Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2401 to 2425 of 3099 results

Ezekiel 26:1-21, Ezekiel 27:1-36, Ezekiel 28:1-19, Ezekiel 28:20-26

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... ,” p. 162). 28:14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub. The NIV follows the MT here. On the other hand, the reading “with a cherub,” assumed by LXX, is also found in the Syr. Although Greenberg observes that the feminine ʾatt is used for a masculine subject twice, in Num. 11:15 and Deut. 5:24, and so might have that meaning here as well (Ezekiel 21–37, p. 583), this is certainly not the expected reading. With the NRSV, it is best to follow the LXX here. As Stephen Cook observes, the cherubim in ...

2402. Egypt

Ezekiel 29:1-21, Ezekiel 30:1-26, Ezekiel 31:1-18, Ezekiel 32:1-32

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... hand (v. 24; compare vv. 10–11). As for Pharaoh’s people, “I will disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries” (vv. 23, 26; compare 29:12; 30:17). Although Nebuchadnezzar neither despoiled Egypt nor subjected it to exile, Hophra’s “broken arm” never healed. Perhaps because of his failed military ventures, including an ill-starred expedition against Cyrene, Hophra lost the loyalty of the Egyptian army. The troops made the popular general Amasis their Pharaoh ...

2403. 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

... this picture: the sheep are not pets, after all. Ezekiel does not question the right of the shepherds to take milk and wool, or even to slaughter their charges for the meat (v. 3); neither does he question the right of rulers to command their subjects, and to benefit from their rule over their people. What Ezekiel does do is accuse the shepherds of cruelty, and hence of poor stewardship: “You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the ...

2404. Sermon on the Mount: Allegiance and Trust

Matthew 6:19-24, Matthew 6:25-34

Teach the Text

Jeannine K. Brown

... ’s ability and desire to meet needs of daily food and clothing are powerful words for those in our congregations who are poor and struggle to make ends meet. And we should not be afraid to preach both messages, even if we risk offending sensibilities on this touchy subject. And we would be wrong to think that worry about daily life eludes the rich and those with enough to live on. Rather, worry about daily life plagues the rich as well as the poor, even if the worries may not be about putting food on the ...

2405. Jesus, Isaiah’s Servant of the Lord, Heals Many

Matthew 8:14-17, Matthew 8:5-13, Matthew 8:1-4

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Jeannine K. Brown

... you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. The astonishing twist in the use of this Old Testament motif in Matthew 8 is that the “many” joining the messianic feast will include Gentiles. The reference to the exclusion of the “subjects of the kingdom” is not meant to be exhaustive; Jews most certainly will be included in the kingdom (e.g., the twelve disciples and the many seekers who put their faith in him [e.g., Matt. 8:1–4; 9:1–8]). The effect of the hyperbole ...

2406. Jesus Eats with Sinners and Heals the Sick

Matthew 9:9-13, Matthew 9:14-17, Matthew 9:18-26, Matthew 9:27-34

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Jeannine K. Brown

... (see 11:5). Stories of raising the dead also appear in the Old Testament (1 Kings 17:17–24; 2 Kings 4:32–37), and these may form a narrative backdrop to the Gospel accounts (also Luke 7:11–17; John 11). 9:20 woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. The account of the healing of this woman occurs in intercalation with the raising of a girl, with Matthew drawing on one of Mark’s famous “sandwich” story pairs (using an ABA pattern; see Mark 5:21–43). So the two intertwining ...

2407. Jesus Enters Jerusalem as a Peaceable and Humble King

Matthew 20:29-34, Matthew 21:1-11

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Jeannine K. Brown

... had not been forewarned.”1We see such signs of prearrangement at 26:18–19, where Jesus has his disciples connect with a particular person to arrange their celebration of Passover. 21:3 he will send them right away. The Greek is ambiguous regarding the subject of the verb “send.” It might be “the Lord” (the closest referent), but this makes little sense in context. The more likely referent is the “anyone,” who could quite likely be the owner of the animals. 21:4–5 This took place to ...

2408. The Authority of Jesus over Sickness and Death

Mark 5:21-43

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Grant R. Osborne

... healed him, and in 3:10 many ill people tried to “touch” Jesus to be healed (also 6:5; 7:32; 8:23), so Jairus asks Jesus to “put his hands” on the girl, believing that this could “heal” her. 5:25–26 a woman . . . subject to bleeding. In the large crowd jostling Jesus there was a tragic figure, a woman of no particular status (not named or wealthy like Jairus). Mark tells her heart-wrenching story in seven successive participles. During the entire life of Jairus’s daughter (twelve years ...

