Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 926 to 950 of 3852 results

Luke 8:1-15

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... to Herod is to Herod Antipas. Fitzmyer (p. 698) thinks that her husband should be understood as a manager of Herod’s estate. That the wife of such a person was a follower of Jesus suggests that not all of Jesus’ followers were of humble means and origin. Outside of this verse and Luke 24:10 there is no mention of this woman anywhere else. Susanna: Besides this reference in Luke, nothing is known of this woman. This is the name of the beautiful heroine of one part of the apocryphal additions to Daniel ...

927. The Narrow Door

Luke 13:22-30

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... (Gentiles, Jewish “sinners,” Samaritans) will be first (i.e., admitted into the kingdom, perhaps with special standing), while those who are first (persons of what seems to be good religious standing) will be last (last to enter kingdom, perhaps unable to enter the kingdom at all). The idea of “first” originally referred to those of honor or privilege, while the “last” referred to those of no honor. The literal idea of sequence is secondary, although it may have been part of the saying’s ...

928. The Parable of the Lost Son

Luke 15:11-32

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... one third. Income from this property, however, was due the father as long as he lived. 15:13 the younger son got together all he had: Jewish law permitted property to be sold, but the income of the land was still due the father (the original owner) as long as he lived. To liquidate his portion of the estate and then to leave his family amounted to an act of the grossest disregard and disloyalty. squandered his wealth in wild living: Lit. “scattered his substance living loosely.” Thus, “loose living ...

929. Jesus At the Temple

Luke 19:45-48

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... the temple was to be understood as a fulfillment of this verse from Malachi, then it would be better to have Jesus enter the temple immediately after John’s preaching. If the Synoptic positioning of the episode near the end of Jesus’ life is original, then Brown’s explanation for the Fourth Evangelist’s relocation of the episode is plausible and as good as any. Fitzmyer (p. 1265), however, suspects that the cleansing was one of Jesus’ first acts in his public ministry, as possibly suggested by his ...

930. The Last Supper

Luke 22:7-38

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... is unusual because of its mention of a cup first (v. 17), followed by the traditional bread/cup sequence of vv. 19–20. A few Greek manuscripts omit half of v. 19 and all of v. 20. Some commentators believe that this shorter form is original, with vv. 19b–20 added in order to restore the traditional bread/cup sequence. Equally tenable, however, is the theory that a few early Christian scribes chose to omit vv. 19b–20 in order to eliminate the second cup (or such an omission was unintentional). There ...

931. Jesus Before Pilate and Herod

Luke 22:66--23:25

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... , Pilate eventually permitted the teachers of the law to crucify Jesus (War 2.9.3 [2.172–174, LCL]; see also 5.5.4 [5.207–214, LCL]). The Roman historian Tacitus (ca. A.D. 110–120) reports: “This name [i.e., “Christian”] originates from ‘Christus’ who was sentenced death by the procurator, Pontius Pilate, during the reign of Tiberius” (Annals 15.44). According to the Babylonian Talmud: “On the eve of Passover they hanged Jesus the Nazarene. And a herald went out, in front of him, for ...

932. More Than Conquerors

Romans 8:28-39

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... many brothers Christ desires to share his glory with believers in a sibling relationship. What is more, believers will actually be peers of God, for, as Christ is the image of God, and believers are the image of Christ, believers will one day inherit their original image restored by Christ (Gen. 1:26; also Heb. 2:6–10). Conformity to Christ will reach its final and glorious completion at the Second Coming, but even now it is taking shape in believers’ lives through faith and obedience (12:2; Col. 3:9 ...

933. Feast of Trumpets (II)

Numbers 29:1-6

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... eighth day is seventy-one bulls, fifteen rams, 105 lambs, and eight goats with accompanying grain and drink offerings in addition to the regular daily offerings. The Feast of Tabernacles, or Booths, was probably originally a harvest festival celebrating the fruit harvest of grapes and olives. Perhaps originally people stayed in booths during the harvest. Yet in Leviticus 23 the festival is a reminder that the people dwelled in such temporary structures during the sojourn through the wilderness, and so the ...

934. Day of Atonement (III)

Numbers 29:7-11

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

935. Feast of Tabernacles (II)

Numbers 29:12-40

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

936. War Between the Houses of David and Saul

2 Samuel 2:8-3:5

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... homeland is not clear. But in the course of time and after making sure that he was not stepping outside God’s purposes (v. 1), David returned to Judah and set up a base in Hebron. The two wives who had been with him in exile and his originally makeshift army, now a force to be reckoned with, accompanied him. Once he was settled, the leaders of Judah came and officially recognized David as their king. Whether or not there was a widespread knowledge of David’s anointing by Samuel—and such news has a way ...

937. David Conquers Jerusalem

2 Samuel 5:6-16

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... . 17:14–20. The dual recognition of leaders by God and by the people led is a common motif in the OT. This second anointing of David, this time as king over Israel, not just Judah (2 Sam. 2:4), makes sense within that context (the original anointing of David by Samuel in 1 Sam. 16:13 indicated future potential rather than position). Theologically, David was king because God had chosen him as king. Sociologically, he was king (at least of the northern tribes) because he and the tribes signed and sealed a ...

938. David Defeats the Philistines

2 Samuel 5:17-25

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

939. David Builds an Altar

2 Samuel 24:18-25

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... of public prosecutor who could, as in Job or Chronicles, be an Accusing Angel or a human accuser acting as Abishai did (2 Sam. 19:21). Both Samuel and Chronicles use the same source material, but it is not possible to determine which is the original at this point. It could be that the Chronicler wanted to avoid describing God as tempter and therefore introduced the concept of Satan. It is equally possible that the writers of Samuel wanted to emphasize God’s sovereignty and that all things are under God ...

