Synonyms: Levi, disciple, evangelist, tax collector, the 12, the twelve, apostle, sermon on the mount, jewish audience, beatitudes, lord's prayer, great commission, parables, olivet discourse, mount of olives, olivet, synoptic
Showing 1551 to 1575 of 4968 results
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... not only are out of alignment with God (15:13) but also are leading others astray (15:14). Peter, as representative of the Twelve (his frequent role in Matthew; cf. 16:16), asks Jesus to explain the parable (15:15). Jesus’s response to his disciples indicates that he expects them to have understood his teaching here (15:16–17). Despite their insider status in relation to Jesus’s teaching in parables (13:11, 18–23, 36–43, 51), they do not fully understand Jesus’s teachings. Jesus’s words “Are ...
1552. Jesus Again Predicts his Death
Matthew 20:17-19, Matthew 20:20-28
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... and slaves in relation to one another (20:26–27). Living out the metaphor of a slave is much like living out the child analogy Jesus has used in 18:1–5. In both cases, Jesus holds up as an example one with little or no status. His disciples should emulate those of little status rather than one who holds and maintains power and status. Jesus corrects those who seek to be “greatest” (18:1; see also 20:26) and “first” (19:30; 20:16, 27) in a kingdom that is not about status pursuit but status ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... possibly indicating that with telos he is referring to a more immediate “end”—namely, the temple’s destruction. Precursor signs of the temple’s end include false messiahs (24:5; cf. 24:23–26); wars, famines, and earthquakes (24:6–7); and persecution of the disciples (24:9–13). The preaching of the gospel “in the whole world” (cf. Acts 11:28 and Col. 1:6, where this phrase delimits the Greco-Roman world) will be penultimate to the temple’s destruction (24:14). In 24:15–26, Jesus moves ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... return of the Twelve, Mark signifies that those who heed Jesus’s summons to mission must be prepared for the ultimate witness of martyrdom. Jesus “calls” and “sends” the disciples into mission in verse 7 with the same authority by which he himself ministers, and with which he commissioned them as apostles in 3:13–14. The sending into mission of disciples whose trust and understanding of Jesus is flawed (1:36–39; 3:21; 4:38; 5:31) is a reminder that service to Christ is rendered not by merit ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... conclude with christological confessions, the first with a Jewish confession of Peter that Jesus is the Messiah (8:29), the second with a confession of the Gentile centurion that Jesus is the Son of God (15:39). From Bethsaida, Jesus sets out with the disciples to Caesarea Philippi, twenty-five miles to the north at the foot of Mount Hermon. Founded by Herod Philip in honor of Caesar Augustus, “Philip’s Caesarea” lay at the northernmost edge of his tetrarchy, at the source of the Jordan River and at ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... the resurrection, however, for the body of Jesus could have been stolen (see Matt. 27:64). Faith is not the result of a fact—even a fact as awesome as the empty tomb—but of an encounter with the resurrected Lord. The announcement, “Tell [Jesus’s] disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee,’ ” (16:7) is both a fulfillment of 14:28 and a word of grace. Peter’s denial has not been the final word; the final word belongs to the resurrected Jesus, who promises to go “ahead ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... judgment on the last day; however, Jesus pours new content into the title by claiming that the Son of Man must also suffer. Thus, Jesus links the Son of Man and the Suffering Servant (Isa. 52:13–53:12). Jesus’s destiny is closely associated with the responsibility of his disciples. His disciples must be prepared to suffer and to lose their lives in this world for Jesus’s sake. They will show that they are ashamed of Jesus and his words if they do not participate in his sufferings. If, however, the ...
