Sermon and Worship Resources

John 15:18--16:4 · The World Hates the Disciples

18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.'

26 "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

1 "All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you.

Uncovering Cover-Ups

John 15:18--16:4

Sermon
by Maurice A. Fetty

For some it is ancient history. For others it is as fresh as yesterday. I speak of 1972 when the word "cover-up" came into our consciousness in a big way -- the cover-up by then President Richard Nixon regarding the Watergate scandal. Assured of a landslide victory in his election for a second term, Richard Nixon, overborne with anxiety, apparently felt that was not enough. So he authorized the so-called "Watergate Plumbers," headed by G. Gordon Liddy, to break into the Democratic Headquarters in the posh Watergate apartment complex. Bungling the third-rate burglary job, the "Plumbers" were found to be connected to Republican officials higher and higher up in the administration, until the press was pointing its powerful fingers at President Nixon himself. Was he involved in authorizing the Watergate burglary? "Not so," said the President. Then it became known that the Oval Office had an elaborate tape recording system where all conversations were recorded. Was there evidence, asked the special prosecutor, was there evidence on the tapes that Nixon authorized the break-in? Eventually, through court order the tapes (now published as the Presidential transcripts) were turned over but with 18 crucial minutes of recorded voices missing. The pressure mounted on President Nixon. More and more people, especially the press, believed he was involved and was implicated in the crime and that he was doing his best to "stone wall" and cover-up his authorization of law breaking. Thus the one sworn to uphold the Constitution was believed to have violated his oath. Under threat of impeachment, President Nixon resigned his office in 1973, turning over the presidency to Gerald Ford, Congressman from Grand Rapids, Michigan. The cover-up had been uncovered.

Since that time, we have had no shortage of the exposure of cover-ups and as a result, the image of some of our dearest heroes has been tarnished. For example, my father and his generation were great admirers of J. Edgar Hoover, head of the F.B.I. But recent books and articles have uncovered a variety of behaviors and improprieties which would have greatly offended my dad. John F. Kennedy lauded Thomas Jefferson when, at an assemblage of artists, actors, authors and musicians in the East Room of the White House, he remarked that there probably had never been such a gathering of talent in the East Room, except possibly when Thomas Jefferson dined alone. Yet recent books have suggested improprieties in Jefferson's behavior, such as allegedly retaining a black slave woman as mistress. The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., led a civil rights revolution in this country in the '60s. He had a dream of the day when prejudice and discrimination would end and we would dwell together as one people. He was a non-violent advocate of morality, integrity, virtue, truthfulness and justice. Yet recent books have claimed he was a womanizer and that he plagiarized a significant part of his doctoral thesis.

The cover-up was uncovered. Is it any wonder this is happening? It is precisely what Jesus predicted and promised to his disciples. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, will come and will expose the deeds of people, making known the thoughts and intents of the heart. This Divine Spirit which he would send from the Father, would convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. The Spirit will uncover what is covered up.

Consider first the matter of sin. Some years ago when Senator Estes Kefauver was heading up his famous Senate Committee investigating mobs and racketeering, he exposed many scandals, rackets and corrupt politicians and business people. One day during the hearings, one mobster testifying said, "Everybody's doing what we're doing. Why don't you just stop all this nonsense and call everything legal?" Why not indeed! The mobster was not too far off from the popular mood which denies any ultimate sense of right and wrong.

For many people there are no moral absolutes, no divine commandments to be obeyed, no universal, timeless principles to which they feel obligated. Many people are governed by whatever gives them pleasure or satisfies their lust or ambition or craving for power and notoriety. "Do your own thing so long as it doesn't hurt anybody" is the popular slogan. If it gives you pleasure or makes you happy, it's okay.

Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship and recipient of the coveted 1993 Templeton Prize in Religion, will be remembered by many as President Nixon's rough and tough "hatchet man." Now a remarkable born-again Christian and tireless worker for prison reformation, Colson says that our culture has "spent the last 30 years determined to secularize our society." We live, says Colson, "in a Donahue-ized culture in which we sit and watch hour by hour, the banality that passes for knowledge on television, and we rarely think about issues in terms of the Judeo-Christian truth."1 Colson asks in his speech given at Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan, "Can we be good without God?" His resounding answer is "no." Any society, especially a free society, says Colson, "depends on a moral consensus and on shared assumptions .... These common values are the glue that hold society together." But we have had an erosion of these values and shared assumptions, says Colson.

We are reminded of ancient Israel in a time without king or law when everyone did what was right in his own eyes with ensuing corruption and chaos. But take heart, says Jesus in our text. The Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, the Divine Advocate, will be with you to convict the world of sin, of right and wrong. The Spirit of Truth will manifest itself through my witnesses to call right right and wrong wrong. And that is precisely what is happening through courageous, committed spokesmen like Charles Colson. And that is precisely what is happening in thousands of religious communities all across this land and the world. We remain convinced there is a right in the world and a wrong. Everything is not dissolved into amoral relativism.

If the Divine Spirit convicts the world of sin, it also convicts of righteousness or justice. The pastoral letters of the New Testament urge church people not to become weary in well-doing. But over the long haul, in battle against injustice and unrighteousness, we wonder, in the words of Shakespeare, if love's labor is lost. Will darkness overcome light? Will evil win over goodness? Will the weeds win over the beautiful blossoms and nutrient plants?

That question has grown to monumental proportions in our society today with the breakdown of families, the high incidence of physical and sexual abuse, the abuse of alcohol and drugs. It has been reported to me that some local parents actually encourage the keg parties for their teenagers, and that others even rent hotel suites in Manhattan and stock them with liquor for their teenagers and their parties. Perhaps even more alarming is the sharp rise in teenage crime and violence. For example, Chuck Colson points out that in Washington, D.C., "46 percent of the inner city black population between the ages of 18 and 31 is either in prison, on parole, or on probation." Let's say that again -- that's nearly half the inner city blacks in our nation's capital. Colson says we have the highest per capita rate of incarceration in the world. Our prisons are bursting their seams. In the last seven years murders committed by those between the ages of 18 and 20 have increased 120 percent. He quotes some sources which claim that 20 percent of all school children carry a gun. Time magazine recently had a cover story titled, "A Boy And His Gun." Youngsters today are buying and using guns at an alarming rate, says the article. Even in Omaha, Nebraska, in the heartland where it might be thought family values and morals would prevail -- even in Omaha gun possession and use are widespread. One of the boys interviewed had in four months done nine drive-by shootings aiming mostly at houses and cars. He killed a dog for no reason at all and his brother missed a baby's head by a quarter of an inch. Is it any wonder that 4,200 teenagers were killed by guns in 1991, accounting for 1 out of every 4 deaths among American teenagers? Many of the gun-toting youngsters interviewed came from families that were messed up in some way or other. Many seem to shoot and kill with no remorse or guilt. A terrible amorality seems to prevail. The gun seems to represent protection and macho power. It also, says the Time reporter, represents a "defense against the inexplicable despair that torments so many American teenagers." "Today's miscreants know that a pistol says much more than long hair or a pierced nose ever could. Not just louder but forever. With a $25 investment, all the teasing from classmates stops cold. Suddenly, the shortest, ugliest and weakest kid becomes a player.Consequently, kids, like nations, come to believe with Chairman Mao that morality begins at the muzzle of a gun."2

And yet, and yet, the Holy Spirit of God is uncovering this cover-up of his eternal truth. A group of parents has organized to counteract the violence. They meet each night to pray, and then to patrol the streets to ward off violence. A group called MAD DADS, which stands for Men Against Destruction -- Defending Against Drugs and Social Disorder, hit the street every Friday night to patrol and keep kids from shooting one another. So long as there are groups like that, so long as there are churches and religious people standing up for non-violence and decency, so long as there are people working for gun control and social responsibility -- so long as these and many other things take place, the Holy Spirit is convicting the world for righteousness' sake and love's labor is not lost. Let no one cover up that.

Lastly, Jesus says his Holy Spirit of Truth will convict the world of judgment. At first hearing, most all of us don't like that word "judgment." We immediately think of self-righteous people being uppity and censorious. We have images of more-holier-than-thou types who look down on us with disdain, or of social snobs who have kept us out of their clubs or social circles. Convinced that most everyone has a character flaw covered up somewhere, we resent the thought of anyone judging us for anything. We quickly justify our feeling quoting Jesus' famous saying in the Sermon on the Mount, "Judge not lest you be judged." And again we quote his saying that we ought first to cast out the wooden beam in our own eye before we try to remove the sawdust from our brother's or sister's eye. But the judgment referred to here is the divine judgment: the divine judgment which is absolutely fair and impartial, the divine judgment which cannot be seduced or bribed, the divine judgment which finally and forever makes full disclosure of the truth.

The scripture says, "Let God be found true and every man a liar." When the truth is known, we all realize the cover-ups in our lives. Many of us fear the truth. We do not want to be exposed to the light because our deeds are evil. Most all of us have something about our lives we do not want exposed to anyone. If the truth be known, could we bear to live with one another? But let's ask the question differently. If the truth can never be known, or if there is no truth, no truth at all, does anything make any difference at all? Isn't life then a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing? It is precisely this futility, this relativism, this aimlessness and despair that the Divine Spirit promises to overcome.

The Holy Spirit's witness in the world through the church is testimony to the fact that things do make a difference, life is going somewhere, our lives do have meaning and sacred value. The fact that there is a judgment, an accounting, means that there is a goal line, a degree to be granted at the end of the course, a reward to be received, a meaningful culmination of all our labors. If parents exercise no judgment, their children rightly perceive they are indifferent and have no guiding values. If God exercises no judgment, we might rightly perceive him to be indifferent or even non-existent. But this is a text of hopefulness. There is judgment because God cares. He uncovers the cover-ups, not to destroy us, but to bring us to the light so that we might be healthy and flourish. The sin and evil of the world attempt to squelch truth and justice and purpose. But take heart says Jesus, because the Divine Spirit will be with you always to uncover the cover-ups so that you might be healthy and whole.

1. Colson, Charles. Imprimis, "Can We Be Good Without God?", Hillsdale College Newsletter, "April 1993.

2. Hull, John D. "A Boy And His Gun," Time, Vol. 142, August 2, 1993, p. 23.

CSS Publishing Company, THE DIVINE ADVOCACY, by Maurice A. Fetty

Overview and Insights · Jesus Warns of the World’s Hatred (15:18–16:4)

In John’s Gospel the term “world” often refers to people who oppose God. Jesus warns his disciples the world will hate them because it first hated him (15:18–19). If disciples belonged to the world, the world would love them. But Jesus has chosen them out of the world, and they should expect to be treated like Jesus was treated (15:19–21). The world is guilty because Jesus enter…

The Baker Bible Handbook by , Baker Publishing Group, 2016

John 15:18--16:4 · The World Hates the Disciples

Commentary · The World Hates the Disciples

Early Christianity was unanimous in its outlook on the world. Insofar as the church formed a radically new community, it experienced strife and conflict with society. Social divisions recur with marked frequency in the book of Acts. In his letters, Paul describes persecution as virtually a constituent part of the Christian experience (1 Cor. 4:11–13; 1 Thess. 2:13–16; 2 Tim. 3:10–13). This treatment was expected because the disciples of Christ had inherited the hostilities shown to their master.

Jesus predicted these conflicts in his final teachings (Matt. 10:17–25; 24:9–14; Mark 13:9–13), and here in the Farewell Discourse the subject is addressed in full (15:18–16:33). The conflicts are outlined, but in addition the provisions of Jesus are given. Jesus explains that the precedent for this experience is his own (15:18, 20). Christ and his followers are alien to the world’s values and therefore cannot obtain its affections (15:18–16:4a). Jesus has selectively created a new order—“I have chosen you” (15:19)—and this implies judgment on the old. The language here is strong: hatred will typify the division between church and world.

The world’s guilt is based on its accountability before divine revelation. God in Christ has come, spoken, and acted on our behalf (15:22–24), and our response forms the basis of our judgment. This is a common Johannine theme. In 5:45 the disbelieving Jews will be held accountable to their own Scriptures, which speak of Christ. In 9:18 the judges of the blind man will themselves be judged because they rejected the sign. And in 12:37 John connects the disbelief of the Jews with a rejection of Jesus’s revelatory signs.

Nevertheless, the disciples will not be alone in these conflicts. Jesus reminds them again of the Paraclete (cf. 14:16, 26), who will be their aid. This promise dovetails with similar promises in the Synoptics (Mark 13:11), but John has heightened the judicial setting. In the Book of Signs (John 1–12) we saw how Jesus’s ministry was described in forensic terms: he was on trial before a world that was weighing the evidence (signs). Now this lifelong trial is promised for the disciples. This judicial-literary metaphor explains the origin of the Spirit’s new title. A paraclete is a legal assistant or advocate who aids and counsels. He substantiates our witness (another legal term) as we too are placed on trial before the world. Jesus is quite specific about the extent of these hostilities (16:1–4a) in order to equip his followers for the near future (cf. 1 Pet. 4:12). In 16:1 the Greek word behind “fall away” (NIV) is skandalizō, which means to trip or stumble (a skandalon is a trap). In Johannine thought this term refers to anything that causes the disciple to fall away or weaken in faith (6:61; 1 John 2:10; cf. Matt. 26:31).

The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary by Gary M. Burge, Baker Publishing Group, 2016

Jesus’ Love and the World’s Hatred: Just as it is possible to imagine a stage of the tradition when the only farewell discourse was 13:31–35, so it is possible to imagine a stage when the discourse extended to 14:31 but no further. There is a smooth transition from that verse’s summons to “leave” to the statement in 18:1 that Jesus “left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley.” At the end of chapter 14, the reader expects the group to leave and the discourse to end. Instead, the discourse continues, as Jesus seems to make a new beginning.

In a manner reminiscent of the public ministry, he combines a particularly vivid and concrete metaphor with an “I am” formula (cf. “I am the bread of life,” 6:35, 48; “I am the gate for the sheep,” 10:7, 9; “I am the good shepherd,” 10:11, 14). As in each previous example, the key pronouncement occurs twice: I am the true vine (v. 1) and I am the vine (v. 5). But unlike the previous examples, the pronouncements here add a second identification to each of the “I am” formulas (my Father is the gardener, v. 1; you are the branches, v. 5). The result is not a full-blown parable (both 10:1–5 and 10:12–13 are more like parables in the sense of telling a real story), but something similar to the interpretations attached in the synoptic Gospels to the parables of the sower (Mark 4:13–20 and parallels) and of the weeds in the field (Matt. 13:36–43). Jesus identifies himself in relation to the Father in verses 1–4, and in relation to the disciples in verses 5–8.

The vine or vineyard metaphor is an ancient one for describing the people of Israel under God’s care (cf. Ps. 80:14–18; Isa. 5:1–7). Though the identification with Israel remains implicit and undeveloped (cf. 1:43–51), the metaphor calls attention not only to Jesus himself but to the disciples and their relationship to him. Even in verses 1–4, where Jesus defines his identity first in relation to the Father (vv. 1–2), the disciples are quickly brought into the picture (you, vv. 3–4), whereas verses 5–8 center almost entirely on them, the branches, and how they bear fruit. Most of the other “I am” sayings in this Gospel are accompanied by an invitation to “come” to Jesus or “believe” in him (e.g., 6:35; 8:12; 10:9; 11:25–26; 14:6), but I am the vine focuses instead on those who have already come and has as its corollary the command to “remain in” (or “united to”) him in whom they have believed. The vine metaphor seems, in fact, to have been introduced at this point in the discourses primarily to dramatize the single imperative of “remaining” (Gr.: menein) spiritually united to Jesus in a life-sustaining relationship.

The first “I am” sequence (vv. 1–4) provides a kind of metaphorical history of the disciples’ experience. The care of the branches is in the hands of the Father, who cuts off (Gr.: airei) fruitless branches and prunes (Gr.: kathairei) those that are productive (v. 2). This summary of the Father’s work serves as an interpretation of chapter 13: Judas, the fruitless branch, has been “broken off” (cf. 13:21–30), while the rest of the disciples are clean (Gr.: katharoi) as a result of Jesus’ teaching (v. 3; cf. 13:10) and are ready to be even more fruitful (v. 2).

The end of the first sequence (v. 4) anticipates the second. The key to “bearing fruit” is remaining united to Jesus, the source of all life, yet this “remaining” is not a passive thing. It consists of more than simply allowing Jesus to rule in one’s heart by default. It begins to take shape in the second “I am” sequence (vv. 5–8), and it comes to concrete expression in the summons to love and mission that immediately follows (vv. 9–17). After the heading, I am the vine; you are the branches (v. 5a), the second sequence falls into a chiastic (a b b’ a’) pattern:

a If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;

b apart from me you can do nothing (v. 5).

b’ If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are … burned (v. 6).

a’ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples (vv. 7–8).

The point of the sentence as a whole is that when branches remain with the vine they bear fruit, and when they do not they die. Clearly, a and a’ are promises, while b and b’ are warnings or threats. In b the negative point is made briefly; in b’ it is developed at some length. Similarly, in a, the positive point is made briefly, and in a’ more elaborately. A saying about answered prayer has been woven into a’ as a specific example of fruit-bearing (v. 7; cf. 14:13–14), and at the end Jesus’ thought circles back to the Father, with the Father’s glory as the ultimate reason for bearing much fruit and so becoming disciples (v. 8).

What do these words and images mean concretely in human experience? Christian discipleship, a clear enough notion in itself, seems confusing in the present context because Jesus, instead of assuming that his disciples are disciples, speaks of the possibility of them becoming disciples (showing yourselves to be is, lit., “that you might become,” v. 8). It is helpful to remember a clue dropped much earlier when Jesus was addressing a group of “believers” who turned out not to be believers at all: “If you hold to [lit., “If you remain in”] my teaching, you are really my disciples” (8:31). The clue was that discipleship involved more than just believing (i.e., establishing a relationship to Jesus); it demanded also remaining (i.e., maintaining and nurturing that relationship). This had to be done by hearing and obeying Jesus’ “teaching” (8:31), which was exactly what the counterfeit “believers” of 8:30–59 refused to do. In the present passage, discipleship is similarly defined in terms of remaining in Jesus, and in verse 7 he significantly adds the condition that my words remain in you. It is the “teaching,” after all, that has made them clean (v. 3), and one dimension, at least, of remaining in (or united to) Jesus is remembering his teaching and continuing to obey it (cf. the many biblical injunctions to Israel to remember and obey the words of the Lord; e.g., Deut. 6:4–9).

The familiar triangular pattern of chapter 13 is reaffirmed in verses 9–17. Remaining in Jesus and reflecting on his words are first defined more precisely as remaining in his love, a command based on the Father’s love for Jesus as well as Jesus’ love for the disciples (v. 9). Remaining in Jesus’ love is equated with obeying his commands, based on the precedent of Jesus remaining in his Father’s love by obeying his Father’s commands (v. 10; cf. the references to Jesus’ obedience in 10:18; 12:49–50; and 14:31). Such a precedent proves that the obedience of which Jesus speaks is not the obedience of a slave (cf. v. 15), for its motivation is love and its purpose is joy (v. 11). Jesus’ commands come to a focus in the one great command to love each other as I have loved you (v. 12; cf. v. 17). Here the triangular pattern becomes explicit, and for the moment Jesus and his disciples are back in the world of chapter 13, especially 13:12–17. “Remaining” is at last defined concretely as “doing” something (v. 14; cf. 13:15, 17), specifically, loving one’s friends (i.e., one’s brothers and sisters in the community of disciples) and giving one’s life for them (v. 13). This is the example Jesus sets, symbolically in the footwashing and literally in his death on the cross. To remain in him is to follow his example of servanthood by loving others, even at the cost of one’s own life (cf. 1 John 3:16–18). Verses 9–17 simultaneously interpret the vine imagery of verses 1–8 and reinforce the interpretation already given of the footwashing two chapters earlier.

Here, ironically, just at the point in the Gospel where servanthood is given its most profound expression, servanthood is transcended. Jesus has referred to the disciples as his servants (12:26, 13:16), and, despite what he says in verse 15, he will do so again almost immediately (v. 20, citing 13:16 verbatim). Yet the term “servant” (Gr.: doulos, sometimes translated “slave” in NIV) has its limitations. “A slave [or servant] has no permanent place in the family,” Jesus had once said, “but a son belongs to it forever” (8:35). Though a servant might be loved by his master, Jesus selects another word, friend (Gr.: philos, vv. 13–15), to call particular attention to his love for the disciples (v. 12) and to keep that love ever before them (cf. 13:1; also 13:23, the disciple “whom Jesus loved”). But the distinction goes deeper. A master’s love for his servants does not involve telling them his business (except what they need to know to do their jobs), but shared knowledge and insight is an important part of true friendship (v. 15).

Friendship is here defined in terms of both revelation and imitation. Almost at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus had said: “Whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves [Gr.: philei] the Son and shows him all he does” (5:19b–20). Now that Jesus has told his disciples everything he has heard from the Father (v. 15b), they in turn know what Jesus is doing (v. 15a), and must do what he commands (v. 14). This means doing what Jesus himself has done, for Jesus’ commands are based on his example (love each other as I have loved you, v. 12; cf. 13:15). At this point, Jesus’ words powerfully reinforce what he had said in 13:17: “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” Friendship finds its realization in loving service. Friendship and servanthood are not set against each other as contradicting ideals, for the contrast is used solely to highlight the importance of revelation. The unfulfilled promise of 8:32 is at last coming true—though not for those who first heard it—“you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

In chapter 15 as in chapter 13, mutual love among Jesus’ disciples does not stay within the community of disciples but inevitably results in mission to the world (cf. 13:18–20). The brief positive glimpse of this mission in 15:16–17 serves as the transition to a longer and largely negative portrayal of its difficulties and dangers in 15:18–16:4a. Verses 16–17 are linked to what follows by the notion that the disciples are chosen for their task (vv. 16, 19; cf. 13:18), but even more closely to what precedes by a last reference to fruit-bearing (go and bear fruit, v. 16) and a last repetition of the command to love each other (v. 17). If remaining in Jesus is defined concretely as loving one another, the consequent bearing of fruit must be defined as reproducing oneself and one’s relationship to Jesus spiritually in the lives of others—that is, as what later, and more ecclesiastically minded, Christians have called evangelism (cf. 12:24: a single grain of wheat “dies” in order to produce “many seeds,” lit., “much fruit”). The evangelization of the world in this Gospel does not arise out of the disciples’ conscious love or compassion for the world itself, or the masses of people in it, but out of their “in-house,” familial love for each other. “If you have love for one another,” Jesus is still saying, “then everyone will know that you are my disciples” (cf. 13:35). The entire section from verses 9 to 17 is best understood not only as an interpretation of the vine metaphor in its immediate context, but as a crucial exposition in retrospect of Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet two chapters earlier.

The prospect that “everyone will know” Jesus’ disciples by their love for one another does not mean that everyone will believe. In the first discourse the “world” was defined as those who did not love Jesus (14:22–24). Here the indictment of the world is even sharper. If the disciples are known by their love, the world is defined by its hatred—for Jesus first and then for those who belong to him. The root of this hatred is alienation. Jesus is “from above” (3:31), and those who “are of this world” cannot begin to understand him (8:23). Because the disciples did not “come from heaven” as Jesus did (3:13; cf. 6:32–42), it might appear that they, unlike Jesus, in some sense belong to the world. But this is not the case; the fact that Jesus chose them to be his messengers alienates them from the world just as surely as if they had literally come down from above (v. 19; cf 17:14).

Building on pronouncements similar to two that he had used in connection with the footwashing (i.e., 13:16 and 20), as well as similar sayings found in the synoptic Gospels (e.g., Matt. 10:24–25, 40; Luke 10:16), Jesus predicts that the disciples will face persecution (vv. 18–21).

It is difficult to tell whether Jesus’ self-citation in verse 20 stops with no servant is greater than his master (and is therefore based entirely on 13:16a) or whether it includes the rest of verse 20 as well. His point is that if he has been hated and persecuted by his contemporaries, his followers should not be surprised that the same fate awaits them. Verse 20 is probably the citation of a saying to that effect not found verbatim in any of our Gospels but represented in variant forms in John 13:16 and in Matthew 10:24–25 (the “if” clauses with which v. 20 concludes find their parallel in Matt. 10:24b). Jesus’ point is therefore not the same as in 13:20 or in Matthew 10:40 or Luke 10:16. His mission is seen here as the historical precedent for that of his disciples, not as something identical with it or embodied in it. Though the disciples’ mission is seen as a continuation of Jesus’ own, Jesus does not blur the distinction between them or superimpose one upon the other. Instead, he focuses the disciples’ attention first on his own mission and its consequences (vv. 22–25), and then, more specifically than before, on what lies ahead for them (15:26–16:4b).

The summary of his public ministry (vv. 22–25) recalls Jesus’ indictment of the Pharisees in 9:39–41. Directed not against a particular group of questioners but against the world itself, it is the universal indictment of which 9:39–41 was a particular instance. In the entire Gospel, only 1:10–11 and 3:19 are comparable in scope. The solemn verdict is formally repeated in two stanzas of parallel structure:

a if I had not come and spoken to them

a’ if I had not done among them what no one else did

b They would not be guilty of sin.

b’ They would not be guilty of sin.

c Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.

c’ But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father (v. 24).

He who hates me hates my Father as well (vv. 22–23).

In each stanza, the world’s sin is understood concretely in relation to the coming of Jesus into the world. If Jesus had not come, there would have been no sin (cf. 9:41), for sin is defined solely as hatred of Jesus and, consequently, as hatred of the Father who sent him. Drawing once more on the experience of the psalmists of Israel, Jesus adds a supporting Scripture quotation: “They hated me without reason” (Pss. 35:19; 69:5; cf. Ps. Sol. 7.1). If the one great commandment is love, the one great transgression is hatred.

