Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3151 to 3175 of 3852 results

Micah 5:1-4

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... there will be more than enough). Assyria here may stand for any potential enemy of Israel. Of course, readers of the New Testament are aware that these verses find their fulfillment in the coming of Jesus Christ, who comes out of Bethlehem (Matt. 2:6). He is the one “whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Mic. 5:2). He is the son of David (Rom. 1:3), our peace (Eph. 2:14).

3152. The Great Day of the Lord

Zephaniah 1:14--2:3

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Zephaniah’s classic and moving poetic description of the day of Yahweh (1:14–18) is not original with him (Amos 5:18–20). Israel had expected that day to be victorious, marked by victory over enemies, with national glory reminiscent of the era of David and Solomon. God’s judgment was thought to be limited to Israel’s enemies and could not conceivably affect his covenant people. ...

3153. Oracles of Judgment against the Nations

Zephaniah 2:4-7

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , which both begin with an aleph. The judgment on the cities is singularly brief. Philistia will be subjected to two judgments: desolation of the land and removal of her population by death or exile. The term “Kerethite” (2:5) is a reference to the Cretan origin of the Philistines and may also be an example of prophetic irony, since in Hebrew the word for “Kerethite” is related to the verb “to cut off.” God’s judgment lies on Philistia. The war-loving Kerethites will be cut off so that Canaan ...

3154. The First Coming and Rejection

Zechariah 9:1-8, Zechariah 9:9-13, Zechariah 9:14-17

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... speaking of the conversion of Gentiles. Not only will they become part of God’s people; they will even become leaders in Judah, an indication of their complete acceptance by God and people alike. In this respect they will be like the Jebusites, the original inhabitants of Jerusalem, who were not destroyed when David captured their city. Rather, they were absorbed by Judah and became part of God’s people. Jerusalem stands out by contrast to other cities because of God’s special care. In contrast to the ...

3155. Jesus as Long-awaited and Rival King

Matthew 2:1-12

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... search out and alert him to the child’s whereabouts so that he might join the Magi in worshiping this king (2:8). The reader has some hint that all is not right in Herod’s request, since Matthew has indicated that Herod as king was disturbed by his original encounter with the Magi. Suspicion of Herod’s motives is confirmed by a warning to the Magi in a dream not to return to Herod (2:12). Instead, after the star leads the Magi to Jesus, they give gifts and worship him (their purpose in coming; 2:2, 11 ...

3156. Love for Enemies not Eye for and Eye

Matthew 5:38-42, Matthew 5:43-48

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

In its original context, “eye for eye” (the Old Testament lex talionis, or law of retribution; Exod. 21:24; Matt. 5:38) was likely a means of limiting personal revenge, leaving the exacting of fair retribution to a court. Once again, Jesus further limits an Old Testament prescription, this time disallowing all forms ...

3157. Jesus’s Fourth Discourse—The Community Discourse

Matthew 18:1-9

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... become like children to enter the kingdom. Jesus then indicates it is the humble status of children that the disciples should emulate (18:4). While today’s readers of Matthew often hear “humble” (ESV, NASB) as an internal disposition, the original audience (and the disciples) would have understood this as a term indicating social status (see NIV). In that cultural context, children did not possess status inherently; they did not have the rights and honor that modern Western society gives them. Instead ...

3158. Divorce

Matthew 19:1-12

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... that choosing celibacy for God’s kingdom is the right course for those “to whom it has been given” (19:11), while not undermining the importance of marriage. Jesus’s teaching affirms both “life-long marriage as one flesh according to the original intention of God and singleness for the sake of the kingdom according to the power of God” (Brown 2002, 79). Using this story, Matthew continues to subvert prevailing status expectations about the kingdom (cf. 18:1–5). Here, Jesus limits the power ...

3159. The Fig Tree Withers

Matthew 21:18-22, Matthew 21:23-27

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... for a series of controversies between Jesus and the Jerusalem leadership (chaps. 21 and 22). Jesus agrees to answer their question about the source of his authority for his recent actions if they will identify John’s baptism as divine or human in origin (21:24–25). Their dilemma: if they say divine, they will have no excuse for rejecting his message; if they say human, they will antagonize the crowds, who believe John was God’s prophet. They claim ignorance, and Jesus does not answer their question ...