2409. Spiritual Hypocrisy—Living by the Rules, Not by the Heart

Mark 7:1-23

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Grant R. Osborne

... twist the sacred truths and become an end in themselves. Our belief system demands models and metaphors that explain the truths that we have inherited and enable us to be faithful to them. The key is to make our traditions heuristic, subject to rethinking and revision as dictated by our understanding of Scripture and of our own religious heritage. Rules have a positive function of defining a movement, keeping it separate from outsiders, and establishing proper conduct. All these functions are needed, and ...

2410. Spiritual Blindness and the Way to Overcome It

Mark 8:22-26, Mark 8:14-21

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Grant R. Osborne

... past can bring great encouragement amid times of uncertainty or challenge in the present. Bring an object that speaks of God’s past faithfulness to you and take time to remember. The results of spiritual blindness Humor: Children share funny perspectives on many subjects, including God. Here are some questions posed by children to God. “Dear God, Are you a ninja? Is that why I can’t see you?” (Jacob). “Dear God, Are you really invisible or is that just a trick?” (Lucy). “Dear God, Instead of ...

2411. The Resurrection of Jesus and the Promise of Victory

Mark 16:1-20

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Grant R. Osborne

... to show the existential impact of Jesus on his followers, but the creed of 1 Corinthians 15:3–8 developed within five years of the event, and no developed “myth” has ever appeared that quickly. (5) Ernest Renan and Willi Marxsen called it a “subjective vision” or dream interpreted by the early followers as sent from God, but this cannot explain the appearance to five hundred (too great a mass hallucination to be believed). (6) Günther Bornkamm, C. F. D. Moule, and others labeled them “objective ...

2412. The Boy Jesus in the Temple

Luke 2:41-52

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R.T. France

... have been the only person listening to teachers in the court of the Gentiles. The teachers may have been officially recognized scribes, though Jesus’s own later practice shows that others could set themselves up as teachers without being formally licensed. The subject of teaching is likely to have been the interpretation of the law and its implications for both theology and ethics. 2:47 amazed at his understanding and his answers. Jesus seems to have attracted attention, partly no doubt because of his ...

2413. John the Baptist

Luke 3:1-20

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R.T. France

... that would accompany the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:3). 3:19 John rebuked Herod. Antipas’s recent marriage (in AD 26) to Herodias, who had divorced her previous husband (Antipas’s brother) contrary to Jewish law, was a scandal to his Jewish subjects. A popular preacher who dared to challenge it was a threat to public order as well as a personal embarrassment. John was clearly not one to compromise, and he paid the price. Luke mentions his imprisonment here, and in 9:9 he will refer to ...

2414. Lord of the Sabbath and Appointing the Twelve

Luke 6:12-16, Luke 6:1-11

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R.T. France

... challenges the scribes. He is shifting the ground away from definitions of “work” to first principles. Of course no one would say that you should “do evil” or “destroy” on the Sabbath or on any other day. So Jesus, by his own authority, subjects Sabbath rules to human need. By framing the issue in these terms, Jesus undercuts the whole scribal enterprise. No wonder they “were furious”! 6:12 spent the night praying to God. The priority of prayer in Jesus’s ministry is a regular theme ...

2415. “Love Your Enemies”

Luke 6:27-38

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R.T. France

... to these particular sayings of Jesus. The call to love one’s “enemies” seems to relate in context more to personal enemies than to the politics of Jewish resistance to Rome. But Palestinian life was lived in the constant consciousness of political subjection and oppression, made worse by the ideological shame of the people of God being under the control of a pagan power. To talk of loving enemies in that context might seem to many at least starry-eyed if not downright unpatriotic. New Testament ...

2416. Jesus and Women

Luke 7:36--8:3

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R.T. France

... to accept the full involvement of women in mission and leadership, and it suggests that a simplistic view of women as essentially subordinate to men (on the basis of Paul’s so-called submission texts) does not represent all the biblical data on the subject. Teaching the Text A sermon or lesson on this passage should bring out its central theme, one that appears again and again in Luke’s Gospel: the recipients of God’s salvation are those who come to him humbly, recognizing their unworthiness and need ...

2417. A Sick Woman and a Dead Girl

Luke 8:40-56

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R.T. France

... Gospel stories) probably indicates that he was a leading figure in the community. That such a man should prostrate himself before Jesus shows the respect in which Jesus was now held among Jews (in contrast with his recent rejection in the Decapolis). 8:43 subject to bleeding for twelve years. This is normally assumed to be a menstrual disorder, but no details are given. The ritual defilement associated with such a problem (see above), both for herself and for all associated with her, not only would be an ...

