Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 2451 to 2475 of 2962 results

2451. The Preparation of Daniel and His Friends

Daniel 1:1-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... object to them. They single out the important issues and do not pick quarrels over anything and everything that is different 1:8–20 · The challenge:The issue of food and drink is highly significant to Daniel and his friends. The Lord had clearly designated certain foods as unclean (Lev. 7:22–27; 11:1–47). Moreover, the royal court was closely associated with pagan temples, as food and drink were symbolically dedicated to the gods. Daniel humbly asks for permission not to eat the royal diet. The court ...

2452. The Fiery Furnace

Daniel 3:1-30

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... feet high, and nine feet wide. It probably was erected in honor of Nebo (or Nabu), the patron god of Nebuchadnezzar. The Valley of Dura, where the statue is set up, is unknown as a place-name. It simply may have been a place designated for the occasion. Filled with pride, the king demands that all his officials worship the image. He calls on the satraps, prefects, governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all provincial officials to join him in dedicating the image he has set up. The king ...

2453. Daniel’s Prayer and Vision of the Seventy Weeks

Daniel 9:1-19, Daniel 9:20-27

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... in Jerusalem), or 445 BC (Nehemiah’s permission to restore the walls of Jerusalem). Third, what is the meaning of “the Anointed One”? While “Anointed” is capitalized in some English translations (NIV, NLT), Hebrew does not use capital letters to designate titles or proper names. Interpreters have connected the Anointed One with Cyrus, the antichrist, a Roman emperor, and Jesus Christ. Fourth, who will “confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven’” (9:27)? Some hold that the Messiah is the ...

2454. Punishment for Israel

Hosea 9:1--10:15

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... of Egypt and Assyria, where they will have to eat unclean food. In these pagan lands they will not be able to sacrifice to God. They will not be able to please or appease God; they will be defiled. So what will happen on future festival days that were designed to honor God? The people will not celebrate these days but will suffer desolation, live and die in Egypt, and not be able to enjoy all the things that silver and gold used to buy them (9:6). Hosea closes the first half of this chapter with a final ...

2455. The Lord Protects and Rescues Jonah

Jonah 2:1-10

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... with death (2:2; NIV “deep in the realm of the dead”), and observes that the bars of the earth restrain him (2:6). A number of texts mention the “bars” or “gates” of Sheol (Job 17:16; 38:17; Ps. 9:13; Isa. 38:10). The term designates a place of separation or removal from God, yet Jonah’s poem affirms that somehow God hears his prayer even from the roots of the mountains (2:2) and that he has been rescued by the Lord from the “pit” (another synonym for death, 2:6). Jonah’s submersion ...

2456. The Zeal and Power of God

Nahum 1:1-15

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

1:1–6 · The principle underlying divine judgment: The prophecy of Nahum is described as an oracle or “burden” (1:1 ASV, KJV). This word is regularly used of statements of a threatening nature. The fact that this prophecy is also designated as a vision points out that it is an official message from God, not spite on Nahum’s part. Though God has seemingly been overlooking Assyria’s sins against him and Israel, this is not due to either weakness or lack of zeal on God’s part (1:2–3a). ...

2457. The Cause and Certainty of Nineveh’s Downfall

Nahum 3:1-19

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... already dead, the last remnant of the kingdom disappearing in 609, when Babylon forced the last holdouts to flee Harran. Nahum closes with an epitaph for the king of Assyria (3:18–19). “Shepherd” is a common Old Testament and ancient Near Eastern designation for rulers. With the demise of rulers and nobles, Nineveh’s people will be scattered on the mountains without a trace throughout the nations, without a hope of any healing, without a chance of recovering. Its passing will go unmourned. On the ...

2458. Judah’s Idolatry

Zephaniah 1:4-13

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... be prepared for the day of the Lord. Zephaniah’s admonition of silence (1:7) is a prophetic call for people to recognize the difference between the Creator and his creatures. Humanity cannot justify itself before God, the master of the universe. The designation “Sovereign Lord” (NIV; literally “Lord Lord” or “Lord Yahweh”) emphasizes the control of God. He who dwells in his holy place calls on humanity to be silent. The Judge of the universe has prepared a day of judgment. Moreover, the people ...

