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 76 to 100 of 344 results

76. The Triumphal Entry

John 12:1-11, John 12:12-19

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... (Matt. 26:6–13; Mark 14:3–9) record the anointing at Bethany, and since the settings are virtually identical, the narratives pose a textbook case in the difficulties of Synoptic/Johannine interdependence. Added to this is a Lukan story (Luke 7:36–38) with interesting parallels to both Mark and John. Jesus’s return from the wilderness (11:54) is prompted by another Feast of Passover, one year since the last festival, celebrated in Galilee (6:4). Jesus returns to ...

77. The Trial

John 18:12-14, John 18:15-18, John 18:19-24, John 18:25-27

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... –27) is the story of Peter’s threefold denial (18:15–18, 25–27; cf. Mark 14:66–72). Jesus has predicted Peter’s fear of identification in this crisis (John 13:36–38), and now it is fulfilled. John diverges, however, from the Synoptic story. He records that “another disciple” (likely John) who was acquainted with the priest let Peter into the courtyard (18:15–16). It is interesting that John records the specific type of fire (18:18). A charcoal fire (Greek anthrakia; NIV “fire”) will ...

78. Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

John 20:10-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... at the tomb (Luke 24:4–9), and in Matthew we read about women seeing Jesus near the tomb and worshiping him (Matt. 28:9–10). The Johannine account, while independent of these, has clear historical moorings. (Note that Mary Magdalene appears in both Synoptic stories: Matt. 28:1; Luke 24:10.) With the hour of glory, what message does this passageconvey? Weeping (Greek klaiō, 20:11, 13, 15) is a prominent theme here and has a special Johannine usage. Elsewhere it appears at Lazarus’s funeral (11:31 ...

79. The Parable of the Sower

Matthew 13:1-23

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... that follows assumes that Jesus provided for his followers two models of how parables should be interpreted (vv. 18–23; 36–43). That the parables of Jesus are capable of multiple application follows from the nature of the literary form. That the synoptic writers place the sayings of Jesus in different contexts reflects the proverbial nature of Jesus’ logia and the freedom with which the Spirit uses the insights and perspectives of the Gospel writers to bring us the mind of God. “To you (hymeis ...

80. The Resurrection

Matthew 28:1-10

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... given in each of the four Gospels. John tells of Mary Magdalene finding the tomb empty and running to tell Peter and John. Jesus then appears to Mary and later that evening to the eleven disciples who had gathered behind locked doors. The synoptic accounts run parallel, but several differences are found. It is hardly correct, however, as Beare contends, that Matthew has “radically revised the Markan story” (p. 541). The major differences are, first, that Mark (16:1) has Salome go with the two Marys to ...

81. Jesus Before Pilate

Mark 15:1-15

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... that any hearing held during the night must have been either an interrogation or some sort of pretrial hearing, not a formal trial. Otherwise no additional morning meeting would have been necessary. The reason for taking Jesus to Pilate is not given in the Synoptics, but in John 18:31 we are told that the Jewish Council did not then have the right to carry out executions. This has been disputed by some scholars, but there is sufficient reason to accept the tradition as correct (see “Trial of Jesus ...

82. The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

Luke 1:5-25

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... 6, RSV). One of the themes in Jewish messianic expectation concerned family strife. In the Mishnah (Sotah 9.15), Mic. 7:6 is cited (“… daughter rise up against her mother …”) and applied to the times of the Messiah. Remarkably, Mic. 7:6 also appears in the Synoptic tradition in the same context (see Matt. 10:21, 35–36; Mark 13:12; Luke 12:53). See HBD, pp. 256–58. 1:19 Gabriel: Few angels are mentioned by name in biblical and related literature: Gabriel (Dan. 8:16; 9:21); Michael (Dan. 10:13; 12 ...

83. The Baptism and Genealogy of Jesus

Luke 3:21-38

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... Adam, Luke finds biblical support for his presentation of Jesus as Savior of all humankind. Moreover, the title “son of man,” so popular in Luke’s Gospel (Jesus is called “son of man” in Luke twice as often as in the other Synoptic Gospels), may have suggested the propriety of including Adam’s name in the first place, since ’ādām in Hebrew literally means “man.” Therefore, Luke’s genealogy concludes appropriately, the son of Adam (or “man”). This word-play explains why Luke places ...

84. The Baptism of Jesus

Matthew 3:13-17

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him” (John 1:32). That others witnessed the event is implied by Matthew’s This is my Son, whom I love, as contrasted with the “You are” in Mark (1:11) and Luke (3:22). In the Synoptics the voice from heaven is heard once again at the transfiguration (Matt. 17:5/Mark 9:7/Luke 9:35). The only other occurrence is in John 12:28 following Jesus’ prediction of his death. Rabbinic tradition held that, since the time when prophecy ceased, God spoke only ...

85. Rest for the Weary

Matthew 11:25-30

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... its Johannine ring (cf. John 3:35; 10:15). Other obstacles are the absolute use of the title the Son and the claim of mutual personal knowledge, which suggests Gnostic and Hermetic influence. Bultmann calls the passage a “Hellenistic revelation saying”(History of the Synoptic Tradition, p. 159). Similarity, however, does not prove dependence. Until it is conclusively proven that the Fourth Gospel is a later stage in christological thought, we need not be surprised if at places the words of Jesus in the ...

