Sermon and Worship Resources

Mark 14:66-72 · Peter Disowns Jesus

66 While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. "You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus," she said.

68 But he denied it. "I don't know or understand what you're talking about," he said, and went out into the entryway.

69 When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, "This fellow is one of them." 70 Again he denied it. After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, "Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean."

71 He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, "I don't know this man you're talking about."

72 Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times." And he broke down and wept.

What the Maid Said to the Fisherman

Mark 14:66-72, Mark 14:53-65

Sermon
by Donald B. Strobe

I THINK ST. PETER HAS GOTTEN A “BUM RAP.” As a result of our Scripture lesson of the morning, St. Peter is often pictured as being a coward, cringing in the courtyard before the onslaught of a serving maid’s questions. Sometimes it seems as though Jesus called Peter “the Rock” not because of his standing qualities, but because of his sinking qualities. Actually, it took a great deal of courage for him to be there at all. None of the rest of the twelve were there. Gone were the crowds who, on Palm Sunday, shouted glad Hosannas!” Gone were the other two of Jesus’ closest friends: James and John. Jesus was alone during his ordeal in the house of the high priest. Except for Peter. Peter was there, in the courtyard. He didn’t acquit himself very well, but at least he was there. “And as Peter was below in the house, one of the maids of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him, and said, ‘You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.’ But he denied it, saying, ‘I neither know nor understand what you mean.’” Mark 14:66)

I. I WOULD SUGGEST THAT THIS IS NOT A STORY OF PETER’S COWARDICE, BUT OF HIS BRAVERY. “And Peter followed him at a distance.” (v. 54) How many sermons have been preached about following Jesus at a distance. “We’re behind you, Lord...” Yes, ‘way behind. But this is a bit unfair, for Peter had at least the courage to try. He was somewhere within shouting distance, while everybody else had high-tailed it to the safety of their homes, where they bolted the doors shut and quaked with fear that what had happened to their Leader might also happen to them. “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus,” the maid said. And at least Peter was there to answer. Where were the others? Mark says: “They all forsook Him and fled.” (14:50) All? Not quite, but almost. At least one remained close by. Peter hung in there longer than anyone else. Let’s give him credit for that. Yes, Peter failed the final test. But Peter fell to a temptation which could only come to a man of fantastic courage. Up to this point in Peter’s career he had been a man of almost reckless courage. Trying to walk on water just because Jesus’ told him to! Drawing his sword in the garden and cutting off the ear of the high priest’s servant, going against everything Jesus had taught. The last place we should have thought he would show his face would be in the courtyard of the high priest’s house. But Peter followed Jesus this far-which was further than any of the rest. Somebody asked me a few weeks ago, in jest, if we Methodists had any “backsliders.” I replied, half in jest that most Methodists I know haven’t slid forward enough to backslide! Peter, at least, was there. Most of us reflect the words of that great hymn, “O Young and Fearless Prophet:” “We marvel at the purpose that held thee to thy course/While ever on the hilltop before thee loomed the cross;/Thy steadfast face set forward, where love and duty shone/While we betray so quickly and leave thee there alone.” We dare not point the finger at Peter, for when we do, we find three fingers pointed back at us. We warm ourselves at the fires of Jesus’ enemies. (How much does our high standard of living derive from the arms race? I shudder to think. ) We promise great things, (“Take my silver and my gold, Not a mite would I withhold!”)... but we do not deliver on our promises. We follow from afar, and are afraid to come closer, lest people might think we are some kind of religious fanatics. We talk piously in church, but curse and swear with the best of them outside in the courtyard. By our words and actions people haven’t a clue that we have been with Jesus of Nazareth.