2459. Oracles of Judgment against the Nations

Zephaniah 2:4-7

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... his people. The language of remnant, shepherding, and lying down is further developed in 3:12–13. God’s people will be able to enjoy the inheritance promised to them by Yahweh himself. The promise belongs to “the remnant” (2:7), a term designating the faithful among the covenant people who seek Yahweh. The promise of the peaceful possession of this earth belongs to the godly. The Lord will “care” for them by bestowing his divine favor on them. The remnant receives the assurance that Yahweh has ...

2460. Fourth Message: The Restoration of the Davidic Kingdom

Haggai 2:20-23

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... servant passages” of Isaiah 42, 49, 50, and 53. God’s Messiah will successfully accomplish the task for which he was sent. The term “signet ring” (2:23) refers to the authority given to the Messiah. He will be God’s personal representative. The designation is one of high honor and privilege. It is noteworthy that the curse on Zerubbabel’s grandfather Jehoiachin (Coniah) is couched in language involving the signet ring. Though he was the signet ring on God’s right hand, he was pulled off and ...

2461. Cleansing from Sin

Zechariah 13:1-6, Zechariah 13:7-9

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... passage makes it clear that the rejection and slaying of the shepherd is no accident of history. He is the one whom God has appointed for his people, the one who alone can fully provide for all the needs of the flock. The remarkable designation “the man who is close to me” (13:7) identifies the shepherd as both man and “colleague” or “associate” of God. When the shepherd is struck, the sheep will be scattered. The term “little ones” emphasizes their helpless condition. A great catastrophe is ...

2462. The Tithe

Malachi 3:6-18

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... their obedience to him. Malachi intends to let us into the discussions of two distinct groups. The complaints of the first group are loud and clear (3:14–15), but what are the godly saying? It does not seem to matter. Instead, Malachi emphasizes the various designations for the godly by drawing our immediate attention to God’s responsiveness to his children, that God knows his own. It may be that the godly pray in the spirit of Psalm 73 for God to take care of their pains, while expressing trust in him ...

2463. The Cost of Discipleship

Matthew 8:18-22

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

Matthew includes here a teaching on discipleship. Although the identity of the two “would-be” disciples has been debated (is either a true disciple?), the account focuses on Jesus’s expectations for his disciples in light of the arrival of God’s kingdom: sacrifice and uncompromising allegiance (8:18–20), even in the face of family obligations (8:21–22; for “Son of Man” [8:20] as Jesus’s self-designation, see “Theological Themes” in the introduction).

2464. Preparation for Ministry

Mark 1:1-8

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... intrusion in the world is not a doctrine, teaching, or law, but a person, Jesus of Nazareth. Surprisingly, Mark begins a Gospel intended for Roman Gentiles with a quotation from the Old Testament (1:2–3). The introduction to the quotation, “It is written,” designates the authority of God. The quotation is a collage of three Old Testament texts: verse 2 comes from Exodus 23:20 and Malachi 3:1; and verse 3 comes from Isaiah 40:3. The whole is attributed to Isaiah—who was considered the greatest of ...

2465. Baptism and Temptation

Mark 1:9-13

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... Sonship is acknowledged and declared at the baptism. The divine declaration of verse 11 combines Suffering Servant imagery (see Isa. 42:1; 49:3), royal Sonship imagery (Ps. 2:7; Exod. 4:22–23), and beloved filial imagery (Gen. 22:2, 12, 16). The three heavenly signs designate the baptism as the inaugural event of Jesus’s ministry, in which he is empowered by God’s Spirit to speak and act not simply for God, but as God. Jesus’s forty-day trial in the wilderness (1:12–13) may reflect God’s testing ...

2466. Jesus Heals a Paralytic

Mark 2:1-12

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... and physical realms is the same authority. In answer to the scribe’s question, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Mark invites us to supply the name of Jesus. In the Gospels, “Son of Man” occurs only from the mouth of Jesus as a self-designation. It occurs fourteen times in Mark, where, in agreement with its uses in the other Gospels, it refers (1) to Jesus’s future exaltation as judge (8:38; 13:26; 14:62), (2) to Jesus’s earthly authority (2:10, 28), and most frequently (3) to Jesus ...