Now that the precedent of hatred has been set, the disciples can be under no illusions about what their own mission entails. Whereas 13:18–20 dealt with the experience of betrayal by members of one’s own community, 15:26–16:4a alludes to a much wider range of troubles. Jesus’ disciples will be expelled from their synagogues, just as the blind man was (9:34), or even killed by religious zealots intent on murder as a sacred duty (16:2; cf. the example of Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9:1–5). Like Jesus before them, they will be mistreated by people who have not known the Father or me (16:3).

The unspoken assumption of all these prophecies is the departure of Jesus, which will be made explicit in 16:5 (cf. 13:36–14:31). Though Jesus’ coming was decisive in bringing to light the world’s sin, there is yet another “coming” that affects—even determines—the disciples’ situation in the world after he has gone: the coming of the Counselor (v. 26; cf. 14:16–17, 26). Jesus’ absence is clearly indicated by the promise that he will send the Spirit to the disciples from the Father (v. 26). Even more than in the first discourse, the Spirit’s presence with the disciples is promised especially in situations of persecution, when they would feel Jesus’ absence most keenly. To this extent the Spirit’s function is the same as it is in the synoptic Gospels: to enable the disciples to stand firm under hostile questioning and to testify faithfully about Jesus to their persecutors (vv. 26–27; cf. Mark 13:11; Matt. 10:19; Luke 12:11–12).

Though this is the main import of the promise of the Spirit in its historical and literary context, it is likely that the first readers of the Gospel (like many readers today) regarded it as the conferral of authority in a more general sense on those who had been with Jesus from the beginning (v. 27; cf. 1 John 1:1–3). Those who had witnessed his words and deeds on earth were the ones uniquely qualified to be the vehicles of the Spirit’s witness from heaven. But if Jesus, or the Gospel writer, has in mind here a justification of apostolic authority, he keeps it strictly subordinate to the more immediate purpose of encouraging Christians in the face of persecution. His primary concern, he tells the disciples, as well as the primary object of the Spirit’s ministry, is that you will not go astray (or “give up your faith”) at the prospect of expulsion from the synagogue or even death (16:1–2). The expression go astray or “give up one’s faith” (lit., “be scandalized”) was used earlier when the disciples drew back in horror at the thought of sharing in Jesus’ violent death (6:60–61). The possibility of martyrdom continued to be present through much of the Gospel (cf. 12:24–26; 13:36–38), and now Jesus refers explicitly to the danger of being killed for his sake (v. 2)—even as he had bluntly charged his enemies all along with trying to kill him (7:19; 8:37, 40). The thrust of Jesus’ prophetic vision is that all the hatred directed against him from the beginning of his ministry, expressing itself in persecution (5:16) with the intent to kill (5:18), will be redirected at his disciples after his departure. His hope is that the disciples will remember that I warned you (v. 4a) and be reassured by two things: first, by knowing why the religious authorities are persecuting them (because they have not known the Father or me, v. 3); and second, by knowing that Jesus was not taken by surprise, but saw beforehand what was in store for them as clearly as he saw his own calling and destiny (cf. 13:19; 14:29).

Additional Notes

15:6 Like a branch that is thrown away: What was stated in v. 2 as a metaphor (“He cuts off every branch in me”) appears here in the form of a simile. The description in v. 6b of the gathering and burning of the dried-up branches is not a theological statement but is drawn from observation of everyday life. But does the imagery imply that those who belong to Jesus can lose the salvation they have by virtue of their relationship to him? The answer depends on one’s assessment of the spiritual condition of Judas the betrayer. If Judas was at first a true disciple of Jesus, one may conclude that a genuine believer may in fact be like a branch that is thrown away. But if Judas was never truly a child of God, then his case is not that of a believer losing his salvation. Such terms as “a devil” (used of Judas as early as 6:70) and “the one doomed to destruction” (17:12) suggest that the latter alternative is the correct one. Judas was a “fruitless branch” because he had no life-giving connection with Jesus in the first place. His exclusion simply made visible (to the beloved disciple at least) what was already the case in his heart. It is fair to draw the tentative conclusion that the same is true of whatever other “fruitless branches” the Gospel writer may have in mind in his own congregations.

15:16 Fruit that will last: lit., “that your fruit might remain” (Gr.: menēi, the word used throughout the chapter for “remaining” in Jesus). The hope expressed is that the disciples’ converts will be firmly established in their new faith and will realize among themselves the same mutual love that Jesus desires for the first generation of believers (cf. 17:20).

Then the Father will give you whatever you ask. This expression of Jesus’ intent is probably to be taken as synonymous with the immediately preceding intent that the disciples go and bear fruit (cf. vv. 7–8). Prayer is an integral part of the disciples’ mission; they will fulfill their mission precisely by asking the Father for a rich “harvest” of new believers (cf. Matt. 9:37–38/Luke 10:2; also perhaps Ps. 2:8). The supreme example of prayer as the key to mission is Jesus’ own prayer in 17:9–23.

15:20 If they obeyed my teaching: The context (v. 21 in particular) makes it clear that Jesus is using irony here: If they obeyed my teaching—which they did not—they will obey yours also. Though some will respond positively to the disciples’ mission (cf. 17:20), Jesus is not looking at that possibility here.

15:21 Because of my name: i.e., “because of me” or “for my sake.”

15:25 Their Law: The terminology indicates that Jesus’ indictment is directed against the same Jewish religious establishment that has been persecuting him and seeking his life. See note on 8:17.

15:26 I will send: In the second discourse (here and in 16:7), Jesus is the one who sends the Spirit from the Father. Contrast the terminology of the first discourse in which the Father himself sends the Spirit, though in response to Jesus’ request (14:16, 26).

16:2 Put you out of the synagogues: Cf. 9:22; 12:42, where expulsion from the synagogue was viewed as a possibility even within Jesus’ earthly ministry. Here the experience is placed in a prophetic context, pointing to the experience of Christians in the decades after Jesus’ resurrection. At least for the last decade of the first century, there is Jewish evidence that such expulsions actually took place. See note on 9:22.

Offering a service to God: lit., “worship.” Even as good deeds such as prayer, almsgiving, and fasting were regarded by Jews after the destruction of the temple as equivalent to sacrifice, so would the “good deed” of ridding the world of heretics be counted as an act of sacred worship.

16:4a When the time comes: lit., “when their hour comes.” This could mean “when the hour comes for these things [of which Jesus had just spoken] to be fulfilled” or “when the persecutors’ hour comes” to do what they have to do. The second alternative is the more likely (see GNB, and cf. Luke 22:53b: “But this is your hour—when darkness reigns”).

Understanding the Bible Commentary Series by J. Ramsey Michaels, Baker Publishing Group, 2016

Dictionary

Direct Matches

Advocate

In John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7 the term paraklētos (lit., “called alongside” [NRSV, NIV: “Advocate”; RSV: “Counselor”]) refers to the Holy Spirit, sent as the Spirit of truth. The advocacy roles of the Spirit are to remain with God’s people; to teach, remind, and testify about Jesus; to convict the world of guilt regarding sin; and to guide into all truth. In 1 John 2:1 Jesus is the paraklētos who speaks in defense of his children.

Father

People in the Bible were family-centered and staunchly loyal to their kin. Families formed the foundation of society. The extended family was the source of people’s status in the community and provided the primary economic, educational, religious, and social interactions.

Marriage and divorce. Marriage in the ancient Near East was a contractual arrangement between two families, arranged by the bride’s father or a male representative. The bride’s family was paid a dowry, a “bride’s price.” Paying a dowry was not only an economic transaction but also an expression of family honor. Only the rich could afford multiple dowries. Thus, polygamy was minimal. The wedding itself was celebrated with a feast provided by the father of the groom.

The primary purpose for marriage in the ancient Near East was to produce a male heir to ensure care for the couple in their old age. The concept of inheritance was a key part of the marriage customs, especially with regard to passing along possessions and property.

Marriage among Jews in the NT era still tended to be endogamous; that is, Jews sought to marry close kin without committing incest violations (Lev. 18:6 17). A Jewish male certainly was expected to marry a Jew. Exogamy, marrying outside the remote kinship group, and certainly outside the ethnos, was understood as shaming God’s holiness. Thus, a Jew marrying a Gentile woman was not an option. The Romans did practice exogamy. For them, marrying outside one’s kinship group (not ethnos) was based predominantly on creating strategic alliances between families.

Greek and Roman law allowed both men and women to initiate divorce. In Jewish marriages, only the husband could initiate divorce proceedings. If a husband divorced his wife, he had to release her and repay the dowry. Divorce was common in cases of infertility (in particular if the woman had not provided male offspring). Ben Sira comments that barrenness in a woman is a cause of anxiety to the father (Sir. 42:9–10). Another reason for divorce was adultery (Exod. 20:14; Deut. 5:18). Jesus, though, taught a more restrictive use of divorce than the OT (Mark 10:1–12).

Children and parenting. Childbearing was considered representative of God’s blessing on a woman and her entire family, in particular her husband. In contrast to this blessing, barrenness brought shame on women, their families, and specifically their husbands.

Children were of low social status in society. Infant mortality was high. An estimated 60 percent of the children in the first-century Mediterranean society were dead by the age of sixteen.

Ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean societies exhibited a parenting style based on their view of human nature as a mixture of good and evil tendencies. Parents relied on physical punishment to prevent evil tendencies from developing into evil deeds (Prov. 29:15). The main concern of parents was to socialize the children into family loyalty. Lack of such loyalty was punished (Lev. 20:9). At a very early stage children were taught to accept the total authority of the father. The rearing of girls was entirely the responsibility of the women. Girls were taught domestic roles and duties as soon as possible so that they could help with household tasks.

Family identity was used as a metaphor in ancient Israel to speak of fidelity, responsibility, judgment, and reconciliation. In the OT, the people of Israel often are described as children of God. In their overall relationship to God, the people of Israel are referred to in familial terms—sons and daughters, spouse, and firstborn (Exod. 4:22). God is addressed as the father of the people (Isa. 63:16; 64:8) and referred to as their mother (Isa. 49:14–17).

The church as the family of God. Throughout his ministry, Jesus called his disciples to follow him. This was a call to loyalty (Matt. 10:32–40; 16:24–26; Mark 8:34–38; Luke 9:23–26), a call to fictive kinship, the family of God (Matt. 12:48–50; Mark 3:33–35). Jesus’ declaration “On this rock I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18) was preceded by the call to community. Entrance into the community was granted through adopting the values of the kingdom, belief, and the initiation rite of baptism (Matt. 10:37–39; 16:24–26; Mark 8:34–38; Luke 9:23–26, 57–63; John 1:12; 3:16; 10:27–29; Acts 2:38; 16:31–33; 17:30; Rom. 10:9). Jesus’ presence as the head of the community was eventually replaced by the promised Spirit (John 14:16–18). Through the Spirit, Jesus’ ministry continues in the community of his followers, God’s family—the church. See also Adoption.

Fulfill

The various Hebrew and Greek words that express the idea of fulfillment occur hundreds of times in the Bible, and the concept often is present even when the specific word is not. At the basic level, fulfillment indicates a relationship between two (or more) things in which the second is said to “fill up” the significance of the first. Frequently this takes the form of a specific promise that is said to be fulfilled when the person, object, or event referred to comes to pass. There are countless examples of this type of fulfillment, some of which even quote the specific promise that is being fulfilled. The seventy years of Babylonian captivity prophesied by Jeremiah (Jer. 29:10) are said to be fulfilled when Cyrus permits the Jews to return to the land (Ezra 1:1 4). Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1–6) fulfills the promise of a ruler who will shepherd Israel (Mic. 5:2).

But the concept of fulfillment goes beyond specific promises that are then said to be fulfilled in a particular person, object, or event. In the broadest sense of the term, one can say that the NT fulfills what the OT promises. After his resurrection, Jesus reminds his disciples, “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44). He then provides a summary of the entire OT message: “The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46–47).

Law

In general, Torah (Law) may be subdivided into three categories: judicial, ceremonial, and moral, though each of these may influence or overlap with the others. The OT associates the “giving of the Torah” with Moses’ first divine encounter at Mount Sinai (Exod. 19 23) following the Israelites’ deliverance from the land of Egypt, though some body of customary legislation existed before this time (Exod. 18). These instructions find expansion and elucidation in other pentateuchal texts, such as Leviticus and Deut. 12–24, indicating that God’s teachings were intended as the code of conduct and worship for Israel not only during its wilderness wanderings but also when it settled in the land of Canaan following the conquest.

More specifically, the word “law” often denotes the Ten Commandments (or “the Decalogue,” lit., the “ten words”) (Exod. 34:28; Deut. 4:13; 10:4) that were delivered to Moses (Exod. 20:1–17; Deut. 5:6–21). These commandments reflect a summary statement of the covenant and may be divided into two parts, consistent with the two tablets of stone on which they were first recorded: the first four address the individual’s relationship to God, and the last six focus on instructions concerning human relationships. Despite the apparent simplistic expression of the Decalogue, the complexity of these guidelines extends beyond individual acts and attitudes, encompassing any and all incentives, enticements, and pressures leading up to a thing forbidden. Not only should the individual refrain from doing the prohibited thing, but also he or she is obligated to practice its opposite good in order to be in compliance.

Miracles

Because Scripture sees all things as providentially arranged and sustained by God’s sovereign power at all times (Heb. 1:3), miracles are not aberrations in an otherwise closed and mechanical universe. Nor are miracles raw demonstrations of divinity designed to overcome prejudice or unbelief and to convince people of the existence of God (Mark 8:11 12). Still less are they clever conjuring tricks involving some kind of deception that can be otherwise explained on a purely scientific basis. Rather, God in his infinite wisdom sometimes does unusual and extraordinary things to call attention to himself and his activity. Miracles are divinely ordained acts of God that dramatically alert us to the presence of his glory and power and advance his saving purposes in redemptive history.

In the OT, miracles are not evenly distributed but rather are found in greater number during times of great redemptive significance, such as the exodus and the conquest of Canaan. Miracles were performed also during periods of apostasy, such as in the days of the ninth-century prophets Elijah and Elisha. Common to both of these eras is the powerful demonstration of the superiority of God over pagan deities (Exod. 7–12; 1 Kings 18:20–40).

In the NT, miracles often are acts of compassion, but more significantly they attest the exalted status of Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 2:22) and the saving power of his word (Heb. 2:3–4). In the Synoptic Gospels, they reveal the coming of God’s kingdom and the conquest of Satan’s dominion (Matt. 8:16–17; 12:22–30; Mark 3:27). They point to the person of Jesus as the promised Messiah of OT Scripture (Matt. 4:23; 11:4–6). John shows a preference for the word “signs,” and his Gospel is structured around them (John 20:30–31). According to John, the signs that Jesus performed were such that only the one who stood in a unique relationship to the Father as the Son of God could do them.

Just as entrenched skepticism is injurious to faith, so too is naive credulity, for although signs and wonders witness to God, false prophets also perform them “to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24:24). Christians are to exercise discernment and not be led astray by such impostors (Matt. 7:15–20).

The relationship between miracles and faith is not as straightforward as sometimes supposed. Miracles do not necessarily produce faith, nor does faith necessarily produce miracles. Miracles were intended to bring about the faith that leads to eternal life (John 20:31), but not all who witnessed them believed (John 10:32). Additionally, Jesus regarded a faith that rested only on the miracle itself as precarious (Mark 8:11–13; John 2:23–25; 4:48), though better than no faith at all (John 10:38). Faith that saves must ultimately find its grounding in the person of Jesus as the Son of God.

It is also clear that although Jesus always encouraged faith in those who came to him for help (Mark 9:23), and that he deliberately limited his miraculous powers in the presence of unbelief (Mark 6:5), many of his miracles were performed on those who did not or could not exercise faith (Matt. 12:22; Mark 1:23–28; 5:1–20; Luke 14:1–4).

The fact that Jesus performed miracles was never an issue; rather, his opponents disputed the source of his power (Mark 3:22). Arguments about his identity were to be settled by appeal not to miracles but to the word of God (Matt. 22:41–46).

Offering

The words “sacrifice” and “offering” often are used interchangeably, but “offering” refers to a gift more generally, while “sacrifice” indicates a gift consecrated for a divine being. Sacrifices were offered to honor God, thanking him for his goodness. More important, they enabled persons to be made right with God by atoning for their sins. Whereas sin upset the fellowship God desired to have with people and kindled his wrath, sacrifice restored the relationship.

Leviticus introduced five main sacrifices: the ’olah (1:1 17; 6:8–18), the minkhah (2:1–16; 6:14–23), the shelamim (3:1–17; 7:11–36), the khatta’t (4:1–5:13), and the ’asham (5:14–6:7). Most of these focused on uncleanness or sin. The worshiper who brought such an offering was not allowed to eat any of it, as it was wholly given to God. Even when priests were allowed to eat part of a sacrifice, their portion was “waved” before God, indicating that it belonged to him.

1. The ’olah, or burnt offering, is the basic OT sacrifice connected with atonement for sin (Lev. 1:4). When rightly offered, it was accepted as “an aroma pleasing to the Lord.” The worshiper brought a male animal (young bull, sheep, goat, dove, or young pigeon) without blemish, laid a hand upon it, and then killed it. After the priest sprinkled some of the blood on the altar, the rest was burned up.

2. The minkhah is simply a gift or offering. The Hebrew word is often used for a present given to another person or tribute to a ruler. When used of sacrifice, it is usually rendered as “grain offering” or “meal offering.” A minkhah can, on occasion, include flesh or fat (Gen. 4:4; Judg. 6:18–21). Considered “an aroma pleasing to the Lord,” it consisted of unground grain or fine flour mixed with oil and incense and was presented either cooked or uncooked. Part of the offering was burned as a “memorial portion,” the rest being given to the priests (Lev. 2:1–3). It usually was accompanied by a drink offering—wine poured out on the altar. Grain offerings frequently complemented burnt offerings or fellowship offerings. The showbread may have been considered a grain offering.

3. The shelamim (NIV: “fellowship offering”) has traditionally been called the “peace offering,” as the term is related to shalom. This offering most likely indicated that the worshiper was at peace with God and others; all the worshiper’s relationships were whole. Classified into three types, it could be used to express thanksgiving, to signify the fulfillment of a vow, or simply to denote one’s desire to bring an offering to God out of free will. Only those who made a vow were required to offer a shelamim; the other forms were wholly optional. The worshiper brought a male or female animal (ox, sheep, or goat) without blemish, laid a hand on its head, and slaughtered it. The priest sprinkled its blood on the sides of the altar and burned the fat surrounding the major organs. It is described as “an aroma pleasing to the Lord.”

This offering significantly recognized the covenant relationship existing between those who shared in it. God received the fatty portions, the officiating priest received the right thigh, the other priests the breast, and the remainder was shared among members of a family, clan, tribe, or some other group.

4. The khatta’t, or sin offering, atoned for the sin of an individual or of the nation and cleansed the sacred items in the tabernacle that had been corrupted by sin. Since a sin offering could purify ceremonial as well as moral uncleanness, people who were unclean due to childbirth, skin diseases, bodily discharges, and so forth also brought them (Lev. 12–15).

5. The ’asham, or guilt offering, provided compensation for sins. A ram without blemish was sacrificed, its blood was sprinkled on the altar, and its fatty portions, kidneys, and liver were burned. The rest was given to the priest. In addition, the value of what was misappropriated plus one-fifth of its value was given to the person wronged or to the priests.

Christians quickly came to understand Christ’s death as the final sacrifice that completed the OT system. Various NT authors consider the nature of Christ’s death and metaphorically relate it to OT sacrifices, but the writer of Hebrews develops this in the most detail. According to Hebrews, the sacrificial system was merely the shadow that pointed to Jesus. Although the blood of animals could not adequately deal with sins, Jesus’ sacrifice could (Heb. 10:1–10). Jesus is regularly identified as the sacrificial lamb whose blood purifies humanity from sin (John 1:29, 36; Rom. 8:3; 1 Cor. 5:7; Eph. 5:2; 1 Pet. 1:19; 1 John 1:7; Rev. 5:6, 12; 7:14; 12:11; 13:8). His sacrifice is considered a propitiation that turns away God’s wrath (Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2).

Servant

There are numerous relationships in the OT that could be characterized as following a servant-master model. These included service to the monarchy (2 Sam. 9:2), within households (Gen. 16:8), in the temple (1 Sam. 2:15), or to God himself (Judg. 2:8). We also see extensive slavery laws in passages such as Exod. 21:1 11; Lev. 25:39–55; Deut. 15:12–18. The slavery laws were concerned with the proper treatment of Hebrew slaves and included guidelines for their eventual release and freedom. For example, Hebrew slaves who had sold themselves to others were to serve for a period of six years. On the seventh year, known also as the Sabbath Year, they were to be released. Once released, they were not to be sent away empty-handed, but rather were to be supported from the owner’s “threshing floor” and “winepress.” Slaves also had certain rights that gave them special privileges and protection from their masters. Captured slaves, for example, were allowed rest on the Sabbath (Exod. 20:10) and during special holidays (Deut. 16:11, 14). They could also be freed if their master permanently hurt or crippled them (Exod. 21:26–27). Also, severe punishment was imposed on a person who beat a slave to death (Exod. 21:20–21).

Slavery was very common in the first century AD, and there were many different kinds of slaves. For example, slaves might live in an extended household (oikos) in which they were born, or they might choose to sell themselves into this situation (1 Pet. 2:18–25). Although slavery was a significant part of society in the first century AD, we never see Jesus or the apostles encourage slavery. Instead, both Paul and Peter encouraged godly character and obedience for slaves within this system (Eph. 6:5–8; Col. 3:22–25; 1 Tim. 6:1–2; Philemon; 1 Pet. 2:18–21). Likewise, masters were encouraged to be kind and fair to their slaves (Eph. 6:9; Col. 4:1). Later in the NT, slave trading was condemned by the apostle Paul as contrary to “sound doctrine” and “the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God” (1 Tim. 1:10–11).

Jesus embodied the idea of a servant in word and deed. He fulfilled the role of the “Servant of the Lord,” the Suffering Servant predicted by the prophet Isaiah (Isa. 42:1–4; 50:4–9; 52:13–53:12). He also took on the role of a servant in the Gospels, identifying himself as the Son of Man who came to serve (Mark 10:45) and washing the disciples’ feet (John 13:4–5). Paul says that in the incarnation Jesus took on “the very nature of a servant” (Phil. 2:7).

The special relationship between Jesus and his followers is captured in the servant-master language of the NT Epistles, especially in Paul’s letters (Rom. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Titus 1:1). This language focuses not so much on the societal status of these servants as on the allegiance and honor owed to Christ Jesus.

Sin

Sin enters the biblical story in Gen. 3. Despite God’s commandment to the contrary (2:16 17), Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil at the prompting of the serpent. When Adam joined Eve in eating the fruit, their rebellion was complete. They attempted to cover their guilt and shame, but the fig leaves were inadequate. God confronted them and was unimpressed with their attempts to shift the blame. Judgment fell heavily on the serpent, Eve, and Adam; even creation itself was affected (3:17–18).

In the midst of judgment, God made it clear in two specific ways that sin did not have the last word. First, God cryptically promised to put hostility between the offspring of the serpent and that of the woman (Gen. 3:15). Although the serpent would inflict a severe blow upon the offspring of the woman, the offspring of the woman would defeat the serpent. Second, God replaced the inadequate covering of the fig leaves with animal skins (3:21). The implication is that the death of the animal functioned as a substitute for Adam and Eve, covering their sin.

In one sense, the rest of the OT hangs on this question: How will a holy God satisfy his wrath against human sin and restore his relationship with human beings without compromising his justice? The short answer is: through Abraham and his offspring (Gen. 12:1–3), who eventually multiplied into the nation of Israel. After God redeemed them from their slavery in Egypt (Exod. 1–15), he brought them to Sinai to make a covenant with them that was predicated on obedience (19:5–6). A central component of this covenant was the sacrificial system (e.g., Lev. 1–7), which God provided as a means of dealing with sin. In addition to the regular sacrifices made for sin throughout the year, God set apart one day a year to atone for Israel’s sins (Lev. 16). On this Day of Atonement the high priest took the blood of a goat into the holy of holies and sprinkled it on the mercy seat as a sin offering. Afterward he took a second goat and confessed “all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and sending it away into the wilderness. . . . The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a barren region; and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness” (Lev. 16:21–22 NRSV). In order for the holy God to dwell with sinful people, extensive provisions had to be made to enable fellowship.

During the next four hundred years of prophetic silence, the longing for God to finally put away the sins of his people grew. At last, when the conception and birth of Jesus were announced, it was revealed that he would “save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). In the days before the public ministry of Jesus, John the Baptist prepared the way for him by “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3). Whereas both Adam and Israel were disobedient sons of God, Jesus proved to be the obedient Son by his faithfulness to God in the face of temptation (Matt. 2:13–15; 4:1–11; 26:36–46; Luke 3:23–4:13; Rom. 5:12–21; Phil. 2:8; Heb. 5:8–10). He was also the Suffering Servant who gave his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45; cf. Isa. 52:13–53:12). On the cross Jesus experienced the wrath of God that God’s people rightly deserved for their sin. With his justice fully satisfied, God was free to forgive and justify all who are identified with Christ by faith (Rom. 3:21–26). What neither the law nor the blood of bulls and goats could do, Jesus Christ did with his own blood (Rom. 8:3–4; Heb. 9:1–10:18).

After his resurrection and ascension, Jesus’ followers began proclaiming the “good news” (gospel) of what Jesus did and calling to people, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). As people began to experience God’s forgiveness, they were so transformed that they forgave those who sinned against them (Matt. 6:12; 18:15–20; Col. 3:13). Although believers continue to struggle with sin in this life (Rom. 8:12–13; Gal. 5:16–25), sin is no longer master over them (Rom. 6:1–23). The Holy Spirit empowers them to fight sin as they long for the new heaven and earth, where there will be no sin, no death, and no curse (Rom. 8:12–30; Rev. 21–22).

