Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1051 to 1075 of 5000 results

Mark 14:43-52

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... that an arrest would incite the crowds, which were enamored of Jesus. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled. This could be a reference to the sword incident that has just occurred (Luke 22:37 notes Isa. 53:12), or perhaps the desertion of the disciples (Zech. 13:7 in Mark 14:27), but more likely this is a reference to the whole of Jesus’s suffering and death. The passion predictions in 8:31; 9:31; 10:33–34 (1 Cor. 15:3: “he died for our sins according to the Scriptures”) as well as 9:12 (“Why then ...

1052. Jesus and John the Baptist

Luke 7:18-35

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R.T. France

... wide-open spaces, was confined in a dungeon cell in the castle of Machaerus. Once, one of the MacDonalds, a highland chieftain, was confined in a little cell in Carlisle Castle. In his cell was one little window. To this day you may see in the sandstone the marks of the feet and hands of the highlander as he lifted himself up and clung to the window ledge day by day to gaze with infinite longing upon the border hills and valleys he would never walk again. Shut in his cell, choked by the narrow walls, John ...

1053. Rejecting or Responding to Jesus

Luke 10:1-24

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R.T. France

... to trample on snakes and scorpions. This is probably figurative language that refers to being under supernatural protection (cf. Ps. 91:11–13, quoted in 4:10–11), but it was perhaps taken more literally in the later conclusion added to Mark’s Gospel (Mark 16:18). 10:20 rejoice that your names are written in heaven. A spirituality that focuses merely on earthly achievement, even if miraculous, has missed the main point of Christian salvation. Compare Matthew 7:21–23, where miracles and exorcisms ...

1054. “In the Lord I Take Refuge”

Psalm 11:1-7

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C. Hassell Bullock

... with his enemies, foreign and domestic. Kidner astutely observes that the two poles of David’s psalms are God and David’s enemies.6Twice in Psalm 13:4 David mentions his enemy and his foes. Yet, while David’s love for his children was a mark of his character, his indulgent attitude toward them sometimes had ill results. One could say that the sorrow of Absalom’s rebellion always lurked in David’s soul and was never far below the surface. Psalm 13 does not exhibit the weaponry and brutality of ...

1055. Gabriel Brings an Answer to Daniel’s Prayer

Daniel 9:20-27

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... it describes the “alliance” (cf. 11:22) between Antiochus and the Jews who forsake the “holy covenant” to embrace Hellenism (1 Macc. 1:11).17 In the middle of the “seven” . . . an abomination. Just as 9:26 marks the beginning of the last “seven” with Onias’s death in 171 BC, this verse marks its midpoint with the temple’s desecration in 167 BC. Daniel variously refers to this half of a “seven” as “a time, times and half a time” (7:25; 12:7), “2,300 evenings and mornings” (8 ...

1056. Cain and Abel

Genesis 4:1-26

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... that the divine penalty has been mitigated? Or is this further proof of Cain’s self-determination? The city Cain builds might even be an early version of the later “cities of refuge” to which a manslayer might flee, and hence be the protecting mark for Cain. Although out of fellowship with God, Cain is still able to multiply and fill the earth. Several of his descendants are worthy of note. Lamech (4:19) is both polygamous and given to titanic revenge (4:23). Lamech fathers four children: Jabal ...

1057. Ten Commandments and the People’s Response

Exodus 20:1-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the most important, he affirms two fundamental principles that characterize the Law and the Prophets: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:28–34; Matt. 22:34–40; Luke 10:25–27). The Decalogue (literally the “Ten Words,” or the Ten Commandments) itself opens with “the Lord your God” (20:2) and closes with “your neighbor” (20:17). The first four of the Ten ...

1058. The Day of the Lord

Malachi 4:1-6

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... arrogant and practical atheists will be unable to resist the renewal of the strength of God’s children. A separation between the righteous and the self-righteous has taken place even within the community of faith. The one group will be marked for destruction while the other will be marked as God’s possession. The conclusion to the book of Malachi includes a final appeal to observe the law of Moses in preparation for Elijah’s return, to guard their spirit, and to return to the Lord. Malachi calls on ...

