...

3066. The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

Luke 13:18-21

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... birds” refer to heretics who infiltrate the church is completely unfounded.) 13:20–21 The point of the Parable of the Yeast (or leaven) is similar to the preceding parable, though a slightly different aspect of the growth of the kingdom is illustrated. The kingdom of God is like yeast which, when kneaded into dough, spreads throughout all the dough. The action of the yeast (fermentation) is unseen, but its effect is pervasive. This parable suggests that the kingdom of God will come to have significant ...

3067. The Cost of Being a Disciple

Luke 14:25-35

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... that one’s love for Jesus must outweigh all other loyalties. Similarly, not all who follow Jesus will be put to death, but one’s commitment to Jesus should be such that if faced with the threat of death one would not abandon Jesus. To illustrate the need for assessing the cost of discipleship carefully, Jesus tells two brief parables. The man who wishes to build a tower (or anything, for that matter) must first calculate the cost of the total project. Failure to do so could result in the embarrassing ...

3068. The Coming of the Kingdom of God

Luke 17:20-37

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... Man, while those “left” would be those left for judgment and destruction. But then the opposite could be the sense: some taken for judgment, others left alive (Fitzmyer [p. 1172] prefers the latter; Marshall [p. 668] the former). In whichever way the illustrations are understood the point is clear: some will be ready, some will not be. The section closes with an ominous saying in v. 37. Literarily question of the disciples (Where, Lord?) elicits Jesus’ saying as an answer. But what “where” has to ...

3069. The Widow's Offering

Luke 21:1-4

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... of Pharisaic oral tradition that was more concerned with ritual than with human needs (see Mark 7:9–13), one may wonder if Jesus was praising the widow’s action (as is often assumed; see Marshall, pp. 750–52), or if he saw in the episode an illustration of what he had said earlier in 20:46–47. In other words, because of the teaching of the religious authorities of her day, the poor widow gives up her last penny and so is victimized for the sake of an oppressive religious system. Her wealth, or ...

3070. Jesus' Death

Luke 23:44-49

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... hand, as witnesses, ready to resume the ministry as soon as the Good News of Easter is learned. Additional Notes 23:44 At the brightest time of day, from noon till 3 p.m., darkness came over the whole land. This darkness is probably a vivid illustration of Jesus’ reference to his arrest as an “hour—when darkness reigns” (22:53). It may also be a portent that foreshadows the strange phenomena that accompany Jesus’ return as “Son of Man” (21:25). In reference to the darkness at the time of Jesus ...

3071. Jesus Appears to the Disciples

Luke 24:36-49

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... to see in it the things relevant to Christ. In Pauline terms, the disciples have been given “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16). This new understanding will make it possible for the disciples to glean christological truths from Scripture. A dramatic illustration of this new hermeneutical insight is mirrored in Peter’s Pentecost sermon in Acts 2:14–39, where Peter cites a variety of Scriptures and applies them to the experience of Christ and the earliest Christians. But what are the apostles of Christ ...

3072. God's Righteous Judgment

Romans 2:1-16

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... which included not only the Ten Commandments but the whole body of decrees and ordinances in the Pentateuch, which, according to rabbinic count, totaled 613 commandments (365 negative, 248 positive). Verses 12–16 argue that the law is an impartial standard of judgment, and they illustrate the principle of verse 11 that “God does not show favoritism.” The cutting edge of Paul’s argument is verse 13: For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the ...

3073. The Jews and the Law

Romans 2:17-29

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... have been aware that fabrication of such offenses (or even exaggeration of them) would have weakened his argument, if not destroyed it altogether. That some Jews were innocent of such vices cannot, of course, be doubted. Paul’s choice of sins is illustrative, not exhaustive. What could not be doubted, however, was that there were enough infractions of the law—even among pious Jews—to cause the most complacent Jew to shift uneasily in the chair of moral security. The rabbis themselves told stories of ...

3074. Peace and Joy

Romans 5:1-11

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... surrendering of self as an “ambassador of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:16–21). Reconciliation thus carries the double significance of God’s doing something for us and with us. The parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11–32 wonderfully illustrates reconciling love. Willful and defiant, the younger son demanded his share of the father’s blessing, later to be rudely awakened in the outside world. Returning to his father and expecting what he deserved—censure, humiliation, and (if lucky) probation ...

3075. Future Glory

Romans 8:18-27

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... for the ungodly,” and in 8:26, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. Both “powerless” and “weakness” come from the same Greek root. Thus, both the Son’s work of redemption and the Spirit’s work of sanctification are directed to human weakness! Bunyan illustrates God’s help in affliction by the story of the fire beside the wall. The devil casts water on the fire, but the fire (which represents the work of God in the believer’s life) continues to burn. Interpreter then takes Christian to the ...

Showing results