Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: touch, feel, sense of touch, tactile sense, tactility, contact, using one's hands, sensation, sense, suspicion, sneaking suspicion, notion, inkling, hunch, fancy, apprehension, presentiment, premonition, foreboding, love, care, affection, fondness, tenderness, warmth, warmness, emotion, sentiment, emotional state, compassion, sympathy, empathy, fellow feeling, understanding, concern, solicitude, solicitousness, tender-heartedness, brotherly love, sensibilities, sensitivities, self-esteem, ego, pride, opinion, belief, view, impression, intuition, instinct, estimation, guess, theory, hypothesis, thought, way of thinking, point of view, atmosphere, ambience, aura, air, mood, climate, character, overtone, undertone, tenor, spirit, quality, flavour, colour, aptitude, knack, flair, bent, talent, gift, skill, art, trick, faculty, ability, propensity, inclination, sensitive, warm, warm-hearted, tender, tender-hearted, caring, soft-hearted, sympathetic, compassionate, empathetic, responsive, receptive, intuitive, thoughtful

Antonyms: bad feeling, acrimony, animosity, animus, antagonism, antipathy, aversion, bitterness, detestation, disgust, dislike, disrelish, enmity, friction, grievances, grudges, hatred, hostility, loathing, malevolence, malice

Showing 4176 to 4200 of 4653 results

4176. The Healing of a Blind Man at Bethsaida

Mark 8:22-26

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... with the account of the healing of the deaf man in 7:31–37, both because the two stories have several similarities in wording and because each story seems to allude to Isaiah 35:5–6. In both accounts people bring the needy person to Jesus, asking him to touch the person (7:32; 8:22). In both stories Jesus takes the person away from the people who brought him (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 ...

4177. Signs of the End of the Age

Mark 13:1-31

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... . The warnings are directed toward those who live in Judea (v. 14b); they are told to flee to the hill country, leaving Jerusalem instead of taking refuge in it. They are advised to flee quickly from the approaching army (vv. 15–16); and there is the touching note about the special hardships for women who are pregnant or nursing (v. 17) and about how difficult the refugees will find it if they must flee into the hills in winter (v. 18). In addition to calling the coming destruction of Jerusalem by the ...

4178. The Crucifixion

Mark 15:21-32

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... curtain suggests that, in a deeper sense, by his death Jesus did bring an end to the validity of the temple and, in his resurrection “in three days,” did institute a new means of access to God, a new temple, his resurrection body. The final, ironic touch is the taunt of the bystanders and the Jewish authorities for Jesus to try to save himself (15:30, 31) and to come down from the cross (15:32) that they might believe that he is the Messiah. This taunt both reveals their distorted notion about what ...

4179. The Resurrection

Mark 16:1-20

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... 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 church (cf. James 5:14–15). 16:9–20 Alternative Endings to Mark. In addition to the material designated 16:9–20, there are two other ...

4180. The Twelve Apostles

Luke 6:12-16

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... . Probably for this reason the name of Thomas was associated with a variety of apocryphal writings. There is an Infancy Gospel of Thomas that tells of Jesus’ infancy and boyhood. According to this work, Jesus performs several astounding and often ostentatious miracles. His touch restores a man who had been transformed into a donkey; his diapers purify a poisoned well; idols bow down before him; clay pigeons fashioned by the boy Jesus fly away at the clap of his hands; the hand of an angry rabbi withers ...

4181. Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman

Luke 7:36-50

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... 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 who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner. The Pharisee assumes that Jesus, as a holy man not wishing to be defiled, would shrink back from her and perhaps order her away. It can only be, so he reasons, that Jesus must not be ...

4182. Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

Luke 22:1-6

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... ) in the minds of at least some. This would scarcely have gone unnoticed by the religious authorities, particularly the Sadducees, the aristocratic priestly class, who feared the social and economic consequences of an insurrection. To arrest Jesus openly, however, would likely touch off the very insurrection that they feared. Therefore, it was necessary for them to find a way to remove Jesus quietly. This is why the betrayal of Judas was so important to the authorities. 22:3–6 Luke omits Mark’s ...

4183. God's Wrath Against Mankind

Romans 1:18-32

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... in creation it became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened (see also Eph. 4:17–18). Having denied God they denied themselves and nature. This became the first step in substituting a counterfeit for God, which is idolatry. Loss of touch with reality leads to confusion, from which terrible ironies arise. The mystery of revelation consisted in a paradox: God’s invisible qualities … have been clearly seen. This sounds like an oxymoron, for how can something invisible be seen? Nevertheless, God ...