As even this very brief survey of the biblical story line from Genesis to Revelation shows, sin is a fundamental aspect of the Bible’s plot. Sin generates the conflict that drives the biblical narrative; it is the fundamental “problem” that must be solved in order for God’s purposes in creation to be completed.

Spirit

In the world of the Bible, a person was viewed as a unity of being with the pervading breath and thus imprint of the loving and holy God. The divine-human relationship consequently is portrayed in the Bible as predominantly spiritual in nature. God is spirit, and humankind may communicate with him in the spiritual realm. The ancients believed in an invisible world of spirits that held most, if not all, reasons for natural events and human actions in the visible world.

The OT writers used the common Hebrew word ruakh (“wind” or “breath”) to describe force and even life from the God of the universe. In its most revealing first instance, God’s ruakh hovered above the waters of the uncreated world (Gen. 1:2). In the next chapter of Genesis a companion word, neshamah (“breath”), is used as God breathed into Adam’s nostrils “the breath of life” (2:7). God thus breathed his own image into the first human being. Humankind’s moral obligations in the remainder of the Bible rest on this breathing act of God.

The OT authors often employ ruakh simply to denote air in motion or breath from a person’s mouth. However, special instances of the use of ruakh include references to the very life of a person (Gen. 7:22; Ps. 104:29), an attitude or emotion (Gen. 41:8; Num. 14:24; Ps. 77:3), the negative traits of pride or temper (Ps. 76:12), a generally good disposition (Prov. 11:13; 18:14), the seat of conversion (Ezek. 18:31; 36:26), and determination given by God (2 Chron. 36:22; Hag. 1:14).

The NT authors used the Greek term pneuma to convey the concept of spirit. In the world of the NT, the human spirit was understood as the divine part of human reality as distinct from the material realm. The spirit appears conscious and capable of rejoicing (Luke 1:47). Jesus was described by Luke as growing and becoming “strong in spirit” (1:80). In “spirit” Jesus “knew” what certain teachers of the law were thinking in their hearts (Mark 2:8). Likewise, Jesus “was deeply moved in spirit and troubled” at the sickness of a loved one (John 11:33). At the end of his life, Jesus gave up his spirit (John 19:30).

According to Jesus, the spirit is the place of God’s new covenant work of conversion and worship (John 3:5; 4:24). He declared the human spirit’s dependence on God and ascribed great virtue to those people who were “poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3).

Human beings who were possessed by an evil spirit were devalued in Mediterranean society. In various places in the Synoptic Gospels and the book of Acts, either Jesus or the disciples were involved in exorcisms of such spirits (Matt. 8:28 33; Mark 1:21–28; 7:24–30; 9:14–29; 5:1–20; 9:17–29; Luke 8:26–33; 9:37–42; Acts 5:16).

The apostle Paul pointed to the spirit as the seat of conversion (Rom. 7:6; 1 Cor. 5:5). He described believers as facing a struggle between flesh and spirit in regard to living a sanctified life (Rom. 8:2–17; Gal. 5:16–17). A contradiction seems apparent in Pauline thinking as he appears to embrace Greek dualistic understanding of body (flesh) and spirit while likewise commanding that “spirit, soul and body be kept blameless” (1 Thess. 5:23). However, the Christian struggle between flesh and Spirit (the Holy Spirit) centers around the believer’s body being dead because of sin but the spirit being alive because of the crucified and resurrected Christ (Rom. 8:10). Believers therefore are encouraged to lead a holistic life, lived in the Spirit.

Synagogue

In English, the word “synagogue” refers either to a Jewish congregation or to the place where that congregation meets. Synagogues of the biblical era functioned as both religious and civic centers for the Jewish community.

Since synagogues were institutions with a documented history no earlier than the third century BC, they are not mentioned in the OT. The Greek word from which the English one is derived does appear frequently in the LXX, but always with a general reference to a gathering, assembly, or meeting.

Synagogues frequently were locations of the teaching and healing ministry of Jesus. He began preaching the kingdom of God, teaching, and performing healing miracles in Galilean synagogues (Matt. 4:23; 9:35; 12:9; 13:54; Mark 1:21 29, 39; 3:1; 6:2; Luke 4:15–38, 44; 6:6–11; 13:10–17; John 6:59; 18:20). Later, the apostle Paul customarily initiated his mission work in the local synagogue at each of his destinations (Acts 9:19–20; 13:5, 14–15; 14:1; 17:1, 10, 17; 18:1–8; 19:8).

The last (and, from a twenty-first-century perspective, most controversial) use of the word “synagogue” in Scripture is the difficult phrase “synagogue of Satan” (Rev. 2:9; 3:9), which must be read in its context. This was written in response to the significant persecution in Asia Minor of the churches at Smyrna and Philadelphia by Jews who were in collusion with the Roman authorities. They were falsely accusing Jewish and Gentile Christian believers, creating unspeakable suffering for them. This phrase, intended to encourage Christian perseverance, implies that the churches in view represented true Israel, while their accusers were false Jews.

Witness

The English term “witness” occurs in both Testaments numerous times, with a wide range of meanings. One common meaning relates to someone who gives legal testimony and to the legitimacy of that testimony (Num. 35:30; Deut. 17:6; 19:15 16, 18; Prov. 12:17; Isa. 8:16, 20). Throughout the NT the term occurs primarily in the context of someone bearing witness—especially God—or testifying to something (Rom. 1:9; 2 Cor. 1:23; Phil. 1:8; 1 Thess. 2:5, 10), though it also has a forensic dimension in regard to one who establishes legal testimony (e.g., Acts 6:13; 7:58; 2 Cor. 13:1; 1 Tim. 5:19; Heb. 10:28).

Central to the concept of witness is the truthfulness of the witness. This was a vital component of the OT concept of witness. Thus, in legal proceedings a lone witness was insufficient to establish testimony against anyone (Deut. 17:6). This principle carries over into the NT (cf. Matt. 18:16; 2 Cor. 13:1). Such truthfulness was so significant that the ninth commandment expressly forbids bearing false witness (Exod. 20:16; Deut. 5:20; cf. Prov. 19:5, 9).

Truth-telling was not something that the people of Israel were called to merely among themselves. They were to be God’s witnesses to the nations (Isa. 43:10; 44:8). As witnesses of God’s existence and holiness, they were called to be separate from the nations (Exod. 19:6) and to be a light to them (Isa. 49:6). Tragically, Israel failed in this responsibility and was deemed “blind” (Isa. 42:19).

The NT continues the concept that the people of God are to be God’s witnesses. John the Baptist is commissioned “to testify concerning that light” (John 1:7). It is in this context that Jesus later declares himself to be “the light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5). Jesus himself is the exemplar of a “faithful witness” (Rev. 1:5). And his followers, whom he has designated as “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14), are then called to bear witness to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

“Witness” is also employed in terms of a legal testimony regarding what one has seen. That the disciples were intent on establishing such legal testimony is evident in their stipulation that the person to replace Judas Iscariot be someone from among those who had been with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry to his ascension, so that “one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection” (Acts 1:22). This forensic aspect of witness appears in the close of the Gospel of John: “This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true” (21:24). Paul demonstrates this forensic concern for witnesses when he references Peter, the Twelve, some five hundred others, and himself as among those who have witnessed the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:3–8).

Throughout Revelation there resides a direct link between Christians bearing witness and suffering, and perhaps dying, as a consequence of this witness. This is evident in the mention of Antipas, who was martyred, and is then designated as “my faithful witness” (Rev. 2:13). Also, the two unnamed witnesses in 11:1–12, who explicitly function as witnesses, are the subject of attack and are eventually murdered. Their murder occurs only after they have finished “their testimony” (11:7).

It is this association of persecution and martyrdom that likely leads to the second-century employment of “martyr” as a designation for those who bear witness to Christ to the point of death.

Word

“Word” is used in the Bible to refer to the speech of God in oral, written, or incarnate form. In each of these uses, God desires to make himself known to his people. The communication of God is always personal and relational, whether he speaks to call things into existence (Gen. 1) or to address an individual directly (Gen. 2:16 17; Exod. 3:14). The prophets and the apostles received the word of God (Deut. 18:14–22; John 16:13), some of which was proclaimed but not recorded. The greatest revelation in this regard is the person of Jesus Christ, who is called the “Word” of God (John 1:1, 14).

The psalmist declared God’s word to be an eternal object of hope and trust that gives light and direction (Ps. 119), and Jesus declared the word to be truth (John 17:17). The word is particularized and intimately connected with God himself by means of the key phrases “your word,” “the word of God,” “the word of the Lord,” “word about Christ,” and “the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17; Col. 3:16). Our understanding of the word is informed by a variety of terms and contexts in the canon of Scripture, a collection of which is found in Ps. 119.

The theme of the word in Ps. 119 is continued and clarified in the NT, accentuating the intimate connection between the word of God and God himself. The “Word” of God is the eternal Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:1; 1 John 1:1–4), who took on flesh and blood so that we might see the glory of the eternal God. The sovereign glory of Christ as the Word of God is depicted in the vision of John in Rev. 19:13. As the Word of God, Jesus Christ ultimately gives us our lives (John 1:4; 6:33; 10:10), sustains our lives (John 5:24; 6:51, 54; 8:51), and ultimately renders a just judgment regarding our lives (John 5:30; 8:16, 26; 9:39; cf. Matt. 25:31–33; Heb. 4:12).

Works

The Bible has much to say about works, and an understanding of the topic is important because works play a role in most religions. In the most generic sense, “works” refers to the products or activities of human moral agents in the context of religious discussion. God’s works are frequently mentioned in Scripture, and they are always good. His works include creation (Gen. 2:2 3; Isa. 40:28; 42:5), sustenance of the earth (Ps. 104; Heb. 1:3), and redemption (Exod. 6:6; Ps. 111:9; Rom. 8:23). Human works, therefore, should be in alignment with God’s works, though obviously of a different sort. Works in the Bible usually reflect a moral polarity: good or evil, righteous or unrighteous, just or unjust. The context of the passage often determines the moral character of the works (e.g., Isa. 3:10–11; 2 Cor. 11:15).

Important questions follow from the existence of works and their moral quality. Do good works merit God’s favor or please him? Can good works save at the time of God’s judgment? When people asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” he answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:28–29). Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). The people from the OT commended in Heb. 11 did their works in the precondition of faith. Explicitly in the NT and often implicitly in the OT, faith is the condition for truly good works. God elects out of his mercy, not out of human works (Rom. 9:12, 16; Titus 3:5; cf. Rom. 11:2). Works not done in faith, even if considered “good” by human standards, are not commendable to God, since all humankind is under sin (Rom. 3:9) and no person is righteous or does good (Rom. 3:10–18; cf. Isa. 64:6). Works cannot save; salvation is a gift to be received by faith (Eph. 2:8–9; 2 Tim. 1:9; cf. Rom. 4:2–6). Even works of the Mosaic law are not salvific (Rom. 3:20, 27–28; Gal. 2:16; 3:2; 5:4). Good works follow from faith (2 Cor. 9:8; Eph. 2:10; 1 Thess. 1:3; James 2:18, 22; cf. Acts 26:20). The works of those who have faith will be judged, but this judgment appears to be related to rewards, not salvation (Matt. 16:27; Rom. 2:6; 2 Cor. 5:10; cf. Rom. 14:10; 1 Cor. 3:13–15).

Worship

Worship of God is a critical dimension of both Testaments. One might argue that it is the very goal for which Israel and the church were formed.

The living God is the sole object of worship. He delights in the satisfying joy that his children find in him. The nature of worship is not about servant entertainment or passive observation; it is an active acknowledgment of God’s worth in a variety of humble ways.

A genuine selfless focus on the person and work of God brings about a humble response that affects one’s posture, generates works of service, and stirs up a healthy attitude of fear and respect. Knowledge of God is the foundational element in worship. God is worshiped for who he is and what he does. He is the Eternal One (Ps. 90:1; 1 Tim. 1:17), unique in every way (Isa. 44:8); he is God alone (Deut. 6:4). He is distinguished by his self-existence, the self-reliant quality of his life (Exod. 3:14; Deut. 32:30). The psalmist calls God’s people to shout joyfully to their good, loving, eternal, and faithful Creator (Ps. 100).

God is worshiped as the Creator of all life. This magnificent creative work of God, declared in the opening of Genesis, is a critical focus in worship (Ps. 95:6; Rom. 1:25; Rev. 4:11). Along with this is the companion declaration that God is the redeemer. The redemptive work of God is celebrated in the Song of Moses (Exod. 15:1 18) and in the Song of the Redeemed (Rev. 14:3).

Worship is also associated with the royal aspects of God’s character. It was the desire of the magi to find Jesus the king and worship him (Matt. 2:1–2). The final scenes of history will be characterized by humble submission to and worship of the King of kings (1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 17:14; 19:16; cf. Rev. 15:3–4). The psalms often draw the reader’s attention to God’s royal character as a basis for worship (Pss. 45:11; 98:6).

Finally, God is worshiped as the Lord of his covenant relationship with the nation of Israel. This covenant theme and metaphor summarize the varied aspects of God’s character and his relationship with Israel. The God who brought Israel into a covenant relationship is to be sincerely and exclusively worshiped (2 Kings 17:35, 38; cf. Deut. 31:20). These confessional statements about the character of God are a glorious weight that moves believers to prostrate themselves, to have an attitude of awe and respect, and to obediently serve.

Direct Matches

Advocate

Several Hebrew terms in Job 16:19–20 have been translated “advocate” in various English versions. The first (Job 16:19) is the Aramaic sahed, parallel to the Hebrew ’ed (“witness”). Sahed appears in Gen. 31:47 in the name that Laban gave to the heap of stones marking the boundary between him and Jacob. Jacob called it “Galeed” (“heap of witness”), and Laban called it “Jegar Sahadutha.” The Hebrew word melits (Job 16:20) can be translated “intercessor” or “advocate,” continuing the thought from v. 19; see also Job 33:23, where a melits is like an angel at a person’s side, giving instruction in what is right and intervening on the person’s behalf. The complication arises because the more common meaning of the root lits is to mock or jeer; melits would be a related noun. In this case, Job 16:20 is a contrast to the preceding advocacy theme and instead refers to the friends who are deemed mockers. This fits better with the plural grammatical construction, and it also looks ahead to Job 17:2, where Job says that mockers surround him. The comprehensive message of the passage, however, is that Job knows that his advocate is in heaven, a testimony to Job’s understanding of the sovereignty of the God who has also afflicted him, and a possible foreshadowing of the ministry of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

In John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7 the term paraklētos (lit., “called alongside” [NRSV, NIV: “Advocate”; RSV: “Counselor”]) refers to the Holy Spirit, sent as the Spirit of truth. The advocacy roles of the Spirit are to remain with God’s people, to teach, remind, and testify about Jesus, to convict the world of guilt regarding sin, and to guide into all truth. In 1 John 2:1 Jesus is the paraklētos who speaks in defense of his children. Just as Job 16:19–20 hinted at trinitarian implications regarding the divine advocate, so the NT references affirm the advocacy roles of the persons of the Godhead. See also Paraclete.

Counselor

(1) One gifted with insight into human nature and the ability to discern the wise response in complex situations. Daniel became a counselor in the royal court of Babylon, and because of his knowledge of God, he became distinguished for his superior counsel (Dan. 1:20; 5:11–12). Isaiah prophesied that the Spirit of wisdom and understanding would rest on the Messiah (11:2). Possessing the Spirit and knowledge of Scripture (Heb. 4:12) makes believers competent counselors (Rom. 15:14; Col. 3:16). (2) A rendering of the Greek word paraklētos in John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7 (RSV). See also Advocate; Paraclete.

God

For Christians, God is the creator of the cosmos and the redeemer of humanity. He has revealed himself in historical acts—namely, in creation, in the history of Israel, and especially in the person and work of Jesus Christ. There is only one God (Deut. 6:4); “there is no other” (Isa. 45:5). Because “God is spirit” (John 4:24), he must reveal himself through various images and metaphors.

Imagery of God

God’s character and attributes are revealed primarily through the use of imagery, the best and most understandable way to describe the mysterious nature of God. Scripture employs many images to describe God’s being and character. Some examples follow here.

God is compared to the father who shows compassion and love to his children (Ps. 103:13; Rom. 8:15). The father image is also used by the prophets to reveal God’s creatorship (Isa. 64:8). Jesus predominantly uses the language of “Father” in reference to God (Mark 8:38; 13:32; 14:36), revealing his close relationship with the Father. God is also identified as the king of Israel even before the Israelites have a human king (1 Sam. 10:19).

The Psalter exalts Yahweh as the king, acknowledging God’s sovereignty and preeminence (Pss. 5:2; 44:4; 47:6–7; 68:24; 74:12; 84:3; 95:3; 145:1). God is metaphorically identified as the shepherd who takes care of his sheep, his people, to depict his nature of provision and protection (Ps. 23:1–4). The image of the potter is also employed to describe the nature of God, who creates his creatures according to his will (Jer. 18:6; Rom. 9:20–23). In Hos. 2:4–3:5 God is identified as the long-suffering husband of the adulterous wife Israel. In the setting of war, God is depicted as the divine warrior who fights against his enemy (Exod. 15:3).

God is also referred to as advocate (Isa. 1:18), judge (Gen. 18:25), and lawgiver (Deut. 5:1–22). The image of the farmer is also frequently adopted to describe God’s nature of compassionate care, creation, providence, justice, redemption, sanctification, and more (e.g., Isa. 5:1–7; John 15:1–12). God is often referred to as the teacher (Exod. 4:15) who teaches what to do, as does the Holy Spirit in the NT (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit is identified as the counselor, the helper, the witness, and the guide (John 14:16, 26; 15:26). God is often metaphorically compared to various things in nature, such as rock (Ps. 18:2, 31, 46), light (Ps. 27:1), fire (Deut. 4:24; 9:3), lion (Hos. 11:10), and eagle (Deut. 32:11–12). In particular, the Davidic psalms employ many images in nature—rock, fortress, shield, horn, and stronghold (e.g., Ps. 18:2)—to describe God’s perfect protection.

Last, anthropomorphism often is employed to describe God’s activities. Numerous parts of the human body are used to speak of God: face (Num. 6:25–26), eyes (2 Chron. 16:9), mouth (Deut. 8:3), ears (Neh. 1:6), nostrils (Exod. 15:8), hands (Ezra 7:9), arms (Deut. 33:27), fingers (Ps. 8:3), voice (Exod. 15:26), shoulders (Deut. 33:12), feet (Ps. 18:9), and back (Exod. 33:21–22).

Names and Attributes of God

The OT refers to God by many names. One of the general terms used for God, ’el (which probably means “ultimate supremacy”), often appears in a compound form with a qualifying word, as in ’el ’elyon (“God Most High”), ’el shadday (“God Almighty”), and ’el ro’i (“the God who sees me” or “God of my seeing”). These descriptive names reveal important attributes of God and usually were derived from the personal experiences of the people of God in real-life settings; thus, they do not describe an abstract concept of God.

The most prominent personal name of God is yahweh (YHWH), which is translated as “the Lord” in most English Bibles. At the burning bush in the wilderness of Horeb, God first revealed to Moses his personal name in sentence form: “I am who I am” (Exod. 3:13–15). Though debated, the divine name “YHWH” seems to originate from an abbreviated form of this sentence. Yahweh, who was with Moses and his people at the time of exodus, is the God who was with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. According to Jesus’ testimony, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” is identified as the God “of the living” (Matt. 22:32). Hence, the name “Yahweh” is closely tied to God’s self-revelation as the God of presence and life. (See also Names of God.)

Many of God’s attributes are summarized in Exod. 34:6–7: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” Below are further explanations of some of the representative attributes of God.

Holiness. The moral excellence of God is the attribute that underlies all other attributes. Thus, all God’s attributes can be modified by the adjective holy: holy love, holy justice, holy mercy, holy righteousness, holy compassion, holy wisdom, and so forth. God is the only supremely holy one (1 Sam. 2:2; Rev. 15:4). God’s name is also holy; those who profane God’s name are condemned as guilty (Exod. 20:7; Lev. 22:32). God is depicted as the one who has concern for his holy name, which the Israelites profaned among the nations; God actively seeks to restore the holiness of his defiled name (Ezek. 36:21–23). God’s holiness is revealed by his righteous action (Isa. 5:16). Not only is God holy, but also he expects his people to be holy (Lev. 11:45; 19:2). All the sacrificial codes of Leviticus represent the moral requirements of holiness for the worshipers. Because of God’s character of holiness, he cannot tolerate sin in the lives of people, and he brings judgment to those who do not repent (Hab. 1:13).

Love and justice. Because “God is love,” no one reaches the true knowledge of God without having love (1 John 4:8). Images of the father and the faithful husband are frequently employed to portray God’s love (Deut. 1:31; Jer. 31:32; Hos. 2:14–20; 11:1–4). God’s love was supremely demonstrated by the giving of his only Son Jesus Christ for his people (John 3:16; Rom. 5:7–8; 1 John 4:9–10). God expects his people to follow the model of Christ’s sacrificial love (1 John 3:16).

God’s justice is the foundation of his moral law and his ways (Deut. 32:4; Job 34:12; Ps. 9:16; Rev. 15:3). It is also seen in his will (Ps. 99:4). God loves justice and acts with justice (Ps. 33:5). God’s justice is demonstrated in judging people according to their deeds—punishing wickedness and rewarding righteousness (Ezek. 18:20; Ps. 58:11; Rev. 20:12–13). God establishes justice by upholding the cause of the oppressed (Ps. 103:6) and by vindicating those afflicted (1 Sam. 25:39). God is completely impartial in implementing justice (Job 34:18–19). As with holiness, God requires his people to reflect his justice (Prov. 21:3).

God keeps a perfect balance between the attributes of love and justice. God’s love never infringes upon his justice, and vice versa. The cross of Jesus Christ perfectly shows these two attributes in one act. Because of his love, God gave his only Son for his people; because of his justice, God punished his Son for the sake of their sins. The good news is that God’s justice was satisfied by the work of Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:25–26).

Righteousness and mercy. God’s righteousness shows his unique moral perfection. God’s nature, actions, and laws display his character of righteousness (Pss. 19:8–9; 119:137; Dan. 9:14). “Righteousness and justice” are the foundation of God’s throne (Ps. 89:14). God’s righteousness was especially demonstrated in the work of Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:21–22). God’s righteousness will ultimately be revealed in his final judgment (Rev. 19:2; 20–22; cf. Ps. 7:11).

The English word “mercy” renders various words in the original languages: in Hebrew, khesed, khanan, rakham; in Greek, charis, eleos, oiktirmos, splanchnon. English Bibles translate these variously as “mercy,” “compassion,” “grace,” “kindness,” or “love.” The word “mercy” is chosen here as a representative concept (cf. Ps. 86:15). God’s mercy is most clearly seen in his act of forgiving sinners. In the Psalter, “Have mercy on me” is the most common form of expression when the psalmist entreats God’s forgiveness (Pss. 41:4, 10; 51:1). God’s mercy is shown abundantly to his chosen people (Eph. 2:4–8). Because of his mercy, their sins are forgiven (Mic. 7:18), their punishments are withheld (Ezra 9:13), and even sinners’ prayers are heard (Ps. 51:1; Luke 18:13–14). God is “the Father of mercies” (2 Cor. 1:3 NRSV).

God keeps a perfect balance between righteousness and mercy. His righteousness and mercy never infringe upon each other, nor does one operate at the expense of the other. God’s abundant mercy is shown to sinners through Jesus Christ, but if they do not repent of their sins, his righteous judgment will be brought upon them.

Faithfulness. God’s faithfulness is revealed in keeping the covenant that he made with his people. God “is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments” (Deut. 7:9). God is faithful to his character, his name, and his word (Neh. 9:8; Ps. 106:8; 2 Tim. 2:13; Heb. 6:13–18). God’s faithfulness is clearly seen in fulfilling his promise (Josh. 23:14). God showed his faithfulness by fulfilling all the promises that he made to Abraham (Gen. 12:2–3; Rom. 9:9; Gal. 4:28; Heb. 6:13–15), by having Solomon build the temple that he promised to David (2 Sam. 7:12–13; 1 Kings 8:17–21), and by sending his people into exile in Babylon and returning them to their homeland (Jer. 25:8–11; Dan. 9:2–3). God’s faithfulness was ultimately demonstrated by sending Jesus Christ, as was promised in the OT (Luke 24:44; Acts 13:32–33; 1 Cor. 15:3–8).

Goodness. Jesus said, “No one is good—except God alone” (Mark 10:18). God demonstrates his goodness in his actions (Ps. 119:68), in his work of creation (1 Tim. 4:4), in his love (Ps. 86:5), and in his promises (Josh. 23:14–15).

Patience. God is “slow to anger” (Exod. 34:6; Num. 14:18), which is a favorite expression for his patience (Neh. 9:17; Pss. 86:15; 103:8; Joel 2:13). God is patient with sinful people for a long time (Acts 13:18). Because of his patient character, he delays punishment (Isa. 42:14). For instance, God was patient with his disobedient prophet Jonah and also with the sinful people of Nineveh (Jon. 3:1–10). The purpose of God’s patience is to lead people toward repentance (Rom. 2:4).

God of the Trinity

The Christian God of the Bible is the triune God. God is one but exists in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). The Son is one with the Father (John 10:30); the Holy Spirit is one with God (2 Sam. 23:2–3). All three share the same divine nature; they are all-knowing, holy, glorious, and called “Lord” and “God” (Matt. 11:25; John 1:1; 20:28; Acts 3:22; 5:3–4; 10:36; 1 Cor. 8:6; 2 Cor. 3:17–18; 2 Pet. 1:1). All three share in the same work of creation (Gen. 1:1–3), salvation (1 Pet. 1:2), indwelling (John 14:23), and directing the church’s mission (Matt. 28:18–20; Acts 16:6–10; 14:27; 13:2–4).

