Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1551 to 1575 of 5000 results

John 18:1-11, John 18:12-14

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... Jesus’ arrest by the Roman soldiers and the temple guards. The synoptic Gethsemane scene is echoed only in Jesus’ rebuke to Peter for trying to defend him with a sword: Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me? (v. 11; cf. Mark 14:36 and parallels). The “garden” is described as an enclosed area; Jesus and his disciples went into it, according to verse 1, and in verse 4 Jesus went out to speak with those who had come to arrest him. The explanation that it was a favorite ...

1552. Pressing on Toward the Goal

Philippians 3:12-4:1

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... , as though Paul were not committing himself to its use. To be sure, if any of his readers claimed to be perfect in a sense that could not be achieved short of the day of Christ, there may be a word of admonition for them: it was a mark of the mature to recognize that such perfection was unattainable during mortal life. Let no man think that sudden in a minute All is accomplished and the work is done; Though with thine earliest dawn thou shouldst begin it Scarce were it ended in thy setting sun. (F. W. H ...

1553. The Flood

Genesis 6:1-8:22

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

... God displayed his mercy after the deluge by establishing a unilateral covenant of peace with all humans, not just Noah. In fact, Noah continued to live like the other primeval peoples until his death. A second problem is the literary issue of how to explain the repetitions that mark this account. Those repetitions include two names for God, Yahweh and Elohim; a flood of forty days (7:4, 12, 17a) and a deluge of 150 days (7:24; 8:3); the command to take on board a pair of all animals (6:19–20) in contrast ...

1554. Clean and Unclean Foods

Deuteronomy 14:1-21

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... the greater priority of moral issues over purely ritual ones (e.g., 1 Sam. 15:22; Hos. 6:6; Ps. 51:16ff.), so it was not this perception alone that led to the abrogation of OT food laws in the NT. In the context of the saying in Mark, Jesus went to Tyre, met a Gentile woman, and healed her daughter. This rare exception to Jesus’ normal practice of remaining among Jews pointed forward to the removal of the distinction between Jew and Gentile in the extended and redefined Israel of the Messiah. This end to ...

1555. Exclusion From the Assembly

Deuteronomy 23:1-8

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... the remedy is merely a day’s quarantine and washing. The instructions of vv. 12f. have obvious hygienic benefits, even though the explicit reason given is religious (v. 14). There are many countries where the routine burial of excrement would have a marked effect on the health of millions of the world’s population where, without adequate latrines, people defecate in the open and insect borne diseases spread easily. Since God was aware of the effects of germs long before humans knew of their existence ...

1556. Solomon's Adversaries

1 Kings 11:14-25

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... verse is much better understood in terms, not of his social status (a man of standing), but of his physique—he had the physical attributes of a warrior (cf. gibbôr ḥayil in Josh. 1:14; 6:2; 8:3; Judg. 11:1; etc.). It is such attributes that mark men out for leadership in the OT, and indeed for kingship (see 1 Sam. 9:1–2, where gibbor ḥayil is also best understood in these terms; cf. 10:23–24). Solomon advances a man eminently suited to be, and certainly destined to be, his successor. Not for the ...

1557. The Widow's Oil

2 Kings 4:1-7

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... their assigned tasks (e.g., Matt. 17:14–21; Luke 9:37–43) and require Jesus’ own presence. Some of Jesus’ followers invest great faith in his ability to heal—and even to raise from the dead—when present (e.g., John 11:17–37; cf. also Mark 5:21–24, 35–43; Luke 7:11–17 for resurrection stories that pick up elements from 2 Kgs. 4). Nevertheless, the highest commendation is reserved for those who believe that only his words are necessary (e.g., Luke 7:1–10). 4:38 In that region: The ...

1558. Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem

2 Kings 18:17-37

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... of course, that Hezekiah does look to Egypt, but the Assyrian is covering all the possibilities. His next assault is right on the mark. Do Hezekiah and his officials depend on the LORD? Well then, what of the fact that it is his high places and altars ... for two words in the construct to appear in apposition to one another (GKC §130e). 18:29 From my hand: The MT has “his hand,” marking out the latter part of the verse through to the beginning of v. 31 as the words, not of the king, but of the commander. ...

1559. Salvation for Others

Isaiah 56:1-8

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... social concern with the sabbath in Amos 8:5 and Jeremiah 17:19–27. Here the issue is different again, for the sabbath has become a mark of Jewish distinctiveness (cf., e.g., Ezek. 20; Neh. 13:15–22). It is the very mark of “holding fast to Yahweh’s covenant” (vv. 4, 6). So foreigners and eunuchs who accept this discipline are taking on the marks of Jewish distinctiveness and ought to be welcomed into the congregation. There is again a contrast with the one earlier reference to foreigners in 2:6 ...

