Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1001 to 1025 of 1230 results

Psalm 1:1-6

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... or follow the world and lose. Yet the author of this psalm and those of the remaining psalms know that life is not so simple. The righteous do not always get ahead; the ungodly do not always fail. This psalm describes how life ideally should play out on earth and how it ultimately will turn out in eternity. It establishes a key theme traced throughout the Psalms: the righteous (those committed to God) contrasted to the wicked (those with little interest in God). To experience true happiness, believers ...

1002. Psalm 15

Psalm 15:1-5

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... advantage of a helpless person, even to their own detriment (15:4–5). Based on the questions asked and the answers given, some argue that Psalms 15 and 24 form part of the ancient liturgy sung upon entrance to worship at the temple. Psalm 15 advances the concept of the ideal person (cf. Psalm 1), showing how the godly person pleases God and successfully handles life’s challenges (described in later psalms).

1003. More Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 26:1-28, Proverbs 25:1-28, Proverbs 27:1-27

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... society, frequently employing proverbial pairs (i.e., two consecutive related verses) to do so. Verses 2–5 lay the foundation for verses 6–15, which address court officials, although one could apply them more broadly. Verses 2–3, which have the ideal ruler in view, affirm a hierarchy in authority of God–king–subjects. The purposes of both God as Creator and monarch as shrewd and insightful statesman may remain inscrutable, but the latter should be honored for his skills. Accordingly, the wise ...

1004. Agur’s Message: Relying on God’s Word, Learning from His Work

Proverbs 30:1-33

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... ] wipes her mouth,” removing every trace of her sexual snack (30:20; contrast Song 5:1), recalls the various destructive meals described in 30:14–17 (cf. 30:22b and 25b). Four developments shake the planet by disturbing the established or ideal social order (30:21–23): a male servant elevated to king, a “hardened fool” (NIV “godless fool”; Hebrew nabal; see “Structure and Theological Themes” in the introduction) apparently rewarded with plenty, a married woman who is disliked (cf. Deut. 21 ...

1005. Lady Wisdom Exemplified

Proverbs 31:10-31

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly, presenting a woman who is both capable and virtuous, one who consistently practices what the book preaches in both the domestic and public spheres. By implication, Lemuel (or any young man) is urged to marry a woman who resembles this idealized but not unrealistic portrait. Like King Lemuel, she properly uses her strength (31:3, 10, 29) and opens her mouth (31:8–9, 26), caring for the poor and needy (31:9, 20) as well as for her family. This description is clearly structured ...

1006. All Night Long

Song of Songs 3:1-11

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... stanza (e.g., 2:7 and 3:5; 2:10 and 2:13) and accentuates the earnestness and persistence of the maiden’s search. Soon after encountering the watchmen or night police making their rounds, the maiden locates her lover and the dream sequence ends ideally. Her second night-search fantasy has no such happy ending (5:2–8). In her joy and relief the maiden clutches her lover and refuses to release him from her embrace—almost a prophetic foreshadowing of how she intends to respond to the shepherd lover ...

1007. How Beautiful are You

Song of Songs 4:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... true lover, alluring him to deliver her from the confines of the royal harem. Interestingly enough, this very sequence of events constitutes the maiden’s second night-search fantasy (5:2–8). She can only invent the absent shepherd lover’s ideal response to her invitation.The harem women may be speaking in 5:1c, applauding the lovers’ faithfulness and encouraging their continued enjoyment of the pleasures of lovemaking. The “friends” may also be guests and companions of the lovers (perhaps at a ...

1008. How Beautiful Your Feet

Song of Songs 7:1-13

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , willing surrender, and reciprocation in lovemaking as a shared experience by the lovers seems absent. Thus the passage provides an effective foil for the two kinds of human love, contrasting the purity and genuineness of one-to-one love of the Genesis-creation-account ideal with the one-to-many love found in the royal harem. 7:10–8:4 Review · The Shulammite Maiden Rejects the King: The maiden, for the final time, affirms her love for another, the shepherd lover out in the countryside. It is this ...

