Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic

Showing 51 to 75 of 344 results

51. Holy Thursday

Mark 14:12-26

Sermon

Donald B. Strobe

... Church agree that the Last Supper took place on the Thursday of Passion Week. And they agree that Jesus was crucified on a Friday. If one measures the day in the Jewish manner, from sunset to sunset, then the Synoptic Gospels (the first three Gospels which “see things with the same eye” i.e., “Synoptic”) tell us that the Last Supper and the crucifixion of Jesus occurred on the same day! I never thought of that before. The first three Gospels say that the Last Supper was a Passover meal. On the other ...

52. Letting Go and New Beginnings

Mark 9:2-9

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... transform the apostles challenges us to see our need to change, drop the past, and look to the brightness of the future. The Transfiguration was certainly a very important event as it is one of only a few that are related in all three synoptics. Many scripture scholars believe that this event may have actually occurred after the resurrection, but was placed by the evangelists at a time during Jesus' life to convey an important message. The missive, many say, is that the Jesus' disciples must learn to change ...

53. Matthew 22:15-22

Matthew 22:15-22

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to outsiders. It rightly belongs only to God (Leviticus 25:23). Thus, from a strictly literal view, Caesar, as an illegal usurper of God's holy land, is clearly not entitled to collect taxes or tribute from God's people. In each of the three synoptic versions of this confrontation, the gospel writer makes it clear that Jesus was keenly aware of the malicious motivation behind the questions posed by the Pharisees and Herodians. The implication is that the response he will give is composed not only to give an ...

54. Matthew 17:1-9

Matthew 17:1-9

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... can respond to Peter's fairly ridiculous offer, the second stage of this epiphany takes place. As at Jesus' baptism, a voice announces, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him" (v. 5). Matthew is the only synoptic writer who includes the "well pleased" phrase, apparently to make this heavenly voice correspond to Jesus' baptismal voice (Matthew 3:17). The voice seems to be validating what will now be the second phase of Jesus' ministry, even as it had legitimized the first ...

55. Mark 1:9-15

Mark 1:9-15

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... and tradition, this image has come to predominate. But while C. H. Dodd (Historical Tradition in the Fourth Gospel [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1963], 259-261) has argued that John's baptismal reference to the sign of the dove derives from an older, non-synoptic source, other scholars argue that the dove was not understood by first century Judaism as a sign of the divine Spirit at all. According to this second argument, Mark's description of this dove/Spirit then is possibly the work of a later ...

56. Lent 3

Exodus 20:1-21, 1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5, John 2:12-25

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... Greeks, too, were hostile to the cross, for they wanted wisdom. But to them the message of the cross was foolishness. In spite of this hostile environment, Paul is determined to preach Christ crucified, the power and wisdom of God. Gospel: John 2:13-25 In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee, but in the fourth gospel he begins it in Jerusalem. In the first three gospels, the cleansing of the temple comes at the end of Jesus' ministry, but John's gospel puts it at the beginning. In the ...

57. Commissioned for Christ

2 Kings 2:1-12

Sermon

Richard Gribble

... took his three so-called "super apostles" to the mountain and there he was transfigured before them. Some scripture scholars believe that this event was actually a post-resurrection story that was placed at this point in the synoptic gospels for effect. The fact that all three synoptic writers, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, narrate this event — one of the few so mentioned by all three evangelists — is clear evidence of its significance. What happened on that mountain? Jesus was, for a short period of time ...

58. Drowsy Disciples

Mark 13:1-31

Sermon

David J. Kalas

... that they should be “blameless” on that day, and he recognizes — as we have seen in Isaiah and will see again in Mark — that the present involves waiting (“you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ”). Mark 13:24-37 All three synoptic gospels include a collection of end-of-time teachings of Jesus during the extended narrative between the events of Palm Sunday and Easter. In Matthew, the teachings with an end-of-time theme occupy most of chapters 24 and 25. Luke devotes somewhat less of ...