2467. Jesus Sends out the Twelve

Mark 6:7-13

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... need not go in faith; and if they do not go in faith, their proclamation is not believable. The command to remain where they are received (6:10) teaches that trust in the Jesus who sends them into mission includes trust in those whom he has designated to meet their needs. The command to shake the dust off their feet when they are not received (6:11) is tantamount to declaring a Jewish village heathen, since Jews were required to shake themselves free of dust when returning from Gentile regions, lest they ...

2468. Clean and Unclean

Mark 7:1-23

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... Isaiah 29:13 in Mark 7:6–7, Jesus accuses the Pharisees and scribes of cloaking evil intentions with pleasing words. The charge of “hypocrite” (7:6) implies the same, for “hypocrite,” which is the Greek word for a theater performer, designated an actor who wore various masks to impersonate different roles. The “tradition of the elders” (7:3–4) refers to the unwritten oral tradition that would later be codified in the Mishnah (ca. AD 200). In contrast to Sadducees, Pharisees believed that ...

2469. The Transfiguration

Mark 9:2-13

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... enveloped the tabernacle (Exod. 24:15–16; 40:34–36). “This is my Son, whom I love” (9:7) recalls the divine words at the baptism of Jesus, though here it is directed not to Jesus (see 1:11) but to the disciples. “Listen to him” (9:7) designates Jesus as the prophet who would follow Moses (see Deut. 18:15–18), and it assures the bewildered disciples that Jesus’s prediction of his suffering and death in Jerusalem (8:31) is not a mistake but God’s providential will for him. Taking up one’s ...

2470. Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight

Mark 10:46-52

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... of a blind man in Jericho concludes the journey to Jerusalem (10:46–52). Bartimaeus is the only person healed in the Synoptic Gospels who is named, and by concluding with a comment that he “followed [Jesus] on the way” (10:52 ESV), Mark designates him a model disciple. Jericho lies 20 miles northeast and 3,500 feet lower than Jerusalem. As Jesus, the disciples, and a large crowd leave Jericho, a blind beggar, whose name in Aramaic means “son of Timaeus,” cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have ...

2471. The Triumphal Entry

Mark 11:1-11

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... overtones, however. Like modern military parades, triumphal processions were common throughout the ancient Near East as a means for rulers to exhibit their prowess and subjugate populations through displays of military might. This narrative is traditionally and rightly designated the triumphal entry according to Matthew 21:1–11 and John 12:12–19. Mark’s narrative is scarcely triumphal, however, for the crowds vanish, Jesus enters the temple alone, and having looked around briefly, he returns to ...

2472. Paying Taxes to Caesar

Mark 12:13-17

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... not?” (12:14), they ask. The imperial poll tax here referred to the required payment of a denarius (the average daily wage), stamped with the impression of Tiberius Caesar (Roman emperor AD 14–37). The question of the Pharisees and Herodians is designed to ensnare Jesus however he answers: support for taxation will discredit him in the eyes of the people, who detest Roman occupation; refusal to pay will invite Roman retaliation for insurrection. In a brilliant repartee, Jesus grants that the image and ...

2473. Signs of the End of the Age

Mark 13:1-31

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... future and the destruction of the temple by Rome in AD 70. Events identified by “those days” (or “that day,” 13:17, 19–20, 24, 32) concern the distant future and the second coming of the Son of Man in final judgment and glory. These two designations result in the following outline: A1 End of temple and fall of Jerusalem (13:1–13) B1 Tribulation and second coming of Son of Man (13:14–27) A2 End of temple and fall of Jerusalem (13:28–31) Mark 13 warns readers against attempts at constructing ...

2474. The Healing of a Demon-possessed Man

Luke 8:26-39

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... worth the destruction of many pigs. The neighboring townspeople arrive and are seized with fear, requesting Jesus to leave their region (8:37). The theme of Jesus’s rejection continues. But Jesus bids the man who was delivered to proclaim his word in that region, showing that his healing is designed to lead to mission.

2475. The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... –35). In the ancient world, oil and wine were commonly used to soften wounds and as an antiseptic. Jesus exposes the real issue in this parable (10:36). Who is my neighbor? is not the question, but rather, am I a neighbor? The lawyer asked a calculating question (10:29) designed to exclude some from love’s grasp. Jesus’s story shows that love does not have any calculable limits. It may be significant that the lawyer does not say “the Samaritan” (10:37).

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