3160. Parables of Responsibility

Matthew 21:28-32, Matthew 21:33-46, Matthew 22:1-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the king’s servants who bring the invitation. In response, the king sends his army to destroy these murderers and burn their city (with a possible reference to the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70; see “Author, Date, and Audience” in the introduction). Since the original guests refuse the king’s invitation, he opens the banquet to anyone his servants can find, “the bad as well as the good” (22:10; cf. 13:40–43, 49–50). Jesus’s parable up to this point emphasizes the affront of refusing God’s ...

3161. Resurrection and Commissioning

Matthew 28:1-10, Matthew 28:11-15

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... Jesus’s (now eleven) disciples that Jesus has risen and will meet them in Galilee (28:6–7). Matthew’s portrait of the two Marys as the first witnesses of the empty tomb (and the resurrection; 28:9) would have surprised his original audience. Ancient perspectives prioritized male testimony over female and would have tended to view women’s testimony as less reliable (less rational and so less trustworthy; cf. Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 4.8.15; Origen, Against Celsus 2.55). Yet, according to Matthew ...

3162. The Appointing of the Twelve

Mark 3:13-19

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... . As far as we know, none of the Twelve was a Jewish religious leader. Rather, all were representative of the common and diverse extremes (e.g., a tax collector and a Zealot) in first-century Judaism. The inclusion of the name of Judas, Jesus’s betrayer, reminds readers that the original Twelve were not a perfect fellowship; indeed, the worst betrayer came from within the chosen rank of Jesus’s apostles.

3163. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

Mark 6:30-44

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the sower (4:9, 20), the feeding of the five thousand results in a miracle of abundance: “All ate and were satisfied” (6:42), with twelve basketfuls remaining (6:43). The feeding miracle takes place within sight of Gamala in Galilee, where the Zealot movement originated. The “many people [who] were coming and going” (6:31) in the region, and the reference to “sheep without a shepherd” (6:34), which in the Old Testament is normally a military image (Num. 27:17; 1 Kings 22:17; Ezek. 34:5; see also ...

3164. Opposition from Pharisees and Disciples

Mark 8:14-21, Mark 8:22-26

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... nature of the encounter. Jesus then asks, “Do you see anything?” (8:23). His question echoes the pleading question to the disciples in the previous story, “Do you still not see?” (8:17). There are, moreover, seven references to “seeing” in the original Greek in verses 23–25, just as there were seven references to lack of understanding in the previous story. The healing of the blind man of Bethsaida is the only miracle in the Gospels that proceeds in stages (which is probably why Matthew ...

3165. The Authority of Jesus Questioned

Mark 11:27-33

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... herein is the trap of the Sanhedrin’s question. If Jesus claims such authority, he can be charged with blasphemy, which in Judaism was a capital offense. Jesus meets their question with a counterquestion: “John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?” (11:30). This is not a diversionary tactic but an attempt to direct the Sanhedrin to the proper answer. At John’s baptism Jesus was declared God’s Son and endowed with God’s Spirit to do “these things.” A decision about John can ...

3166. The Crucifixion

Mark 15:21-32

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , on the cross. One of the realities of Roman occupation most detested by Jews was compulsory service. Exercising this privilege, soldiers force an unknown passerby, Simon of Cyrene, to carry the heavy crossbeam of Jesus’s cross to the site of crucifixion. Simon’s place of origin in Cyrene (North Africa) may indicate he was a man of color. Mark may mention the names of his sons Alexander and Rufus because they were known by or members of the church in Rome to which he was writing (see Rom. 16:13). Simon ...

3167. The Birth of John the Baptist

Luke 1:57-66

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... mute (1:62), and presumably he had communicated previously in writing to Elizabeth what the name of the child should be (1:60). The main function of the story is to show that the Lord’s hand is with John (1:66). This is communicated to the reader and the original participants in the events in two ways: (1) Elizabeth conceives and gives birth to a child long after her childbearing days are over; (2) Zechariah is suddenly given the ability to speak again after being deaf and mute for a period of time.