What was Peter doing there in the courtyard, anyway? Leslie Weatherhead says that he was not denying his Lord, but instead was acting as a “spy.” He believed that Peter followed Jesus and His captors into the courtyard seeking information. And if you were to ask a spy, “Are you a spy?” it would have been simply dumb to say, “Oh, yes, of course. I am here under false pretenses.” So he lets Peter off the hook. Weatherhead wrote: “Either he had the intention of rescuing Jesus or else of hearing what was likely to become of him.” “Personalities of the Passion,” New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1963, p. 19) Weatherhead said that if Peter were really such a coward, why did he not stay back in the shadows, instead of coming right up to the fire to catch the gossip of the day? It is an intriguing thought. There’s not much evidence to back up his theory, but it is a thought. The Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, (“St. Peter of the cock-crowing”), near Mt. Zion in Jerusalem, is the traditional site where the events of our Scripture took place. There is strong archaeological evidence for the place because a system of weights and measures, usually used by the high priest, has been found there, along with cisterns, and perhaps a prison where ancient tradition has Jesus imprisoned for one night before His trial. Jewish law forbade trying anyone on the day arrested. And there are first-century stone steps there which makes it one of the few places we can say with certainty that “Jesus would have walked here.” Some of us were there a few weeks ago...and a very strange thing happened. Just as we arrived at the church, we heard the sound of a cock crowing in the background! I must confess that, with my skeptical mind, I wondered at first whether the Assumptionist Fathers had rigged the whole thing with some sort of recording device. But no; this was the genuine sound of a cock crowing. The church is located in a place where all the sounds of the valley below come wafting up upon the ear. And we heard a cock crow. Some said they heard it three times! Now, that’s spooky! It really made the setting come alive for us as we gathered in the church, and then went down into the basement where (tradition says) we find the courtyard where Peter sat warming his hands by the fire, and where he heard the cock crow twice. On the other hand, during my research for this sermon I have discovered that it might not have been a literal rooster crowing that is meant here. The Roman night was divided into four watches from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. At the end of the third watch, at three o’clock in the morning, the guard was changed. Biblical commentator William Barclay writes: “When the guard was changed there as a bugle call which was called the gallicinium, which is the Latin for the cockcrow. Most likely what happened was that as Peter spoke his third denial, the clear note of the bugle call rang out throughout the silent city and smote on the ear of Peter, and Peter remembered and his heart broke.” (Barclay, William Barclay, Daily Study Bible, MARK; Phila: Westminster Press, 1956, p. 371) Barclay may be right. But after my experience last month, I still like to think of it as a real rooster crowing!

II. “CERTAINLY YOU ARE ONE OF THEM; FOR YOU ARE A GALILEAN.” (Mark 14:7) said the bystanders to Peter. How did they know? Matthew’s Gospel gives us a clue to the answer. It has the bystanders say, “Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.” (Matthew 26:73) The Aramaic spoken in Jesus’ day had its regional accents. Galilee was up in the North. Judea was in the South. Evidently, even though Jesus’ land was very small, there were distinct regional accents, just as in England today, you can find many differences in accent between areas not far removed from one another in distance. By their accent you can tell a Yorkshireman from a Londoner or a Liverpudlian. What’s a “Liverpudlian” you ask? Why, someone from Liverpool. I kid you not-that’s what they’re called! And I have a problem with regional accents. If I spend much time among them I find myself picking them up. I am not consciously trying to mimic or make fun of them, but I find myself speaking the way people around me speak. After my pastoral exchange with Peter Bolt back in 1974, I returned to this pulpit and invited folks to stay after the service for a “spot of tea.” I got kidded about it, but I had unconsciously picked up the British way of saying it. Accents are easy to pick up. At least most of them are. The Galilean accent, however, may be the most difficult to imitate in all the world. Here is what I mean.

One of the most famous sermons of Christian History was written by the Scots preacher Arthur John Gossip titled, “The Galilean Accent.” He takes the words spoken to Peter by the bystanders as a distinct compliment. Since the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, a new element has come into the human story, a new “accent” if you will. The Galilean accent was heard for the first time almost two thousand years ago. When Jesus was born the world was in a pretty sad state. Human life was cheap, and slavery was rampant. Violence and greed were the order of the day. We might ask, “So what else is new?” We might think that not much has changed. But what changes for the good there have been have come about because twenty centuries ago into this maelstrom of malice a new accent was heard on a hillside in Galilee: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the peacemakers, etc.” (Matthew 5) It was heard in the pulpit at Nazareth when a young rabbi stood up and said: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed...”(Luke 4:18)

