Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 3326 to 3350 of 3852 results

3326. God’s Revelation in the Skies and the Scriptures

Psalm 19:1-14

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... another, “declaring” different facets of the one Revealer. Yet in this psalm it would appear the Revealer did not make this complementarity known to an author but to an editor, who joined together two or perhaps three compositions that were originally independent. 19:1–9 Even in English translation verses 1–6 and 7–14 read like two separate compositions. Their poetic styles (esp. their metrical patterns), genres, and traditions (and perhaps time periods) are markedly different. Verses 1–6 appear ...

3327. Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13-16

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... way everyone in the house can see. The followers of Jesus are to be like lamps on a lampstand. They are to let their light shine (aorist third person imperative) so that people will see their good deeds and give praise to God. Note that the light does not originate with believers; they are to let it shine. The light is seen in the good things they do. It is less a message directed to the intellect than a way of life lived out before others. When outsiders see that following Christ leads to a life of good ...

3328. The Trustworthy Lord Over Nature, Nations, and Armies

Psalm 33:1-22

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... of military siege underlies this psalm. The casual way 2 Samuel 11:1 mentions the regularity of war in the spring shows that the Israelites could not presume on their national security as we might today. But even if this psalm originated out of such circumstances, its application extends beyond them. The psalms frequently use imagery, especially military imagery, to convey the notion that the most foreboding powers that humans can wield pale before Yahweh. They often speak of the extremes of the human ...

3329. Do Not Worry

Matthew 6:25-34

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... masculine, and “lily” is feminine. Laboring in the field was a man’s work and spinning at home a woman’s. In verse 27 Jesus asks whether by worrying about it anyone can add a single cubit to his or her stature. Pēchys (“cubit”) was originally a forearm, then a measure of about eighteen inches. Since hēlikia (“stature”) normally means “age” and pēchys can be used metaphorically as “a span of time,” it is best to take the phrase to mean “to prolong life by even a short period of ...

3330. The Faith of the Centurion

Matthew 8:5-13

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... between the two is that in Matthew the centurion himself comes to Jesus, whereas in Luke he first sends a delegation of Jews from the local synagogue and subsequently a group of friends. It may be that Matthew in his shorter version passes over the original contact and that Luke does not bother to say that the centurion went with his friends to meet Jesus just outside Capernaum. The first-person discourse in Luke (7:6–8) certainly implies that the centurion went out to meet Jesus. The Roman officer was ...

3331. Jesus Heals Many

Matthew 8:14-17

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... (“Indeed, he healed all who were ill”) tends to blur this distinction. 8:17 This verse is a basic proof text for those who believe that physical healing as well as spiritual healing has been provided by the atoning death of Jesus. To fulfill: Stendahl holds that the formula quotations originated with a school led by a converted rabbi who applied Jewish methods of teaching to a new cause (p. 770).

3332. The Cost of Following Jesus

Matthew 8:18-22

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... , carrying one’s own cross, and giving up everything one has.) Additional Notes 8:20 Son of Man: Albright-Mann translate hyios tou anthrōpou with “the Man,” on the basis that it emphasizes the representative character of Jesus’ ministry as Matthew sees it and is more faithful to the original Hebrew/Aramaic (p. 95). For the extensive literature on the subject, see NIDNTT vol. 3, p. 665.

3333. The Calling of Matthew

Matthew 9:9-13

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... of having come to this world from a heavenly sphere. There is no reason to assign this insight to the faith of the early church (as some do), unless one begins with the assumption that Jesus was no more than a man or that he was unaware of his divine origin. Additional Notes 9:13 Go and learn what this means: “Go and learn” was a common rabbinic formula used to encourage the pupil toward understanding (Str.-B., vol. 1, p. 499).

3334. God’s Salvation for the Individual and the International Manifestation of His Glory

Psalm 57:1-11

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... do we explain the spatial discrepancy that the speaker takes “refuge in the shadow of” God’s “wings” (v. 1) and that God “sends from heaven and saves” the speaker (v. 3)? Could these inconsistencies be explained by an artificial splicing together of originally separate texts? This hypothesis gains some validity after we observe that verses 7–11 are virtually identical to 108:1–5, a psalm which is itself a composite (108:6–13 are identical to 60:5–12). But there are three considerations ...

3335. Defeat in Battle with Edom

Psalm 60:1-12

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... against the enemy. Supporting this petition is a motivation that plays on the words man (Hb. ʾādām) and Edom (Hb. ʾedôm). The closing confession of trust does not address God directly, and so may have served as an expression of confidence to the congregation: With God (probably “Yahweh” originally before the psalm’s inclusion in the Elohistic Psalter) we will gain the victory.

3336. A Pilgrim’s Prayer to Fulfill Vows at God’s House

Psalm 61:1-8

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... Also cf. Ps. 121, which exhibits anxiety at the thought of the pilgrim journey.) In view of the above, Psalm 61 was sung probably not at the temple but in the pilgrims’ home region before the journey began. Reference to the king indicates the psalm originated in the monarchical period. “Your tent” need not be restricted to the tabernacle of the pre-temple period. In 27:4–5, it is used in connection with “house” and “temple.” (Cf. 15:1; Isa. 33:20.) The use of “tent” after the temple’s ...

3337. Rest in God

Psalm 62:1-12

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... salvation” (lit.). The liturgist instructs himself, and so by example encourages the worshiping participants to do the same. The Hebrew word order shows the emphasis lies not in the phenomenon of rest itself but in its source. God, or probably “Yahweh” originally (this psalm being part of the Elohistic Psalter), as distinct from other so-called gods, is where our eyes should be directed. This exhortation for the eyes is underscored further in the subsequent confession, He alone is my rock. While verse ...