1560. Oracles of Restoration

Ezekiel 34:1-31, Ezekiel 35:1-15, Ezekiel 36:1-38, Ezekiel 37:1-14, Ezekiel 37:15-28

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... ). The desolate land will be populated, and will flourish once more. Indeed, the nations will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited” (v. 35). This marks the fifth reference to Eden in Ezekiel (see also 28:13; 31:9, 16, 18), which mentions the garden of paradise nearly as often as Genesis (2:8, 10, 15; 3:23–24, 4:16). Indeed, apart from Ezekiel and Genesis, only Isaiah 51:3 and ...

1561. A Prophecy Against Gog

Ezekiel 38:1-39:29

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... the valley. In Hebrew, “the Valley of Hamon Gog” is geyʾ hamon gog, a clear pun on Gehenna, or the valley of Hinnom (see the discussion of 20:26). If the valley where Gog’s hordes are buried is the valley of Hinnom, that would make Hamonah, which marks this spot like a gravestone, the city of Jerusalem (M. Odell, “The City of Hamonah in Ezekiel 39:11–16: The Tumultuous City of Jerusalem,” CBQ 56 [1994], pp. 480–81). As in 48:35, this text does not call the city by name but identifies it only ...

1562. Epilogue to the Law of the Temple: River, Land, City

Ezekiel 47:1-12, Ezekiel 47:13-23, Ezekiel 48:1-29, Ezekiel 48:30-35

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... 47 may provide a clue as to what the writer was doing. The priestly writer in Numbers begins in the south, with a clearly marked border, then moves west to the Sea. The northern border is sketchy, as is the eastern border until the Sea of Galilee. The ... reads thee for the unfamiliar architectural term taʾ [“chamber”] in the MT; compare the rendering of Aramaic words in Gk. characters in Mark 5:41; 7:34; 14:36; 15:22, 34). That the transliteration makes sense in Gk. is an unintended coincidence. 47:9 ...

1563. Transition to Jesus’ Public Ministry

Matthew 4:12-17

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... .g., 21:10–11; 26:69). As R. T. France highlights... Even an impeccably Jewish Galilean in first-century Jerusalem was not among his own people; he was as much a foreigner as an Irishman in London or a Texan in New York. His accent would immediately mark him out as “not one of us,” and all the communal prejudice of the supposedly superior culture of the capital city would stand against his claim to be heard even as a prophet, let alone as the “Messiah,” a title which, as everyone knew, belonged to ...

1564. Jesus Begins His Ministry to Israel

Matthew 4:23-25, Matthew 4:18-22

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... Jesus: the arrival of God’s kingdom or reign in this world and the call to respond in repentance—that is, returning to God and God’s ways. Matthew’s “kingdom of heaven” is essentially identical to “the kingdom of God” as used in Mark (and Luke). Although some have argued for a distinction between Matthew’s preferred phrase, “the kingdom of heaven,” and his use of “the kingdom of God” (12:28; 19:24; 21:31, 43), there is no substantial difference between these locutions, other than a ...

1565. The Disciples Confess Jesus as the Messiah

Matthew 16:1-4, Matthew 16:5-12, Matthew 16:13-20

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... as the ways that they fall short of discipleship ideals. Preaching both sides of the picture requires us to explore how Jesus meets them in their weaknesses. The following lyric, based on Hebrews 12:1–3, expresses how Jesus remains with us even as we fall short of the mark. Trembling limbs as the race begins I wonder if I’ll finish this course I’ve begun; Looking in I see all my sin, And it drags me down, keeps me from moving ahead. But far, far in the distance I see him He is there holding out his ...

1566. The Disciples’ Insufficient Faith to Heal as Jesus Heals

Matthew 17:14-23, Matthew 17:24-27

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... included in some Greek manuscripts: “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” Given that this line is missing from quite a number of reliable Greek manuscripts, and that something quite like it occurs in the parallel account in Mark 9:29, the sentence is not likely original to Matthew. Particularly in the Gospels, copyists often added words to one Gospel that they recalled from another in its parallel account. 17:22 When they came together in Galilee. Rather than assuming that the ...

1567. The Jewish Leaders as Negative Foil for Jesus’ Followers

Matthew 23:1-39

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... ’ houses. This verse, a woe about mistreating widows and saying long prayers, is very likely not original to Matthew’s Gospel. It has limited manuscript support (only later and less reliable witnesses include it), and it likely is an interpolation from Mark and/or Luke (cf. Mark 12:40; Luke 20:47). 23:16 You say, “If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing.” Matthew 23:16–22 indicts those who thoughtlessly and rashly make oaths to give weight to their words (see 5:34). Similarly, Philo ...