Hour

The precise and consistent division of time into hours, minutes, and seconds is a feature of modern life first made possible by the widespread use of mechanical clocks in the late Middle Ages. Biblical texts reflect an earlier situation in which timekeeping was primarily a matter of celestial observation. NT references to “hours” fall into two broad categories: first, timekeeping by means of numbered hours; and second, the use of the word “hour” in the sense of “moment,” a short, indefinite period of time (e.g., Matt. 8:13; John 16:2), as the hour was the basic unit of measurable time (see Rev. 9:15).

Jesus observed that the day was divided into twelve hours (John 11:9). Jesus was crucified at the third hour (9 a.m.); it was dark from the sixth hour (noon) until the ninth hour (3 p.m.), at which point Jesus died (Matt. 27:45–46; Mark 15:25, 33; Luke 23:44; John 19:14). In one parable, a landowner hired workers at the third, sixth, ninth, and eleventh hours (Matt. 20:3–12). The book of Acts also reports events occurring at the third, sixth, and ninth hours (Acts 2:15; 3:1; 10:3, 9). Such passages suggest that actual reckoning was often less precise even than the twelve-hour scheme permitted, and that the day was more roughly divided into four parts of three hours each. The Gospel of John provides the most precise time indications, mentioning the tenth hour (4 p.m. [John 1:39]) and the seventh hour (1 p.m. [John 4:52]). One text names an “hour of dinner” (Luke 14:17; see also 22:14), and another indicates that the ninth hour (3 p.m.) was an “hour of prayer” (Acts 3:1; see also 10:30).

The night was divided into three or four “watches,” of which the NT mentions the second, third (Luke 12:38), and fourth (Matt. 14:25; Mark 6:48). The OT mentions nocturnal watches (Pss. 63:6; 90:4; 119:148; Lam. 2:19), including in military contexts (Exod. 14:24; Judg. 7:19; 1 Sam. 11:11), from which the term with the sense of standing guard is derived. The OT watches are not numbered, but are referred to as “middle” or “last.” The system of watches did not preclude the counting of hours during the night, as in Acts 23:23, which refers to the third hour of the night (9 p.m.).

In addition to the numbered hours of the day, the hour is also used to measure the passage of time, as in Acts 19:34, where a crowd riots for two hours (see also Matt. 26:40; Luke 22:59; Acts 5:7; Rev. 17:12). One text refers to a half-hour period (Rev. 8:1).

Numerous texts refer to hours of future trial (Matt. 10:19; Rev. 3:10), including an eschatological or “last hour” (e.g., Mark 13:32; 1 John 2:18). The suffering and death of Jesus is also referred to as his “hour” (e.g., Mark 14:35; 14:41; John 12:23, 27).

Spirit

Old Testament

The OT writers used the common Hebrew word ruakh (“wind” or “breath”) to describe force and even life from the God of the universe. In its most revealing first instance, God’s ruakh hovered above the waters of the uncreated world (Gen. 1:2). In the next chapter of Genesis a companion word, neshamah (“breath”) is used as God breathed into Adam’s nostrils “the breath of life” (2:7). God thus breathed his own image into the first human being. Humankind’s moral obligations in the remainder of the Bible rest on this breathing act of God.

On occasion in the OT, spirits are labeled “evil” (Judg. 9:23 ESV, NRSV, NASB). In the case of an evil spirit tormenting King Saul, the spirit was identified as “from the Lord” (1 Sam. 16:14–15, 23). According to the perspective of the ancients, once a person was possessed by a divine spirit, departure of such a spirit meant possession by a different spirit (1 Sam. 16:14). Such a perspective was common in the ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean worlds and stemmed from the religious fervor of Semitic nomads.

New Testament

The NT authors used the Greek term pneuma to convey the concept of spirit. In the world of the NT, the human spirit was understood as the divine part of human reality as distinct from the material realm. The spirit appears conscious and capable of rejoicing (Luke 1:47). Jesus was described by Luke as growing and becoming “strong in spirit” (1:80). In “spirit” Jesus “knew” what certain teachers of the law were thinking in their hearts (Mark 2:8). Likewise, Jesus “was deeply moved in spirit and troubled” at the sickness of a loved one (John 11:33). At the end of his life, Jesus gave up his spirit (John 19:30).

Human beings who were possessed by an evil spirit were devalued in Mediterranean society. In various places in the Synoptic Gospels and the book of Acts, either Jesus or the disciples were involved in exorcisms of such spirits (Matt. 8:28–33; Mark 1:21–28; 7:24–30; 9:14–29; 5:1–20; 9:17–29; Luke 8:26–33; 9:37–42; Acts 5:16).

Holy Spirit

God’s Spirit is described in the opening chapters of Genesis as partaking in creation. His Spirit likewise is seen throughout the OT as an agent in establishing God’s people as a nation and a people of his own. Leaders of Israel were chosen and possessed by the Spirit to assist in leading the people into God’s will (Deut. 34:9; Judg. 6:34; 15:14; 1 Sam. 11:6; 16:23). Typically, the moment the Spirit of God descended on a leader, miraculous fortitude, wisdom, and power resulted. The Spirit also provided whatever was needed for God’s prophets—courage, inspiration, and miracles (Num. 11:25; 1 Sam. 10:10; Isa. 11:2; Ezek. 2:2; Dan. 4:8; Joel 2:28). The office of prophet included prophesying both in the king’s court and among the people of the land. As the Spirit came on a prophet of God, the prophet would correct the king’s and others’ behavior and at times foretell the future or the outcome of possible decisions.

In the Synoptic Gospels, the Holy Spirit functions in much the same way as in the OT. One such function appears in Luke’s birth narrative when the angel answers Mary’s question as to how she might conceive while a virgin (Luke 1:34): “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (1:35). The Greek verb translated “will overshadow you” is used in the LXX to describe God’s protective nature (Pss. 91:4; 140:7). Likewise, the coming of God’s Spirit presented empowerment (Acts 1:8). Thus, Mary received both divine empowerment and protection. As the birth narrative continues, Luke records how other characters in the story, Elizabeth and Zechariah, were filled with the Spirit when Mary came to visit while pregnant with Jesus and when John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah, was born (1:41, 67). The evangelists record the Spirit descending on Jesus at the time of his baptism (Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32–34) and describe him as full of the Spirit when he was led by the Spirit into the desert (Luke 4:1). Finally, in John’s Gospel the Spirit is the promised comforter whom Jesus will give to his followers. He will testify about Christ (John 15:26).

In the new covenant the Spirit-possession of the OT gave way to believers’ reception of the Spirit at conversion. In Acts the Holy Spirit is presented as instrumental in carrying out the mission of the church, providing power and signs as well as moving and motivating missionaries. The apostle Paul attributes to the Holy Spirit the function of imbuing believers and the church with an assortment of virtues (Gal. 5:22), gifts (Rom. 12:7–8; 1 Cor. 12:1–11), and ministers (Eph. 4:7–13). He uses the idea of life in the Spirit as a point of contrast with life in the flesh. In John’s letters the Spirit is described as providing discernment of truth (1 John 4:6). See also Holy Spirit.

Suffering

The Bible has much to say about suffering. While in the OT suffering is regularly an indication of divine displeasure (Lev. 26:16–36; Deut. 28:20–68; Ps. 44:10–12; Isa. 1:25; cf. Heb. 10:26–31), in the NT it becomes the means by which blessing comes to humanity.

The Bible often shows that sinfulness results in suffering (Gen. 2:17; 6:5–7; Exod. 32:33; 2 Sam. 12:13–18; Rom. 1:18; 1 Cor. 11:27–30). Job’s friends mistakenly assume that he has suffered because of disobedience (Job 4:7–9; 8:3–4, 20; 11:6). Job passionately defends himself (12:4; 23:10), and in the final chapter of the book God commends Job and condemns his friends for their accusations (42:7–8; cf. 1:1, 22; 2:10). The writer makes clear that suffering is not necessarily evidence of sinfulness. Like Job’s friends, Jesus’ disciples assume that blindness is an indication of sinfulness (John 9:1–2). Jesus rejects this simplistic notion of retributive suffering (John 9:3, 6–7; cf. Luke 13:1–5).

The prayers of suffering people are expressed in the sixteen communal and thirty-seven individual laments in the book of Psalms. Within the laments the writers describe their problems, express feelings, make requests, ask questions (“How long, Lord?” [13:1]; “Why have you forsaken me?” [22:1]), and lodge complaints against God (“My eyes fail, looking for my God [69:3]), enemies (“You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors, and our enemies mock us” [80:6]), and even themselves (“I am a worm and not a man” [22:6]).

The NT writers reveal that Jesus’ suffering was prophesied in the OT (Mark 9:12; 14:21; Luke 18:31–32; 24:46; Acts 3:18; 17:3; 26:22–23; 1 Pet. 1:11; referring to OT texts such as Ps. 22; Isa. 52:13–53:12; Zech. 13:7). The Lord Jesus is presented as the answer to human suffering: (1) Through the incarnation, God’s Son personally experienced human suffering (Phil. 2:6–8; Heb. 2:9; 5:8). (2) Through his suffering, Christ paid the price for sin (Rom. 4:25; 3:25–26), so that believers are set free from sin (Rom. 6:6, 18, 22) and helped in temptation (Heb. 2:18). (3) Christ Jesus intercedes for his suffering followers (Rom. 8:34–35). (4) Christ is the example in suffering (1 Pet. 2:21; 4:1; cf. Phil. 3:10; 2 Cor. 1:5; 4:10; 1 Pet. 4:13), and though he died once for sins (Heb. 10:12), he continues to suffer as his church suffers (Acts 9:4–5). (5) Christ provides hope of resurrection (Rom. 6:5; 1 Cor. 15:20–26; Phil. 3:10–11) and a future life without suffering or death (Rev. 21:4).

There are many NT examples of suffering believers (John 15:20–21; Acts 4:3; 5:18; 7:57–60; 8:1–3; 12:1–5; 14:19; 16:22–24; 18:17; 2 Cor. 6:4–5, 8–10; Heb. 10:32; 1 Pet. 5:9; Rev. 2:10). Suffering is part of God’s plan for his people (Acts 9:16; 1 Thess. 3:2–4) and is part of what it means to be a follower of Christ Jesus (Acts 14:22; Rom. 8:17; Phil. 1:29; 1 Pet. 2:21; 4:12).

The NT writers repeatedly mention the benefits of suffering, for it has become part of God’s work of redemption. The suffering of believers accompanies the proclamation and advancement of the gospel (Acts 5:41–42; 9:15–16; 2 Cor. 4:10–11; 6:2–10; Phil. 1:12, 27–29; 1 Thess. 2:14–16; 2 Tim. 1:8; 4:5) and results in salvation (Matt. 10:22; 2 Cor. 1:6; 1 Thess. 2:16; 2 Tim. 2:10; Heb. 10:39), faith (Heb. 10:32–34, 38–39; 1 Pet. 1:7), the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22), resurrection from the dead (Phil. 3:10–11), and the crown of life (Rev. 2:10). It is an essential part of the development toward Christian maturity (Rom. 5:3–4; 2 Cor. 4:11; Heb. 12:4; James 1:3–4; 1 Pet. 1:7; 4:1).

Suffering is associated with knowing Christ (Phil. 3:10); daily inward renewal (2 Cor. 4:16); purity, understanding, patience, kindness, sincere love, truthful speech, the power of God (2 Cor. 4:4–10); comfort and endurance (2 Cor. 1:6); obedience (Heb. 5:8); blessing (1 Pet. 3:14; 4:14); glory (Rom. 8:17; 2 Cor. 4:17); and joy (Matt. 5:12; Acts 5:41; 2 Cor. 6:10; 12:10; James 1:2; 1 Pet. 1:6; 4:13). Other positive results of Christian suffering include perseverance (Rom. 5:3; James 1:3), character and hope (Rom. 5:4), strength (2 Cor. 12:10), and maturity and completeness (James 1:4). Present suffering is light and momentary when compared to future glory (Matt. 5:10–12; Acts 14:22; Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:17; Heb. 10:34–36; 1 Pet. 1:5–7; 4:12–13).

Throughout the Bible, believers are instructed to help those who suffer. The OT law provides principles for assisting the poor, the disadvantaged, and the oppressed (Exod. 20:10; 21:2; 23:11; Lev. 19:13, 34; 25:10, 35; Deut. 14:28–29; 15:1–2; 24:19–21). Jesus regularly taught his followers to help the poor (Matt. 5:42; 6:3; 19:21; 25:34–36; Luke 4:18; 12:33; 14:13, 21). It is believers’ responsibility to show mercy (Matt. 5:7; 9:13), be generous (Rom. 12:8; 2 Cor. 8:7; 1 Tim. 6:18), mourn with mourners (Rom. 12:15), carry other’s burdens (Gal. 6:1–2), and visit prisoners (Matt. 25:36, 43). See also Servant of the Lord.

Truth

While a modern understanding of the word “truth” suggests a direct correspondence to fact or reality, Scripture presents truth in broader terms.

Old Testament. The OT not only portrays truth as an honest factual account but also places it within a relationship characterized by faithfulness and reliability. The Hebrew word translated as “truth,” ’emet, also is translated as “faithfulness,” “security,” “reliability.” The word often appears juxtaposed to words that involve a relationship, including “love” (Ps. 26:3), “kindness” (Gen. 24:27), “mercy” (Ps. 40:11), “justice” (Isa. 59:14–15), and “righteousness” (Isa. 48:1). Truth is attributed primarily not to external facts, but rather to a person or community in faithfulness.

Often described as something that belongs to God (Ps. 25:5), truth is associated with his love (26:3). Yahweh is the God of truth (31:5) and is near to all who call on him in truth (145:18). God’s truth protects (140:11) and guides (43:3). Following God means walking in his truth (26:3). God speaks the truth (Isa. 45:19) and values truth (Prov. 12:22), and he expects his people to do the same (Prov. 23:23).

Often involving speech, truth is a crucial element for justice in a community, especially in a court setting. A truthful witness gives an honest testimony and brings healing, but a false witness tells lies and brings destruction (Prov. 12:17–18). Yet only the truth will endure (12:19). Truth is needed to make sound judgments (Zech. 8:16). The absence of truth in Israel’s society is denounced by the prophets, who declare truth to have stumbled (Isa. 59:14) and even to have perished (Jer. 7:28). In Jer. 5:1 it is said that God will forgive the entire city of Jerusalem if one person is found who deals honestly and seeks the truth (cf. Gen. 18:26–32). No such person is found. Nevertheless, it is God’s vision for Jerusalem to be called the “City of Truth” (Zech. 8:3 NASB, NKJV).

Several OT narratives display how truth may not be evident in every relationship. In 1 Kings 22:16 (// 2 Chron. 18:15) King Ahab makes the prophet Micaiah repeatedly swear to be telling God’s truth because he (rightly) suspects the prophet of lying. As an Egyptian ruler, Joseph requires his brothers to prove the truth of their words (Gen. 42:16), perhaps keeping in mind the history of his ancestor Abraham’s dealings with the Egyptian king (12:10–20). Sometimes the truth of one relationship holds priority over duties involved in another relationship. For example, in Exod. 1:15–21 the Hebrew midwives have a truthful relationship with (Hebrew) babies and with God even as they lie to the king of Egypt.

New Testament. In the NT, truth signifies the gospel (Eph. 1:13) as well as Jesus himself (John 14:6). Whereas Pilate asks, “What is truth?” (John 18:38), the NT answers, “Jesus!” The topic of truth is predominant in the Gospel of John. Jesus is full of grace and truth (John 1:14), tells the truth he heard from God (8:44), and in fact is the truth (5:33). Truth involves action. Whoever lives by the truth comes out of darkness into the light (3:21). Worship of God must be done in spirit and in truth (4:23–24). It is the truth that will set people free (8:32). Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of truth” (15:26), whose role is to guide the followers of Jesus in all truth, speaking what he hears from the Father (John 15–16).

Although the topic of truth is seldom mentioned in the Synoptic Gospels, the phrase “I tell you the truth” is attributed to Jesus seventy-eight times (e.g., Matt. 5:18; 6:2; Mark 8:12; 9:41; Luke 9:27; 23:43; John 1:51; 13:21 NCV), showing it to be a major theme. The apostle Paul reminds the church at Corinth that love rejoices with the truth (1 Cor. 13:6). Truth describes not only knowledge of reality (Acts 24:8) but also the knowledge of Christ (2 Cor. 11:10) as well as the type of life that a follower of Christ should exhibit (Gal. 2:14; Titus 1:1). Truth can be distorted (Acts 20:30), suppressed (Rom. 1:18), and rejected (Rom. 2:8). While truth can involve speech (Eph. 4:15), those who belong to the truth show it by their love (1 John 1:6; 3:18–20).

Well

Unlike a spring, a well allows access to subterranean water through a shaft that has been dug into the ground. Wells typically were deep and lined with stone or baked brick for stability, often capped with heavy stone to prevent exploitation. In an arid environment, wells were invaluable to the community. Here, livestock were watered and conversations were held (Gen. 24:10–27; 29:1–14; John 4:6–8). Figuratively, the well is used of a lover (Song 4:15), an adulteress (Prov. 23:27), and a city (Jer. 6:7). Wells commonly were named (Gen. 21:25–31 [Beersheba, “well of an oath”]) and often fought over (Gen. 21:25–30; 26:18).

Three kinds of “well encounters” can be seen in Scripture: (1) human being with deity (Gen. 16:7–14), (2) clan with clan (26:20), and (3) man with woman (29:1–14). The latter became highly developed as a betrothal-type scene that included standard elements: stranger’s arrival (= otherness), meeting (= bond), paternal announcement (= hospitality), and domestic invitation (= acceptance) (see Rebekah [Gen. 24]; Jacob and Rachel [Gen. 29:1–14]; Moses and Zipporah [Exod. 2:15–22]).

Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman (John 4:1–42) draws on multiple aspects of a well encounter: divine (Jesus) with human (the woman), Jew and Samaritan, a traveler, foreign (i.e., hostile) land, refreshment, announcement, invitation, and so on. However, now Jacob’s well (4:6) hosts Jesus’ presentation of himself as the groom whom she has been seeking (4:26). The patriarch’s well becomes a symbol of salvation, just as water becomes a metaphor for transformation (4:14–15). What could have been another “well of nationality” conflict (John 4:9, 11–12 [cf. Gen. 26:20: “Esek = argument”]) was elevated to a “living water” conversion (John 4:10, 13–15 [cf. Gen. 16:14: “Beer Lahai Roi = well of the Living One who sees me”]). Her plea “Come, see a man” (John 4:29) echoes an earlier “outcast,” Hagar, who exclaimed, “I have now seen the One who sees me” (Gen. 16:13).

Secondary Matches

The following suggestions occured because John 15:18--16:4 is mentioned in the definition.

Affliction

Affliction is a condition of physical, mental, or spiritual distress, or the cause of suffering. Afflictions may be a variety of temporal, physical sufferings, such as infertility (Gen. 25:32; 1 Sam. 1:11), injustice and toil (Gen. 31:42), slavery (Exod. 1:12; 3:7, 17; 4:31; Deut. 26:6–7; Neh. 9:9), military oppression (Judg. 2:18; 10:18), loss (Ruth 1:21), displacement and mocking (2 Sam. 16:12), disease and disorders (Mark 3:10; 5:29, 34; Luke 7:21; John 5:4; Acts 28:8), and famine (Acts 7:11). Affliction may be mental or spiritual, arising from the prospects or effects of physical afflictions, feeling the futility of life (Eccles. 1:13), or concern for others in their afflictions (Isa. 63:9; 2 Cor. 2:4).

There are several different causes and reasons for affliction, but there is no simple formula for determining the cause of one’s afflictions, as Job reminds us. Clearly, Job is blameless (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3), but his friends carry on wrongly in their assumptions that his sins are to blame. The agents of affliction include God (2 Kings 17:20; Nah. 1:12), Satan and/or demons (Job 1:12; Acts 5:16), other people (Judg. 10:8; 2 Thess. 1:6), oneself (1 Kings 18:28), or the general condition of life (Job 5:7).

The reasons for affliction also vary. One reason might be called “no reason,” in that “man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). Troubles, afflictions, and sorrow just happen. In retrospect, this is a condition of living in a cursed world (Gen. 3). But this is a general consequence for the whole human race, not a punishment directed at a specific sin. The widespread afflictions of the curse appear random. In various forms they prevent us from turning to easy living as a refuge from broken relationships and therefore force us to look elsewhere. The intent is that we look to God (see Hos. 5:15). Multiple specific reasons, however, may lie behind any particular affliction. They include punishment for sin (Deut. 29:22), often to induce repentance leading to restoration (Hos. 5:15; Zech. 10:9; 1 Cor. 11:30). Affliction may be dealt out by people as they sin against others (1 Sam. 1:7; 2 Sam. 16:12; 2 Thess. 1:6). One’s own choices may have natural consequences (Prov. 11:24; 13:20; 19:9, 15; 22:3), or consequences come due to a lack of leadership (Zech. 10:2). Some result from being associated with those going through afflictions (Num. 14:28–35; 1 Kings 2:26), suffering afflictions due to following Christ (Matt. 13:21; John 15:18–20; Acts 20:23), or feeling empathy for the afflicted (2 Cor. 2:4). Other afflictions are given as training, prevention, or refining (Isa. 48:10; Rom. 5:3–5; 2 Cor. 12:7; Heb. 12:5–13). Suffering affliction may also be substitutionary, on behalf of others (Isa. 53:4–7; and the substitutionary atonement of Christ generally).

In response to others’ afflictions, we are called to sympathy, compassion, comfort, and justice. Appropriate responses to our own afflictions range from patient endurance for the cause of Christ (James 5:11) to lamenting (the psalms and Christ’s example, Matt. 27:46).

Beloved Disciple

Traditionally identified with John the son of Zebedee, the Gospel of John depicts him as the ideal eyewitness to Jesus and as the ideal author. He first explicitly appears in John 13–21. In representing the Beloved Disciple as the author of the Gospel of John (John 21:24–25), the author thus claims a privileged place for its revelation about Jesus, perhaps in relation to the Gospel of Mark, which many in the early church considered to have Peter as its primary source of testimony.

Bible Texts

Bible Texts and Versions The NT and the OT have considerably different but partially overlapping textual histories. For clarity, it is best to begin with a survey of the NT manuscripts and versions.

Greek texts. Although no autographs of the NT books survive, there exist more than five thousand Greek texts covering anywhere from a portion of a few verses up to the complete NT. Traditionally, these texts have been classified into five groups: papyri, uncials, minuscules, lectionaries, and quotations in patristic texts. The most important manuscripts are listed below.

The earliest texts of the NT are those written on papyrus. Ninety-eight of these manuscripts have been identified, and they are represented by a “P” with a numerical superscript. The earliest of these papyri is P52, which contains parts of four verses in John 18 and dates to the early second century. For substantial portions of the NT text, the most important papyri are found in the Chester Beatty and Bodmer collections. P45, P46, and P47, all from the Chester Beatty collection, are from the third century and contain large sections of the four Gospels, eight of the Pauline Epistles, Hebrews, and Revelation. Within the Bodmer collection in Geneva are four very important codices. P66 dates to around AD 200 and preserves most of the Gospel of John. P72 dates to the third century and contains the earliest copies of 1–2 Peter and Jude, which are preserved in their entirety, as well as Greek translations of Pss. 33–34. P74 dates to the seventh century and contains portions of Acts, James, 1–2 Peter, 1–3 John, and Jude. Finally, P75, which dates to the early third century, contains most of Luke and John 1–15. It is the oldest extant copy of Luke. Among the remaining papyri, forty-three have been dated to the early fourth century or before.

The second category of manuscripts is the uncials, which usually were written on parchment and span the fourth through the tenth centuries. About 270 uncials are known, and they range from a few verses up to complete copies of the NT or even the entire Bible. Uncials originally were denoted by capital letters, but when the number of manuscripts grew beyond these limits, a new system was employed whereby each manuscript was given a number always beginning with zero. However, the most important uncials are still usually known by their letter. Among the most important uncials are the following five manuscripts. Codex Sinaiticus (designated by the Hebrew letter à) dates to the fourth century and is the only uncial that contains the entire NT. It also has almost all of the OT as well as the early Christian writings the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas. Dating from the fifth century, Codex Alexandrinus (designated as A) contains the OT, most of the NT—lacking only portions of Matthew, John, and 2 Corinthians—and 1–2 Clement. Along with Sinaiticus, the most important uncial is Codex Vaticanus (designated as B), which dates to the fourth century. It contains almost all of the OT and the complete NT, except for substantial portions between Hebrews and Revelation. It has been in the Vatican’s library for over five hundred years. The fourth important uncial is Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis (designated as D), which contains Greek and Latin copies of the four Gospels, most of Acts, and a few verses from 3 John. It dates from the late fourth or early fifth century. The fifth important uncial is Codex Washingtonianus (designated as W), which dates to the early fifth century and contains virtually all of the four Gospels.

The third category of NT manuscripts is minuscules. These texts date from the ninth century and later and comprise approximately 2,800 manuscripts, which are denoted by a number not beginning with zero. Among the more important minuscules are Codex 1, Codex 13, and Codex 33, which, along with their relatives, are considered reliable witnesses to early families of texts such as the Caesarean (1) or the Alexandrian (33). Codex 13 and its relatives are noteworthy for having the story of the adulterous woman at the end of Luke 21 instead of in John 8. The final two groups of NT manuscripts, the lectionaries and quotations in patristic sources, are not manuscripts in the strict sense of the term, but their use of portions of the NT presents important witnesses for the practice of textual criticism.