3338. The Pilgrim’s Thirst for God in a Dry and Weary Land

Psalm 63:1-11

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... , “my God” (i.e., my personal, guardian deity) was simply one deity among many (see the Introduction, section on “My God”), but here the psalm claims “my personal God” is none other than “Yahweh” (whose personal name was probably part of the original text and later replaced with ʾelōhîm or “God” when the psalm was included in the Elohistic Psalter). The image of “thirsting” in a dry and weary land graphically portrays the soul’s longing for God as a fundamental appetite of the ...

3339. Rest for the Weary

Matthew 11:25-30

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... , a soliloquy, and an invitation. The major question raised by commentators regarding these verses has to do with authenticity. It is commonly held that the high Christology of the passage, combined with similarities to Gnostic thought, places its origin at a later period. Beare comments, “This meteorite from the Johan-nine heaven (von Hase) is undoubtedly a theological (christological) composition from the hand of an unknown mystic of the early church” (p. 266). The following discussion holds ...

3340. The God Who Blesses Israel’s Harvests and His International Praise

Psalm 67:1-7

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... nation’s harvests (vv. 1, 6–7) and the wish that Yahweh’s praise extend to the nations (vv. 2–5), as expressed in the psalms of Yahweh’s kingship (Pss. 47; 93; 96–99). Several features suggest that the composer was not attempting a distinctly original poem but combined traditional phrases, if not entire verses, into a new whole. The psalm is thus not an authored composition but an edited one. First, we may note the odd shift in mid-sentence from third-person reference to God in verse 1 to second ...

3341. In Celebration of the Ritual Procession of the Cherubim-Ark

Psalm 68:1-35

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

Psalm 68 is notoriously difficult to interpret, especially if one tries to explain its unity and development solely by literary means. The key to its interpretation lies in recognizing its original use as a liturgical text accompanying a ritual. Its composition, therefore, is governed primarily by ritual factors, not simply by literary and thematic considerations. There are at least four allusions to the cherubim-ark throughout the psalm. We should probably imagine Psalm 68 sung alongside a ritual ...

3342. God's Chosen Servant

Matthew 12:15-21

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... (Aramaic paraphrases). Green (p. 124) suggests that the alterations are due to apologetic use in the church (Lindars), to the work of the “school” of interpretation behind Matthew (Stendahl), or to the editorial work of Matthew himself (Barth). Though the original reference may have been to Cyrus, the Persian king who conquered the Near Eastern world of his day, the passage is messianic and points forward to the coming Redeemer. The quotation itself summarizes the ministry of God’s Servant, who ...

3343. Intercession for the King to Bring Prosperity to the Land and Justice to the Needy

Psalm 72:1-20

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... From oppression and violence may he redeem their lives.” Contrary to popular OT usage, where the duties of redemption lie within the family, this psalm calls for the chief political figure of the land to exercise the duties of redeemer. In its original use, “to redeem” was primarily an economic term meaning “to buy back.” According to Leviticus 25:24–25, if a person falls into poverty and must sell his property, the kinsman-redeemer was to “redeem” him from debt (cf. Jer. 32:7). According ...

3344. The Parable of the Weeds

Matthew 13:24-30

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... to veil the answer to the public and then explain it later to their followers (Daube, The New Testament and Rabbinic Judaism, pp. 141ff.). Many modern commentators have given up any attempt to find what a particular parable may have meant in its original setting and have concentrated on what it probably meant to the Gospel writer. Others believe that, although the parable is useful for teaching in a variety of settings, the Gospel writers have transmitted to their readers the meaning Jesus intended when he ...

3345. The Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

Matthew 13:31-35

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

3346.

Psalm 77:1-20

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... the theophany tradition in verses 16–19 (cf. 18:7–15; 29:3–10; 68:8, 33–34; 97:4; though note their combination in 114:1–8). Why should these verses be inserted where they are? It may be that verses 19 and 20, though originally distinct, now share a realization that is critical for this psalm. God’s appearance in verses 16–19 was heroic, dramatic, and decisive, and yet your footprints were not seen (lit. “known”). God’s redemption of his people in verses 13–15 was public and powerful ...

3347. The Parable of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl

Matthew 13:44-46

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

3348. A Prophet Without Honor

Matthew 13:53-58

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

3349. Listening to the Liberator

Psalm 81:1-16

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... s loyalty is to follow from Yahweh’s liberation. Yahweh’s demand is thoroughly reasonable: since he liberated them, he is the deity to whom Israel is obliged. Some scholars believe the phrase Open wide your mouth and I will fill it may have been displaced from its original position at the end of verse 5. On the other hand, it may belong here as a promise of food, as implied by the parallel structures of verses 8–10 and 13–16: the repeated phrase, “if my people would but listen to me” (vv. 8, 13a ...

3350. A Servant Appeals to His Lord for Protection

Psalm 86:1-17

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... of Psalm 86 lies not in what is on the face of the cards but in its particular hand of cards. 86:1–5 In the first section, the psalm bases the plea, have mercy on me, on the claim, “for to you I call” (v. 3, note the original word order). In support, the hymnic praise then promises, You are . . . abounding in love to all who call to you. Another link and support is found in the term “(devoted) love” (Hb. ḥesed): the prayer claims, for I am devoted (Hb. ḥāsîd, v. 2), and the hymn claims ...

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