1059. Jesus Heals Many

Mark 1:29-34

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... s mother-in-law of a fever (1:30–31). The Greek word for “wait on” (1:31) is diakoneō, from which “deacon” is derived. Mark’s use of this word to describe Peter’s mother-in-law serving the company following her healing may have been included to remind ... work and travel ceased, and Capernaum shows up en masse with people suffering from a host of physical and demonic maladies. Mark closes the day’s activities in Capernaum with a reference to Jesus’s forbidding the demons to speak (1:34). This ...

1060. The Parable of the Sower

Mark 4:1-20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... ). Its explanation focuses on false and correct ways of hearing and responding to the gospel, which is represented by the seed. The seed that is eaten by birds, or falls on rocky soil, or is choked by thorns represents false ways. In each of these instances, Mark indicates by the aorist tense of the Greek verb for “hear” (4:15–16, 18) that the gospel is given only a brief, superficial, even careless hearing. As a result, it is lost. The people who represent good soil, by contrast, attend to the gospel ...

1061. Three Short Parables

Mark 4:21-25, Mark 4:26-29, Mark 4:30-34

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... appear hidden or insignificant, in the same way that Jesus, the gospel, and the kingdom of God at first seem hidden or inconsequential (4:22). Nevertheless, God brings to light what is hidden, and he does so once again by the admonition to hear, to which Mark appeals three times in verses 23–24. Those who hear, like the “insiders” of 4:11, will receive the kingdom of God in greater measure, and those who do not will lose it altogether (4:24–25). The final two parables once again liken the kingdom ...

1062. Opposition from Pharisees and Disciples

Mark 8:14-21, Mark 8:22-26

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... in verses 23–25, just as there were seven references to lack of understanding in the previous story. The healing of the blind man of Bethsaida is the only miracle in the Gospels that proceeds in stages (which is probably why Matthew and Luke omit it). Mark’s inclusion of the story immediately following the failure of the disciples to understand signifies that faith is a process. Like the blind man, the disciples, who “have eyes but fail to see” (8:18), can also be made to see and understand, but not ...

1063. Jesus Predicts His Death

Mark 8:31--9:1

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... :33). To judge the work of God in any other light than the perspective of God is to become an “adversary” to God, which is the Hebrew meaning of “Satan” (1 Kings 11:14). In 8:34, the subject shifts from Christology to discipleship. For Mark, these are not two separate matters but two sides of the same coin. A proper confession of Jesus is inevitably also a confession of what believers must become. In verse 34, Jesus teaches that discipleship consists of following him, denying self, and taking up one ...

1064. The Healing of a Boy With an Evil Spirit

Mark 9:14-32

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (9:24). Seeing the crowd converge and not wanting to make a display of his power, Jesus “rebukes” the spirit and commands it to leave the boy (9:25). If the boy’s condition was epilepsy, Mark understands it in this instance to be demonically instigated. An encounter with Jesus can leave things initially worse than before, as indicated by the deathlike condition of the boy after the expulsion of the demon. Here too the father must trust Jesus rather than ...

1065. The Lord's Supper

Mark 14:12-26

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 22 (eat, take, bless, break, give, say, take), signifying the gracious activity of Jesus on behalf of the disciples. In pronouncing the bread and wine his “body” and “blood,” Jesus signifies the gift of himself, wholly and without reserve. Of the four Gospel writers, only Mark adds “and they all drank from it” (14:23). The Last Supper is a table of grace, not of merit, for the “all” who drink (14:23) and swear allegiance (14:31) also fall away (14:27) and flee (14:50). The “blood of the ...

1066. Jesus Arrested

Mark 14:43-52

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... is a profound mockery. Jesus is immediately “seized” by the soldiers, a term that repeatedly characterizes the arrest (14:44, 46, 49, 51). The disciple who cuts off the ear of the servant of the high priest is often thought to be Peter, but Mark simply identifies him as “one of those standing near” (14:47). Jesus reproaches the crowd for assaulting him as a “bandit” or “robber” (14:48; NIV “leading a rebellion”), the word in Greek (lēstēs) sometimes referring to an adherent of the ...