Versions. With the spread of Christianity during the time of the Roman Empire, the NT was translated into the language of the native peoples. These versions of the NT are important both for textual criticism of the NT and for the interpretive decisions that are reflected in how the text was rendered into a new language. Among the most important early versions of the NT are the following.

As Latin began to displace Greek as the dominant language of the empire, there was a need for a Latin version of the Bible. The earliest translation, known as the Old Latin or Itala, was made probably in the late second century, though the oldest manuscript (Codex Vercellensis) is from the fourth century. With the proliferation of Latin texts a standardized Latin translation became desirable, and in AD 382 Jerome was commissioned by Pope Damasus to provide a new translation known as the Vulgate.

Another family of NT versions is the Syriac texts. Around the late second century the four Gospels were translated into a version known as the Old Syriac. It is extant in two incomplete manuscripts that are probably fifth century. The translation that became the standard Syriac text is the Peshitta, which was produced in the early fifth century. It does not contain 2 Peter, 2–3 John, Jude, or Revelation because these were not considered canonical among the Syriac churches.

Other important versions of the NT from antiquity are the Coptic, Armenian, Georgian, and Ethiopic translations.

Old Testament

Hebrew texts. The text that has served as the basis for most modern editions and translations of the Hebrew OT is the Masoretic Text (MT), named after the Masoretes, the Jewish scribes who transmitted the text and added vocalization, accentuation, and notes to the consonantal text. The most important Masoretic manuscripts date from the end of the ninth century to the early eleventh century. Notable among these is the Leningrad Codex (AD 1008), denoted as L, which is the earliest Masoretic manuscript of the entire OT. Also important are the Aleppo Codex (c. AD 925), denoted as A, which preserves all of the OT except for most of the Pentateuch; the British Museum MS Or. 4445 (c. AD 925), denoted as B, which contains most of the Pentateuch; and the Cairo Codex (c. AD 896), denoted C, which contains Joshua through Kings and also the Prophets.

Although these manuscripts are much later than the biblical period, their reliability was largely confirmed with the discovery of the DSS beginning in 1947. Among the Qumran library are many manuscripts of biblical books as well as biblical commentaries, apocrphyal and pseudepigraphal works, and sectarian literature. All the OT books are represented among the scrolls that were found except Esther and Nehemiah, though the latter is usually presumed to have been at the end of Ezra but has not survived. The books with the most manuscripts are, in order, Psalms, Deuteronomy, and Isaiah. One of the striking characteristics of these scrolls is that they reflect a diversity of text types. For example, there is a copy of Jeremiah that is close to the Masoretic version, but also a manuscript of Jeremiah similar to the much shorter version found in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT).

Another Hebrew text of the OT is that of the Samaritan Pentateuch, which is the text transmitted by the Samaritans. It is similar to the MT in some respects but also has differences that reflect theological interests. The main manuscripts for the Samaritan Pentateuch are from the twelfth century.

Versions. Between the third and first centuries BC, the entire OT was translated into Greek. This version, known as the Septuagint (designated by the abbreviation LXX), became the main version of the OT used by the early church. Due to its adoption by the church, the LXX has been preserved in numerous manuscripts, including Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, and Vaticanus. By the late first century BC or early first century AD, there were two revisions of the Greek text: the Proto-Lucianic version and the Kaige recension. The latter aimed to revise the Greek toward closer conformity with the Hebrew text and derives its name from its peculiar tendency to translate the Hebrew word gam (“also”) with the Greek work kaige. In the second century AD three other Greek translations were made by Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus, all of which revised the Kaige recension back toward the MT.

Another important early version of the OT consists of the Targumim, which are Aramaic translations or paraphrases (and sometimes extensive elaborations) of OT books. The official Targumim for Judaism are Targum Onqelos for the Pentateuch (c. second century AD), which is quite literal, and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan for the Prophets (sometime before the fourth century AD), which ranges from being quite literal to somewhat paraphrastic. Unofficial Targumim for the Pentateuch include Targum Neofiti and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. There are also various unofficial Targumim for the Writings section of the OT, except for Daniel and Ezra-Nehemiah (which are already written partly in Aramaic).

Besides the Greek and Aramaic translations, there are other important versions of the OT. Sometime in either the third or fourth century AD, the Peshitta of the OT was produced, though there is evidence that there were earlier Syriac translations of some books already circulating. Also important is a group of Latin translations known collectively as the Old Latin. These versions were produced sometime during the second century AD and were primarily made from already existing Greek translations rather than Hebrew texts. As with the NT, a later Latin translation was made by Jerome for the Vulgate.

Bible Versions

Bible Texts and Versions The NT and the OT have considerably different but partially overlapping textual histories. For clarity, it is best to begin with a survey of the NT manuscripts and versions.

Other important versions of the NT from antiquity are the Coptic, Armenian, Georgian, and Ethiopic translations.

Old Testament

Earth

The Hebrew word ’erets occurs 2,505 times in the OT and is most frequently translated “country” or “land.” “Earth” renders the Greek word gē in the NT. Not surprisingly, ’erets appears 311 times in Genesis alone, the book that initiates Israel’s landed covenant (Gen. 15:18). The primary uses of ’erets are cosmological (e.g., the earth) and geographical (e.g., the land of Israel). Other uses of ’erets include physical (e.g., the ground on which one stands) and political (e.g., governed countries) designations. Less frequently, “earth” translates the Hebrew word ’adamah (“country, ground, land, soil”).

Heaven and Earth

Israel shared the cosmology of its ancient Near Eastern neighbors. This worldview understood the earth as a “disk” upon the primeval waters (Job 38:13; Isa. 40:22), with the earth having four rims or “corners” (Ps. 135:7; Isa. 11:12). These rims were sealed at the horizon to prevent the influx of cosmic waters. God speaks to Job about the dawn grasping the edges of the earth and shaking the evil people out of it (Job 38:12–13). Similarly, the Akkadian text Hymn to the Sun-God states, “You [Shamash] are holding the ends of the earth suspended from the midst of heaven” (I:22). The earth’s boundaries were set against chaos (Ps. 104:7–9; Isa. 40:12). In this way, the Creator and the Savior cannot be separated because, taken together, God works against chaos in the mission of redemption (Ps. 74:12–17; Isa. 51:9–11). The phrase “heavens and earth” is a merism (two extremes representing the whole) for the entire universe (Gen. 1:1; Ps. 102:25). Over the earth arched a firm “vault” (Gen. 1:6). Heaven’s vault rested on the earth’s “pillars,” the mountains (Deut. 32:22; 1 Sam. 2:8). Below the heavens is the sea, part of the earth’s flat surface.

There was no term for “world” in the OT. The perception of world was basically bipartite (heaven and earth), though some tripartite expressions also occur (e.g., heaven, earth, sea [Exod. 20:11; Rev. 5:3, 13]). Though rare, some uses of ’erets may refer to the “underworld” or Sheol (Exod. 15:12; Jer. 17:13; Jon. 2:6). The earth can be regarded as the realm of the dead (Matt. 12:40; Eph. 4:9). However, the OT is less concerned with the organic structure of the earth than with what fills the earth: inhabitants (Ps. 33:14; Isa. 24:1), people groups (Gen. 18:18; Deut. 28:10), and kingdoms (Deut. 28:25; 2 Kings 19:15). The term ’erets can be used symbolically to indicate its inhabitants (Gen. 6:11). However, unlike its neighbors, Israel acknowledged no divine “Mother Earth,” given the cultural associations with female consorts.

The Theology of Land

In biblical faith, the concept of land combines geography with theology. The modern person values land more as a place to build than for its productive capacities. But from the outset, human beings and the “earth” (’erets) functioned in a symbiotic relationship with the Creator (Gen. 1:28). God even gave the land agency to “bring forth living creatures” (Gen. 1:24). The “ground” (’adamah) also provided the raw substance to make the human being (’adam [Gen. 2:7]). In turn, the human being was charged with developing and protecting the land (Gen. 2:5, 15). Showing divine care, the Noahic covenant was “between [God] and the earth” (Gen. 9:13). Thus, land was no mere onlooker; human rebellion had cosmic effects (Gen. 6:7, 17). The land could be cursed and suffer (Gen. 3:17; cf. 4:11).

Israel’s promised land was built on the sanctuary prototype of Eden (Gen. 13:10; Deut. 6:3; 31:20); both were defined by divine blessing, fertility, legal instruction, secure boundaries, and were orienting points for the world. Canaan was Israel’s new paradise, “flowing with milk and honey” (Exod. 3:8; Num. 13:27). Conversely, the lack of fertile land was tantamount to insecurity and judgment. As Eden illustrated for Israel, any rupture of relationship with God brought alienation between humans, God, and the land; this could ultimately bring exile, as an ethically nauseated land “vomits” people out (Lev. 18:25, 28; 20:22; see also Deut. 4; 30).

For Israel, land involved both God’s covenant promise (Gen. 15:18–21; 35:9–12) and the nation’s faithful obedience (Gen. 17:1; Exod. 19:5; 1 Kings 2:1–4). Conditionality and unconditionality coexisted in Israel’s relationship of “sonship” with Yahweh (Exod. 4:22; Hos. 11:1). Yahweh was the earth’s Lord (Ps. 97:5), Judge (Gen. 18:25), and King (Ps. 47:2, 7). Both owner and giver, he was the supreme landlord, who gifted the land to Israel (Exod. 19:5; Lev. 25:23; Josh. 22:19; Ps. 24:1). The land was God’s “inheritance” to give (1 Sam. 26:19; 2 Sam. 14:16; Ps. 79:1; Jer. 2:7). The Levites, however, did not receive an allotment of land as did the other tribes, since God was their “portion” (Num. 18:20; Ps. 73:26). Israel’s obedience was necessary both to enter and to occupy the land (Deut. 8:1–3; 11:8–9; 21:1; 27:1–3). Ironically, the earth swallowed rebellious Israelites when they accused Moses of bringing them “up out of a land flowing with milk and honey” (Num. 16:13). As the conquest shows, however, no tribe was completely obedient, taking its full “inheritance” (Josh. 13:1).

Land possession had serious ethical and religious ramifications (Deut. 26:1–11). Israel was not chosen to receive a special land; rather, land was the medium of Israel’s relationship with God. Land functioned as a spiritual barometer (Ps. 78:56–64; Lam. 1:3–5). The heavens and earth stood as covenant witnesses (Deut. 4:26). Blood, in particular, could physically pollute the land (Num. 35:30–34). National sin could culminate in expulsion (Lev. 26:32–39), and eventually the land was lost (Jer. 25:1–11). For this reason, Israel’s exiles prompted a profound theological crisis.

Inheritance

The notion of inheritance connected Israel’s religious worship with practical stewardship. Land was not owned; it was passed down through patrimonial succession. God entrusted each family with an inheritance that was to be safeguarded (Lev. 25:23–28; Mic. 2:1–2). This highlights the serious crime when Naboth’s vineyard was forcibly stolen (1 Kings 21). It was Israel’s filial sonship with Yahweh and Israel’s land tenure that formed Yahweh’s solidarity with the nation. The law helped limit Israel’s attachment to mere real estate: Yahweh was to be Israel’s preoccupation (see Jer. 3:6–25). When the nation was finally exiled, the message of the new covenant transcended geographical boundaries (Jer. 32:36–44; Ezek. 36–37; cf. Lev. 26:40–45; Deut. 30:1–10). In postexilic Israel, sanctuary was prioritized (Hag. 1:9–14).

It was Israel’s redefinition of land through the exile that prepared the way for the incorporation of the Gentiles (Ezek. 47:22–23), an integration already anticipated (Isa. 56:3–7). The prophets saw a time when the nations would share in the inheritance of God previously guarded by Israel (Isa. 60; Zech. 2:11; cf. Gen. 12:3). Viewed as a political territory, land receives no substantial theological treatment in the NT; rather, inheritance surpasses covenant metaphor. Using the language of sonship and inheritance, Paul develops this new Gentile mission in Galatians (cf. Col. 1:13–14). The OT land motif fully flowers in the NT teaching of adoption (cf. 1 Pet. 1:3–5). Both curse and covenant are resolved eschatologically (Rom. 8:19–22). Inheritance is now found in Christ (Eph. 2:11–22; 1 Pet. 1:4). In the economy of the new covenant, land tenure has matured in fellowship (koinōnia). Koinōnia recalibrates the ethical significance of OT land themes, reapplying them practically through inclusion, lifestyle, economic responsibility, and social equity.

Beyond cosmological realms, heaven and earth are also theological horizons still under God’s ownership. What began as the creation mandate to fill and subdue the earth (Gen. 1:28) culminates in the new creation with Christ (Rom. 8:4–25). Under the power of Satan, the earth “lags behind” heaven. Christ’s mission brings what is qualitatively of heaven onto the earthly stage, often using signs of the budding rule of God (Matt. 6:10; Mark 2:10–11; John 3:31–36; Eph. 4:9–13; Heb. 12:25). As Israel was to stand out in a hostile world (Deut. 4:5–8), now those of Abrahamic faith stand out through Christian love (John 13:34–35; Rom. 4:9–16). According to Heb. 4:1–11, Israel’s initial rest in the land (see Exod. 33:14; Deut. 12:9) culminates in the believers’ rest in Christ (Heb. 4:3, 5). The former inheritance of space gives way to the inheritance of Christ’s presence. The OT theme of land is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus’ exhortation to “abide in me” (John 15).

Earthquake–In Palestine there have been about seventeen recorded major earthquakes in the past two millennia. One of the major sources of these earthquakes is believed to originate from the Jordan Rift Valley. In antiquity earthquakes were viewed as fearful events because the mountains, which represented everlasting durability, were disturbed. The confession of faith is pronounced in association with such phenomena (“We will not fear, though the earth give way” [Ps. 46:2]). An earthquake must have made a great impact in Amos’s day (“two years before the earthquake” [Amos 1:1; cf. Zech. 14:5]).

An earthquake has many symbolic meanings. First, the power of God and his divine presence are manifested through it (Job 9:6; Ps. 68:8; Hag. 2:6). It accompanied theophanic revelation (Exod. 19:18; Isa. 6:4; 1 Kings 19:11–12) when the glory of the Lord appeared (Ezek. 3:12). His divine presence was especially felt when earthquakes occurred during the time of the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Matt. 27:54; 28:2). It led the centurion to confess of Christ, “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54). God’s salvation power is represented when an earthquake comes at the appropriate moment, such as when it freed Paul and Silas from prison (Acts 16:26).

Second, it is used in the context of God’s judgment (Isa. 13:13; Amos 9:1; Nah. 1:5). It becomes the symbol of God’s anger and wrath (Ps. 18:7). God brought earthquakes upon the people to destroy evil in the world and to punish those who had sinned against him (Num. 16:31–33; Isa. 29:6; Ezek. 38:19). Earthquake activity possibly explains the background to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:24).

Third, earthquakes are said to precede the end of time (Matt. 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11). In the apocalyptic book of Revelation, earthquakes are regular occurrences (Rev. 6:12; 11:13, 19; 16:18).

Garden

An enclosed farming area where vegetables and fruit trees are cultivated. Vineyards, orchards, and olive groves belong to a broader category of the garden. Gardens in biblical times generally were surrounded by a wall of mud-bricks or stones, along with a hedge of thorny bushes (Prov. 24:31; Song 4:12; Isa. 5:5). A booth or watchtower was set up to guard it from thieves and wild animals (Job 27:18; Isa. 1:8; 5:2). For irrigation, water was raised from wells or brought in through a canal system connected to rivers or springs.

Since most of the land of Canaan was a hilly and arid region, a well-watered garden was highly valued. Thus Balaam blesses the tents of the Israelites to be “like gardens beside a river” (Num. 24:6–7; cf. Ps. 1:3; Jer. 17:8). Notably, in Gen. 13:10 the Plain of Jordan, in its fertility from the ample water supply, is likened to two places: “the garden of the Lord” and “the land of Egypt.” The land of Egypt had developed vegetable gardens, with an irrigation system connected to the Nile (Deut. 11:10; cf. Num. 11:5). The garden of the Lord, or the garden of Eden, was also such a place of fruitfulness, with rivers and fruit trees, especially the tree of life (Gen. 2:9–10).

The garden of Eden also carries various connotations that are developed in the rest of the Bible. It is a place secluded from the world, where nakedness is not shameful (Gen. 2:25). Song of Songs describes the garden as a place of perfect love. It is also a meeting place between God and human beings (Gen. 2:16–17; 3:8–14; cf. idolatrous gardens in Isa. 1:29–31; 65:3; 66:17). More important, God is the gardener who planted it (Gen. 2:8).

The metaphorical identification of God as the gardener is frequently developed in the OT. In Deut. 11:10–12 the land of Canaan is described as a garden that God himself will take care of. Isaiah presents Zion as the vineyard that God planted and cultivated but decided to destroy due to its unfruitfulness (Isa. 5:1–7; cf. Jer. 12:10; Ezek. 19:10; Joel 2:3); after the time of its desolation, however, God also promises to restore and care for it (Isa. 27:2–6). Restored Zion is likened to a well-watered garden and even the garden of Eden (Isa. 51:3; 58:11; 61:11; cf. Jer. 31:12; Ezek. 36:34–35; 47:12).

Descriptions of God as the gardener perhaps convey the conception of kingship. Gardens belonged to socially prestigious people, especially royalty, as indicated by the references to the king’s garden at Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:4; Jer. 39:4; 52:7; Neh. 3:15) as well as the Persian palace garden (Esther 1:5; 7:7–8). But a royal garden was particularly regarded as the main achievement of a king (Eccles. 2:4–6; also note the story of Naboth’s vineyard in 1 Kings 21). The allusions to the garden of Eden in the taunt songs of the kings of Tyre, Assyria, and Pharaoh (Ezek. 28:13; 31:8–9, 16, 18) also support this relationship.

Metaphorical use of the garden continues in the NT. The people of God are described as the vegetation whose fruits reveal their identities (cf. Matt. 7:16–19). The need to bear fruit is particularly emphasized in the vineyard imagery of John 15, in which God is introduced as a farmer, Jesus as the vine, and believers as its branches. Paul mentions the bearing of fruit as the goal of Christian life (Rom. 7:4–5; Phil. 1:11; Col. 1:10), which is possible through the work of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22–25). Revelation 21:1–22:5 describes the new Jerusalem as a restored garden of Eden, in the midst of which a river of life, issuing from beneath God’s throne, provides abundant water for the tree of life on both sides.

Also noteworthy is the reference in the Gospel of John to the two gardens: the garden of Jesus’ arrest (18:1–11) and the garden of Jesus’ burial (19:41). Considering their location in Jerusalem and the usage of royal gardens for burial (cf. 2 Kings 21:18), it seems that John mentions the gardens in order to underline Jesus’ kingship, which he particularly develops in John 18–19. Mary’s perception of the risen Christ as a gardener possibly supports this interpretation (John 20:15).

Godhead

A term that refers to the essential fullness of God as one being in three persons. The suffix “-head” is archaic, such that the word can be understood as “Godhood.” The fullness of God’s being, the Godhead, dwells in Christ bodily (Col. 2:9). The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son (John 15:26). “Godhead” appears three times in the KJV, translating the Greek words theios (Acts 17:29; cf. 2 Pet. 1:3–4), theiotēs (Rom. 1:20), and theotēs (Col. 2:9), which more-recent versions render variously as “deity,” “divine being,” and “divine nature.”

Holy Spirit

In Christian theology, the Third Person of the Trinity. The usage derives from the NT, in which the divine Spirit is treated as an independent person who is instrumental in salvation and is worthy of the praise accorded to both the Father and the Son (John 14:16–23; Rom. 8:26–27; 1 Pet. 1:2).

Old Testament

The scarcity of the phrase “Holy Spirit” in the OT (only in Ps. 51:11; Isa. 63:10–11) does not imply lack of interest or importance. While it should be recognized that in the OT the person of the Holy Spirit receives nothing like the systematic reflection found in the NT, when one includes correlative terms, such as “Spirit of God,” “my Spirit,” “wind,” or “breath,” it is apparent that OT writers attributed great significance to God’s Spirit. Thus, the Spirit was at work in the beginning of creation (Gen. 1:2). Adam and Eve are uniquely given life by the breath of God (Gen. 2:7). The Spirit enables the building of the tabernacle (Exod. 31:3), gives voice to the message of the prophets (Num. 11:29; cf. 2 Pet. 1:21), empowers Israel’s leaders (1 Sam. 16:13), and provides access to God’s presence (Ps. 51:11). Yet in all this, the work of the Spirit in the OT is sporadic, occasional, and localized. Thus, the prophets long for a new age when God’s people will more perfectly enjoy the Spirit’s presence (Isa. 32:15; 44:3; 61:1; Joel 2:28).

New Testament

The Spirit in the ministry of Christ. The NT views the OT prophetic hope for the Spirit as fulfilled in and through Jesus Christ (Luke 4:18–21). The unique relationship between God’s Holy Spirit and the person and work of Jesus explains the systemic reflection that the Holy Spirit receives in the NT. This is signaled at the very beginning of Jesus’ life, when the Holy Spirit “comes upon” Mary, overshadowing her with “the power of the Most High” (1:35). Similarly, at the start of Jesus’ public ministry, the Holy Spirit “descended on him” at baptism (3:22). This anointing by the Spirit initiates and empowers Jesus’ public ministry, from his preaching, to his miraculous works, to his perfect obedience (Luke 4:14–18; John 3:34; Acts 10:38). Even his sacrificial death is accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit (Heb. 9:14).

Significantly, just as the Holy Spirit empowered the life and death of Jesus, so too is the Spirit responsible for his resurrection and characteristic of his glorious reign. Death is not a defeat for Jesus: he is “vindicated by the Spirit” (1 Tim. 3:16), “appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4; cf. 1 Pet. 3:18). Furthermore, at his resurrection, Jesus comes into a new phase of full and perfect possession of the eternal Spirit as the reward for his obedience. So complete is this union that Paul at one point claims that “the Lord is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:17).

The Spirit in the church and the believer. The church and its members are the immediate beneficiaries of Christ’s spiritual fullness. Since Jesus is now a “life-giving spirit” through his resurrection and ascension (1 Cor. 15:45), he is able to fulfill the promise of Spirit baptism (Luke 3:16). This baptism takes place in the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, which marks the birth of the NT church. The apostles, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, provide true and powerful testimony about Jesus (John 16:4–15), testimony that serves as the church’s foundation and principal tradition (Eph. 2:20). The work of the Spirit continues within the church in the postapostolic age, uniting its members in Christ for God’s holy purpose (Eph. 2:22).

This same outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the salvation of individual believers. Believers receive the Spirit by faith (Gal. 3:14). The Spirit in turn unites them to Christ and all his benefits (Gal. 3:2; Eph. 1:3), including his life (Heb. 4:15–16), suffering (Phil. 1:29; 1 Pet. 4:14), death (Rom. 6:3), resurrection (Rom. 6:5), justification (Rom. 4:25), and glorious reign in heaven (Phil. 3:20). These benefits, though undoubtedly perfected and consummated only at Christ’s return (Phil. 1:6), are characteristic of believers’ present experience, enjoyed now because the Spirit dwells within them as the “firstfruits” of the harvest to come (Rom. 8:23; cf. Gal. 2:19–20). This indwelling of the Spirit results in new birth and new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), a newness identified with the life that Christ received in his resurrection (Rom. 8:11).

For this reason, believers are urged to further the work of the Spirit in their lives until the bodily resurrection of all God’s people. They are to cultivate the “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22), and they are correspondingly warned not to “grieve the Holy Spirit” (Eph. 4:30). Furthermore, since new life is initiated by the Spirit (John 3:6–8), Christians are to remain in that Spirit, not turning aside in reliance on vain and useless principles (Gal. 3:1–5). Conversely, they are to be “filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18), putting off the old person and putting on the new (4:22). This filling grounds every aspect of the believer’s life, from obedience, to worship, to the hope of resurrection. The Spirit, in uniting believers to all the riches of Christ and his resurrection, is therefore central in the work of salvation. See also Spirit.

Land

Heaven and Earth

The Theology of Land

Inheritance

Third, earthquakes are said to precede the end of time (Matt. 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11). In the apocalyptic book of Revelation, earthquakes are regular occurrences (Rev. 6:12; 11:13, 19; 16:18).

Messianic Secret

On several occasions Jesus commanded demons or individuals to refrain from announcing his identity or making known a miracle that he performed. These commands to keep silent are found in Luke and Matthew, but more frequently in Mark (1:25, 34, 44; 3:12; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26, 30; 9:9). Since Jesus came to reveal himself as Israel’s true Messiah, these prohibitions against the public proclamation of his identity and certain miracles that he performed are puzzling. This feature in Mark’s Gospel has been called the “messianic secret.” Several examples are as follows:

Mark 1:24–25: Jesus silenced an evil spirit that identified him as the “Holy One of God.”

Mark 1:34: Jesus prohibited demons from speaking because they knew who he was (see also 3:12).

Mark 1:44: Jesus commanded a leper whom he healed not to tell anyone.

Mark 5:43: Jesus commanded those present at the healing of Jairus’s daughter not to tell anyone.

Mark 7:36: After healing a deaf and mute man, Jesus ordered those present not to tell anyone.

Mark 8:30: When Peter confessed Jesus to be the Christ, Jesus commanded him not to tell anyone.

Mark 9:9: After the transfiguration, Jesus commanded Peter, James, and John not to tell anyone what they saw until after his resurrection.

