Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 876 to 900 of 5000 results

Matthew 13:1-23, Matthew 13:24-30

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... of the treasure 13:45-46: Parable of the pearl 13:47-50: Parable of the fish and net 13:51-52: Response of the disciples and parable of the house owner 13:53: Conclusion to Parables Discourse 13:1-30 · The first parable (13:1–9, 18–23) illustrates the variety of responses to the message about the kingdom by comparing people to kinds of soil receiving seed. Matthew has narrated a whole range of responses in chapters 8–9 and 11–12 (see commentary on 9:18–38), from great faith (8:5–13) to outright ...

877. The Mystery of the Kingdom

Matthew 13:31-35, Matthew 13:36-43, Matthew 13:44-46, Matthew 13:47-52

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... these two parables expressly indicates that judgment is withheld in the present (hidden) manifestation of the kingdom because it is not yet clear who is among the righteous (13:30, 38). The third pair of parables—those of the treasure and the pearl—illustrates the immeasurable worth of the kingdom in spite of its seeming insignificance and hiddenness (for language of the kingdom as hidden, see 13:35, 44; cf. 13:33 ESV). The kingdom, even in its present, hidden manifestation, is worth everything one has ...

878. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

Matthew 14:13-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... ministry (14:13; cf. also 12:15; 15:21). A summary statement by Matthew emphasizes Jesus’s compassionate healing of the crowds (14:14; cf. 9:36). What follows is the first of two miraculous feeding stories (14:15–21; cf. 15:32–39), illustrating Jesus’s compassion toward the crowds and his miraculous power. Some have identified Jesus as a Moses figure in these feedings, with allusions to Moses feeding the people of Israel during their time in the wilderness (e.g., Exodus 16; see also Moses typology ...

879. Jesus Predicts His Death

Matthew 16:21-28

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... psychē) results in finding it. Since psychē can refer to both earthly and transcendent life (often translated as “soul” for the latter), a wordplay is operative in 16:25–26. Jesus defines losing one’s life (and so self-denial) in terms of tangible actions (16:27), which Matthew will illustrate in subsequent chapters (Matthew 18 particularly).

880. The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Matthew 18:10-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

To illustrate God’s deep care for little ones, especially those who stray, Jesus tells a parable of a shepherd who leaves his ninety-nine sheep in safety to seek and find the one that has strayed away (18:12–13). His joy is greater over the restoration of that single sheep than over the rest who never strayed. Jesus applies the parable (18:14) to the Father’s great concern over losing even a single little one.

881. The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

Matthew 18:21-35

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... alludes to Genesis 4:24, where Cain’s son Lamech claims that God will avenge him seventy-seven times (cf. Gen. 4:13–15). Jesus’s call to his messianic community is to live out a reversal of escalating vengeance through unlimited forgiveness. To illustrate, Jesus tells a parable of a servant who is released from an astronomical debt of ten thousand talents by a compassionate king (with a talent being roughly equivalent to six thousand denarii) only to refuse release of a debt of one hundred denarii for ...

882. The Rich Young Man

Matthew 19:16-30

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

In counterpart, Matthew narrates a story illustrating how persons of great status, the rich, do not have priority in God’s reign or kingdom (19:16–26). In fact, the story of the rich man who comes to Jesus asking the way to eternal life concludes with Jesus teaching his disciples the difficulty the rich will have ...

883. Jesus on Trial

Matthew 26:57-68, Matthew 26:69-75, Matthew 27:1-10

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... ; see discussion below). The account of Judas’s regret and his suicide (27:3–5) concludes with the chief priest using the money returned by Judas to buy a burial field (27:6–8). For Matthew, the connections between the details of Judas’s demise and Zechariah 11:12–13 illustrate again Old Testament fulfillment in Jesus’s story.