1009. The Messiah

Isaiah 9:1-7

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... of Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:1–20), their salvation will come from the very one whom they rejected. The new era will be characterized by great joy. The Messiah will free his people from their enemies and bring the actualization of the Davidic ideal. The child (9:6) is the Immanuel (7:14). He is God’s gift to humanity’s predicament. He is fully human (“child,” “born,” “son”), but he is also divine, with all the perfections of kingship in himself: supernatural wisdom, might, paternal beneficence ...

1010. The Branch from Jesse

Isaiah 11:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... new (the era of the Spirit). The presence of God’s Spirit on the Messiah will be evident in his rule of wisdom, justice, righteousness, faithfulness, and peace, complete with the absence of evil and the universal knowledge of God. The messianic era is an idealization of the period of David and Solomon’s rule over Israel. The qualities of the Messiah make him fit to protect his people. His relationship with God is beyond criticism, as he fears God and delights to do his will. He will protect the needy ...

1011. God and Idols

Jeremiah 10:1-16, Jeremiah 10:17-22, Jeremiah 10:23-25

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... may be for himself or may be made on behalf of the people. The prayer for God’s anger to fall on the Gentiles could be a quotation from the people (cf. Ps. 79:6–7). Like the prayers for vengeance (Psalms 109; 137), while not representing the New Testament ideal of loving enemies, the prayer at least turns the situation over to God instead of taking it in hand personally.

1012. Gog

Ezekiel 38:1-39:29

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... comprising prophecies of hope and restoration. There are many instances in the prophetic books, and elsewhere, of nations invading Israel, but few of those instances are after Israel is resettled in her land (Ezekiel 38–39; Zechariah 14). Although the setting for Israel is ideal at the end of chapter 37, she is not to live happily ever after. A rude awakening at some undisclosed point in the future awaits her. This particular oracle is directed to Gog of the land of Magog. This is unique in that in ...

1013. The Lord’s Defeat of Judah’s Enemies

Joel 3:1-16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... into swords”). The connections between the return of the Lord in Joel 2:28–32 and Isaiah 2:1–5 (Mic. 4:1–5) are hardly coincidental and appear to reflect the development of a unified theological understanding of the establishment of an ideal eschatological, messianic, worldwide kingdom. The Lord’s trampling of the nations like grapes in a winepress (3:13) finds correspondence in Isaiah 63:3–6, which describes the total annihilation of the nations and the bloodshed as staining the garments of the ...

1014. Fourth Vision - Joshua Cleansed

Zechariah 3:1-10

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 4–9; 52:13–53:12). The term “Branch” designates the Messiah as Lord (Isa. 4:2), king (Jer. 23:5; 33:15), and man (Zech. 6:12). As the Branch (literally “shoot from the root”), the Messiah both brings about a new beginning and epitomizes the ideal that God intends for Israel. The stone of verse 9 is no doubt another reference to the Messiah (cf. Ps. 118:22; Isa. 28:16, where he is the chief cornerstone). Joshua and Zerubbabel were engaged in rebuilding the kingdom of Israel. This chapter makes it ...

1015. The Lord Promises to Bless Jerusalem

Zechariah 8:1-23

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... to encourage the people to keep building the temple in anticipation of the future. Verses 10 and 11 point to an upturn in economic prosperity and in the peace and safety of the people. Verse 12 promises a remarkable fertility for the land along with ideal weather conditions. All this God will provide as an inheritance to the remnant of his people. The word “remnant” refers not only to survivors of past judgments but to a people whose heart is right with God—a redeemed people. The wording of 8:13 ...

1016. The First Coming and Rejection

Zechariah 9:1-8, Zechariah 9:9-13, Zechariah 9:14-17

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... s attention to the long-awaited king, the Savior (9:9–10). He is righteous, in contrast to the many wicked kings who have preceded him. There will be absolute justice in his reign. He also comes with salvation, deliverance for his people. These ideal requirements for kingship are met in Christ in a unique way. Through his substitutionary death at his first advent he provided salvation from sin and imputed righteousness to all who will receive him. As reigning king at his second advent he will redeem his ...

1017. The Shepherds

Zechariah 11:4-17

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... internal unity and cohesiveness within the nation, especially the two major factions, Judah and Israel. God’s shepherd replaces the leadership of Israel (the three shepherds, symbolic of the three offices of prophet, priest, and king). He is the perfect leader, ideal in every way. Yet the flock detests him and rejects him. Therefore he leaves them to their fate, dying and consuming one another. The breaking of the staff called Favor (11:10) symbolizes the revoking of the protective covenant keeping the ...