2418. Lessons on Devotion and Prayer

Luke 11:1-13, Luke 10:38-42

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R.T. France

... or many items for the meal?) that Martha was busy with. On the latest NIV reading,[2] however, Jesus apparently asks for a simpler meal (“few things”) rather than the more elaborate hospitality that Martha feels obliged to offer, and then he changes the subject by focusing on the “one thing” (listening to the word of God) that Mary has chosen. On either reading there is a deliberate word play on what is “needed” for the meal and what is spiritually most necessary. Mary has chosen what is better ...

2419. Interpreting the Times

Luke 12:54-59, Luke 12:49-53, Luke 12:35-48

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R.T. France

... own mission. Until all that is accomplished, Jesus feels “constrained,” frustrated, longing to have it all completed. That the fire is not yet “kindled” suggests that he is thinking particularly of the coming judgment that will result from his mission (and which has been the subject of 12:45–48). 12:51 peace on earth . . . division. The angels spoke of the coming of peace on earth in 2:14 (and cf. 19:38), and Jesus’s disciples have been sent to proclaim peace (10:5–6); he himself wants to ...

2420. “Unless You Repent . . .”

Luke 13:10-17, Luke 13:1-9

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R.T. France

... of the law and of those who acted as its interpreters. Historical and Cultural Background Josephus records a number of incidents in which the insensitivity of the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate (already introduced in 3:1) led to brutal reprisals against his subjects’ resistance (Josephus, Ant. 18.55–59, 60–62, 85–87; see also Philo, Embassy 299–305). The incident mentioned in 13:1 is not otherwise recorded, but clearly it is in character. Galileans were not under Pilate’s jurisdiction, but the ...

2421. Lost and Found

Luke 15:1-7, Luke 15:8-10, Luke 15:11-32

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R.T. France

... ; note especially the ultimate degradation for a Jew: feeding pigs. Bailey fills out the picture especially with details about the carob “pods” that the pigs were given.2 15:17–19 he came to his senses. These verses portray the “repentance” that was the subject of the first two parables (15:7, 10), even though that term is not used here. His motive was primarily a self-centered need to survive, but his decision still represents a total reversal of his previous attitude and an acceptance of his ...

2422. Two Parables about Prayer

Luke 18:9-14, Luke 18:1-8

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R.T. France

... up. Luke sometimes gives an introductory “steer” to guide his readers’ interpretation of a parable (cf. 18:9; 19:11). This one is expressed in quite general terms; it does not relate specifically to praying for the coming of the Son of Man, which has been the subject of the preceding section and will return in 18:8b. 18:2 who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. The judge in the story represents God, but this initial description makes it clear that his character is not to be seen as a ...

2423. The Revolutionary Values of the Kingdom of God

Luke 18:31-34, Luke 18:18-30, Luke 18:15-17

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R.T. France

... according to his standards, and thus was a goal to be eagerly pursued. The wealthy deserved respect and exerted social influence over those less successful. The specific reference to “the Gentiles” in 18:32 reminds us that Judea, unlike Galilee, was directly subject to Roman power, and that the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem had only limited powers of government; they did not have the right to impose a death penalty (see John 18:31). Interpretive Insights 18:15 bringing babies to Jesus for him to ...

2424. A Blind Beggar and a Rich Scoundrel

Luke 19:1-10, Luke 18:35-43

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R.T. France

... Jesus is portrayed especially as the Savior of lost people everywhere. The Zacchaeus story also invites us to think again about wealth, its dangers, and its proper use, themes we have seen again and again in Luke’s Gospel. What makes this rich man a possible subject for salvation in contrast to the rich man in 18:18–25? How does Zacchaeus’s massive “redistribution of wealth” relate to Jesus’s demands in 12:33; 18:22? In what ways might God be looking for a similar response from rich people today ...

2425. Challenge and Counterchallenge

Luke 20:9-19, Luke 20:1-8

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R.T. France

... messiah” seemed determined to cause trouble. For Jesus, of course, the temple was not theirs, but simply “my Father’s house” (2:49). 20:4 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? What looks like an evasive changing of the subject (especially when Jesus will go on to refuse a straight answer to their question) in fact implies a bold claim. John also had no formal authorization, but his ministry (here referred to by its most memorable feature, John’s innovative rite of baptism ...

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