884. Jesus Heals a Paralytic

Mark 2:1-12

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... blocked by the crowd, the resourceful foursome digs through the mud plaster and thatch roof common to Palestinian dwellings and lowers the litter with the paralytic down to Jesus. The determination of the four friends, like that of the leper in the preceding story, illustrates that genuine faith (mentioned here in 2:5 for the first time in Mark) overcomes obstacles to get to Jesus. Just as intercessory prayer is efficacious for others, so here the faith of the four porters plays a role in the forgiveness of ...

885. The Parable of the Sower

Mark 4:1-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... ; the first three Gospels, in fact, contain some sixty of his parables. The word “parable” means something placed alongside something else as a means of clarification. Jesus employs ordinary experiences from fishing, farming, family life, and so forth to illustrate various aspects of the kingdom of God. Parables are not allegories, wherein each element of the story, like a mathematical equation, represents a specific reality. Jesus’s parables, rather, usually have only a single main point, and like ...

886. Clean and Unclean

Mark 7:1-23

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... by private instruction in a “house” (7:17), where, removed from the interference and influence of the crowd, the disciples commonly received revelation from Jesus. Not for the first or last time, the disciples are “dull” (7:18) and uncomprehending. Jesus illustrates the point by food, which does not come from within but from without, and simply passes through the body (7:18–19). Mark adds his own parenthetical remark at the end of verse 19, assuring readers that Jesus therefore “declared all ...

887. “On the Way” to Jerusalem

Mark 9:33-37, Mark 9:38-41

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

As Jesus and the disciples are “on the way” from Caesarea Philippi to Jerusalem—a distance of two hundred miles as the crow flies—Mark includes four brief narratives on humility and suffering, each of which illustrates and reinforces Jesus’s call to self-denial and cross bearing (8:31–38). Passing through Galilee for the final time, “Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were” (9:30). The anonymous journey may have been advised by the continued opposition of Antipas and the Jewish ...

888. The Lord's Supper

Mark 14:12-26

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... disciples to a well-appointed banquet room. Mark sets the Last Supper (14:22–26) in another sandwich construction, placed between Jesus’s predictions of the betrayal (14:17–21) and defection (14:27–31) of the disciples. The sandwich dramatically illustrates the self-sacrifice of Jesus in contrast to the infidelity of the disciples. Reclining was the customary position of feasting in the ancient world, and while Jesus is reclining with the disciples at Passover, he solemnly announces, “One of you ...

889. Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

Luke 4:14-30

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the crowd, but they take offense when they reflect on Jesus’s heritage; he is merely Joseph’s son (4:22). Jesus responds with the principle that “no prophet is accepted in his hometown” (4:24). He then gives two examples from the Old Testament to illustrate his point (1 Kings 17:8–16; 2 Kings 5:1–14). Both Elijah and Elisha, who were also prophets, did not aid people from Israel—they aided Gentiles. Jesus implies, of course, that the Gentiles were more open to their prophetic ministry than the ...

890. Judging Others

Luke 6:37-42, Luke 6:43-45, Luke 6:46-49

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... in the next verse (6:40). Students cannot surpass their teachers but will end up being just like them. This probably means that the disciples need to be careful how they teach others, for false teaching has potentially disastrous consequences. (2) The point of the humorous illustration of the speck and the log (6:41–42) is that those with the log think they are superior to those who have a speck in their eye and fail to see their own inadequacy and blindness. As in verses 37–38, Jesus attacks those who ...

891. The Faith of the Centurion

Luke 7:11-17

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Jesus’s compassion on a widow (7:11–17) further illustrates his concern for the poor. By losing her only son (7:12), she would be deprived of her last means of support. The town of Nain was approximately six miles south of Nazareth. Not only is Jesus able to heal someone who is near death (7:14), but he also ...

892. Interpreting the Times

Luke 12:49-53, Luke 12:54-59

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... of the present time, because the eschatological crisis is at hand. His listeners are adept at detecting forecasts of coming weather (12:54–55), but they fail to see the forecast of the coming crisis that is implicit in Jesus’s ministry (12:56). Jesus uses an illustration to convey the same point in another way (12:57–59). If a person were going to court, knowing he could lose the case and spend some time in jail (12:59), then he would certainly try to reconcile with his adversary on the way to the ...

