Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1301 to 1325 of 2157 results

Philemon 1-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... 's rendition of this relationship between Philemon and Onesimus has become so entrenched in ecclesiastical tradition that we automatically assume its validity without even searching the text for other clues or possible interpretations. Indeed, acceptance of this version of Philemon has led many other scholars on a series of interesting, but unfounded, conjectures. John Knox suggested the intriguing hypothesis that Philemon returned the slave Onesimus to Paul to serve him in his gospel mission. Then ...

1302. Luke 15:1-10

Luke 15:1-10

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

This week's gospel lectionary text includes two of Luke's three "lost-and-found" parables. While a version of the "lost sheep" story is also recorded in Matthew 18:12-14, both the "lost coin" and the "lost son" are unique to Luke's gospel. Luke locates these three parables together, skillfully building in intensity and power the force of the remarkable message they convey. Part of the ...

1303. Matthew 24:36-44

Matthew 24:36-44

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of the Son - he does not know the day or the hour of the Messianic return - and the uniqueness of the divine knowledge of the Father. In Matthew's text "only" is made emphatic, unlike Mark's rendition of this same confession in the REB version (Mark 13:32). To differentiate Matthew's emphatic declaration from Mark's, it might be more revealing to state, "but the Father knows, and he alone." By admitting that no one but the Father knows the precise timing of the Messiah's return, this text stresses ...

1304. Matthew 1:18-25

Matthew 1:18-25

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... masterpiece. Luke's text focuses on Mary, the obedient virgin, who willingly submits to God's plans and never questions all that is required of her. Matthew's description of Jesus' conception and birth focuses instead on Joseph. In many ways, Matthew's version is the more expected interpretation, for it is concerned with technicalities and issues of precise legality. It is Joseph's name and reputation that are on the line here, and it is only through Joseph's active obedience to the divine messages he ...

1305. Genesis 9:8-17

Genesis 9:8-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the week of 13 January. As noted then, what faces Jesus immediately after his baptism is not what might have been expected. Luke and Matthew, utilizing the "Q" source, provide a much more detailed account of Jesus' desert struggles. But Mark's abridged version of "The Temptation of Jesus" highlights some unique essentials of the story. Verse 12 wrenches us away from the glorified moment of Jesus' baptism, where the Spirit is likened to a dove and the voice of the Father calls Jesus beloved Son. Suddenly ...

1306. John 6:24-35

John 6:24-35

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Jewish crowd cites the text, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat." (This is an imprecise combination of Exodus 16:4-5, Psalm 78:24, and Nehemiah 9:15.) In keeping with the Midrashic format, Jesus then responds in verse 32 with a paraphrased version of the text. His re-statement corrects the slightly butchered text the crowd had quoted him, clearly identifying God as the one who once gave the manna and now gives the true bread of heaven, the bread which gives life to the whole world. The uncomprehending ...

1307. Ephesians 6:10-20

Ephesians 6:10-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . Integrity speaks of the coherence and wholeness which characterizes a person's actions and beliefs. Paul continues his military analogy in verse 15, but strangely he now uses it to speak of "the gospel of peace." Paul is not simply suggesting some ancient version of the "peace through strength" mandate which governs so much of our foreign policy decisions. Rather, Paul uses "peace" as a much more extensive term here. As a Jew, Paul's choice of the word "peace," the Hebrew shalom, must have encompassed a ...

1308. Philippians 4:49

Philippians 4:49

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... his message. The ambiguity of these verses increases as we continue to the next verse. Verse 5 contains Paul's enjoinder that the Philippian Christians be known for their epieikes, a uniquely Greek term almost impossible to translate. Some versions call it "gentleness," others "magnanimity." The term is a neuter adjective which is related to "eikos" ("reasonableness") and so might also be understood as the quality of "sweet reasonableness." Greek tradition contrasts Paul's term with "strict justice" as ...

1309. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... faith and truth were fairly common in ancient literature. There are several Greek parallels of Paul's words here - in Plato, Tyrtaeus and Macimus, as well as Jewish parallels from wisdom literature (such as 3 Ezra 34-40). The form and content of Paul's version, which we read Christ into, would actually be quite acceptable to any learned Greek or Jewish scholar of Paul's day. Yet we know Paul was addressing a Christian community. He forges a strong link to the concerns of this Corinthian church in verse one ...

1310. Romans 5:1-5

Romans 5:1-5

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... it might entail, develops Paul's third virtue: the probity of a distinctive Christian character. The term used here for character means literally "the state of being proved and tested" (Matthew Black, Romans: Based on the Revised Standard Version, The New Century Bible Commentary [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989], 75). Our integrity is proved and tested through our response to suffering and our ability to endure - yielding probity. The probity of Christian character, the testing and trying of integrity ...

1311. Hebrews 13:1-8

Hebrews 13:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... "run the race," chapter 13 is giving the rules for the competition. Still another theory suggests that the change in style is because this material was first presented by its author orally, in the equivalent to our modern-day sermon. This written version only appeared later after the author decided to put down his final address to this community in written form. The first three verses of this chapter look at how Christians are to maintain right relationships between believers. Of primary importance is this ...

1312. 1 Timothy 1:12-17

1 Timothy 1:12-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... close scrutiny and was eventually denied by some of the most respected biblical scholars. This questionable heritage caused some scholars to begin to dismiss their content as well - supposing the letters to Timothy and Titus to be paler, washed-out versions of Pauline theology, lacking that apostle's fiery enthusiasm and theological virtuosity. In the last few decades a new defense of these pastoral epistles has been slowly taking shape. This argument finds support for Pauline authorship by re-examining a ...