Several explanations have been proposed concerning the motive behind the so-called messianic secret and the commands to keep silent. One interpretation, proposed by William Wrede in 1901 in his book The Messianic Secret, attempted to explain why Jesus was not accepted as the Messiah during his earthly ministry. Wrede argued that Jesus never conceived of himself as the Messiah. Rather, the early church designated him as such after the resurrection. Thus Mark, writing for the church, fashioned his Gospel, inserting these passages to make it appear that Jesus privately taught the disciples that he really was the Messiah, even though he prohibited this proclamation in public. Others have proposed that Mark was actually attempting to soften Jesus’ claims to be the Messiah.

There are, however, better explanations of why Jesus sometimes instructed individuals not to broadcast his identity or tell of a miracle that he performed. In each case or context the reason for silence is probably slightly different. A frequent explanation is that Jesus did not want to encourage false messianic expectations. Many Jews imagined the Messiah to be a political and/or military figure who would deliver the nation from its Gentile oppressors. Most Jews did not expect or welcome a suffering Christ. From God’s perspective, hailing him as Messiah while rejecting or being ignorant of his redemptive plans would have been counterproductive to his purpose. In light of this, some interpreters maintain that the veil of secrecy was lifted as Jesus neared Passion Week (Mark 10:47–48; 12:6–7; 14:62).

A second reason for silence, regarding those cases where demons proclaimed his identity, was that God had sovereignly chosen men and women to be his witnesses, not wicked spirits. Even in the cases where demonic announcements concerning Jesus were accurate, their advertisement surely would skew the character of the message and hinder its reception.

Third, Jesus withheld further revelation of his identity and messianic power from those who were rejecting his claims (Matt. 13:16; Mark 4:24–25).

Fourth, miracles sometimes conjured up the wrong kind of faith. Multitudes sought miracles without embracing the Messiah (Mark 1:32–38; John 6:2, 14–15, 26).

Fifth, sometimes Jesus’ prohibitions against identifying him were disobeyed, and in most cases the command to silence did not hinder the amazement and wonder at what had taken place (Mark 1:27, 45; 5:42; 7:36–37). This inability to keep quiet regarding who Jesus was and what he did reinforced the uniqueness of his identity and emphasized how remarkable the Messiah and his miracles were.

Finally, an overly zealous response to Jesus endangered his purpose of completing his earthly ministry according to God’s timetable. This is most clearly stated in John’s Gospel (2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20; 12:23, 27; 13:1; 16:32; 17:1). Jesus needed to fully proclaim his message to the nation and prepare his disciples before his death (Mark 1:38). A premature arrest and trial would have defeated this purpose.

Tribulation

The NT conception of tribulation is perhaps best summarized in Paul’s pastoral reminder, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). The Greek term used here for “hardship” is thlipsis.

In the NT, thlipsis may refer generally to the sufferings and afflictions that occur in the normal course of human living (John 16:21; Acts 7:11; 1 Cor. 7:28; James 1:27). In its more common and specific usage, “tribulation” relates directly to the experience of the people of God as a consequence of their faithful proclamation of the gospel. Thus, in the parable of the sower, “tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word” (Matt. 13:21; Mark 4:17 ESV).

One of the primary aspects of the biblical view of tribulation relates to the tribulation and suffering of Christ as the pattern for the church (Rev. 1:9). That his followers would suffer tribulation was made explicit by Jesus to his followers in the Farewell Discourse (John 14–17). There he informs them, “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33 ESV).

Closely related to the impending tribulation that confronts all believers is the NT affirmation that the sufferings of Christ serve as the model for the tribulation of the people of God. Jesus thus warns the disciples, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (John 15:18; cf. 15:20). Paul continues this concept in Col. 1:24 (cf. 2 Cor. 1:5; 4:10–12; Phil. 3:10; 1 Pet. 4:13). The tribulation that the people of God experience serves to equip them in a variety of ways. Most significantly, tribulation results in the transformation of the people of God into the likeness of Christ (Rom. 5:3–5; 2 Cor. 4:8–12).

The book of Acts records the fulfillment of Jesus’ warning to his followers: it was because of persecution that the church was scattered (Acts 8:1). Later, Paul notes that he has experienced tribulation (2 Cor. 1:8), as did the church in Thessalonica (1 Thess. 1:6) and the recipients of Hebrews (Heb. 10:33). The reality of “tribulation” is seen in the exhortation of John to the church in Smyrna (Rev. 2:9).

Another important aspect of the tribulations that await the people of God in the NT era is the relationship of tribulation to the kingdom of God (cf. Matt. 24:9–14; Rev. 1:9; 7:14). Many hold to the notion that there will be an intensification of tribulation immediately prior to the return of Christ (Matt. 24:31; Mark 13:24).

The “great tribulation” of Rev. 7:14 has been interpreted in a variety of ways. Some understand this as a future event limited to seven or three and one-half years. Many others, however, associate this event with the tribulation, suffering, and affliction of the people of God throughout the entire era from the resurrection to the second coming. The expression “great tribulation” alludes to Dan. 12:1. The Danielic context incorporates a time of persecution and suffering among the people of God. The use of “tribulation” in Revelation (Rev. 1:9; 2:9–10, 22; 7:14) corresponds with the persecution of the people of God. A comparison with Matt. 24:21 confirms this conclusion. Therefore, regardless of how one reads the “great tribulation” in Rev. 7:14, as present or future reality, it appears that this tribulation refers to the suffering of God’s people and not to an exemption from it (cf. John 17:15).

Trinity

The biblical writers proclaim that only one God exists, yet they also refer to three persons as “God.” The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all God. Furthermore, these three persons relate to one another as self-conscious individuals. Jesus prays to the Father (John 17). The Father speaks from heaven concerning the Son (Matt. 3:17; Luke 3:22). Jesus vows to send the Spirit as “Advocate” after his ascension, and he will do what Jesus himself did while he was among us (John 16:7–8). The challenge of Christian theology, therefore, is to formulate a doctrine of God that captures all these elements, each of which surfaces in both Testaments.

Old Testament

In the OT, evidence for the Trinity appears mostly at the implicit level. Yahweh is called “Father” in Isaiah (63:16; 64:8), Jeremiah (3:4, 19; 31:9), and Malachi (2:10). Isaiah declares, “But you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us or Israel acknowledge us; you, Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name” (Isa. 63:16). Yahweh identifies himself as “Father” implicitly when he claims Israel as his “son” (Hos. 11:1), and the same principle applies to Ps. 2:7, where God declares to his anointed, “You are my son; today I have become your father.” These cases do not compare in numbers with the NT evidence, but a person thought of as “God the Father” certainly appears in the OT.

Messianic texts of the OT introduce us to God the Son. In Isa. 9:6 a “child is born” who will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” The day of “Immanuel,” or “God with us,” is foreshadowed in Isa. 7:14 (cf. Matt. 1:22), while Isa. 40:3–5 anticipates the appearance of the Lord “in the wilderness” (cf. Matt. 3:3). Daniel sees “one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven” being given “authority, glory and sovereign power” (Dan. 7:13–14). In Ps. 110:1 Yahweh says to David’s “Lord,” “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”

Similarly, the OT seems to distinguish the Spirit of God from Yahweh while implying the Spirit’s own personality. Genesis 1:2 makes that case, as does Exod. 31:3, where Yahweh fills Bezalel with the “Spirit of God” (cf. Exod. 35:31; Num. 11:29). In 1 Sam. 16:14 a contrast is made between the “Spirit of the Lord” that leaves Saul and an “evil spirit from the Lord” that torments him; also we find a repentant David pleading that God would not take away his “Holy Spirit” (Ps. 51:11). The Spirit can be put on persons by God, with the result that they prophesy (Isa. 61:1; Joel 2:28–29) and do what pleases him (Ezek. 36:26–27). In the OT, therefore, we see two persons (the Son and the Holy Spirit) who are both God and also distinguishable from one to whom they answer and by whom they are sent.

New Testament

The NT contains abundant evidence for “God the Father,” often because of Jesus’ teaching. The “Father” appears several times in the Sermon on the Mount (e.g., Matt. 5:16; 6:6–9, 14, 18, 26, 32; 7:11). Matthew 7:21 stands out because of Jesus’ reference to “my Father who is in heaven,” by which he identifies himself as the Son (see also Matt. 15:13; 16:17; 18:10; and Luke 24:49). Paul’s greetings normally come from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, as seen in Rom. 1:7: “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (also 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:1–3; 1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2). Paul introduces the Father and the Son in 1 Cor. 8:6: “For us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live” (see also 1 Cor. 15:24; 2 Cor. 11:31; Eph. 1:3; Phil. 2:22). Other significant texts include Heb. 1:5; 1 Pet. 1:2–3; in the latter, the scattered believers are those “who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood. . . . Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” The NT evidence for “God the Father” is clear.

Biblical texts that point to the deity of Christ supply evidence for the second claim: the Son is God. Some of the texts listed above say as much, but one can take this case further. In context, John’s prologue refers to Jesus as the “Word” and proclaims that he was “with God” and “was God” (John 1:1). Jesus also relates to the Father in ways that imply his own deity, as he declares in John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.” After significant doubting, Thomas confesses the deity of Christ in John 20:28: “My Lord and my God!” NT passages that identify Jesus as the “Son of God” point to his deity, as Peter does in Matt. 16:16: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Even demons identify Jesus as the Son. They call out, “What do you want with us, Son of God? . . . Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” (Matt. 8:29; cf. Mark 5:7). The so-called Christ Hymn of Phil. 2:6–11 puts Jesus on the level with God, saying that he did not consider “equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.” The author of Hebrews declares that Jesus is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being” (1:3). Colossians 1:15–16 says that Jesus is the “image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” and the one by whom “all things were created,” and Col. 1:19 states that “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him.” According to Titus 2:13, Jesus is “our great God and Savior.” The entire sequence of Rev. 4–5 highlights the deity of Christ, culminating in the praise “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” as both the Enthroned One and the Lamb are worshiped as God (5:13–14).

The NT writers underscore both the deity and the distinctive personality of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is conceived in Mary’s womb by the Spirit’s power (Matt. 1:18–20), and when Jesus is baptized, the Spirit descends upon him as a dove (Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10). Jesus drives out demons by the Spirit, and one dare not speak against the Spirit when he does so (Matt. 12:28–32). Luke’s Gospel puts added emphasis on the ministry of the Spirit, as we also see in Acts. He empowers various people to praise and prophesy (Luke 1:41, 67) and to be witnesses for Christ (Acts 1:8; 2:4, 17–18, 38). Sinners can lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3, 9), and the Holy Spirit bears witness along with the apostles to the risen Christ (5:32). In John’s Gospel, the Spirit becomes the counselor and teacher of the disciples, reminding them of their Lord’s instructions (John 14:26; 16:13). The Spirit brings assurance of sonship (Rom. 8:16) and helps disciples when they pray (8:26). This person even knows the very thoughts of God (1 Cor. 2:11). Accordingly, the Great Commission requires baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). All three members of the Trinity have a part in the advancement of the kingdom, the Spirit no less than the Father and the Son.

Relationships between Father, Son, and Spirit

The evidence considered thus far demonstrates that three persons are called “God” in Scripture: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But the Scriptures also point to a chain of command in their relationship to one another. The Son obeys the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son to apply the work of the cross to the church. This “functional subordination” of the Son to the Father, some might argue, would follow simply from the analogy chosen by God to reveal himself to us. The “Son” would obey his “Father,” not vice versa, though they share a common dignity as God, just as a human father and son share a common humanity. But the NT writers expressly tell us that they relate to each other in this way. In Matt. 11:27 (cf. Luke 10:22) Jesus announces, “All things have been committed to me by my Father” (cf. John 3:35; 5:22). The latter transfers authority to the former as his subordinate. The Father even (for a season) knows more than the Son regarding the last days: “About that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matt. 24:36), though he also dignifies the Son: “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does” (John 5:20). The Son’s commitment to please his heavenly Father is a prominent theme of the NT, as Jesus declares in John 5:19: “The Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” No text brings out this dependence of the Son upon the Father more clearly than Heb. 5:7–8, where the Son is said to have “offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.” It is debated by theologians whether this functional subordination relates only to the period of the Son’s earthly ministry, or whether it is an eternal subordination.

The Spirit, though equal in personality and dignity with the Father and the Son, proceeds from them to apply the work of the cross and empower the church for ministry. In John 14:26 Jesus says, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” In John 15:26 Jesus announces that he also sends the Spirit out: “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.” The Spirit only conveys what he has received: “He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come” (John 16:13). The same “chain of command” appears in John 16:15, where Jesus says, “All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

Trinitarian Heresies

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are God, while being distinguishable persons. The Son obeys the Father; and these two persons of the Trinity send out the Holy Spirit to implement our deliverance from sin. A defensible explanation of the Trinity will respect all these dynamics, taking special care not to illustrate them with misleading images or simply lapse into various forms of polytheism. One of the earliest heresies of the church came from Marcion, a second-century theologian who distinguished the Father of Jesus from the supposedly vindictive God of the OT, which leaves us with more than one God. Later came the heresies of modalism and subordinationism (or Arianism). Modalists claimed that the persons of the Trinity are no more than guises worn by the one person of God. One minute God is the Father, the next he is the Son or the Holy Spirit. Subordinationists such as Arius (died AD 336) went beyond the functionality of the NT’s chain of command, arguing that the Son and the Holy Spirit are not themselves God but are essentially subordinate to him. Jehovah’s Witnesses have fallen into this latter error, suggesting that Jesus is “a god” but not the Creator God.

These early heresies pressed the church to refine its understanding of the Trinity. In his response to Marcion’s error, Tertullian coined precise language to describe the persons of the Godhead, so that God’s “threeness” and “oneness” are preserved. He used the Latin term trinitas to describe the Christian God and argued that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit share the same “substance.” The Son (also, then, the Holy Spirit) is not simply of “like substance” (Gk. homoiousios) with God the Father, but rather is “consubstantial” (Gk. homoousios) with him: the Son is God, and so is the Holy Spirit. The Nicene Creed of AD 325 incorporated this explanation and, in so doing, also set aside the idea that either the Son or the Holy Spirit was created by God, as the Arian heresy requires. Nicaea also rejected adoptionism, which regards Jesus as a man whom God promoted by endowing him with supernatural powers.

Each of these heresies—plus, say, the strict monotheism of Islam—attempts to relieve the tension seen among the claims that constitute the Trinity; however, orthodox Christians will remember that tensions and paradoxes are not automatic contradictions. No philosopher or theologian has ever expressly demonstrated that the Trinity entails logical nonsense, and Christianity’s detractors carry the burden of proof in this case. It is one thing to allege that an idea is contradictory, and quite another thing to show with an argument that it is so. On the positive side, the Trinity must remain a central doctrine of the church because it affects all the others, especially the entire work of redemption. If God is not triune, then Jesus is not God; and if he is not God, then he cannot save us, nor can we worship him as our Lord. The sacrifice that he offers for our sin would not, in that case, be supremely valuable. Consider also the application to us of what Christ has done. If the Holy Spirit is not God, then he cannot speak for God as one who knows perfectly his thoughts and gives us the word of God, our Bible. Scripture indicates that God is triune, and sinners need him to be so.

Unity

The idea of unity has always been significant for God’s people and their relatedness to one another. In the OT, unity centered on the covenant and on Yahweh, who is the heart of the covenant. In 2 Chron. 30:12 the hand of God was on the people to give them unity to carry out the tasks that had been ordered by the king at God’s command. In Ps. 133:1 the psalmist notes the goodness of the unity of the extended family, no doubt also to be extended to the unity of God’s people, Israel.

In the NT, unity centers on Jesus Christ, who is the heart of the new covenant. John emphasizes this unity as he records the teaching of Jesus on the relationship of the Father and the Son (John 14). The Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. In John 16 Jesus notes that this is the standard by which oneness is to be compared; the disciples are to be one, just as the Father and the Son are one. There will also be oneness between the triune God and his people as the Holy Spirit comes to reside in the disciples. Unity and its various outcomes are the subject of Jesus’ final prayer in the garden (John 17).

In Acts 1 Luke notes that the disciples were unified after the resurrection and ascension as they worshiped and prayed together in the upper room (v. 14 NASB, NET: “with one mind” [homothymadon]). Luke uses the same word in Acts 2:46 when he notes the same unity for the early church as they gathered for the sake of worship and praise to God in the temple (cf. 4:24 [unison prayer for power from God]; 5:12 [meeting together at Solomon’s Colonnade]; 15:25 [unanimity in a decision to send representatives to Antioch]). Indeed, the story of the beginning of the early church is the story of the fulfillment of Christ’s command to be unified. It is sometimes supposed, probably correctly, that the apostles from Jerusalem went to the Samaritan church to lay on hands for the bestowal of the Spirit in order that the long-standing Jewish-Samaritan rift might not destroy the unity of the growing body (see Acts 8:14–17).

In Eph. 4:3 Paul commands the believers to be zealous to keep their unity based in the Spirit as they are bound together by the peace that Christ gives. Later, in 4:13, Paul notes that God has given gifted people to the body of Christ so that the believers may be trained for the ministry of building up that body. This has its goal in the unity of believers and maturity of the faith in the knowledge of Christ—so that the body might be like him. So the unity of believers here is linked to the ubiquitous NT goal of Christlikeness. This also entails rejecting false teaching (4:14).

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1. We All Want Truth

Illustration

Edward F. Markquart

Truth. We all want truth. The search for truth is deep within the human spirit. Deep down inside all human beings, is the desire to know the truth, however good that may be or however painful it may be. A sign of health in us is that we search for the truth.

The opposite is also true. We human beings don’t want to be deceived. We don’t want to be deceived by lies, distortions, and half-truths. A sign of sickness in us as human beings is that we try to avoid the truth or distort the truth or manipulate the truth. And we want to find the truth out about everything. All human beings have this spirit of truth, the desire to find truth in all aspects of our lives.

For example, we want to find out the truth about our universe and how it works. We want to find out the truth about the sun, moon and the stars. We want to find out the truth about the origins of our universe and the destiny of our universe. We want to find out the truth if there is life living out there somewhere in the universe. The purpose of the science of astronomy is to discover the truth about how our universe works. We want to know the truth. That is just the way we human beings are.

We want to find out the truth about ourselves. What makes us tick? Why we do things. Why we don’t. We are interested in psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Why are human beings such warring animals? Why were there so many kamikaze pilots in World War II and so many terrorists willing to be human bombs? There is so much about human beings which perplex us.

We human beings want to know the truth about everything. It is like we human beings are on a quest, not for the Holy Grail, the cup of Christ from the Last Supper, but we are on a quest to find the Holy Grails, the truth about life in all of its infinite variations.

The Holy Spirit is described in many ways in Scripture. One of my favorites is that he is called, the Spirit of Truth. I think this desire within us for truth mirrors God's Spirit. Our spirit bears witness with The Spirit that, not only we are children of God, but we are children who seek truth and understanding.

2. A Lifetime to Prepare

Illustration

King Duncan

There is an old legend about a man who had a rather stupid servant. The master often got exasperated with his servant. One day in a fit of frustration he said to the servant, "You've got to be the stupidest man I've ever met. Look, I want you to take this staff and carry it with you. And if you ever meet a man stupider than you are, give him the staff." So the servant carried the staff. Often out in the marketplace he'd meet some pretty stupid people. But he was never sure they were worse off than he. Years passed with the servant carrying his staff. Then one day, he came back to the castle and was ushered into the bedroom of his master. His master was quite sick.

In the course of their conversation, the master said, "I'm going on a long journey." The servant said, "When do you plan to be back?" The master said, "This is a journey from which I'll not return." The servant said, "Sir, have you made all the necessary preparations?" The master said, "No, I have not." The servant said, "Could you have made preparations?" The master said, "Yes, I guess I've had my life to make them, but I've been busy about other things." The servant said "Master, you're going on a journey from which you'll never return, you could've prepared for it, and you just didn't?" The master said, "Yes, I guess that's right." The servant took the staff he'd carried so long and said, "Master take this with you. At last I've met a man more stupid than myself."

Could that be us? Could we be that foolish? I hope not. I surely hope not. Victory belongs to those who are prepared. Preparation is an essential characteristic of character. The most important preparation we can make is for eternity.

3. Servant Morality vs Master Morality

Illustration

W. Robert McClelland

Freidrich Nietzsche drew the distinction between a servant morality and a master morality with disturbing clarity. A servant morality adopts values and follows a morality which is imposed upon us by others. It negates the self. A master morality, on the other hand, sees the self as the creator of both values and morality. It, therefore, affirms the self. Nietzsche saw religion as the great espouser of servant morality because it portrayed values and morals as absolutes given by God. He contended that to be fully human is to realize that morality is something we create. Values are not hung "out there" like stars in the sky. We are the ones who do the valuing. The clues to ethical behavior come from within ourselves and are not prescribed for us by some external authority. Values are neither objective nor carved in stone despite the claims of the church. Instead, they come from an internal gyroscope that guides the course of our lives.

But the question always arises: How do we then live with thousands of people creating their own morality?

4. Why Do You Wear that Battered Cloak?

Illustration

Don Schwager

When a young 4th century Roman soldier and seeker of the Christian faith by the name of Martin of Tours met an unclothed man begging for alms in the freezing cold, he stopped and cut his coat in two and gave half to the stranger. That night he dreamt he saw the heavenly court with Jesus robed in a torn cloak. One of the angels present asked, "Master, why do you wear that battered cloak?" Jesus replied, "My servant Martin gave it to me."

Martin's disciple and biographer Sulpicius Severus states that as a consequence of this vision Martin "flew to be baptized". God is gracious and merciful; his love compels us to treat others with mercy and kindness. When we do something for one of Christ's little ones, we do it for Christ. Do you treat your neighbor with mercy and love as Christ has treated you?

5. God's Evangelism Plans

Illustration

Richard A. Jensen

The fall of Haile Selassie in 1974 did not bring the kind of peace that the Ethiopians had hoped might follow their somewhat "benevolent" dictator. They had hoped for democracy. They had hoped for freedom. What they got, instead, was a Marxist state that ruled with an iron hand. Repression was everywhere. Persecution was everywhere. The Christian church became a target of this repression and persecution. The almost 20 years of Marxist rule was a very difficult time for the Christians of Ethiopia. During the waning years of this Marxist rule an Ethiopian pastor named Yadessa addressed an American audience concerning this persecution. He told of churches being closed and of many Christians and Christian leaders being put in prison. He said that there were hardly any churches left open in the western region of Ethiopia where evangelical Christianity had been very strong.

But closed church buildings did not close down the church. "Houses became churches," Pastor Yadessa told his audience. Christianity not only survived but thrived and grew under state repression. Pastor Yadessa reminded his audience that the most significant person to be imprisoned in those years was the president of the church himself, Pastor Gudina. Pastor Gudina was jailed and released several times but he eventually died in prison, Pastor Yadessa reported. He further reported that Pastor Gudina's wife was also imprisoned. "She has adjusted to prison life very well," Pastor Yadessa said. "She sews sweaters for people and distributes Bibles that are sent to her. She and many of the other imprisoned Christians have become great evangelists in the prisons. God has God's own evangelism plans," Pastor Yadessa proclaimed with a smile.

He told another story of God's evangelism planning. At the time of his address to his American audience Pastor Yadessa was the director of evangelism for the Ethiopian Evangelical Church -- Mekane Yesus. (Mekane Yesus means "the place of Jesus.") He planned that evangelism leaders from the Addis Ababa area and evangelism leaders from the land to the West that had been so heavily persecuted should meet in a city on the border of the two areas. "Just the logistics of planning the meeting," Pastor Yadessa said, "were extremely difficult. Communication between parties was almost impossible. But," he continued, "when the day for the meeting arrived, somehow, under God's providence, all of us arrived safely." The meeting, of course, was a bit subversive in light of the state's persecution of the church. The evangelism leaders gathered, therefore, in a simple home in the city. "We were just about to start our meeting," said Pastor Yadessa, "when seven uniformed policemen barged through the door of the house. 'This is an illegal meeting,' the head of the policemen shouted at us. 'You are all under arrest. Come with us at once.' It wasn't long until all of us were locked together in prison." As Pastor Yadessa told the story he indicated that the first hour or two that the leaders were in the jail were moments of great despair. "But then," he said brightening, "we realized that God had given us a great opportunity. Here we were all together in one place with nothing to do but pray together and talk together and think about evangelism together. We found ourselves on a wonderfully unplanned evangelism retreat. God, indeed, has God's own evangelism plans that surprise and surpass our own!""

6. So Much More than Anticipated

Illustration

John A. Stroman

Have you ever looked forward to something and when it happened, it was so much more than you anticipated? Maybe this was your experience at the time of your marriage or the birth of your first child. This was somewhat like the experience of David Livingstone, the explorer and missionary to central Africa in the mid-1800s. In his journal he tells about his discovery of the great falls, which he named the Victoria Falls, and what that experience meant to him. He had heard from the natives that there was something up the river, but he was not sure what it was. He could hear the roar of the falls for miles and he could see the spray five miles away. He said he could never explain the splendor that fell upon his soul when he looked on the falls for the first time. Suddenly, right before his eyes, the Zambezi River was a mile wide; it sloped slightly and then cascaded in a 400-foot plunge in a display of awesome splendor. He said for several minutes the sight literally paralyzed him. He knew that something was ahead but his discovery was far beyond his wildest imagination.

This is exactly what happened to Simeon in the text. He knew the Messiah was coming and he waited and prayed for the day to arrive. He was told by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he would see the Lord's Messiah. Every time parents brought their children to the Temple he was filled with anticipation that possibly one of them was the child he was waiting for. Then Mary and Joseph arrived at the Temple and Simeon, now an old man, took the child up into his arms and praised God saying:

Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all peoples.

The scene is a moving one: an old man now ready to die holding a six-week-old baby, who is at long last "the salvation for all people."