893. Additional Teachings

Luke 16:16-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the Torah, for the latter are not found in first-century manuscripts. Obviously Jesus is not saying that the entire Old Testament law is still literally in force; this is a hyperbolic way of saying that the Old Testament law as Jesus has interpreted it is permanently valid. Verse 18 illustrates the principle of verse 17. The Old Testament nowhere forbids divorce altogether, but Jesus interprets the Old Testament in such a way that divorce is forbidden.

894. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Luke 18:9-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Again, it is hard to detect the relationship between the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector (18:9–14) and the preceding parable. Perhaps this parable illustrates the kind of faith (cf. 18:8) that God desires. Luke again begins the parable by making an editorial comment (18:9). This parable is addressed to the self-confident and self-righteous—those who look down on others with contemptuous disdain. On the one hand, the Pharisee, confident of ...

895. Is Jesus the Christ?

John 7:25-44

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... itself or repels. Once again the Jewish leadership misunderstands Jesus (7:32–36). Jesus is going where they cannot travel. This of course is his return to the Father, but they take it to mean his travel to prohibited Gentile lands (7:35). This illustrates once more the truth that access to divine revelation rests solely in God’s sovereign hand (6:44–58). On the last feast day, numerous ceremonies involving sacrifice and ritual water could be viewed at the temple. Reading Zechariah 9–14, we see the ...

896. The Woman Caught in Adultry

John 7:45--8:11

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 2) Is the story authentically from Jesus? Yes it is. It is similar to Synoptic stories of Jewish entrapment climaxed by Jesus’s profound pronouncement (8:7). (3) Why was it located here in John? The surrounding discourse (esp. chap. 8) asserts themes that the story illustrates. Jesus judges no one (8:15), and his accusers cannot convict him of sin (8:46). (For a current study on the history of the text, see Burge 1984.) But these concerns should not deter us from the power and authority of the story. The ...

897. Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

John 11:38-44

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... if sufficient help was available. Again we are given a second confirmation that Lazarus is dead (11:39), this time in graphic terms. But this does not deter Jesus. As his feeding miracle demonstrated that he was the bread of life (6:35), and as his healing of the blind illustrated that he was the light of the world (8:12), so now he will prove that he is the resurrection and the life (11:25). All that Jesus does has one aim: to promote the glory of God (11:40). His audible prayer heard here (11:41–42; cf ...

898. Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin

Acts 4:1-22

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

The different roles the people and their leaders played in the persecution of their Messiah (see 3:17) are again illustrated in the varied response to Peter’s call to repentance (4:1–4). Instead of repenting of their rebellious acts, the Jewish leaders put Peter and John into jail (4:1–3). Many among the people “believed” (4:4), however. This division of the people fulfills yet another prophecy concerning ...

899. Conversion and Call of Paul

Acts 9:1-19a

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... While the focus of this section is on Saul, the surprisingly lengthy account of the appearance of the Lord to Ananias (9:10–19a) demands an explanation. Although Saul is ultimately the object of God’s call, this account also emphasizes the call to Ananias as illustrated by the resemblance of this account to Old Testament call narratives (cf. Isa. 6:1–13; 49:1–6; Jer. 1:4–19): vision/encounter (9:10a), initial response (9:10b), call (9:12), obstacle/doubt (9:13), reassurance (9:14), obedience (9:15 ...

900. Herod’s Death

Acts 12:19b-25

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... like the Most High” (Isa. 14:14) will fall from their exalted place of power (Isa. 14:12). In the context of Acts, anyone who challenges the sovereignty of the “Lord of all” (10:36) will be overcome by the power of God. This point is well illustrated by the summary statement at the end of this narrative: “But the word of God continued to spread and flourish” (12:24). As the second of the three similarly worded summary statements in Acts (cf. 6:7; 19:20), this statement points to the completion of ...

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