Sermon and Worship Resources

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John 20:19-31

Sermon

Robert Leslie Holmes

... deadness turned to life's light. He found the will to repent and confess, "My Lord and my God" (v. 28). Thomas surely would never again allow doubt to drive his way through life. Those words, "My Lord and my God," mark the great pinnacle point of human declaration in John's gospel! They mark the turning point in the life of Thomas. In that moment when Thomas saw that indeed Jesus was raised from the dead, he also saw something of what that would mean for the rest of his life. That affirmation becomes the ...

1077. Prayer Changes Things

Mark 2:1-12

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... David to defeat Goliath is waiting to hear from us. The same God who raised Jesus from the dead is waiting to hear from us. The Bible tells us that faithful praying can move mountains! You want to know how to get your prayers answered? We find the key in Mark 11:24 when Jesus says, “So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” There are three things in this text that we must do to get our prayers answered. First, we need to be specific. Jesus ...

1078. Who Is the Greatest?

Mark 9:33-37

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... opportunity for personal aggrandizement. One would have to say that the church has yet to learn the meaning of Jesus’ words. The relationship Mark saw between the exhortation to take the role of servant (v. 35, and see note on 10:44) and the saying in verse ... in the fact that in Aramaic (probably the language Jesus used in teaching his disciples) and in Greek (the language in which Mark wrote) the term “child” can also mean “servant.” Thus, the saying urging all disciples to be servant in verse 35 is ...

1079. The Triumphal Entry

Mark 11:1-11

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... . 2 Kings 9:12–13), or for one like Jesus, who was regarded by many as a prophet. The waving of green branches and the shouting of the religious slogans in verses 9–10 were actions typical of the joy of pilgrims coming to the holy city, but Mark intends his readers to see these details as further hints that Jesus’ entrance is the fulfillment of all the hopes of ancient Judaism. The cry about the coming kingdom of our father David is no doubt a reference to the ancient Jewish prayer that God would send ...

1080. Introduction

Luke 1:1-4

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... of the appearance and preaching of John the Baptist (1:4–8). We derive the literary designation “Gospel” from this first verse of Mark. Matthew calls his Gospel a “record [lit. “book”] of the genealogy of Jesus Christ” (Matt. 1:1) and then lists a genealogy from ... many have undertaken to draw up an account. How many people Luke has in mind is uncertain. Probably he is referring to Mark and Q and perhaps to another source or two from which he may have obtained some of the material that is special ...

1081. Jesus Calms the Storm

Luke 8:22-25

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

... succinct. By omitting and modifying a few of the Marcan details and by inserting the episode immediately after the section on hearing and obeying the word of Jesus, Luke has drawn out a slightly different emphasis. Whereas in Mark the story underscores the mysteriousness of the person and ministry of Jesus (particularly as seen in the question of the disciples, Mark 4:41; Luke 8:25), in Luke the main point seems to be that Jesus’ word is so authoritative that even the natural elements heed it. Also, in ...

1082. Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

Luke 22:1-6

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

With Luke 22 the Passion Narrative begins. In the first 38 verses the reader is told of Jesus’ betrayal, Passover meal, and final instructions to his disciples before his arrest. Most of Luke’s materials are derived from Mark 14:1–31 and may be divided into the following parts: (1) the Conspiracy of the Religious Leaders (vv. 1–2); (2) Judas’ Betrayal of Jesus (vv. 3–6); (3) the Preparation for the Passover Meal (vv. 7–14); (4) the Lord’s Supper (vv. 15–23); (5) Teaching on ...

1083. Love

Romans 12:9-21

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... their oppressors cannot be doubted. This teaching appears to have been standard throughout early Christianity (Matt. 5:38–42; 1 Thess. 5:15; 1 Pet. 3:9). The NT is equally clear about peace (v. 18). Christians are commanded to be not only peace keepers (i.e., maintain peace, so Mark 9:50), but peace makers (promote peace, so Matt. 5:9). Like love, peace is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22; see also 2 Cor. 13:11; 1 Thess. 5:13). If it is possible (v. 18) implies that peace is not a compromise of good and ...