4184. Sexual Immorality

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... Spirit. Paul’s pronouns are plural, addressing the entire body of believers in Corinth. He does not single out only those who have been fornicating, for while those particular persons have acted inappropriately, they have acted in a manner that ultimately touches and shapes the life of the Christian community. Thus, the community is in need of instruction, for in different but complementary ways all have been involved in the degradation of the body of believers. Moreover, Paul qualifies his reference to ...

4185. Idol Feasts and the Lord's Supper

1 Corinthians 10:14-22

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

Paul returns here to the topics he dealt with in 8:1–13. There he touched on two related items, eating meat from idol sacrifices and participating in pagan cultic banquets. At this point, however, Paul reverses the order of his discussion and takes up the Christians’ eating at the table in a pagan idol’s temple in 10:14–22 before returning to the issue ...

4186. Propriety in Worship

1 Corinthians 11:2-16

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... JBL 95 [1976], pp. 615–21), who critiques Walker and argues for Pauline authorship. 11:2 Conzelmann (1 Corinthians, p. 182) wisely points to the “content of the commendation” as the point of continuity between 11:1 and 11:2. Initially Paul touches on matters he can affirm, although his commending of the Corinthians briefly precedes his turning to other issues that are impossible for him to laud. In what follows, both positively and negatively, the point of continuity is with 10:33–11:1, imitation ...

4187. Final Greetings

1 Corinthians 16:19-24

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... another group of acknowledged believers who were not present at the greeting. 16:21 This line and the ones that follow are Paul’s autograph. A scribe had written for Paul to this point, but now Paul takes pen in hand and gives the letter a truly personal touch. 16:22 As Paul writes these final lines, he declares a hex (a curse; Gk. anathema) on anyone who does not love the Lord, a probable reference to those who opposed the Lord by resisting the work of the early church—the agency through which the Lord ...

4188. The Trumpets

Revelation 8:6--9:21

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... teaching “the evil one cannot harm anyone born of God” (1 John 5:18). 9:5–6 Throughout his vision of the trumpet plagues, John has indicated that the devastation of God’s judgment is not yet complete. Typically, one third of the earth is touched and destroyed. This sense of an incomplete judgment conveys God’s admonition: there is still time for lost humanity to repent and turn to God before the end comes and total destruction with it (cf. 2 Pet. 3:9). The marauding locusts, therefore, were not ...

4189. Jesus Is Coming

Revelation 22:7-21

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... of his Spirit. However, when we posit this idea within John’s apocalyptic composition, it is given a certain weight, a more specific application that is all important to the readers. Indeed, all of what John sees and hears and then writes down touches on dimensions of God’s transforming grace. We are reminded, most especially by the climactic visions of Christ’s parousia, that the exercise of divine grace empowers salvation through the Lamb; and we are also reminded that it empowers a response of ...

4190. Clean and Unclean Animals

Leviticus 11:1-47

Understanding Series

W. H. Bellinger, Jr.

... deals with uncleanness caused by contact with the prohibited animals. Concern with the carcasses, which is central to this section, reveals a concern about contact with death. Note that the uncleanness is contagious for the person’s clothes, which must be washed. Touching or carrying carcasses would probably entail contact of the carcass with the clothing. The resulting impurity, which lasts for the day, till evening, is a fairly common event in Leviticus (e.g., 14:46–47; 15:5–8; 17:15). Washing and ...

4191. Offerings at the Dedication of the Tabernacle

Numbers 7:1-89

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... and eight oxen. The section also reminds readers that Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest directs the work of the Gershonites and Merarites. The Kohathites did not receive carts or oxen. They carry the holy furniture on their shoulders with poles in order not to touch them. Gifts are thus distributed according to need. 7:10–17 When the altar was anointed, the tribal leaders bring gifts appropriate for worship there. The order of the tribes is the same as that of the ordering of the camp in chapter 2. The ...

4192. The Water of Cleansing

Numbers 19:1-22

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... used for the water of cleansing, a purifying water. The one who gathers the ashes is also to go through a cleansing. This ritual is applicable for both Israelites and aliens (v. 10). 19:11–13 These verses deal with the circumstance in which someone touches the dead body of anyone. The resulting uncleanness lasts seven days. The person is to be purified with the water on the third day and on the seventh day. This cleansing water has been mixed with the ashes of the heifer. The text emphasizes that without ...