1018. The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

Matthew 16:5-12

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 14:16–17; 15:32–33). The disciples are portrayed as those who understand at some level (cf. 13:11, 51; 14:33; 16:12) but lack fully adequate understanding of Jesus’s authority (e.g., 15:16–17; 16:8–11). Because of their mixed portrayal, they are not ideal examples for Matthew’s readers. Rather, Matthew intends his audience to sometimes emulate and sometimes distance themselves from the disciples’ responses (Brown 2002, 128–33).

1019. Jesus’s Fourth Discourse—The Community Discourse

Matthew 18:1-9

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... possess status inherently; they did not have the rights and honor that modern Western society gives them. Instead, they were considered weak and irrational and as possessing little status until they reached adulthood (Brown 2002, 70–71). As such, they are ideal examples for the disciples, who are preoccupied with status concerns. Jesus aligns himself with those marginalized in the status systems of his day, and he calls the disciples to do the same: anyone who welcomes a child welcomes Jesus (18:5)! In ...

1020. Jesus on Trial

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

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... and by Jesus himself. Their intent is to bring charges against Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor (the prefect of Judea; cf. 27:1–2). Evidence from later rabbinic sources indicates that those convening Jesus’s “trial” did not follow the (ideal) legal parameters for Jewish trials before the Sanhedrin. This is not surprising, given the sudden nature of Jesus’s arrest and the concern over arresting Jesus in Jerusalem during the Passover festival (26:5). This last-minute trial eventually produces two ...

1021. Jesus Questioned about Fasting

Mark 2:18-22

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... exemplary, is a further cause of offense to his contemporaries (2:18–22). The Pharisees, a lay movement that came into existence during the Maccabean revolt (168–146 BC), staunchly resisted the accommodation of Jewish life to prevailing Greco-Roman ideals. Pharisees, who constituted perhaps only 1 percent of the Jewish population in Jesus’s day, exercised an influence far beyond their numbers because of their uncompromising allegiance to the sovereignty of God, their belief in the resurrection of the ...

1022. The Healing of a Demon-possessed Man

Mark 5:1-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... , although the exact location is disputed in the Greek textual tradition. Decapolis (literally “Ten Cities”) was a loose description for the Gentile region east of the Jordan River where the Hasmoneans and later the Romans established showcase cities of pagan culture and ideals that were intended to surpass Jewish settlements west of the Jordan. The wretchedness of the demoniac, who even in life is consigned to the place of the dead, is described in more graphic detail in Mark 5:2–5 than in either ...

1023. Jesus Walks on Water

Mark 6:45-56

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... Each prayer is set at night in a lonely place, each finds the disciples removed from him and misunderstanding his mission, and in each Jesus faces a crisis. In this instance, the crisis may be the temptation to assume the populist messianic ideal. From the hills, Jesus spies the disciples alone in the storm-tossed boat at night, “straining at the oars” (6:48). The Greek word implies “torment” and “distress,” conditions that befall the disciples whenever they are separated from Jesus. During the ...

1024. The Authority of Jesus Questioned

Mark 11:27-33

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... a series of controversies and conflicts between Jesus and the Sanhedrin, the supreme judicatory that controlled the temple and extended its influence over Jewish life. Composed of chief priests, elders (both Pharisees and Sadducees), and scribes, and ideally totaling seventy-one members, the Sanhedrin was granted full authority over Jewish religious affairs and significant control over Jewish political life as a buffer organization between Rome and Palestine. 11:27–33 ·“The chief priests, the teachers ...

1025. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

John 6:1-15

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... we have witnessed elsewhere stand out. First, the symbolic elements of the festival are emphasized in order to highlight their christological significance. Passover spoke of Moses, who not only fed the Israelites in the wilderness (Exod. 16:4–36) but also became the ideal messianic figure in Judaism. Jesus is therefore depicted as the prophet like Moses (6:14; cf. Deut. 18:15) who exceeds the manna miracle of Moses (6:30–34, 48–51). Second, the Johannine discourse is the vehicle used to advance this ...

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