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Showing 1526 to 1550 of 4957 results

1526. 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... on those commitments." We can all agree that his first two statements reflect historical facts, but his conclusion is, of course, still up for plenty of contentious debate. Paul chooses his vocabulary carefully in verse 20 to further enhance the validity of his claim in verse 19. The word represented as "ambassador" (NRSV) is most commonly translated as "to be older, to rule, to prevail," while the term's second meaning, "to be an envoy," is a special term for the legates of Caesar. Obviously the force ...

1527. Colossians 3:1-11

Colossians 3:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... throne, and all paradise itself (John R. Levison, "2 Apoc. Bar. 48:42-52:7 and the Apocalyptic Dimension of Colossians 3:1-6," Journal of Biblical Literature 108 [1989], 99). By locating all these things as those to be revealed after the eschaton, the epistle writer further undermines the claims of the Colossian errorists already derided in 2:16-18. These church members were performing secret acts and rituals as part of their alleged worship encounters with members of the angelic host. Not only were they ...

1528. Philemon 1:1-20

Philemon 1:1-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the calm hand of Paul, his master's friend and spiritual mentor. Thus Onesimus had not been thrown into prison with Paul against his will. His presence in the prison cell was intentional and calculated. Even legal precedents were on Onesimus' side, for if he claimed he ran away from his master in order to keep him from maiming or even killing him in his rage, Onesimus could argue that he was saving Philemon's investment in slave property by fleeing. In such a case Onesimus would not be considered a runaway ...

1529. Acts 8:26-40

Acts 8:26-40

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... 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 15:7-9. The book of Acts tells that story with tremendous power and persuasion. Yet Luke's text also carefully preserves and presents another tradition. Acts 6-8 is generally believed to ...

1530. Mark 4:26-34

Mark 4:26-34

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... seed, there is not even any human attendant watching its growth. Only the "birds of the air," creatures completely free from human intervention, are described in relationship to this massive shrub. This section ends (vv.33-34) in an open-ended way by claiming that many other parables which Mark did not have access to were spoken by Jesus before the crowds. Mark underlines this tradition by testifying that the parable format was Jesus' primary means of communication with these crowds "he did not speak to ...

1531. Ephesians 5:15-20

Ephesians 5:15-20

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... themselves. It is the Christians who are "wise." Those outside of Christ are "unwise" or "foolish." What the NRSV translates in verse 16 as "making the most of the time" is rendered more literally "to buy out" or "to redeem" time. Coupled with the claim that "the days are evil," this text conveys a sense of unmistakable urgency. The "foolishness" the Ephesians are cautioned against appears to be related to vain human attempts to gain easy access to the divine. Christians are not to waste time by being lured ...

1532. Mark 13:1-8

Mark 13:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... then ordered the stones themselves torn down, leaving nothing standing. There is good evidence that the prediction placed on Jesus' lips in verse 2 is a genuine pre-destruction pronouncement. If it had been written by Mark after the temple's fall, as some claim, he could easily have inserted some telling details about its ruin to add to the text's accuracy. But there is no such evidence. The general nature of the destruction prediction has led other scholars to suggest that Mark's gospel was quite likely ...

1533. Luke 3:7-18

Luke 3:7-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . No matter what one's pedigree, or how conscientious, "by-the-book," one's behavior, without "fruits," God's wrath is sure and God's judgment is imminent. Even now 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 ...

1534. 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . As noted earlier, he spouts off an impressive list of spiritual gifts that are apparently known and recognized in the midst of this congregation. His list here differs from spiritual gift registries elsewhere in that Paul appears to create his own hierarchy by claiming a "first" place, a "second" place and a "third." While such assignments may at first appear to fly in the face of his earlier assertions that all the diverse gifts are equally from God and thus equal within the community, in the context ...

1535. Luke 4:1-13

Luke 4:1-13

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... 's third) temptation, the scene shifts as the Devil takes Jesus "up" for a global view. From this vantage point, Luke presents the greatest elaboration of the Devil's words. The claim made here by the Devil of glory and authority reflects that which would be given to the Messiah (Psalm 2:8) and to the Son of Man (Daniel 7:14). The devil's claim that he has full authority over the kingdoms of the world and the power to "give it to anyone I please" (v.6) is not consistent with Old Testament theology, which ...

1536. Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

1537. John 20:1-18

John 20:1-18

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... to a safer location where enemies or tomb terrorizers (quite common then) could not molest it. Some authorities suggest that the reference to the gardener, unique to John, is an attempt to thwart a claim that a gardener took the body. Tertullian provides one of the earliest outlines of this argument: The claim, he reports, is that the gardener absconded with the body because he was afraid the mass of expected mourners at the tomb would trample his cabbages. What follows has been identified as arguably the ...

1538. Acts 5:27-32

Acts 5:27-32

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... he must "obey God rather than any human authority" (v.29). If any theological concept united a first-century Judaism struggling to maintain its identity within the Roman political machine, it was their claim to recognize only the one God as their Lord and ruler. But having clearly established his common ground with the council, Peter goes on to detail their differences by invoking the name of Jesus and denouncing the council's participation in Jesus' degrading death. Yet Peter continues to make this ...

1539. Hosea 11:1-11

Hosea 11:1-11

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... parental love for this "child" Ephraim. Equating the newfound nation of Israel created by the exodus event with an infant, God recalls how the baby became a toddler "it was I who taught Ephraim to walk ... " (v.3). Certain vagaries in the text make the next claim unclear. Either God is depicted as guiding the youngster in his first steps "taking them by their arms" or God is described as giving the toddler a free ride "I took them up in my arms." There is scholarly debate over the dangling nature of the ...