4193. Hannah’s Prayer

1 Samuel 2:1-11

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... together with the reflection on power are appropriate as an expression of Hannah’s feelings. 2:1 Those versions that use a more modern metaphor to translate “horn” sometimes miss out on the inclusio. It is always difficult for translators to represent the extra stylistic touches that help to bring out the meaning of a text. 2:5 We are told that Hannah eventually had a total of six children (1 Sam. 2:21), but seven represents the perfect situation, and that is how Hannah felt after the birth of just ...

4194. Absalom’s Death

2 Samuel 18:1-18

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... a slave, was sent instead. Ahimaaz was an intelligent man, and he picked up immediately the significance of Joab’s qualms but asked to be allowed to run anyway. David was sitting between the inner and outer gates (v. 24). This meant that he could be in touch with the watchman on the top of the wall by the gate but could also watch. He remained keenly interested to hear what was going on at the front. With a greater knowledge of the territory, Ahimaaz was able to outrun the Cushite and, just as Joab ...

4195. Job's Second Reply to Eliphaz

Job 16:1-17:16

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... Prov. 26:10 and Jer. 50:29. 16:14 The verb translated burst is Heb. prts, “break out, burst forth.” The word can describe an unusually explosive birth (Gen. 38:29); a soldier breaking through defenses (Mic. 2:13); God’s wrath breaking out (e.g., against Uzzah when he touched the ark of the covenant, 2 Sam. 6:8); holes being created in city walls to destroy them (2 Kgs. 14:13; Isa. 5:5; 30:13; Pss. 89:40; 144:14; Prov. 25:28). Sackcloth and Mourning The attacks of God and humans have brought Job low in ...

4196. Taste and See that the Lord Hears and Delivers

Psalm 34:1-22

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... . 18). In verse 18, this group is designated not by their religious, moral standing (i.e., the righteous) but by their personal attitude (i.e., the brokenhearted; cf. “the afflicted” and “this poor man” in vv. 2, 6). As for the wicked, the psalm touches on the mystery of retribution and its divine-human causation. On the one hand, evil will slay the wicked (v. 21), and on the other, the LORD opposes them directly (v. 16). The final verse, which lies outside the acrostic pattern, highlights the theme ...

4197. The Faith of the Centurion

Matthew 8:5-13

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... Luke’s account (doulos, “servant”) makes this less probable. Verse 7 is more likely an emphatic statement than a question (which would be, “Am I [a Jew] to come [into the house of a Gentile] and heal him?”). Jesus had just reached out and touched a leper: he would not hesitate to enter the house of a Gentile, an action that, though considered defiling by the rabbis, was not prohibited in the Old Testament. The officer protested Jesus’ decision to go to his house, saying that it was unnecessary ...

4198. Jesus Heals the Blind and Mute

Matthew 9:27-34

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... follow him inside, he asks if they believe in his power to heal their blindness (v. 28), a common malady in the ancient world. Lack of sanitary conditions made blindness from infection widespread. In response to their affirmative answer Jesus touched their eyes, and their sight was restored. Moffatt translates, “As you believe, so your prayer is granted.” The attitude of faith allows the giver of sight to pronounce the authoritative word. Jesus now sternly warns them (embrimaomai suggests strong emotion ...

4199. The Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

Matthew 13:31-35

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... they come as riddles and meaningless sayings. Additional Notes 13:32 The prophet Ezekiel spoke of Assyria as a tall cedar in Lebanon in whose boughs the birds of the air nested (Ezek. 31:1–9, cf. Daniel’s reference to Belteshazzar as a tree whose top touched the sky, Dan. 4:20–22). 13:33 Yeast: In the making of bread a piece of fermented dough (Gk. zymē, “yeast/leaven”) from a previous batch was kneaded into the new loaf, causing it to rise. See R. S. Wallace, Many Things in Parables, pp. 22 ...

4200. The Vinedresser and the Plundered Vine of Israel

Psalm 80:1-19

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... to a reestablishment of the past glories just intimated. The petition of the parallel line echoes the Aaronic blessing (Num. 6.25): Make your face shine. 80:4–7 The lament bemoans the present distress with the assertion that God is its cause. These verses touch upon each sphere of the people’s life: religious (v. 4), personal (v. 5) and social (v. 6). Verse 5 in particular presents the irony of God’s actions: he who has been the “Shepherd of Israel” has made them drink tears by the bowlful ...

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