1067. The Trial of Jesus

Mark 15:1-15

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... who is a known criminal, “the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Pet. 3:18). The proposed prisoner exchange misfires, however; the crowd “came up” (15:8) in protest against Pilate to Herod’s palace, on the prominent western hill in Jerusalem. Mark explicitly states that the moving force behind Jesus’s crucifixion is no longer the scribes and Pharisees as in Galilee, nor the Sanhedrin, but solely the “chief priests [who] stirred up the crowd” (15:11) against Jesus. Pilate makes three anemic ...

1068. The Passover Meal

John 13:1-17

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 7–9), which is ordinarily served after dusk on the Jewish date of 15 Nisan (in March-April). John mentions such a meal (13:2, 26) and indicates through mention of the betrayal of Judas (13:21–30) that this meal is the Passover from the Synoptics (cf. Mark 14:17–21). However, John’s date seems not to be 15 Nisan (Passover), for later he will say that Jesus is crucified on 14 Nisan, when the temple lambs are being slaughtered (19:14). Hence John’s story shows the meal to be on the day of Preparation ...

1069. The Crucifixion

John 19:17-27

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... and if the northern courses of Herod’s walls have been correctly determined then the traditional site of Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre can be accepted. The extended attention given to the title on the cross is strictly Johannine (19:19–22; cf. Mark 15:26). While it conveys historical information, its chief importance is theological. Jesus’s death has been described as his glorification (e.g., John 7:39; 13:31). It has also been called his “lifting up” (3:14; 8:28; 12:32, 34) inasmuch ...

1070. Jesus and the Miraculous Catch of Fish

John 21:1-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... “seams,” the testimonials such as that in 19:35, and the special title for John the son of Zebedee, “the beloved disciple.” 21:1–14 · The miracle of 153 fish:Both Mark and Matthew record a resurrection appearance to the apostles after Easter, and Matthew specifically identifies Galilee as the place (Matt. 28:16–20; Mark 16:12–20; 14:26–28). This is also the Johannine setting. The story of the miraculous catch of fish has close parallels with another miracle (Luke 5:1–11). (Some would ...

1071. Final Instructions

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the one who has caused the offense (see 1 Thess. 3:12; Gal. 6:10). 5:16–18 · Communion with God:In this group of three exhortations, the apostles move on to the characteristic traits of believers, joy (5:16), prayer (5:17), and thanksgiving (5:18), which should mark their lives at all times and in every situation. This is God’s will. Though the Thessalonians already have joy in suffering (1 Thess. 1:6), a fruit of the Spirit in their lives, they are called to a life of joy that is constant (5:16; Phil ...

1072. Final Exhortations and Greetings

1 Peter 5:1-11, 1 Peter 5:12-14

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... 10:42–43). Even if the church seems to possess a conventional, earthly authority structure, it actually reverses the normal pattern, modeling its vertical relationships on the Son of Man, who “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life” (Mark 10:45). This is the style of leadership that will bring the full realization of the glory known now but in part (5:4). Peter drives this point home beautifully in verse 5 by using the single word “likewise” (NIV “in the same way”). He ...

1073. Are You Sorry Enough to Wash Your Face?

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... and paying for indulgences. Why? Because it ran totally counter to scripture! We see this is today's scripture when Jesus likens repentance to being cleansed, not dirtied up! "Wash your face!" he says. For Christians, true repentance is more than an annual mark on the head. It is a daily mark on the heart, "... not (to) be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret... your Father who sees in secret will reward you" (v. 18). I know that some of us are from different backgrounds, and I respect that ...

1074. Here's Mud In Your Eye

John 9:1-41

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... that young man as his instrument to overcome community divisions. When Charles finally died at the age of 37, the whole community gathered to remember him. The healing touch he brought continues to this day. When he was a youngster bearing all the marks of Down syndrome, some people saw him as a deformed person born into some of the worst imaginable circumstances. God saw him as his peacemaker, having already said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" (Matthew 5:9). There ...

1075. When Lazarus Leaped and Laughed

John 11:1-45

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... raised other dead people. People like the twelve-year-old daughter of the synagogue leader Jairus. The record says that Jesus "took her by the hand and said to her, 'Talitha cum,' which means, 'Little girl, get up!' And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about" (Mark 5:41-42). There was also the son of the widow of Nain. When Jesus saw the young man's funeral procession, he touched the bier and said, " 'Young man, I say to you, rise!' The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to ...

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