1540. 1 Timothy 1:12-17

1 Timothy 1:12-17

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... of the excellence of God's grace and the enormity of God's forgiveness. Thankfulness flows from Paul not only for what Christ's sacrifice has taken away from him (his sin), but for the positive gifts Christ has bestowed upon his life. When he claims Christ "strengthened me," these words have a different focus than they did in Philippians 4:13. The "strength" praised here is not for endurance of suffering, but for empowerment. To be "strengthened" is to be entrusted with the greatest service of all to be ...

1541. Matthew 9:35-10:8 (9-23)

Matthew 9:35-10:8 (9-23)

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... this text. Blaine Charette has teased out an interesting line of continuity between the shepherd image and the harvest reference (see Blaine Charette, "A Harvest for the People, "Journal of the Study of the New Testament 38 [1990], 29-35). Charette claims that both those images reflect "the dawning age of salvation" (31) - an age that is initiated by the very acts Jesus has been performing in his own ministry - healing, preaching, teaching. Thus, the "harvest" should be viewed as an eschatological blessing ...

1542. Acts 19:1-7

Acts 19:1-7

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... , "Christians") whose theological training appears to be sadly lacking. When questioned about their experience of the Holy Spirit, this band of believers is clueless. Not only do they claim no personal experience of the Holy Spirit, they deny having ever before heard about the Holy Spirit's existence. When Paul presses them on their baptism experience, they claim to have received "John's baptism" (v.3). Paul never voices any dismay at the ignorance of these disciples, but he does move quickly to rectify the ...

1543. Mark 16:1-8

Mark 16:1-8

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... elegant writing style pervades all of Mark's gospel. Scholars who wish to demonstrate that there is nothing odd or "cut-off" about the ending of Mark (i.e. 16:8) use this argument about Mark's standard writing style. They also claim that its reading in any Christian community would automatically trigger memories of other known resurrection appearances anyway. But that assumption appears to undermine the intended evangelizing purposes of telling the gospel story in the first place making Jesus known where he ...

1544. John 6:35, 41-51

John 6:35, 41-51

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Discourse on the bread of life (vv.51-59). While it is true verse 51 essentially repeats the message delivered in verses 35-50, it does so in much more earthy, even graphic terms. Startling almost to the point of being distasteful is Jesus' claim that the bread of life should be understood as his own flesh. This identification of flesh (sarx) with bread is the main feature of the Second Discourse a feature which introduces a definite Eucharistic note into the whole Bread-of-Life discussion. Some suggest ...

1545. Micah 5:2-5a

Micah 5:2-5a

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... new beginning possible. Both Isaiah and Micah foresee this ruler coming very literally from the old Davidic line. They also both completely discount the legitimacy of the current leadership to lay claim to the Davidic heritage. The recent rulers have been so corrupt, so out of touch with Yahweh and Yahweh's people, that they have forfeited any claim their lineage in the house of David might have given them. The literalness of this new beginning is evident in Micah 5:2-3. The same little clan Ephrathah, the ...

1546. John 1:43-51

John 1:43-51

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Jesus’ next words are an important revelation. Jesus’ pronouncement begins with his favorite “listen up” device, the double “Amen” (translated in the NRSV as “Very truly” and elsewhere as “I tell you the truth”). Jesus concludes with the title he claims for himself, “the Son of Man,” or “The Human Being.” Jesus next gives Nathanael a hint of what he may expect in the future. Jesus’ imagery suggests the “Jacob’s ladder” dream found in Genesis 28:10ff. But whereas Jacob ...

1547. A Plea for Fishing

Luke 5:1-11; Mark 1:14-20

Illustration

Darrell W. Robinson

... that many of the fishermen sacrificed and put up with all kinds of difficulties. Some lived near the water and bore the smell of dead fish every day. They received the ridicule of some who made fun of their fishermen's clubs and the fact that they claimed to be fishermen yet never fished. They wondered about those who felt it was of little use to attend the weekly meetings to talk about fishing. After all, were they not following the Master who said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men?" Imagine ...

1548. Death Has Been Conquered

Mark 16:1-20

Sermon

King Duncan

... . (2) Thus there may be many things in life we dread more than physical death. For many of us death is something far removed from our daily lives. It has no biting reality unless and until we are confronted with it personally or until someone we love is claimed by the Grim Reaper. So we may not think about death in the same way our ancestors did. Still there is something about Easter that makes our hearts beat faster. Perhaps it is not an avoidance of the reality of death at all, as our critics would charge ...

1549. 1 Corinthians 9:16-23

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... the opposition he and his ministry faced in Corinth. But the inferences of his words point up the potholes and pitfalls he faced as he preached the gospel in Corinth in his unique way. Earlier in chapter 9 Paul explained why he had not laid claim to a number of his “apostolic rights.” This included the “right” not to work, the “right” to have a wife and have her travel with him, the “right” to be provided sustenance by the community he lived in. It was a common first century practice ...

1550. Easter 3

Luke 24:36-49, 1 John 2:28--3:10, Acts 3:11-26

Sermon Aid

John R. Brokhoff

... the question of identity? Who are we? Do we understand ourselves? John removes all questions and doubts about our identity when he claims that we are the children of God. Yes, we are sinners, but now God's redeemed sinners are made into God's children. ... that God is our Father and we are his children. What does this mean or imply? What are the privileges and responsibilities of this claim? Something very important is involved in being a child of God. Outline: What it means to be a child of God – a. God ...

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