1568. The Path of Discipleship

Mark 8:31--9:1

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... :13–14. In both Testaments to be “put to shame” is to stand before God in judgment. The “holy angels” refers to the heavenly council, the divine tribunal (Job 2:1; Matt. 25:31). Angels as the agents of Jesus at the parousia are noted elsewhere in the Gospels (Mark 13:27 // Matt. 24:31; Matt. 13:41, 49; cf. Dan. 7:10; 12:1; Zech. 14:5). Those who care only for the world and give Jesus only token allegiance will answer to him at the final judgment (the “great white throne” of Rev. 20:11–15). 9 ...

1569. Praying in Faith

Mark 11:20-25 (26)

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... God,” assuring them that God is on their side) but in this context is better seen as a command, exhorting them to a greater awareness of God and presenting faith as the only way they can participate in the authority that Jesus has just demonstrated. In Mark faith is more than trust in God; it is a completely God-dependent perspective on life. R. T. France notes that the plural verbs in verses 22, 24–25 emphasize the importance of communal prayer.3 11:23 if anyone says to this mountain, “Go, throw ...

1570. Jesus Is Tested in Gethsemane

Mark 14:32-42

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

... God is sovereign and omnipotent, emphasized earlier in 10:27 (“all things are possible” [cf. 9:23]). God is in control of all events, so in his power over this world he can remove Jesus’s agony as well as the reason for it. This is so important that Mark says it indirectly in verse 35 and shows it directly in verse 36. In verse 35 Jesus makes his request conditionally. “If possible” means that God can do so if it is his will. The “hour” of verse 35 and the “cup” of verse 36 are synonymous ...

1571. Luke the Historian

Luke 1:1-4

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... of the “many,” it appears that at least some of those earlier accounts already existed in written form. As mentioned above, Mark’s Gospel should probably be understood to be one of these predecessors, and many scholars believe that Luke also used a ... with which he opens his account of Jesus’s Galilean ministry (4:16–30) occurs later in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, and it includes a reference to Jesus’s previous activity in Capernaum (4:23) before Luke has recorded Jesus’s first visit ...

1572. A Special Child Promised

Luke 1:5-25

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... , for John it was to be from birth and for life. In this he conforms to the image of Samson, another special child born to a supposedly barren mother (Judg. 13:2–7); compare also Samuel (1 Sam. 1:11). John’s adherence to this ascetic model was to mark him out in distinction from Jesus, who, as Luke will later note, was known to enjoy eating and drinking wine (7:33–34). 1:17 in the spirit and power of Elijah. The return of Elijah was widely expected in Jewish circles as the prelude to God’s coming ...

1573. Mary’s Song—the Magnificat

Luke 1:46-56, Luke 1:39-45

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... status of Mary’s son, and Mary speaks with delight and wonder of the incredible honor of being the mother of God’s Son. The paradoxical values expressed in Mary’s song prepare the reader for the repeated challenges to the status quo that will mark Jesus’s ministry as this Gospel will describe it. Outline/Structure Mary’s song in 1:46–55, the “Magnificat,”1is the first of three poetic declarations that are a striking feature of Luke’s birth narratives; the others are the songs of Zechariah ...

1574. John the Baptist

Luke 3:1-20

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... experience, indicating a complete change in a person’s relation to God, and in this it prepared the way for Christian baptism. 3:4 A voice of one calling in the wilderness. Luke’s full quotation of Isaiah 40:3–5 (cf. the shorter quotations in Matt. 3:3; Mark 1:3; John 1:23) emphasizes John’s role as the one who prepares for God’s coming to save his people. We have noted in the earlier references to John’s role as Elijah and in the Benedictus that the Old Testament texts refer to a forerunner ...

1575. The Baptism of Jesus

Luke 3:21-38

Teach the Text

R.T. France

... than do the other Gospel writers. Here, at his first adult appearance, Jesus is already a man of prayer. heaven was opened. Mark’s account of this event can be read as a private experience of Jesus, who “saw” heaven opened and to whom alone ... power of the Spirit (cf. the visible coming of the Spirit on the apostles at Pentecost [Acts 2:3]). Endowment with God’s Spirit was to be a mark of the Messiah (Isa. 11:2; 42:1; 61:1). For the sequel in Jesus’s ministry in Luke, see 4:1, 14, 18. in bodily form ...

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