That’s the “Galilean accent.” The Galilean accent was infectious. It was heard and caught by the common people. The world tried to erase all trace of it by silencing the Voice behind it ...but the Voice could not be silenced. The Galilean accent continued in the voice of Peter-who not only cringed in the courtyard, but one day stood up in the town square and placed the blame for Jesus’ death squarely on the heads of the religious establishment. “...this Jesus...you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. But God raised him up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it!” (Acts 2:23-24) The Galilean accent was heard again in the early Christian community when they became a community of lovers, who dared to out-think, out-live, out-die, and out-love the pagan world around them, so that people exclaimed in amazement: “Behold, how these Christians love one another.” The Galilean accent. For awhile it seemed as though that accent had become stilled when the Dark Ages settled upon the Church, and the Church silently acquiesced in all kinds of evil.

But then in the 16th century there was a Reformation, in the 18th century there came the Great Awakening, in the 19th century Christians tackled the evil scourge of slavery, and in the 20th century the accent is heard again as Christians dare to tackle thorny issues such as war and peace, racism and social justice. David H. C. Read in a sermon on “The Galilean Accent” says: “In spite of all the sarcasm that is hurled at the phrase ‘Christian love,’ I know that life would be intolerable without the kindness, the unselfishness, the generosity, the forgiveness, the patience that it inspires in men and women who have caught the infection of Jesus.... The Galilean accent sounds in the one who seeks reconciliation rather than bitterness and estrangement, in one who gives without asking ‘what’s in it for me,’ in one who risks unpopularity by taking the side of the despised and betrayed.” And he ends his sermon with a little prayer he heard sung when he was a boy. “Oh that it might be said of me/Surely thy speech betrayeth thee, Thou wast with Jesus of Galilee.” (National Radio Pulpit, Dec. T77-Jan. T78) To which I can only say, “Amen!” Our accents do betray us; and the Galilean accent is a rare thing to hear, indeed.

After the first World War, while high level talks were being carried on about how to deal with Germany, the despised and defeated enemy, the then American President Woodrow Wilson argued for leniency and compassion. It is reported that French premier Clemenceau said, in disgust, “He makes me sick. He talks just like Jesus Christ.” Looking back from the hindsight of history one wonders what might have happened if he had - and if he had gotten people to listen. Perhaps we might have been spared a second World War, who knows? At any rate, our world needs a few more people who “talk just like Jesus Christ.” I have no doubt that such people would get themselves in trouble, as Peter did...but that’s the risk of speaking in “The Galilean accent.” The strongest Galilean accent in our day was that of Martin Luther King, Jr. and look what it got him! But that’s the way the world is. It tries to silence the Galilean accent. But it has not succeeded. And never will.

III. THERE ARE ONLY TWO PLACES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT WHERE A CHARCOAL FIRE IS MENTIONED. One of them is here, in the courtyard of the high priest, where Peter was warming himself the night that Jesus went on trial, and a servant girl spotted him. The other place is in the 21st chapter of John. After Good Friday, Peter announced to the other disciples, “I am going fishing.” That didn’t mean he was taking a vacation-merely that he was going back to his previous occupation - a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, which was what he did before he went off on the wild-goose chase to follow the itinerant rabbi from Nazareth. But then there came a brilliant Easter morning, and an angel standing by an empty tomb, telling the disciples that “He is not dead, but lives! Go and tell the disciples AND PETER that He goes before you into Galilee.. There you will see Him.” (Mark 16:7) And it was so. The disciples had been fishing all night and had caught nothing. Suddenly, a faintly familiar figure calls to them across the sea. “Cast your net on the other side!” And they had a miraculous catch of fish! Peter shouts, “It is the Lord!” and jumps into the water to swim to the shore. There Jesus prepares for them a breakfast over a charcoal fire. And there Jesus asks Peter three times “Do you love me?” And three times Peter is forced to confess his love-to make up for the three times He denied it.