940. The Next Two Days: The Call of the Disciples

John 1:43-51, John 1:35-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... Gospel, but appears to have the same meaning as the single “amen” of the Synoptics. On the Son of Man: In the Greek translation of Gen. 28:12, Jacob saw the angels going up and down “on it” (i.e., on the ladder or stairway), but the original Hebrew is ambiguous and some of the rabbis read the text as “on him” (i.e., on Jacob). The phrase in John’s Gospel uses the Greek preposition epi with the accusative case to denote motion toward an object. The one preposition actually does service for two ...

941. Life Through the Son

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

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... cleansing had been transferred to that early Passover visit (2:13–22), the tendency would have been for it to overshadow the miracles associated with that visit. The account found in 5:1–18 is perhaps one of those miracle stories “rescued” from its original setting, given a new literary setting of its own, and made the basis both of Jesus’ ongoing controversy with the Jewish authorities and of his self-revelation as the giver of life. In any case, this was the miracle that Jesus later singled out ...

942. Jesus Appears to Thomas

John 20:24-31

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... that by believing you may have life in his name (v. 31). The narrator’s intent is that through his writing (especially his account of the resurrection appearances), his readers should enter into the once-and-for-all experience of Jesus’ original disciples (cf. the invitation of the original disciples to do exactly that in 1 John 1:1–3). He wants them to claim for themselves Jesus’ last beatitude, Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (v. 29). Their confession that Jesus is the ...

943. Hearts / Repentance

2 Corinthians 7:2-16

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... apostle as this passage would suggest (cf. 1:12–2:13; 2:14–7:4; 10–13). 7:8–9a Having stated the joy with which he received the good news from Titus about the Corinthians’ repentance (vv. 5–7), Paul now proceeds to recall why he originally sent the tearful letter and Titus to Corinth (vv. 8–13a). Paul begins in verses 8–9a by explaining (hoti) his joy over their deep sorrow in verse 7. Instead of returning to Corinth as he promised during the painful visit, Paul wrote a letter (the so ...

944. Titus Sent to Corinth

2 Corinthians 8:16--9:5

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... with the time of writing will be past” (An Idiom-Book of New Testament Greek [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968], p. 12). Whether or not Paul uses the epistolary aorist in 2 Cor. 8, 9 and 12 depends on whether one views the letter as an original unity or as a composite of several letter fragments. Cf. K. L. McKay, “Observations on the Epistolary Aorist in 2 Corinthians,” NovT 37 (1995), pp. 154–58. 8:20–21 We may note that the temple tax was often delivered to Jerusalem in the company of ...

945. Praise to God for a Living Hope

1 Peter 1:1-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... John 20:29). So Peter’s readers in every generation are eligible for such a blessing—which he interprets as inexpressible and glorious joy. That joy is inexpressible, beyond human description, for in truth it does not belong to this world-order, and it is certainly not of human origin. It is a divine gift (Ps. 16:11; John 15:9–11; 16:24; Rom. 15:13; Gal. 5:22) and a direct consequence of a living relationship with the Lord (1 Cor. 2:9). As such, it is a witness to others (Luke 15:4–10) of divine ...

946. Suffering for Doing Good

1 Peter 3:8-22

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... Book of Enoch. In 1 Enoch 12–14 we read of Enoch’s mission to preach to the fallen angels of Gen. 6:1–4, who were disobedient in Noah’s day. (Enoch is specified in this connection in Jude 14.) The basis of the proposal was that the original MS could have read “in which also Enoch …” The Greek for “in which also” (en hō kai) is almost the same as for the name Enoch, and the latter could easily have been accidentally omitted by a later copyist. The Greek text of the time had no spaces ...

947. Abraham Pleads for Sodom

Genesis 18:16-33

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... wanted to make sure that the situation corresponded to what he was hearing. God does not execute punishment on the basis of hearsay, but investigates a matter meticulously to ensure a just judgment. 18:22 The ancient scribes considered the original reading—“Yahweh stood before Abraham”—to be too anthropomorphic, so they corrected the passage to read “Abraham stood before Yahweh.” Such changes are very rare and are technically called Tiqqune sopherim, i.e., “emendations of the scribes.” 18:23 ...

948. Jacob Wrestles with God

Genesis 32:1-32

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... from either sarar (“rule,” Hos. 12:4) or sarah (“rule”), to mean “God will rule” or “may God rule.” Scholars have also offered numerous other explanations. One suggestion is that it may originally have been Ishrael, meaning “God is right”; the root then is y-sh-r (“be straight, right, just,” O. Margalith, “On the Origin and Antiquity of the Name ‘Israel,’” ZAW 102 [1990], pp. 225–37). Another suggestion is to take it from s-r-y or y-s-r (“cut” and by extension “judge ...

949. Passover Restrictions

Exodus 12:43-51

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... must be eaten inside one house. This means that whatever home one began eating in, one must stay in it. The house was to be sealed from beginning to end, like the first Passover. (7) Do not break any of the bones. This command reiterates in part the original instruction to cook the lamb whole (v. 9). It also includes not breaking the bones when eating it, to access the marrow (see also John 19:36; Ps. 34:20 [LXX]) The section ends with the report that all the Israelites obeyed these commands from the very ...

950. Leadership in Israel: Judges and Kings

Deuteronomy 16:21--17:7

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... of Solomon has clearly been written with these verses as a background, it is not necessary to assume that this law of kingship must be a post factum reflection of Solomon. The nature of ancient Near Eastern monarchies was common knowledge, and Israel, from its earliest origins, had plenty of dealings with nations headed by kings (e.g., already, Sihon of the hard heart and Og of the hard bed, Deut. 2:30; 3:11). Any leader or legislator in Israel had enough knowledge of what kings could be like to know what ...

Showing results