1084. Daily Offerings

Numbers 28:1-8

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... alike. The instruction alludes to the institution of such sacrifices in Leviticus, at Mount Sinai (v. 6). The section ends with a summary (v. 8b). 28:9–10 God honored the completion of creation on the Sabbath, according to Genesis 2:3, and Numbers 28 appropriately marks off the offerings to be made on that day. In addition to the regular daily offerings, two lambs are to be brought together with its drink offering and a grain offering. Thus the daily offerings are to be doubled on the Sabbath. 28:11–15 ...

1085. Elihu

Job 32:1--37:24

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... in this context, but wineskins. The picture is similar to that Jesus uses in his parable: “Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wine-skins will be ruined” (Matt. 9:17; also Mark 2:22; Luke 5:37–38). The Greek translation of Job 32:19 employs the same noun (askos, “leather bottle”) as appears in the NT passages. It may well be that Jesus is familiar with this image from Job and employs it for his own purposes. Evidently the ...

1086. The Baptism of Jesus

Matthew 3:13-17

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... 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 on occasion by ...

1087. My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

Psalm 22:1-31

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... (as perhaps in v. 24). But here the actual thanksgiving is developed at length. The praise is to be performed formally in the congregation. (As noted below in the Additional Notes, it is possible we should understand vv. 23–24, 26 to be in quotation marks and are thus promised praise, not actual praise.) Verse 23 is an imperative call to praise, normally part of corporate hymnic praise but it can also found in a thanksgiving of an individual (30:4). It is striking, however, that the command is issued to ...

1088. Jesus Heals Many

Matthew 8:14-17

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... in a form more concise than Luke’s, Matthew makes the statements of Jesus stand out more distinctly. 8:14–17 From John 1:44 we know that Peter came from the town of Bethsaida (a fishing village on the north shore of Galilee just east of the Jordan). Mark 1:29 places the home of Peter in Capernaum, and 1 Corinthians 9:5 tells us that Peter was married. Jesus entered the home of Peter and found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with a fever. The fever was probably connected with malaria, which was common in ...

1089. The Calling of Matthew

Matthew 9:9-13

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... a widely despised group who collected taxes from the Jewish people and turned them over to Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. His booth was probably along the great highway that led from Damascus to the sea. Some writers, perhaps because of Mark 2:13–14, put his place of business near the sea, in which case he would collect duty on goods shipped in from the territory under the jurisdiction of Philip. Although tax gatherers were not necessarily ceremonially unclean, their involvement with pagan ...

1090. The Parable of the Weeds

Matthew 13:24-30

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... ’s parable in order to accommodate it to the interpretation to be given later (vv. 36–43). Gundry calls it a “prohibition against rigorism in church discipline” composed by Matthew, who conflates the otherwise omitted parable (Mark 4:26–29) and the parable of the sower (pp. 261–62). Schweizer holds that if the nucleus of the parable went back to Jesus it would represent a strong protest against the Pharisaic tendency (also characteristic of the Qumran community and the Zealots) to delimit a sect ...

1091. Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

Matthew 15:29-39

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... ,” thus indicating early spring) and the feeding of the four thousand in Matthew 15 (v. 35 says they sat “on the ground,” epi tēn gēn, which suggests later in the summer, when the grass would be scorched). A comparison of Matthew and Mark indicates that the latter records the healing of a deaf mute, while the former gives a summary of Jesus’ healing ministry among the Gentiles. Though there were non-Jewish settlements on both sides of the Sea of Galilee, they were clustered far more heavily on ...