IV. WHERE DID THIS STORY OF PETER’S DENIALS IN THE COURTYARD COME FROM?

There is only one source from which the story could have come – and that source is Peter himself. Remember that St. Mark was the “secretary” to St. Peter, and his gospel is made up primarily of Peter’s own reminiscences. In other words Peter is the one who passed this story down to us. He is the one who passed on the story of his own denial. In doing so, he is saying to us: “if you think that you have betrayed Jesus, fallen short, committed some horrible sin, just look at what I did! I swaggered up and said that ‘Even if everyone else fails, I will not.’ Yet I slipped and fell.

And the amazing thing is that Jesus never stopped loving me! Nor will he ever stop loving you! All you have to do is open your hearts to receive that love!” One of the world’s favorite hymns was written by a man named John Newton. Let me tell you about John Newton. He was born in 1725, the son of a Mediterranean sea captain. His mother died when he was seven. He quit school at age 10 and went to sea with his father at age 11. At 18 he was “impressed,” compelled by force to enlist on a British man-of-war. He was en route to becoming an officer when he deserted, was caught, was whipped publicly, and put in irons. Before long, he found himself on a slave ship, almost a slave himself. Eventually he became captain of a slave ship. But then he came under the influence of English evangelist George Whitefield, and finally became a clergyman in the Church of England. He wrote his own epitaph, and to this day his tombstone reads: “John Newton, Clerk, once an infidel and libertine, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour, JESUS CHRIST, preserved, restored, pardoned and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy...”

And what his hymn? “Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see!”

Dynamic Preaching, Collected Words, by Donald B. Strobe

Overview and Insights · A Dark Night for a Disciple (14:66–72)

As Jesus remains faithful before the most powerful figures in Judaism, Peter fails to acknowledge Jesus when questioned by a bunch of servants. Peter is recognized by two different servant girls as one who was with Je…

The Baker Bible Handbook by , Baker Publishing Group, 2016

Mark 14:66-72 · Peter Disowns Jesus

68 But he denied it. "I don't know or understand what you're talking about," he said, and went out into the entryway.

71 He began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, "I don't know this man you're talking about."

72 Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times." And he broke down and wept.

Commentary · Peter Disowns Jesus

Mark concludes the sandwich unit by returning to Peter, who is warming himself by the fire in the courtyard of the high priest (14:54, 66). Verses 66–72 focus exclusively on Peter, who alone of the participants is named. Nights in Jerusalem in March-April require the warmth of a fire, the light from which allows Peter to be identified. While Jesus undergoes a trial by the high priest, Peter undergoes one by a mere servant girl. To her accusation that he was with “that Nazarene,” Peter vociferously denies (according to the Greek) that he knows Jesus either in theory or practice (14:68). The statement that Peter “went out into the entryway” (14:68) is both factual and symbolic, for he is now farther from Jesus. Peter is identified by his Galilean accent and again accused of association with Jesus—to which he explodes in a volley of abuse and denial (14:71). Peter cannot bring himself to mention the name of Jesus, but he cannot forestall the cockcrow heralding the shattering truth of his denial. Mark concludes the abandonment of Jesus in chapter 14 on the bitter note of weeping (14:72).

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

Big Idea: This is the second terrible contrast during Jesus’s trial: the horror of Peter thinking only of himself and denying Jesus with greater intensity on each of three occasions, versus Jesus, who suffers and dies for Peter as his redeeming Lord.

Understanding the Text

As seen throughout the Passion Narrative, Jesus is in complete, sovereign control of the awful events taking place. The leaders of his people have not only rejected him but also have placed him on trial for his life, declared him guilty, and condemned him to death. These leaders have mocked him, and the temple guards have beaten him. Now Peter, one of his closest disciples, will not only fail him but also deny him. In this sense, Peter joins the leaders and the temple police in rejecting Jesus, who is left completely alone. On the cross this isolation will be made complete when even the Father “forsakes” him (15:34). Peter’s three denials develop a powerful dramatic progression, as each one gets worse: denying his knowledge of Jesus to a maidservant, denying his discipleship to a group of servants, and cursing with an oath in front of all the bystanders. The final event, with the rooster crowing and Peter weeping, provides a poignant conclusion, as Peter realizes that he has virtually become a second Judas.