7. Jesus' Consecration

Illustration

Brett Blair

Some years ago, a Scottish minister told his congregation about dreaming he had died. When he came to the pearly gates, to his dismay, he would be denied entrance until he presented his credentials. Proudly the Pastor articulated the number of sermons preached and the prominent pulpits occupied. But Saint Peter said no one had heard them in heaven. The discouraged servant enumerated his community involvement. He was told they were not recorded. Sorrowfully, the pastor turned to leave, when Peter said, "Stay a moment, and tell me, are you the man who fed the sparrows?"

"Yes," the Scotsman replied, "but what does that have to do with it?"

"Come in," said Saint Peter, "the Master of the sparrows wants to thank you."

Here is the pertinent, though often overlooked, point: great and prominent positions indicate skill and capacity, but small services suggest the depth of one's consecration.

And so it is with Jesus' Baptism. He submits to John's baptism of repentance even though he himself was perfect and had no need to repent. Jesus identified with our sins by being baptized. He joined in the popular movement of his day. It was a grass roots movement started by a desert monk named John the Baptist. John was calling for the repentance of Israel. Jesus choose to be baptized because he wanted to participate with the people in their desires to be close to God.

8. The Peace of Christ in a World of Chaos - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

One of the best newspaper cartoons of all time is Calvin and Hobbes. One day Calvin and Hobbes come marching into the living room early one morning. His mother is seated there in her favorite chair. She is sipping her morning coffee. She looks up at young Calvin. She is amused and amazed at how he is dressed. Calvin's head is encased in a large space helmet. A cape is draped around his neck, across his shoulders, down his back and is dragging on the floor. One hand is holding a flashlight and the other a baseball bat.

"What's up today?" asks his mom.

"Nothing, so far," answers Calvin.

"So far?" she questions.

"Well, you never know," Calvin says, "Something could happen today." Then Calvin marches off, "And if anything does, by golly, I'm going to be ready for it!"

Calvin's mom looks out at the reading audience and she says, "I need a suit like that!"

That's the way many of us feel as we see the news and deal with life. Sometimes this world seems quite violent and people seem to be at each other's throats. A suit like that would help, so we can say with Calvin, "Whatever may come my way, I'm going to be ready for it! Bring it on!"

Well, I don't have a suit like Calvin's to give you this morning, but I do have word for this morning: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

There is a defining phrase in that statement. One that tells us what kind of peace it is that Christ gives us. Listen to it again and see if you can pick it out: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." The defining phrase is: "Not as the world gives." Do you see how that defines God's peace? The world promises peace through the rule of law. Law and order is the only way for a society and a people to experience peace and law and order must be kept by the aggressive use of force. That's the only way that the world can bring about peace.

But here is how Jesus will give you peace. If you obey his word He and the Father will come to you and make a home with you. Right in your heart. Not by force but by choice. They will abide in your heart bringing peace. The world's peace is peace through strength. The Lord's peace is peace through surrender.

We have all been asked by our children: if you could have any wish what would it be? I think the most common answer given is world peace. Peace is important. Jesus makes a point to tell his disciples that he going to leave them with peace. Peace is part a vital part of our faith. Let's look a little closer at what Jesus means by peace:

1. First, there is the Peace the World Gives
2. Second, there is the Peace the Lord Gives
3. Third, there is the Obedience We Give

9. The Spirit Has Landed - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

Back on January 3rd 2010, the Mars rover named "Spirit" began its sixth year of diligent exploration (Spirit landed on January 3, 2004). It had been sending back so many photographs that NASA figured out a way to teach the little rover how to detect changes in images, so that it sends only images back to Earth with new information. For example, if Rover was taking photographs of dust devils, it now pauses and waits until the image changes before taking the next photo. This meant less work for the scientists sifting through the many, many amazing photographs ‘Spirit' sent home. What a great name for such a small machine. It made great discovery. We need that kind of spirit in our world.

I don't know if you saw pictures of the rover back then; it's about the size of a small coffee table. A lot of NASA's hopes were riding on this little robot. And it delivered, beyond everyone's expectations. There's something to be said about the big influence of small things.

It reminds me of the Scottish minister who told his congregation about dreaming he had died. When he came to the pearly gates, to his dismay, he would be denied entrance until he presented his credentials. Proudly the Pastor articulated the number of sermons preached and the prominent pulpits occupied. But Saint Peter said no one had heard them in heaven. The discouraged servant enumerated his community involvement. He was told they were not recorded. Sorrowfully, the pastor turned to leave, when Peter said, "Stay a moment, and tell me, areyou the man who fed the sparrows?"

"Yes,"the Scotsman replied, "but what does that have to do with it?"

"Come in," said Saint Peter, "the Master of the sparrows wants to thank you."

Here is the pertinent, though often overlooked, point: great and prominent positions indicate skill and capacity, but small services suggest the depth of one's consecration. We overlook the big influence of small things.

And so it is with Jesus' Baptism. It's a small thing for Jesus to do. It was not necessary for him to be baptized since there was no sin in his life for which to repent. But he submits to John's Baptism of Repentance anyway. Why? To identify with our sins. He joined in the popular movement of his day. It was a grass roots movement started by a desert monk named John the Baptist. John was calling for the repentance of Israel. Jesus chooses to be baptized because he wants to participate with the people in their desires to be close to God.

It's a small thing Jesus does but what a big influence. It forever marks baptism as the way we Christians publicly declare our repentance and dependence on God's grace.

So the Spirit descends from the heavens, lands on Jesus and sends the following vivid snapshots:

In the backdrop all the people are baptized.
In the forefront Jesus stands out as the focus of God's love.
Baptism is the framework by which ministry begins.

10. Are You a Philosopher?

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

Two men went up in a hot-air balloon one May morning. Suddenly they were enveloped by clouds and lost track of where they were. They drifted for what seemed like hours. Finally the cloud parted, and they spotted a man below them on the ground.

"Where are we?" one of the passengers hollered down. The man on the ground looked around, looked up at the balloon, looked around some more and then yelled back, "You're in a balloon."

The two balloonists looked at one another and then one of them yelled down again, "Are you a philosopher?"

"Yes," the man hollered up from below.

The other balloonist said, "How did you know he was a philosopher?" His friend replied, "No one else could give an answer so quickly that's so logical and yet tells you so little about where you are and where you want to be!" ("On Being Religious", Donald J. Shelby, May 27, 1984).

I don't want to be hard on philosophers. But if that story has any hint of truth, Jesus was not a philosopher. He did deal in paradox which is a favorite tool of philosophers, in seeking truth. Yet, he had a way of using the simplest examples from daily life to make plain the truth of his paradoxes. If you're going to find your life, you're going to have to lose it, he said. "It is only in giving that you receive." "If you want to be first, you must become last." "If you're going to be master, you must become a servant." And all of those paradoxes are wrapped in one: We must die if we want to live.

11. Where Is God Now?

Illustration

Staff

Elie Wiesel was a fifteen-year old prisoner in the Nazi death camp at Buna. A cache of arms belonging to a Dutchman had been discovered at the camp. The Dutchman was promptly shipped to Auschwitz. But he had a young servant boy, a pipel as they were called, a child with a refined and beautiful face, unheard of in the camps. He had the face of a sad angel. The little servant, like his Dutch master, was cruelly tortured, but would not reveal any information. So the SS sentenced the child to death, along with two other prisoners who had been discovered with arms.

Wiesel tells the story: One day when we came back from work, we saw three gallows rearing up in the assembly place, three black crows. Roll call. SS all around us; machine guns trained: the traditional ceremony. Three victims in chains and one of them, the little servant, the sad-eyed angel. The SS seemed more preoccupied, more disturbed than usual. To hang a young boy in front of thousands of spectators was no light matter. The head of the camp read the verdict. All eyes were on the child. He was lividly pale, almost calm, biting his lips. The gallows threw its shadow over him. This time the Lagercapo, which was the name for the head of a camp, refused to act as executioner. Three SS replaced him. The three victims mounted together onto the chairs. The three necks were placed at the same moment within the nooses. "Long live liberty!" cried the two adults. But the child was silent.

"Where is God? Where is He?" someone behind me asked. Total silence throughout the camp. On the horizon, the sun was setting. "Bare your heads!" yelled the head of the camp. His voice was raucous. We were weeping. "Cover your heads!" Then the march past began -- we inmates were made to walk past the gallows. The two adults were no longer alive. Their tongues hung swollen, blue-tinged, but the third rope was still moving; being so light, the child was still alive...For more than half an hour he stayed there, struggling between life and death, dying in slow agony under our eyes. And we had to look him full in the face. He was still alive when I passed in front of him. His tongue was still red, his eyes were not yet glazed. Behind me, I heard the same man asking: "Where is God now?" And I heard a voice within me answer him: "Where is He? Here He is. He is hanging here on this gallows." That night the soup tasted of corpses.

Italics added for clarification. From Elie Wiesel, Night, Bantam, 1982, p. 75-6, quoted in W. Aldrich, Multnomah, When God Was Taken Captive, 1989, p. 39-41.

12. Faith Needs Daily Exercise

Illustration

Charles Kirkpatrick

One day my wife brought a jar and asked me to open it for her. I tried and tried to open that jar, but my hands just weren't strong enough to hold the jar tightly and turn the lid. It is a little embarrassing to a man when a woman asks him to open a jar and he can't do it, so I decided that I needed to increase the strength in my hands. I got a hand exerciser to help me. You have probably seen one of these. You just squeeze the two sides together, like this. If you don't have one of these, you can do the same type of exercise by squeezing a rubber ball. By exercising my hands every day, I know, they will get stronger and stronger. Then maybe I won't be embarrassed the next time my wife asks me to open a jar for her.

Faith is like a muscle. You have to exercise it every day to make it strong. Sometimes we say that we have faith in God. We say that we believe that He can do anything, but then we act as if everything depends on us. That isn't a very strong faith, is it?

Jesus told his disciples that if they had as much faith as a tiny mustard seed, they could tell a tree to move from one place to another, and the tree would obey them. Now, that is a strong faith, isn't it? I wish I had as much faith as a mustard seed. Maybe I will if I keep exercising it. I can exercise my faith by trusting in God each and every day. How strong is your faith? Does it need a little daily exercise?

13. Faith and Power

Illustration

Larry Powell

Mark 4:37-41 is one of the many passages in the Bible which has been set to music. "Master, the tempest is raging! The billows are tossing high! The sky is o’er shadowed with blackness ..." You recognize it. From childhood, we have sung the words to "Peace Be Still" and have loved to lift the refrain which concludes, "they all shall sweetly obey thy will ..." Two primary elements are underscored in both the scripture and the hymn: the power of Christ and faith in Christ.

The Gospel according to Mark characterizes the ministry of Jesus as being a succession of "mighty works," indicative of his Sonship. Actually, the stilling of the storm is only the beginning of a series of incidents portraying the power of Christ. After the storm experience on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus and the disciples came to the other side of the sea into the country of the Gerasenes. Here they encountered a man who lived among the tombs, crying out in travail both day and night, inflicting injury upon himself and striking fear into the hearts of all who chance to see him. Frequently, he had been subdued and bound with chains, but such was his deranged agony that he tore away the fetters and ran about the tombs as a wild man. In a great display of power, Jesus freed the man from his torment (5:13) and "all marveled. Then, crossing to the other side of the sea, Jesus encountered a certain Janus, a ruler of the synagogue, who prevailed upon him to accompany him to his home and heal his daughter" (5:23). On the way to the home of Janus Jesus was "touched" by a desperate woman who had hemorraged for twelve years and, according to Mark 5:29, so great was the power of Jesus that the woman was immediately healed simply by touching his clothing. Not to be minimized here is Jesus’ statement to the woman; "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed from your disease" (5:34). Now the word comes that during the interval, Janus’ daughter has died. Reassuring Janus, Jesus said, "Do not fear, only believe." Approaching the house Jesus observed a gathering of people loudly mourning the death of the girl. Everyone was asked to wait outside the house save the little girl’s parents and the disciples who had been selected to accompany Jesus to the house, Peter, James, and John. "Taking her by the hand, he said to her, ‘Talitha cumi’ which means ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise.’ And immediately the girl got up and walked" (5:41-42).

Power! That is the theme of Mark’s section dealing with three successive miracles of Jesus. Read again the refrain of "Peace, Be Still" and see how it applied to each of the three incidents. See also the summons for faith. The disciples were scolded for their lack of faith, the woman with the issue of blood was rewarded because of her faith, and Janus was encouraged to intensify the faith he already had exhibited by falling at the feet of Jesus. Desperation characterizes all three encounters, and all three contain the enacted teaching that the power of Christ is but half of the whole; the other half, which taps this power, is faith. Ironically, it would appear that we, too, learn the lesson best in times of desperation.

14. Starting Is the First Step

Illustration

David E. Leininger

Starting is the first step to succeeding. We cannot be afraid of failure. I am a baseball junkie so I can bring you this: in 1915 Ty Cobb set the record for stolen bases, 96. Seven years later, Max Carey of the Pittsburgh Pirates became second best with 51 stolen bases. Does this mean that Cobb was twice as good as Carey, his closest rival?

Look at the facts: Cobb made 134 attempts, Carey, 53. Cobb failed 38 times; Carey only failed twice. Cobb succeeded 96 times, Carey only 51 times. Cobb's average was only 71 percent. Carey's average was 96 percent. Carey's average was much better than Cobb's. Cobb tried 81 more times than Carey. But here is the key: His 81 additional tries produced 44 more stolen bases. Cobb risked failure 81 more times in one season than his closest rival and Cobb goes down in history as the greatest base runner of all time. Why? Because he tried.

The one in the middle - the faithful servant who does the best he or she possibly can with what has been given - the one who tries. And the result is pleasing, perhaps even surprisingly pleasing, to the Master.

15. ARMOR - BEARER

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

Jeremiah 9:54 - "Then he called hastily to the young man his armorbearer, and said to him, ‘Draw your sword and kill me, lest men say of me, "A woman killed him." ’ And his young man thrust him through, and he died."

1 Samuel 14:7 - "And his armor-bearer said to him, ‘Do all that your mind inclines to; behold, I am with you; as is your mind, so is mine.’ "

2 Samuel 23:37 - "Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai of Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah."

1 Chronicles 10:4 - "Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, ‘Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and make sport of me.’ But his armor-bearer would not; for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword, and fell upon it."

The armor-bearer in early times was the personal attendant of a warrior chieftain, just as today the aide-de-camp is an officer who is attached to the person of a general to assist him in his duties, transmit orders, and collect information. The armor-bearer of the Old Testament, however, had additional duties, rather more similar to those of an officer’s aid today, which including caring for his master’s weapons and other equipment. He also carried his master’s weapons and other equipment. He also carried his master’s weapons and fought along side him in battle.

Strangely enough, the armor-bearer is referred to only in early Old Testament times, as a servant of Abimelech, Jonathan, Saul, and J oab. As we can see by reading the material which includes our texts, both Abimelech and Saul ordered their armor-bearers to kill them so that they would not be captured by the enemy.

In the account in 1 Samuel, Jonathan’s armor-bearer is said to have killed those who had been bested by Jonathan. David himself served for a time as the armor-bearer of King Saul.

And how were these armor-bearers chosen? If we let our minds wander back to the period of chivalry, during the Middle Ages, we can recall the standards upon which selection for such high honor was based. This probably wasn’t so involved in the times of which we are speaking. Most likely the merits upon which the armor-bearer was chosen were bravery, loyalty, and skill in warfare.

We find this picked out for us by the third of our biblical texts. Joab’s armor-bearer, Haharai of Beeroth, was himself a mighty warrior, being one of the "Mighty Men" of David (cf. 2 Samuel 23:37; 1 Chronicles 11:39).

We see, then, that these men were heroes in their own right. And I think there is one further point that we should make. They were not only servants of their masters, but also personal friends as well. It may seem to us that a friend would never deliberately kill another, but if we consider the alternatives that were offered; if the enemy captured the master, I would say that friendship demanded the ultimate act. And so they reacted!

16. How Much Faith Is Enough Faith?

Illustration

John Jewell

Have you ever had a time when you were faced with an incredible obstacle or a heart wrenching burden and thought, "If only I had more faith!"

There was a young couple who went to a new church shortly after burying their eight year old son. The boy had suffered from a degenerative neurological disease for which there was no treatment. Parents and physicians alike could only watch as the disease slowly stole the boy's life. The heartbroken couple had been committed members of a church where people were taught that God would heal any illness if only those who prayed for healing had enough faith. During the wake one of the members of that church approached the mother, took her hand and said with what can only be called chastisement thinly disguised as sympathy, "If only you had been able to pray with enough faith, your son wouldn't have died."

As you might well imagine ex-members of this destructive fringe live with a horrendous sense of guilt. Can you imagine what it would be like to believe that your child died because you didn't have enough faith to save her or him? It took months for the father of that little boy to begin to hope that his son didn't die because of his lack of faith. The mother never did get free from her guilt. Their former church was "based on the bible" and how the pastor quoted over and over again:

"If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you." [Lk 17:6]

There are times when we do face mountains -- or deeply rooted issues in our lives we would dearly love to see removed.

Have you ever been in such a place in your life? The life issues are different for all of us, but the result is similar. When our prayers seem to be of no avail, it makes us feel as though we fall into the category Jesus aimed at when he said, "O ye of little faith!" At times like this, I join the disciples in today's scripture pleading with Jesus, "Increase my faith!"

17. Sent to the Lost Sheep

Illustration

Samuel Zumwalt

Many years ago there was a country preacher who asked his new little rural congregation to obey the call of Christ Jesus. He gave them all index cards in worship and asked them to write down the names of every family member, every neighbor, and every co-worker they knew that didn't go to church anywhere. He stopped long enough for them to do just that in worship. When they got through writing, they had identified 1200 names.

Then the preacher asked them to begin to pray for all the people on their card – to place it on the refrigerator or in their Bible as a prominent reminder to pray daily for these people. Then he asked them to invite the people to come to worship, and keep inviting, and keep inviting, and keep inviting. That dying little church suddenly had new life, because the disciples in that little church had been sent to the lost sheep of their community!

The Church is not about us. It's about God. God wants to save us from ourselves. God knows who among us have been possessed by unclean spirits (somebody is going to all those so-called adult video stores and so-called gentlemen's clubs; somebody is frequenting those prostitutes that keep getting arrested). God knows who is sick and what's ailing them. God knows who is dead in their faith and damned near close to death in their bodies. God knows who is a modern-day leper and needs to be healed. God knows what kind of demons have hold of lives, and God wants to save people from hellish lives and from hell itself. And you may have been sleepwalking through worship so long that you don't know that God cares about all that stuff!

18. Commentary

Illustration

Archibald M. Hunter

The Parable of the Talents makes no attempt to examine the causes of the slave's laziness, but one factor is evident from the dialogue: the slave has no love for his master. He is really interested only in himself, and consequently security, not service, is his goal. There is not the slightest trace of gratitude that his master trusted him with so great a sum. Respect for his master is limited to a grudging acknowledgement of power.

If we are correct in taking the phrase "to each according to his ability" as indicating that for Matthew the parable challenges Christians to make full use of the gifts that God has entrusted to them, the portrayal of the third servant reminds us that love for our master must be demonstrated in faithful and untiring service to other people.

It is routine for Christians to excuse themselves by protesting that their gifts are too modest to be significant. This parable insists that the gifts are precious and are to be exploited to the full.

19. Appointment in Samarra

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

Legend says that it happened in the streets of Damascus. A merchant sent his servant to the market. When the servant returned, trembling and agitated, he said, "While I was at the market, I was jostled by someone in the crowd. I turned to look and saw that Death had jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture. Master, please lend me your horse so I can escape. I want to ride to Samarra. There I will hide so that Death cannot find me."

Later that same day the merchant himself was in the marketplace, and he also saw Death in the crowd. He said to her, "Why did you startle my servant this morning by making a threatening gesture?"

Death replied, "That was no threatening gesture; it was simply a start of surprise. I was startled to see your servant in Damascus, for we have an appointment tonight in Samarra."

20. SERVANT, SERVITOR

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

Exodus 12:45 - "No sojourner or hired servant may eat of it."

2 Kings 4:43 - "But his servant said, ‘How am I to set this before a hundred men?’ ..."

A servant is a person of either sex who is in the service of another person, and the term does not necessarily mean that this servant is a domestic, in the sense that we use it today. In our usage, a servant is one who works for pay and in so doing attends to the physical needs, in one way or another, of the person who has employed him.

But this was not necessarily the designation in the ancient world. Rather, that concept would be more akin to "slave," which implies a forced labor, but is more in keeping with the type of work done by today’s servants. Rather, the ancient servant means merely someone who was in service to another, and this type of service was often of a high order. In that sense, then, any person under the king was a servant. For example, we have Eliezer, whose position in the household of Abraham compared with that of the prime niinister, hardly a menial position!

However, the servant had certain obligations, whatever his status or rank - he was under obligation to obey and to work for the benefit of his master, which is still not too far away from the idea of the hired workman of today. In return for his obedience and care, he received protection and reciprocal care.

The servitor, on the other hand, may correspond more to our modern concept of servant, since he was the one who served, or ministered to, another. However, again, we must not necessarily equate this with a menial position, although, of course, it could well have been one, and often was. But the point is that it did not have to be so. It may merely mean "one in waiting," or the person who is available to serve in whatever capacity is required. And that, too, is still true today.

21. No Scar?

Illustration

Amy Carmichael

Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land,
I hear them hail thy bright ascendant star,
Hast thou no scar?
Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers, spend,
Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening beasts that compassed Me, I swooned:
Hast thou no wound?
No wound, no scar?
Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,
And, pierced are the feet that follow Me;
But thine are whole: can he have followed far
Who has no wounds nor scar?

22. A Priceless Gift

Illustration

King Duncan

Lois Cheney in her book, God is No Fool, tells a revealing parable about a man who was touched by God. God gave this man a priceless gift the capacity for love. The man was grateful and humble, and he knew what an extraordinary thing had happened to him. He carried this capacity for love like a jewel and he walked tall and with purpose.

From time to time he would show this gift to others, and they would smile and stroke his jewel. But it seemed that they'd also dirty it up a little. Now, this was no way to treat such a precious thing, so the man built a box to protect his jewel. And he decided to show it only to those who would treat it with respect and meet it with a reverent love of their own.

Even that didn't work, for some tried to break into the box.

So the man built a bigger, stronger box--one that no one could get into--and he felt good. At last he was protecting the jewel as it should be.

Upon occasion, when he decided that someone had earned the right to see it, he'd show it proudly. But they sometimes refused, or perhaps they smudged it, or just glanced at it disinterestedly.

Much time went by, and then only once in a while would someone pass by the aging man. He would pat his box and say, "I have the loveliest of jewels in here." Once or twice he opened the box and offered it saying, "Look and see. I want you to." And the passerby would look and look, and look. And then he would back away from the old man, shaking his head.

The man died, and he went to God, and he said, "You gave me a precious gift many years ago, and I've kept it safe, and it is as lovely as the day you gave it to me." And he opened the box and held it out to God. God glanced in the box, and in it was a lizard--an ugly, laughing lizard. And God walked away from him too.

Love guarded and unexposed. A jewel turned into an ugly lizard. A servant cast into the outer darkness. Friend, life is not to be hoarded. It is to be lived fully, abundantly, without reservation. It is to be invested in love, in hope, in faith so that a wonderful harvest of lasting influence will be reaped. So, how about it? Are you reaching your full potential as a follower of Jesus Christ? When you face the Lord, will you have the joy of hearing these words, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!"?

23. Forgive Us Our Debts - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

As with so many of the stories of Jesus, the parable of the debtors arose out of a question that was posed to Jesus. Simon Peter said to him: "Master, if my brother sins against me, how many times should I forgive him? Seven times? Even as he asks that question my mind cannot help but think about children and how they will sometimes confess something they do wrong expecting to get praise from a teacher or a parent because they were so honest.

In the same sense, Simon Peter by asking this question is not expecting rebuke but praise. He is expecting Jesus to say: ?Excellent Peter. You go to the head of the class. You get A+.? According to Jewish law, Peter had the right to think that he had done something good. Scribal law clearly read:

'If a man transgresses one time, forgive him. If a man transgresses two times, forgive him. If a man transgresses three times, forgive him. If a man transgresses four times, do not forgive him.' What Peter has done is to take this law of limited forgiveness, multiply it by two and add one, and then sit back with a smile on his face and say: Now how is that for being a great guy? And he surely must have been taken aback when Jesus said you must forgive seventy times seven.

Then Jesus proceeded to tell a story. There was a certain king who had a day of reckoning for his servants. He found one who owed him 10,000 talents and, because he could not pay, he was about to have him thrown into jail and his wife and children sold into slavery. In response to the man's pathetic pleadings, however, he forgave him the entire debt.

Whereupon that forgiven servant went to a fellow servant who owed him 100 denarii, a very small sum of money, and demanded payment. He pleaded for extra time, an extension, but the man would not hear of it and he had him thrown into jail. This story got back to the king who went into a rage. He called in the forgiven servant and said that because of his conduct, he was now to be thrown into jail. His original debt was reinstated.

Now the question is, what was Jesus attempting to say to Simon Peter?

1. First, forgiveness carries a heavy price.
2. Second, a forgiven soul should be a forgiving soul.

24. Purchased Property

Illustration

James Packer

"Servant" in our English New Testament usually represents the Greek doulos (bondslave). Sometimes it means diakonos (deacon or minister); this is strictly accurate, for doulos and diakonos are synonyms. Both words denote a man who is not at his own disposal, but is his master's purchased property. Bought to serve his master's needs, to be at his beck and call every moment, the slave's sole business is to do as he is told. Christian service therefore means, first and foremost, living out a slave relationship to one's Savior (1 Corinthians. 6:19-20).

What work does Christ set his servants to do? The way that they serve him, he tells them, is by becoming the slaves of their fellow-servants and being willing to do literally anything, however costly, irksome, or undignified, in order to help them. This is what love means, as he himself showed at the Last supper when he played the slave's part and washed the disciples' feet.