59. Paul's Ministry in Thessalonica

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... have been regarded as an interpolation by some interpreters. The argument for a post-70 date for these verses is supported, some argue, by their similarity of theme and language to passages in the Synoptic Gospels, especially Matthew 23:29–36. But this similarity can be as easily accounted for by supposing that Paul and the synoptics drew on a common tradition. Nothing in verse 16 compels us to see behind it the disaster of A.D. 70, although it does speak of the eschatological wrath of God of which that ...

60. A Call to Persevere

Hebrews 10:19-39

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... reference to the curtain by identifying it with Christ’s body (lit., “flesh”). Probably the author here alludes to the tradition about the tearing of the curtain in two at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus—a tradition that eventually found its way into all three Synoptic Gospels. (Mark 15:38 and Matt. 27:51 specify that it was torn from top to bottom, that is, by an act of God rather than men; cf. Luke 23:45.) The tearing of the curtain symbolized the opening of direct access to God’s presence ...

61. The First Two Days: John the Baptist’s Message

John 1:19-28, John 1:29-34

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... . 3:23). The ensuing narrative suggests that Jesus had a place to live there (1:39), and that fig trees grew in the vicinity (1:48). (2) The text does not say in so many words that John the Baptist was baptizing in the Jordan River. Though the synoptic Gospels make it clear that he did baptize in the Jordan (Mark 1:5; Matt. 3:6), John’s Gospel indicates greater mobility on his part. He baptized at Aenon “because there was plenty of water” there (i.e., probably natural springs and pools), and the same ...

62. The Healing at the Pool

John 5:1-15, John 5:16-30

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... to him (v. 14a). The initiative throughout belongs to Jesus. His identity, his goings and comings, are known only to those to whom he discloses himself (cf. 9:35–37). Yet he knows the character and circumstances of the man he has just healed. Echoing the synoptic story of the paralytic, in which healing and the forgiveness of sins are virtually equated (Mark 2:5–11), Jesus warns the man to stop sinning or something worse may happen to you (v. 14b; cf. Jesus’ warning to the adulterous woman in 8:11, at ...

63. Jesus the Bread of Life

John 6:25-59

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... follow him even to death. The language of violent death—eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking his blood—points to the necessity, not merely to accept the reality of Jesus’ death for the life of the world, but to follow him in the way of the cross. In the Synoptics, when Jesus began to predict his Passion he added, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel ...

64. Spiritual Blindness

John 9:35-41

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... mission to the world. He has come for judgment, he says, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind (v. 39). Blindness here becomes a metaphor. The theme of reversal expressed in this metaphor recalls certain sayings of Jesus in the synoptic Gospels: for example, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17); or “But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, ‘they may be ever seeing ...

65. The Shepherd and His Flock

John 10:1-21

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... a phrase from the story itself (v. 1). The purpose of the contrast is to make clear that Jesus is the only way to salvation. Later he will tell his disciples, “no one comes to the Father except through me” (14:6). In a very different context in the Synoptics, he is represented as urging: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it ...

66. The Raising of Lazarus

John 11:17-37, John 11:38-44

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... yet the implicit conflict at the tomb of Lazarus is the same conflict with darkness and the “ruler of this world” that emerges in connection with Jesus’ own impending death (cf. 12:31; 13:2; 14:30). His anger recalls the anger he sometimes displays in the synoptic Gospels when he faces uncleanness (Mark 1:40–45) or drives out demons (Mark 9:19). As Jesus proceeds to the tomb, his tears bring a mixed reaction from the Jewish leaders who had come to mourn with the two sisters. His strong emotion gives ...

67. Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial

John 13:31-38

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... ’s equivalent of the “new covenant” mentioned by Luke and Paul (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25; cf. Mark 14:24; Matt. 26:28). All our literary witnesses agree that something decisive happened at Jesus’ last meal with his disciples, but Paul and the synoptic writers connect that something with the liturgy of the Lord’s Supper; for John it has to do with everyday life and the disciples’ practical demonstration of love for each other. To be sure, John’s Gospel allows a liturgical dimension as well (see ...