3168. The Last Supper

Luke 22:7-38

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the new covenant (Jer. 31:31–32), and the wine represents his blood that establishes the new agreement and is poured out in a sacrificial way for others. Some manuscripts omit Luke 22:19b–20, but these verses should be included as part of the original text due to the strength of the manuscript evidence. Jesus continues his words, predicting that one of those eating with him will betray him (22:21). The fact that one of Jesus’s closest associates, who even shared the Passover with him, would act with ...

3169. Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives

Luke 22:39-46

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... poured out on him. But through prayer he overcomes the test, remaining faithful and fixed on his Father’s will. The disciples function as a foil. They do not pray but sink into sleep at the hour of testing. Verses 43–44 are textually uncertain; although they may not be original, they may contain ancient and probably authentic tradition.

3170. Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

John 3:1-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... employs a play on words. Anōthen in John takes the spatial sense (“from above”), as is evident from its use in 3:31 (also 19:11, 23). In other words, entrants to the kingdom must be born from “above,” that place from which Jesus originates. The Christian, as it were, must become like Jesus, who is “from above” (3:31). The theological language for this is brought out in 3:5–8. This birth must consist of water (repentance, baptism, or the ministration of John) and the Spirit (the eschatological ...

3171. Jesus the Bread of Life

John 6:25-59

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... dependent on Moses (or Judaism): it is whatever God rains on humans as a gift, and which gives life (6:33). The Jews here resemble the Samaritan woman inasmuch as they are intrigued: “Sir, give us/me this bread/water” (6:34; 4:15). The divine origin of Jesus is a favorite Johannine theme (3:13–31), and John often ironically presents it in innocent inquiries (e.g., 7:28, 34–36). So too the question of 6:25 about Jesus’s mysterious appearance in Capernaum goes unanswered, because now a theological ...

3172. Jesus Goes to the Feast of Tabernacles

John 7:1-13

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... prophecies in Zechariah (see below). In this context Jesus announces that he is the source of “living water” (7:38) and that he is the “light of the world” (8:12). The discourses that follow pick up prior themes (Jesus’s authority and origin) and add to the judicial evidence for Jesus’s case that the Book of Signs has been accumulating. Just as Sabbath (chap. 5) and Passover (chap. 6) became literary springboards to reveal who Jesus is, so now the Feast of Tabernacles becomes a place ...

3173. Jesus Teaches at the Feast

John 7:14-24

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... . Questions that essentially misunderstand who Jesus is provoke him to respond. Irony is John’s literary device throughout. Here two Jewish objections to Jesus are central to the debate: the authority of Jesus’s teaching and the nature of his origin. Educational standards for rabbis were well established in the first century. Advanced study under a rabbinic scholar (e.g., Paul under Gamaliel) in a school was common. Jesus possessed no such credentials. In effect, the Jews wish to see these, and ...

3174. Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

John 9:1-12

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... vision and blindness complete with their attendant dispositions (cf. the similar blindness motif in Mark 8:14–30). The healing in 9:1–34 and the one described in 5:1–18 have much in common (Sabbath, pool, interrogation, conflict). Here too the question of the origin of suffering arises (9:2; 5:14). And again, the link between sin and suffering is opaque. If we take the traditional punctuation, 9:3 implies that the purpose of the infirmity is the glory of God that will follow the healing. The man was ...

3175. The Passover Meal

John 13:1-17

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... were there he certainly would not take up the chore himself, as Jesus does (13:4–5). That which enables Jesus to serve like this may be described in 13:3. Jesus has perfect self-esteem: he knows of God’s love expressed in his origin and destiny and therefore can relinquish human status to become a servant. A variety of themes runs through the narrative. First, foot washing speaks of Jesus’s death. Jesus’s dialogue with Peter (13:6–11) explains that an understanding of this will come about only ...

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