1558. Who Will Be the Greatest?
Luke 9:37-45, Luke 9:46-50
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... with respect and consideration; such actions show that the person is not using acts of kindness merely to get ahead and also show that this person has received the Father. John also recounts how the disciples try to prevent a man from expelling demons in Jesus’s name since he does not become one of Jesus’s disciples (9:49–50). Jesus replies that whoever is not against him is on his side. This last saying seems to contradict 11:23, but the sayings are proverbial and not contradictory since they are in ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... pain and deprivation of physical death. Such fear needs to be conquered because bodily pain is all that their adversaries can inflict (12:4). (2) God, though, should be feared because he can cast a person into hell. A healthy fear of punishment will encourage the disciples to endure persecution (12:5). (3) From a proper fear of destruction the text moves to a fear that is to be avoided. Under persecution one may fear that God has forgotten him or her. But this is not the case. God even remembers sparrows ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... Luke has distinguished more clearly than Matthew [Matthew 24] and Mark [Mark 13] the events that will take place in Jerusalem from the events of the end.) Jesus’s answer indicates that the question in verse 7 relates to the last times. He warns his disciples not to be deceived because many will claim to be the Messiah or declare that the end has come. The arrival of the end cannot be calculated from wars, insurrections, famines, earthquakes, and disease (21:9–11). These events will occur before the end ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... of the group’s funds (cf. 12:6) and he had tasks to do: acquire provisions for the festival and give special offerings to the poor on Passover night. Verse 30 is crucial because it marks the time after which Jesus may instruct his chosen disciples privately and fully. Judas has departed, and the final sentence reads, “It was night.” This motif has symbolic as well as literal value. The hour of death, pushed forward by Judas, is when the light of the world is extinguished (9:4). Darkness is the ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... be missed. Saul’s Damascus Road experience (9:3–9) contains a number of significant details. First, this is an encounter with the risen Jesus. The question, “Why do you persecute me” (9:4), makes it clear that Saul is not simply persecuting Jesus’s disciples; he is opposing the work of the risen Jesus himself (cf. Luke 10:16). Facing this Jesus he has persecuted, he recognizes that this is the Lord to whom he needs to submit. It is therefore not surprising to find the lordship of Jesus emphasized ...
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... name. Just as the Johannine Jesus imparted peace to his followers after the resurrection (John 20:19, 21, 26), so the Johannine elder imparts peace to Diotrephes in 3 John 14. His next venture, then, was likely to compile and finalize the testimony of the beloved disciple after his death (Jesus never said he would not die; he simply said to Peter, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” [see John 21:22]), claiming he “wrote [these things] down” and that “we know that ...
Sermon
Robert Leslie Holmes
... am the Savior. In Haggai I am the restorer of God's lost heritage. In Zechariah I am the true king rejected by his own people. In Malachi I am the son of righteousness. The difference is the second word that jumps at us out of this passage. These two disciples on the way to Emmaus were afraid of change. It is all too easy for us to get stuck in our ruts and we reason that if the resurrection of Jesus really is true, then we must change our way of thinking and living. Indeed, that is exactly true, because ...
Understanding Series
Robert H. Mounce
... . 7.2). According to the Book of Jubilees a man is to die if on the Sabbath he goes on a journey, farms, lights a fire, rides a beast, travels by ship, kills a beast, or catches a fish (50:12). From the Pharisaic perspective, the disciples had unlawfully reaped (pluck the grain), winnowed (rub it between the hands), threshed (separate the chaff), and prepared a meal (eat the grain). 12:3–8 Jesus responds to the Pharisees by asking whether they had read about when David and his companions entered the house ...
Understanding Series
Robert H. Mounce
... on the Mount of Olives and considered the eastern boundary of Jerusalem (the name means “house of the country districts,” Lat. pagi). The Mount of Olives is directly east from Jerusalem across the Kidron valley and held an important place in Jewish eschatology. The two disciples are told that, if anyone says anything to them about untying the animals, they are to indicate that the Lord needs them. If the latter part of verse 3 (and he will send them right away) is part of the statement to the owner, it ...
Sermon
Tom Garrison
... knew what it was to suffer, and he also knew the gift of receiving the blessing of life and living it. The other part of the scripture lesson reflects the time that he made everything calm and not just a place in the storm. He sensed the spirit of the disciples as they came to believe more and more about living and believing in Jesus: "Truly you are the Son of God." To many it is much easier to turn to God when the storm or crisis is around, but what happens to us when the seas calm down? The storms ...