68. The Impending Departure I

John 14:1-4, John 14:5-14, John 14:15-31

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... , more on people’s love for God than on God’s love for them. Jesus’ language at this point recalls his answer in the synoptic Gospels to the scribe who asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” (Mark 12:28–34/Matt. 22:34–40/Luke ... them to go out with Jesus to meet the adversary. This final call to immediate action (used differently in the synoptic Gospels, Mark 14:42/Matt. 26:46) preserves here the distinctly Johannine emphasis on Jesus’ unity with his disciples as ...

69. Jesus and the High Priest

John 18:15-18, John 18:25-27, John 18:19-24

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... was already known (v. 15), did not want to be so identified and stubbornly denied any connection whatever with Jesus (vv. 17, 25, 27). Like Judas (cf. v. 5), he stands with Jesus’ enemies, warming himself at their fire in the courtyard (vv. 18, 25). The synoptic Gospels tell the story in such a way as to imply that the account of Peter’s denial probably came from Peter himself, but here another disciple is present as a potential witness against Peter, and it is possible that the story is told, at least ...

70. Sabbath in Capernaum

Luke 4:38-44, Luke 4:31-37

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... news is at the heart of Jesus’s mission, as we have seen in 4:18 (and see on 2:10), but this is the first time its content has been spelled out as “the kingdom of God.” It is a central theme of Jesus’s teaching in the Synoptic Gospels that God’s reign is being established through his own ministry. It was Israel’s national hope that in the last days God would establish his kingship over all people, and that hope is now being fulfilled (cf. 4:21). Such a message cannot be confined to Capernaum ...

71. “Weak and Strong” Should Get Along

Romans 14:1--15:13

Teach the Text

C. Marvin Pate

... aspect). Romans 14:17 describes the kingdom as righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, which are new-covenant blessings. 3. The Jesus tradition also undergirds Romans 14:13–23: Romans 14:13-23 / Synoptic Gospels Do not judge (v. 13) / Matt. 7:1; Luke 6:37 Unclean (v. 14) / Mark 7:15 The kingdom of God (v. 17) / 105 times in the Synoptic Gospels The kingdom of God and eating/drinking (v. 17) / Luke 22:30; see also Matt. 6:25; 11:18-19; John 6:54 Joy (v. 17) / Matt. 5:12 All things clean (v. 20 ...

72. Jesus Changes Water to Wine

John 2:1-11

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... is on the cross (19:26). In verse 4 “What have you to do with me?” (RSV) is an awkward English rendering of a Semitic idiom meaning, “How can this affair concern me?” The miraculous solution is described in some detail (2:6–9), and as in Synoptic miracle stories, there is a climaxing testimony, in this case on the lips of the steward (2:10). Six stone jars each holding twenty or thirty gallons are filled with water, and this in turn supplies the wedding with an enormous quantity of wine (about 175 ...

73. Jesus Heals the Official’s Son

John 4:39-42, John 4:43-54

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... to Galilee is a transition from unbelief to belief, from darkness to light. The proverb of verse 44 (used in the Synoptics to refer to Nazareth; cf. Mark 6:4) is applied here to Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets (Luke 13:33; cf. John 4:19; 6 ... :14). The healing miracle finds a close parallel in the Synoptic cure of the centurion’s servant (Matt. 8:4–13) and the story of the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:24–30). Both are cures ...

74. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

John 6:1-15

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... feeds a multitude of five thousand people. This is the only miracle of Jesus that appears in all four Gospels; it must have been deemed very important by the early church (Matt. 14:13–21; Mark 6:31–44; Luke 9:10–17). John’s Gospel follows the Synoptic account closely. But John also echoes Matthew and Mark in that the feeding miracle is followed by the story of Jesus walking on the sea (6:16–21; cf. Matt. 14:22–33; Mark 6:45–52). But this is where the comparisons end. Two typically Johannine ...

75. The Shepherd and His Flock

John 10:1-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... has been in Jerusalem since autumn (the Feast of Tabernacles, 7:2–3), and now his conflict with the Jerusalem leadership has reached a peak. Jesus will not publicly debate the Jews again after chapter 10. This final crisis tone is paralleled by the Synoptic account found, for instance, in Matthew 23, where Jesus’s criticisms are extremely biting. The same is found in John 10. After the conflict with the Pharisees in chapter 9, which described them as blind (9:39–41), now they are depicted as false ...

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