When the New Testament speaks of ministering to the saints, it means not primarily preaching to them but devoting time, trouble, and substance to giving them all the practical help possible. The essence of Christian service is loyalty to the king expressing itself in care for his servants (Matthew 25: 31-46).

Only the Holy Spirit can create in us the kind of love toward our Savior that will overflow in imaginative sympathy and practical helpfulness towards his people. Unless the spirit is training us in love, we are not fit persons to go to college or a training class to learn the know-how or particular branches of Christian work. Gifted leaders who are self-centered and loveless are a blight to the church rather than a blessing.

25. The Golden Hour

Illustration

King Duncan

Artist Bill Herring loves his home state of Texas. He sees beauty in the landscape, even in the dry desert ground and the dull, green bushes that squat along the horizon. Ordinarily, this landscape is dry and ugly. But then there comes what Herring calls the "golden hour." Sometime in the fall, these bushes bring forth gorgeous yellow flowers. Just before sunset, when the fading sunlight washes over the caramel soil and the lush yellow flowers, it lends everything a shimmering, golden glow. What once looked dull and lifeless, in the glow of the golden hour, takes on a whole new beauty.

This was the disciples' golden hour, the hour when everything would begin to fall in place for them. Jesus appears to them and challenges them to throw their nets on the other side of the boat and the harvest of fish which they reap is beyond their wildest dreams. If there is one totally predictable theme in the Bible, it is this: blessings follow obedience. The disciples obey, and suddenly they catch a boatload of fish.

26. The Lost Sheep

Illustration

'Twas a sheep, not a lamb, that strayed away
in the parable Jesus told.
A grown-up sheep that had gone astray
from the ninety and nine in the fold.

Out on the hillside, out in the cold,
'twas a sheep the Good Shepherd sought;
And back to the flock, safe into the fold,
'twas a sheep the Good Shepherd brought.

And why for the sheep should we earnestly long
and as earnestly hope and pray?
Because there is danger, if they go wrong,
they will lead the lambs astray.

For the lambs will follow the sheep, you know,
wherever the sheep may stray;
When the sheep go wrong, it will not be long
till the lambs are as wrong as they.

And so with the sheep we earnestly plead,
for the sake of the lambs today;
If the sheep are lost, what terrible cost
some of the lambs will have to pay!

27. Going Deeper

Illustration

Michael P. Green

An elderly Christian man in the then Communist-controlled Budapest remarked when asked about the effects of persecution and discrimination on the lives of Christians: “It is like the deep, fast-flowing Danube River. The banks of the river were artificially narrowed throughout the city of Budapest. As a result the river’s fast waters dug deeper and deeper into the river bottom.”

Believers under restrictions and persecution have limited freedom and few political options, but their narrowed lives have found great depth by going deeper in Christ.

28. Beatitudes as a Song

Illustration

Eugene H. Peterson

This adaptation of the Beatitudes is from Message by Eugene H. Peterson:

3. You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

4. “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

5. “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

6. “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

7. “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.

8. “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

9. “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

10. “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.

11-12. “Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

29. Never Underestimate the Power of a Cold Cup of Water - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

Now I would like to stop the world for just one minute and ask you to think back. Think back with me to the first century. Think about those 50 years after Jesus' death and what it must been like for Jesus' disciples. Before the last one died their efforts had brought 500,000 men, women, and children into the ranks of the church. But what they had to suffer in order to accomplish this task is seldom discussed. We like the outcome of their discipleship but we don't want to hear the cost of discipleship. So for the record here is the cost: History tells us...

John died of extreme old age exiled to the island of Patmos.
Judas Iscariot, after betraying his Lord, hanged himself.
Peter was crucified; head downward, during the persecution of Nero.
Andrew died on a cross at Patrae, a Grecian Colony.
James, the younger, son of Alphaeus, was thrown from a pinnacle of the Temple, and then beaten to death with a club.
Bartholomew was flayed alive in Albanapolis, Armenia.
James, the elder son of Zebedee, was beheaded at Jerusalem.
Thomas, the doubter, was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel, in the East Indies.
Philip was hanged against a pillar at Heropolis.
Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows.
Simon died on a cross in Persia (what we now call Iran.)
Matthew was first stoned and then beheaded.

What sacrifices! And I ask you why? Why did they choose to die this way? Why desert your father and mother, your wife and child, and your home? Why put up with the constant humiliation, and hunger, and persecution, and defeat town after town after town?

I'll tell you why, because, in the words of Apostle Paul, they were held captive by the words and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is Paul's way of saying they were slaves to Christ.

It is quite likely we shall never be tested to the extent that the disciples were but there are some ways to gauge our commitment. Let's look at a couple this morning...

1. Sacrifice is a sign of mature commitment.
2. Hospitality is a sign of discipleship.
3. A cup of water is a sign that Christ is welcome.

30. Have You Forgotten Something?

Illustration

Mark Trotter

I can recall three rhetorical questions that accompanied me throughout my childhood. The first was, "Were you born in a barn?" That usually came when I left a door open, or didn't clean up my room.

The second was, "When will you ever grow up?" which was a question my sisters asked me as a carefully planned, relentless program of persecution.

The third one was, "Have you forgotten something?" That was the parental admonition, usually for not saying thank you after receiving some gift.

This last question is what I thought of when I read the New Testament lesson for this morning from Luke's gospel, the seventeenth chapter, the story of Jesus healing ten lepers. Only one comes back to give thanks. Ten were healed, but only the Samaritan came back. If my mother had been there, she would have said to the nine, "Have you forgotten something?"

31. Expect a Call

Illustration

Kyle Childress

I was only seven or eight when one of our small-town West Texas heroes came home from Vietnam. He had lived three doors down from me, was a star on the high school football team, and had been in my father's Sunday school class before going off to Vietnam. He came back with one leg and a message. God told him, he said, that the war was wrong and that our church and our town needed to change our minds and hearts about racial segregation. Since he was never given the opportunity to stand in the pulpit and testify, he prophesied in casual conversation, but the results were the same: everyone talked about what he said, what had happened to him over there, and whether or not the war had messed up his head. One Sunday after church, my father commented to my mother that perhaps the boy had some mental problems from Vietnam, but that didn't mean that what he said was wrong. Soon my father, as a member of the local school board, began pushing for our schools to be integrated.

Though that young Vietnam veteran never considered himself a prophet, I've come to believe that he was. And although our church didn't know what to do with him, he was formed by its members and taught from the nursery on up that God speaks and God calls, and that our job is to "trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

32. Bonhoeffer, A Man of Conscience

Illustration

Max A. Forsythe

Working at the higher political levels of resistance to the Nazi wickedness in the late thirties, the German pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer encouraged the military authorities who made up the Kreslau Circle. Early on, he was arrested and held in prison, like many other Christians who openly condemned and opposed Herr Hitler. Like many men of conscience, he did not survive World War Two. In fact, there is a report that when Americans were fighting there way into the prison where Bonhoeffer was held, the Nazi guards hurriedly moved through the prison with a "must not survive" list and shot him and others down in cold blood right in their cells.

His crime? To use a modern phrase, Bonhoeffer was considered politically incorrect! Why? Like many Christians he told the truth and was willing to abide by the consequences of condemning the dangers and madness of Hitler and his occultic Black Shirted Strassen Soldaten. While history does record the fact that the first admittees to the Nazi concentration camps were by and large Christian, by the end of the war - their immediate numbers were overwhelmed by those Jews who had neither the finances nor opportunities to escape the growing persecution in the mid forties. People of faith, to use another contemporary term were harassed, harangued and eventually destroyed because the pagan power of the Nazi state must be built up at any social cost, thus any who did not support the state were deigned enemies of the that state! So it always has been and will be in the worldly history of mankind. Where ever absolutism raises its ugly head and demands the respect if not acceptance of any and every moral error or theological heresy.

In our text for today we read about such political subtleties and even learn anew the old worldly proverb, "Hell has no fury like a woman scorned."

33. The Power of Prayer

Illustration

While very ill, John Knox, the founder of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, called to his wife and said, "Read me that Scripture where I first cast my anchor." After he listened to the beautiful prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17, he seemed to forget his weakness. He began to pray, interceding earnestly for his fellowmen. He prayed for the ungodly who had thus far rejected the gospel. He pleaded in behalf of people who had been recently converted. And he requested protection for the Lord's servants, many of whom were facing persecution.

As Knox prayed, his spirit went Home to be with the Lord. The man of whom Queen Mary had said, "I fear his prayers more than I do the armies of my enemies," ministered through prayer until the moment of his death.

34. Understanding Life

Illustration

Brett Blair

Jesus also tells us how people respond to the Kingdom of God. There are four ways:

There are those who understand it and the kingdom grows and produces fruit; they are good soil.
There are those who receive it and the kingdom begins to grow but it is then choked by the worries of life; they are the soil covered by thorns.
There are those who hear it with joy and the kingdom begins again to grow but trouble and persecution kill the growth; they are the shallow soil on the rocky places.
There are those who never understand and growth never occurs; they are the paths, the hard soil where nothing ever grows.

35. The Marks of a Cult

Illustration

Staff

Marks of a Cult:

Authoritarian: There is almost always a central, charismatic, living human leader who commands total loyalty and allegiance.
Oppositional: Their beliefs, practices and values are counter to those of the dominant culture.
Exclusivistic: They are the only group that possesses the "truth."
Legalistic: Rules and regulations abound governing spiritual matters and the details of everyday living.
Subjective: They emphasize the experiential, the feelings and the emotions. This is usually accompanied by an anti- intellectualism.
Persecution-conscious: The groups feel they are being singled out by mainstream Christians, the press, parents, and the government.
Sanction-oriented: They require conformity in practice and belief, and exercise sanctions against the wayward.
Esoteric: They promote a religion of secrecy and concealment. Truth is taught on two levels, inner truth and outer truth.
Anti-sacerdotal: There are no paid clergy or professional religious functionaries.

36. Looking for God

Illustration

Charles W. Colson

Have you not heard of the madman who lit a lamp in the bright morning and went to the marketplace crying ceaselessly, "I seek God! I seek God!" There were many among those standing there who didn't believe in God so he made them laugh. "Is God lost?" one of them said. "Has he gone astray like a child?" said another. "Or is he hiding? Has he gone on board ship and emigrated?" So they laughed and shouted to one another. The man sprang into their midst and looked daggers at them. "Where is God?" he cried. "I will tell you. We have killed him, you and I We are all his killers! But how have we done this? How could we swallow up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the horizon? What will we do as the earth is set loose from its sun?" Friedrich Nietzsche, 1889

Nietzsche's point was not that God does not exist, but that God has become irrelevant. Men and women may assert that God exists or that He does not, but it makes little difference either way. God is dead not because He doesn't exist, but because we live, play, procreate, govern, and die as though He doesn't.

37. Love Your Enemy

Illustration

Tim Carpenter

Corrie Tin Boon survived the Holocaust, but her family did not. They were Dutch Christians caught by the Nazis for hiding Jews in their home. She watched the horrors of the genocide from Auschwitz, and barely survived.

Following the war, she became famous for her book "The Hiding Place," which shared the story of her family. The popularity of the book gave her the opportunity to share her faith with thousands of people on speaking tours.

One such evening, after she had spoken about the forgiveness of Christ, a man approached her whom she recognized as one of the guards from Auschwitz. She immediately felt all of the horror, pain and hatred from those years of persecution.

He told her that he had listened to her talk, and informed her that he had been a guard at the death camp. She told him that she recognized him. Crying, he asked if he might receive the forgiveness of Christ of which she had spoken. She thought to herself that she could not, but she remembered the command of Christ to love your enemy and to forgive seventy times seven the person who has wronged you.

She prayed that Jesus might give her the strength to forgive the man, and as she prayed, she felt a sensation begin in her heart and flow through her hand as it touched his. Then she heard herself saying, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I forgive you."

The man collapsed to her feet and wept a prayer of thanks. She later discovered that he had become a minister of the gospel, and that many people had come to Christ through his ministry.

We never know how far God can spread the love that we give. Indeed, we have perhaps received love from someone that was born from such an act of loving forgiveness in someone else. We love our enemies because we recognize that Christ died for them, too. We love our enemies because we know that the power of love is stronger than any depth to which we can fall.

38. God Is Patient

Illustration

Stephen Muncherian

The Apostle Peter, writing shortly before he was martyred, during a time when

Nero's persecution of the church was growing in severity
false teaching was tearing at the heart of the church
believers were beginning to doubt that Jesus was returning
the question of the day was, "How can we continue to trust God?"

During this period of doubt and uncertainty, the Apostle Peter writes in 2 Peter, "Don't let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness but God is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."

39. A Faithful Witness

Illustration

Brett Blair

The Alexamenos graffito is a piece of Roman graffiti scratched in plaster on the wall of a room near the Palatine Hill in Rome, which has now been removed and is in the Palatine Hill Museum. It may be meant to depict Jesus; if so, it competes with an engraved gem as the earliest known pictorial representation of the Crucifixion of Jesus. It is hard to date, but has been estimated to have been made c. 200. The image seems to show a young man worshipping a crucified, donkey-headed figure. The Greek inscription approximately translates to "Alexamenos worships god," indicating that the graffito was apparently meant to mock a Christian named Alexamenos. It may be a young Christian boy being mocked by his schoolmates for his worship, hence the donkey head on the one being crucified. The point of the picture being that in spite of the persecution the boy is not ashamed; he is faithful, as evidenced by his outstretched arms worshiping the crucified god.

Note: See Wikipedia for more details. Here's the actual graffiti.

40. I Believe in Miracles

Illustration

Erwin Drake

I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows;
I believe that somewhere in the darkest night, a candle glows;
I believe for everyone who goes astray, someone will come to show the way;
I believe above the storm the smallest prayer will still be heard;
I believe that Someone in the great somewhere hears every word;
Every time I hear a newborn baby cry, or touch a leaf, or see the sky,
Then I know why, I believe.

41. Triumph in the Rubble

Illustration

King Duncan

Carlton Fletcher tells about his Uncle Walter who lived in Waldorf, Germany, during the Second World War. Uncle Walter was the descendant of Huguenots that had run away from France during the persecution of the Protestants in the 1600's. During the war he wanted to build himself a house, but all the necessary materials were reserved for the army. You couldn't build a house for yourself. To a member of Germany's middle class, a house is most important. Building a house and getting out of an apartment is a priority. And nothing -even a world war - would deter Uncle Walter, even if it meant building a house and hiding it under a junk pile.

Here is how he did it. He bought a lot and loaned it out for people to throw junk on it. And then he would go there at night and build, layer by layer of brick, and cover it up with junk. When the end of the war came, there was a big pile of junk, but there was a house under it practically completed. All it needed was a roof. In 1946, when the war was over, he raised the roof like a madman. And he was jubilant. He said, "I beat the Nazis, I beat them. I got my house."

Don't you admire the spirit of a man like that - to be able to build a house amid the rubble of life? I suspect Bartimaeus was such a man.

42. Strategies of Satan

Illustration

J.O. Sanders

J. O. Sanders offers this summary of the strategies of Satan:

Strategies of Satan with unbelievers:

blinding the minds of the unregenerate (2 Cor. 4:4).
snatching away the good seed of the word (Matthew 13:19).
lulling the unbeliever into a false sense of security (Luke 11:21).
laying snares for the unwary (2 Timothy 2:25-26).
masquerading as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:13-14).
deceiving those whose minds are not subject to the Word of truth (Rev 12:9).
mixing truth with error (Matthew 13:25-8).

Strategies of Satan with believers:

annihilate the church or neutralize its witness from within (Acts 5:1-6).
virulent persecution from without.
smother its witness by according it great popularity.
disturb the unity of the church by creating discord and division
subversion of the church through apostasy and heresy (2 Peter 2:1-2).

43. An Advance Man

Illustration

Paul E. Flesner

Many people don't realize the extent of the preparations involved when the President of the United States makes a visit to a local community. A raft of Secret Service personnel check out every building along the route he will travel and near the place he will be appearing. They go over each building with a fine tooth comb from roof to basement in their efforts to prepare for his safety. They are called "Advance Men." They work invisibly behind the scenes to make sure that everything is ready for the big event that is about to take place.

In today's Gospel we encounter an "advance man." However, he's not a member of the Secret Service. He's not preparing for a visit from a head of state. He's not checking out parade routes to assure their safety. He is telling us to get ready for a visit from the most important person in human history. His name is John the Baptist. We are told that "he came as a witness to testify to the light." He is God's Advance Man.

44. THE CROSS

Illustration

John H. Krahn

The cross best proclaims the indisputable fact that we worship a caring God. It is the most popular of all Christian symbols. There is no Christianity without the cross.

The cross shouts God’s words of love to each of us. It is his proclamation of possibility beyond the present. In it is hope for the hopeless, love for the loveless, encouragement for the depressed, and the pronouncement of life beyond death for those who grieve the loss of a friend or contemplate their own demise. Its importance to our faith cannot be over-emphasized, its proclamation must never be subdued. It trumpets, "God cares!" That’s music to our ears - the best news we could ever hear.

As I look at the cross, I cannot help but think of a movie I saw years ago. Few movies in my life have had the impact of Ben Hur. Many scenes made an indelible impression - the great sea battle, the exciting chariot race, the repugnant leprosy colony. Yet, none hit harder than the crucifixion of our Lord. The sound of hammer on nail rings through the air, the cross rises until it suddenly thumps into place. Slowly Jesus’ blood begins to flow - one drop, then another ... a puddle forms beneath the cross. It begins to rain. Water mixes with more blood, and together they begin to trickle down the hillside. The trickle becomes a stream as the blood washes over God’s creation. We are reminded that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

At Calvary God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. The blood of Christ pouring down the cross restored our relationship with the Father. We cannot fully understand the mystery of God’s plan to recapture a creation gone astray. We only know that all who come to the cross in simple, trusting faith are cleansed by his blood and find peace with the Father.

By his death Jesus has unchained us. Unchained - there is no better word for it. He has set us free from the wages of our sins that only pay dividends in hell and has set us on the positive pathway of a life with God. Our eyes need no longer be downcast; our head has no reason to be between our knees. We are no longer oppressed with our weighty sins, for we have been touched by none other than God. He has cared not just a little but powerfully. His power encountered our sin, and it was no more. His incredible desire to rescue us in spite of everything dispels even the worst sin. But we must be wise enough to permit ourselves and our sins to be encountered by that desire.

45. Fertile Soil

Illustration

Brett Blair

But there is a fourth kind of soil. There is the seed that falls upon the good earth and takes root and grows to maturity. This crop, we are told, is a harvest that will bear fruit a hundred fold. Jesus mentions this last because itis the thrust of the story. True, there are failures, but the good news is that there is also victory.

Now, here is the hard part. Our efforts in life are not always measurable. Sometimes, you may not see the final product. You may not see the actual harvest. Sometimes all we can do is plant a seed, and trust that God will do the rest. A school teacher works with a troubled child, but she may not know how the story ultimately turns out. All she can do is plant a seed of love and trust that God will do the rest. Sometimes just a word of encouragement to a person in need, or a shared personal thought and someone picks up on it and it gets them through a dark night.

Don't ever underestimate the power of a seed. Did you know that in 1959 there were 1 million Roman Catholics and 600,000 Protestants in China. That may sound like a lot, but when you compare it to a population that is rapidly approaching 1 billion people, you understand what a tiny seed that represented. Then in 1959 China closed it's doors to the outside world. Many people began to wrap a burial shroud around the Christian church in China. They said that it would never survive. Then in 1979 China again opened its doors to the West and to the rest of the world. And a strange thing had happened. That tiny seed 20 years earlier had taken root. The number of Roman Catholics during those dark years rose from 1 million to 3 million and the number of Protestants rose from 600,000 to 3 million. The church in a time of persecution and hardship, had grown 53% in a twenty year period. How do you explain it? Fertile soil! There was obviously a hunger for the gospel.

46. Saving a Church - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

I imagine that different letters in the New Testament were written with varying degrees of haste. Paul wrote an angry letter to the church at Corinth. You can tell that as he wrote it he had a lot of things on his mind. On the other hand, the Book of 1st Thessalonians consists almost entirely of prayers and praise. Obviously, there was not a great sense of urgency about the letter. When Paul wrote his brief letter to Philemon, he told his friend and former slave, Onesimus, to personally deliver it. It could have gotten there a lot faster if it had gone by the regular mail, but Paul wanted this letter hand delivered.

Then there was the letter written to the Hebrews, from which our scripture text for this morning comes. It was a thick letter. Probably took three stamps to mail it. And on the front of that letter I feel sure that the wrote: Special Delivery. There is a sense of urgency about this letter. The moment you open the letter up you know why. Hold on, it says. How many times does the author write—hold on. Don’t shrink back. Don’t despair. Don’t give up. Stir up each other. Encourage each other. Don’t stop going to your worship assemblies. Don’t get discouraged. All the way through that is the tone. The writer, who is a pastor, is trying his best to revive a church.

What is wrong with the church? When you read the letter you discover that it was once a church that was full of love and joy and fellowship. It took delight in serving each other and serving the Lord. But that is now no longer the case. Between that time of wonderful joy and the writing of this letter something dreadful has happened to this church. What has gone wrong?

I. There is heresy.
II. There is pagan worship.
III. There is persecution.
IV. But primarily they no longer care.

47. Confirming the Testimony

Illustration

Brian Stoffregen

Some time ago I came across this short story called, "Whom Should You Ask?"

An Amish man was once asked by an enthusiastic young evangelist whether he had been saved, and whether he had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior?

The gentleman replied, "Why do you ask me such a thing? I could tell you anything. Here are the names of my banker, my grocer, and my farm hands. Ask them if I've been saved."

There is a sense that one cannot testify to one's self. When Mohammed Ali testified, "I am the greatest," that meant nothing until his works testified to that fact. In a sense, someone claiming, "I am a Christian" is invalid until there is someone or something else that confirms that testimony.

48. Huddled Like Sheep

Illustration

King Duncan

Pastor Mike Milton of Savannah, GA tells about two photos that appeared together on the front page of a local newspaper, the Camden, Maine Herald. One photo was of the board of aldermen and the town manager huddled together at a meeting. The other photo was a flock of sheep. Unintentionally, the captions were reversed. Under the picture of the sheep, the caption identified them as the aldermen and town manager. Under the photo of the distinguished fathers of the community, the caption read like this: "The Sheep, naive and vulnerable, huddle for security against the uncertainties of the outside world."

Let's face it, friends, you and I are oftentimes like sheep. We nibble ourselves into situations that are too big for us to handle. We follow the other sheep, sometimes unwisely. There we are "The Sheep, naive and vulnerable, huddled for security against the uncertainties of the outside world." Does our Shepherd care? Yes, says Luke's gospel. He leaves the ninety and nine. Where? Out in the wilderness, to search for that one who has gone astray. What great good news.

49. The Good Shepherd - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

It is small wonder that the image of the shepherd was frequently upon the lips of the savior. It was a part of his heritage and culture. Abraham, the father of the nation, was the keeper of great flocks. Moses was tending the flocks of his father-in-law, Jethro, when God called him into a special service. David was a shepherd boy called in from the fields to be the King of Israel.

The imagery of the shepherd was also imprinted upon the literature of the day. The 23rd Psalm is frequently referred to as the shepherd psalm. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside still waters."

When Isaiah spoke of the coming of the Messiah he worded it by saying: "He will feed his flock like a shepherd! He will gather his lambs into his arms." Yes, the tradition of the shepherd was very much a part of the heritage of Christ.

This picture comes more clearly into focus in the New Testament. Jesus once told a story about a shepherd who had 100 sheep, but one of them went astray. In our way of thinking a 99% return on our investment would be most desirable, but not this shepherd. He left the 99 to go in search of that one lost sheep. Later, when Jesus was speaking to a great throng of people, Mark tells us that he had compassion upon them because they were "as sheep without a shepherd."

Throughout the Judeo-Christian faith, then, the image of the shepherd has been stamped upon our thinking. In our scripture text for this morning Jesus again taps into this imagery when he refers to himself as the good shepherd. For a few moments this morning, I would like for us to examine together what he had in mind when he described himself as the Good Shepherd.

1. First, we have a shepherd that is a genuine shepherd.
2. Second, I think that the Good Shepherd knows his sheep.
3. Third, the Good Shepherd also includes other sheep.
4. Fourth, the shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.

50. I Am the King’s Servant, But God’s First

Illustration

Michael Manning

If you get a chance, rent the movie A Man for All Seasons. It is based on the life of St. Thomas Moore and is one of the best dramatic movies I have ever seen. It has been a couple of years since I have seen it, but one scene remains vivid in my mind when I think about the importance of persecution as a way of life for followers of Jesus.

More was the Chancellor of England. By profession he was a lawyer. He loved his king. He loved his country and he loved its laws. Then a terrible dilemma developed for him when the king decided to end his allegiance to the Pope in Rome. Moore was conflicted. While he loved his country and his king, he also loved the church. He was faced with two deeply personal loves, and yet he realized he could no longer have both. As he weighed his options, he considered the fact that both the king and the church had its problems. The king he loved could be ruthless and he wasn't faithful in marriage. The church he loved, on the other hand, was full of all kinds of sinful men. What was he to do?

In a powerful scene from A Man for All Seasons that takes place in the sweating walls of the Tower of London, his wife visits her prisoner husband and asks why he won't just sign the statement of allegiance to the king so they could get back to their life of comfort and prestige. With anguish, Moore cries in a gut-wrenching scene that he is not made of the stuff of martyrs. He doesn't know for sure if he is doing the right thing.

In the end, Moore is convicted of treason for his refusal to acknowledge that the king was the supreme head of the Church of England, Moore defended his actions by saying, "I am the king's servant, but God's first." He weighed all decisions relative to his commitment and love for God. Even if it results in his personal loss of freedom.

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