1313. Mark 1:4-11

Mark 1:4-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the other actors in his story. It is Jesus alone who, as he rises up out of the water, sees the vision and hears the voice. For those who actually witnessed Jesus in the Jordan, and his ministry throughout Galilee, the messianic secret is kept hidden. Mark's version of these baptismal events is also much more vivid. In verse 10, the heavens are not merely "opened up" but are "torn apart." This violent verb is used only once again by Mark when he describes how the curtain was "torn in two, from top to bottom ...

1314. John 12:20-33

John 12:20-33

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Jesus never addresses the Greeks directly in response, he does offer yet another lesson on discipleship. Like himself, his disciples must be willing to follow God's plan to the end, even death itself, if they are to "bear fruit" (v.24). This leads John to his version of the whoever-would-save-their-lives-will-lose-them/whoever-would-lose-their-lives-will-find-them teaching, a truth found in all four gospels (Mark 8:35; Matthew 16:25; Luke 9:24). The call to discipleship is a call to suffer, sacrifice, even ...

1315. John 10:11-18

John 10:11-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... " and the "one fold" of the future. As a result, most medieval Latin writers, who depended on the Vulgate, continued to express both these references with the same word ovile, "fold." Augustine, Wycliffe, Erasmus and eventually the King James Version of 1611 all continued to carry forward this mistranslation. The difference suggested by the two terms was significant for first-century Christians and is equally instructive for 21st-century Christians as well. A sheep "fold" was a separated, walled enclosure ...

1316. Acts 8:26-40

Acts 8:26-40

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... was responsible for first bringing the Good News to a Gentile seeker. According to Acts 10:1-11:18, those specifically designated as apostles, acting under the auspices of the church in Jerusalem, were the first to expand their official mission. In this version, Peter, the leader of the apostles, is the first one to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. Cornelius, a Roman centurion in Caesarea, was the first convert. Peter himself reiterates this claim in his testimony before the Council of Jerusalem in Acts ...

1317. John 15:9-17

John 15:9-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... ; 15:1-27; 16:1-33; 13:30b-38; 14:1-31; 17:1-26. Most recent scholarship, however, is much more inclined to conclude that John had access to two different accounts of Jesus' final discourse to his disciples. Unwilling to omit one or judge one version superior to the other, the gospel writer simply included both as one long discourse and left in the now awkward-sounding first ending in 14:30-31, which makes the two traditions more obvious. Today's verses are actually part of a larger unit which extends from ...

1318. Mark 2:23-3:6

Mark 2:23-3:6

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

As the briefest, tersest version of the Good News, Mark's gospel tends to condense and compress events that the other gospel writers leisurely scatter throughout their books. In Mark, therefore, we end up with units of his gospel known as the journey motif, the miracles section or the confrontation unit. Today's text is ...

1319. Mark 4:35-41

Mark 4:35-41

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... a sign of a very human Jesus' need to rest and regroup after a demanding day. The disciples themselves seem convinced that Jesus is primarily an exhausted man one who does not even respond to a dangerous situation because he is just too tired. In Matthew's version of this story, the disciples at least call out in panic to Jesus by addressing him as "Lord" (kyrios), a title that indicated they might think he could do something to help them. Here in Mark's text, the disciples simply refer to him as "teacher ...

1320. Mark 5:21-43

Mark 5:21-43

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... her story's positive thrust and focus her tremendous faith in Jesus. Despite her appearance, her gender and her status, this woman surprisingly provides Mark with an ideal model of faithfulness. The method of healing this woman experiences is quite unusual. In Matthew's version, the actual healing moment is freeze-framed to make it clear that it is through Jesus' intentionally spoken healing word that she is healed (see Matthew 9:22). But in Mark's text there is no such freeze-framing. The woman's faith in ...

1321. Mark 10:17-31

Mark 10:17-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Today's gospel reading depicts an intensely personalized, detailed scene in Jesus' ministry. Although both Matthew (19:16-30) and Luke (18:18-30) also report this encounter, the Markan version presents the most poignant, sympathetic picture of this man who comes to Jesus seeking an answer to the question " ... what must I do to inherit eternal life?" This scene stands squarely in the midst of the Markan discussions of what it means to be a disciple in the shadow of ...

1322. Mark 12:28-34

Mark 12:28-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... scribe's question does not address whether this "greatest commandment" could be fulfilled through human ability. The assumption was that if one was genuinely pious and observant enough, all the 613 commandments were within reach. Jesus provides the scribe with an encapsulated version of the Law through a positive interpretation of Hillel the Elder's summary. "What you yourself hate, don't do to your neighbor: This is the whole law, the rest is commentary. Go and learn it." Jesus ties together two commands ...

1323. Luke 3:7-18

Luke 3:7-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... John claims the "ax is lying at the root of the trees" (v.9). The judgment process has already actually begun. If there is no safe base from God's wrath in claiming an Abrahamic heritage, "What then should we do?" the crowd moans. The Matthean version of this dialogue is less loquacious than Luke's, where (vv.10-14) the anxious crowd is given several examples of these "fruits worthy of repentance." Offering the bare essentials of life to another sharing food and clothing are basic "fruits." Yet aren't these ...

1324. Luke 4:14-21

Luke 4:14-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

This is Luke's version of the opening moments of Jesus' public ministry. Having successfully weathered the long days in the wilderness and the scandalous temptations offered by the devil, Jesus turns his face and feet towards his homeland. He "returned to Galilee." The Messiah, however, is the same Jesus who had been raised there ...

1325. Luke 5:1-11

Luke 5:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

Luke's version of Simon Peter's call relates it to an experience of both the words and works of Jesus. This unique combination of events is found only in Luke's text. Of course, Luke knew of and was influenced by the exceedingly abrupt "call" passage Mark relates in 1:16-20. ...

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