1092. Jesus Predicts His Death

Matthew 16:21-28

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... of time. Additional Notes 16:21 On the third day: Both Matthew (16:21) and Luke (9:22) have on the third day, whereas Mark (8:31) has “after three days.” Vincent Taylor provides evidence that “in the LXX and in late Greek writers the two phrases were identical in meaning” (Mark, p. 378). Jesus: Some manuscripts have “Jesus Christ,” which occurs only in Matt. 1:1, 18; Mark 1:1; and John 1:17; 17:3, in the Gospels. In the verse under consideration it may have been added by a copyist influenced ...

1093. Jesus at the Temple

Matthew 21:12-17

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... ” (Beare, p. 417). Two problems should be mentioned. In Matthew, Jesus entered Jerusalem, went to the temple and drove out the money-changers. In Mark, Jesus went to the temple and after looking around, “went out to Bethany with the Twelve” (Mark 11:11), returning on the “following day” to cleanse the temple (Mark 11:12–19). If one accepts Mark as the first written Gospel, it would appear that Matthew has moved immediately to the climactic event and transferred the account of the cursing ...

1094. Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial

Matthew 26:31-35

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... desert him (skandalizomai, “find a cause of stumbling,” Rotherham). Their failure is described by the prophet Zechariah, who wrote, “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered” (Zech. 13:7). Both Matthew and Mark change the imperative (of the MT and LXX) “strike” to the first person future (I will strike), which marks God as the one who takes the action. However, after Jesus has risen he will go ahead of them into Galilee. Proagō (“to go before”) may be taken in the sense of time ...

1095. Before the Sanhedrin

Matthew 26:57-68

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... was the Christ, the Son of God. It was against all the procedures of Jewish law to require a person to incriminate himself. The answer, “You have said so” (v. 64, RSV; Gk. sy eipas), has been variously interpreted. The parallel in Mark (a straightforward “I am,” 14:62) suggests that we not look for subtle innuendos. Gundry says that the response of Jesus “stoutly affirms that the questioner himself knows the affirmative answer as obvious” (p. 545). Jesus is saying to Caiaphas that his assumption ...

1096. The Death of Jesus

Matthew 27:45-56

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... base is persuasive only to those who wish to reinterpret the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection in figurative terms. About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? (some mss. read the Hebrew Eli, Eli instead of the Aramaic Eloi; cf. Mark and the allusion to Ps. 22:1). It means, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Beare’s opinion that it would be physically impossible for Jesus to cry out in a loud voice after six hours on the cross (p. 535) stems from an ...

1097. The Guards' Report

Matthew 28:11-15

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... (16:5) says it was a “young man” (Luke 24:4 has “two men”); and fourth, that Matthew (28:8) says the women departed, “afraid yet filled with joy” and “ran to tell his disciples,” whereas Mark (16:8) says that “trembling and bewildered,” they “said nothing to anyone.” All such variations are of little significance in parallel accounts of an event as unprecedented in human history as the resurrection. Had they been carefully harmonized in every detail by the synoptic writers, we would ...

1098. The Great Commission

Matthew 28:16-20

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

1099. The Parable of the Tenants

Mark 12:1-12

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... itself. In rabbinic discussion, the passage was understood variously with reference to Abraham, David, or the Messiah; but here the stone is unquestionably Jesus, who, though not recognized by the builders (the Jewish leaders), will become the King-Messiah over all. 12:12 They: Mark means the Jewish leaders introduced earlier in 11:27–33. Their fear was that the attempt to seize Jesus openly in the temple area where this parable was given might result in a riot, and this would make them look bad in the ...

1100. Marriage at the Resurrection

Mark 12:18-27

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... that God raised Jesus to life as the pioneer and Lord of the resurrection (e.g., 1 Cor. 15:1–8, 20–23). Jesus’ victorious reply, coming as it does shortly before Jesus’ own execution and resurrection in chapters 15–16, was probably intended by Mark to show his readers that their faith in Jesus’ resurrection (and their own future hope) was based upon the Scriptures and upon the very character of God. Additional Notes 12:18 Sadducees: This group is also mentioned in the NT elsewhere (Matt. 3:7; 16 ...

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