Understanding Series
Larry W. Hurtado
... no doubt a later insertion, however, and for this reason it appears only in the margin in the NIV translation of the verse. The only genuine reference to Christians fasting in Mark is therefore 2:20, which seems to refer to the mourning of the disciples after Jesus’ crucifixion. This should be understood in the context of the emphasis on food and eating in Mark, where Jesus is pictured as bestowing participation in the kingdom of God to sinners by eating with them (2:15–17), where “bread” is used to ...
Understanding Series
Robert H. Mounce
... during his earthly existence; elsewhere it is found in passages that emphasize the glory of his triumphant return at the end of the age. 8:21–22 The first man said he would follow Jesus but he needed to be reminded of the cost. Now a second disciple says that he will follow Jesus but first must return home and bury his father. That the first would-be follower called Jesus “Teacher” (v. 19) and the second calls him “Lord” (v. 21; Gk. kyrios) does not help us identify the two with any precision ...
Understanding Series
Robert H. Mounce
... s kingdom is expelling another, there soon will be nothing left. The second part of the argument (vv. 27–28) is even more damaging. Let us say for the sake of argument that I cast out demons by Beelzebub’s power. Tell me, by what power do your disciples do the same? What your own followers do proves you are wrong. Jewish exorcists were widely known in the first century. Acts 19:13–20 relates the story of the seven sons of the Jewish high priest Sceva, who, attempting to cast out demons in the name of ...
1571. The Rich Young Man
Matthew 19:16-30
Understanding Series
Robert H. Mounce
... of his willingness to place God’s priorities first in his own life. The monastic requirement of poverty grew out of a misunderstanding of this verse. The idea of two levels of moral obligation is not true to the intent of the passage. 19:23–26 Turning to his disciples, Jesus summarizes the incident by noting how difficult it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich [person] to enter the kingdom of God. Obviously ...
1572. Jesus Arrested
Matthew 26:47-56
Understanding Series
Robert H. Mounce
... to be a proverb (cf. Gen. 9:6 and Rev. 13:10) and therefore must be interpreted with careful attention to the context. It is not a general rule that forbids defensive action at any time whatsoever. Jesus did not need the help of a few relatively harmless disciples, because he had at his disposal (had he chosen to take the route of personal defense) a vast army of angels. Twelve legions would be in excess of 72,000 (a Roman legion numbered 6,000 infantry plus 120 cavalry). However, if he called upon God for ...
Understanding Series
Larry W. Hurtado
... the Twelve and is supposed to learn from what is said to them and about them the high privilege and duties of discipleship, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the difficulties and temptations to failure. In the present passage, Jesus says of his disciples that they have become his true family. Though it is fairly clear that the Twelve are the ones referred to, the more general description of those Jesus commends as those seated in a circle around him (3:34) has the effect of leaving the circle open ...
Understanding Series
Larry W. Hurtado
... or here in 8:28). There is the crowd at Nazareth who see in Jesus only a home-town boy (6:2–3). There are the disciples, also, who up to this point have shown wonder and bewilderment at Jesus (4:41; 6:52). Only the voice from heaven (1:11) and the ... their confession of him as Christ among anyone else. It is not just that others would not understand its proper meaning; even the disciples do not yet know what they are saying! Additional Notes 8:27 Caesarea Philippi was located near the northern shore of the ...
Understanding Series
Larry W. Hurtado
... by others. In the actual situation, it was perhaps prudent for the Twelve to have remained in hiding, for there may have been some initial interest among the authorities in arresting them as well. But in the context of Mark’s description of Jesus’ disciples as abandoning him (14:50), we are probably to think of their failure to appear for Jesus’ body as an example of cowardice as much as prudence. Pilate’s surprise about Jesus being already dead (v. 44) is explained when one realizes that crucified ...
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