86. The Rich Young Man

Matthew 19:16-30

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... good?” 10:18) to become, Why do you ask me about what is good? in Matthew (v. 17). Differences of this nature are not uncommon in the Synoptic Gospels. Some scholars go to great lengths to explain exactly how it all happened. The relationship between the first three Gospels, with their similarities and differences, is called the Synoptic Problem. It is sufficient to mention at this point that ancient literature need not be pressed into modern categories. The writers of the Gospels, to whatever extent they ...

87. Jesus at the Temple

Matthew 21:12-17

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... of Jesus’ final week, John tells of a similar cleansing at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry (John 2:13ff.). It is quite possible that there were in fact two cleansings and that the initial cleansing was not a part of the tradition that the Synoptics were recording (cf. Tasker, John, p. 61). 21:14–17 The reaction of the religious authorities to Jesus’ cleansing of the temple is not recorded. Perhaps it would have been difficult for them to oppose so flagrant a violation of the sacred grounds. However ...

88. The Guards' Report

Matthew 28:11-15

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

89. The Great Commission

Matthew 28:16-20

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

90. The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus

Mark 1:9-13

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... likens himself to a prophet (6:4) and that some people so regarded him (6:15; 8:28). But though the form of the calling here is like that of OT prophets, the substance of the call is to serve as God’s chosen Son! All the Synoptic Gospels describe Jesus undergoing a period of temptation in a desert area shortly after his baptism, but there are interesting peculiarities to the account in Mark. For one thing, although the accounts in Matthew (4:1–11) and Luke (4:1–13) describe the Spirit leading Jesus ...

91. The Burial of Jesus

Mark 15:42-47

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... of days or so to die. The army officer of verses 44–45 is probably the same one mentioned in verse 39 who observed Jesus’ last moment and was in charge of the execution. The detail about the linen cloth (v. 46), found in all the Synoptic accounts (cf. Matt. 27:59; Luke 23:53; John 19:40 uses different wording), takes on special significance in Mark perhaps, on account of the uniquely Markan scene earlier (14:51), in which a young man flees the arrest of Jesus leaving “a linen garment” (same term ...

92. Signs of the End of the Age

Luke 21:5-38

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... disciples’ question. Both Matthew and Luke attempt to rectify this problem. G. B. Caird (The Gospel of St. Luke, Pelican Gospel Commentary [Baltimore: Penguin, 1963], p. 230) has described the Synoptic version as follows: “Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of the temple calls forth from the disciples a question which, in all three Synoptic Gospels, leads to a long prophetic discourse. Mark’s discourse, however, is no answer to the question; it relates to the end of the present age and the signs ...

93. The Last Supper

Luke 22:7-38

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... and so disqualified from eating the Passover (John 18:2–3, 12–13, 28). Attempts to explain this discrepancy in terms of two different calendars (which would put Passover on different days) create more difficulties than they solve. How the Johannine and Synoptic accounts can be harmonized, or if they can, is unknown (see Fitzmyer’s thorough and fair discussion, pp. 1378–83). 22:14–38 Luke has combined his traditions in such a way as to produce a farewell discourse. See William S. Kurz (“Luke ...

94. Life Through the Son

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

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 ...

95. Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

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

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 ...

96. The High Priest Questions Jesus

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

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 ...

97. Advent 1

Luke 21:5-38

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Note This passage is a portion of Luke's version of the "Synoptic Apocalypse," and is thus based heavily on Mark 13. But Luke's omissions (v. 27) and his rendering of the fig-tree parable so as to point to the God's coming reign (v. 28) suggest that he has less interest than his source in the details of the "Son ...

98. Advent 2

Luke 3:1-20

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Note Among the Synoptic evangelists, Luke goes to the greatest length to pinpoint the appearance of John the Baptist within world history (probably between A.D. 27 and 29). He also quotes more of Isaiah 40 than Mark or Matthew, extending it so as to conclude with the claim "all flesh shall see the ...

99. Proper 9

Luke 10:1-24

Bulletin Aid

Dennis Koch

Gospel Note While a mission of the Twelve is a common Synoptic theme, only Luke reports a mission of the Seventy as well (the numbers being symbolic of the tribes of Israel and the nations of the world, respectively). The passage is full of eschatological imagery (e.g., harvest, lambs and wolves, Satan's falling), which -- along with the central theme of ...

100. Baptism of The Lord

Mt 3:13-17 ·Acts 10:34-48 · Is 42:1-9

Sermon Aid

Russell F. Anderson

... the Messiah would be the one to baptize with the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was baptized by John, the Spirit descended on him like a dove and the voice of God proclaimed that Jesus is his beloved Son on whom his favor rests. While the other synoptic gospels make this event an inward spiritual experience of our Lord, Matthew portrays it as an external event, available to all present. "This is my beloved Son." THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION Lesson 1: Isaiah 42:1-9 A servant people. When people go through the crucible of ...

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