Interpretive Insights

14:66–67 one of the servant girls of the high priest . . . saw Peter warming himself. Mark has separated two concurrent events, as the three encounters with Peter occurred during the hearing. At the beginning of the narrative (14:54) Peter enters the courtyard and sits near the fire with the guards. While Jesus emerges victorious over the leaders of Israel, Peter repeatedly fails when confronted by their servants. The chief priestly families were inordinately wealthy, and Caiaphas’s home had a large courtyard as well as many slaves, both men and women, and they would naturally gather in the courtyard when not on duty.1

You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus. One of the female servants somehow recognizes Peter as one of Jesus’s disciples. She may have seen them at the temple or in Jerusalem during the weeklong festivities. In John 18:26 one of the group of servants had been there when Jesus was arrested in the garden. Calling Jesus “that Nazarene” most likely expressed the disdain that Judeans had for Galileans, especially those from so insignificant a village.

14:68 I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about. Note the contrast: Jesus’s regal silence (v. 61) is the polar opposite of Peter’s bombastic denial. Remember Jesus’s warning, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words . . . the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes” (8:38). In Matthew 10:33; Luke 12:9, when Jesus similarly warns of the consequences of denying him, “Whoever denies me . . . I will deny,” he uses arneomai, the same word that Mark uses here in saying that Peter “denied” knowing Jesus. The “apostasy” that Jesus predicts in 14:27 continues with Peter.

14:69 the servant girl . . . said again . . . “This fellow is one of them.” For dramatic emphasis, Mark implies that this is the same girl; Matthew 26:71 tells us this was “another” girl. Peter has tried to get away from the group by walking to the entry gate, but his ploy fails. He is spotted and confronted again.

14:70 Again he denied it. This time Peter apparently speaks more loudly, so everyone around could hear. Matthew 26:72 says that he did so “with an oath,” intensifying the first denial in both volume and legal claim.

Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean. Matthew 26:73 tells us it was Peter’s Galilean accent that gives him away. This is the same today; speech patterns and pronunciation can identify whether a person comes from New England, the South, and so on.

14:71 He began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man.” This is the strongest denial of the three, as Peter invokes curses upon himself (the plural may mean that he did so several times) in order to avoid the consequences of being identified with Jesus. This often took the form, “May God do . . . to me if I . . .” Some think that the first verb (“call down curses”) has an object and may indicate Peter heaping curses on Jesus to save his own skin. Again he denies any knowledge of Jesus whatsoever. This parallels young adults today who change their names to avoid being linked to their families. The rejection is total.

14:72 Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Peter undoubtedly had repressed any memory of Jesus’s prediction during these episodes, but the crowing of the rooster brought it all back. This is not a reference for the third watch of the night (midnight to 3 a.m. by Roman standards), but it does refer to the actual crowing of a rooster during the night (see on 14:30).

And he broke down and wept. One can only imagine how mortified Peter felt as he realized the extent of his guilt. Jesus’s prediction was fulfilled to the very letter. In fact, all of his predictions about the betrayal of Judas (vv. 18–21 = vv. 43–45), the desertion of the disciples (v. 27 = vv. 50–52), and the denials of Peter (v. 30 = vv. 66–72) have come to pass. Peter’s weeping shows his deep-seated grief and remorse. He does not expect ever to be forgiven and likely thinks of himself as another Judas. However, like all who have found Christ, he is soon to discover the unbelievable mercy and forgiveness of God in Christ.

Theological Insights

The contrast between Jesus, faithful to God to the very end and the prophet par excellence, and Peter, the faithless and self-centered disciple, continues. The key is to place service to God first in our lives and to prioritize the heavenly over the earthly. Peter was “looking out for number one” and so was unwilling to pay the price of true discipleship. Those who prefer the earthly over the heavenly will always find their hearts in the wrong place (Matt. 6:19–21).

Teaching the Text

1. Peter is a model of discipleship failure and restoration. David Garland writes, “The sad plight of Peter, the rock who disintegrates into a pile of sand, evokes our horror and sympathy.”2There have been many during the history of the church who have triumphed in terrible circumstances (read John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs), but many others have been abject failures. In our honest moments we admit that we can identify with Peter all too easily. Peter had bragged that he would never “fall away” or “disown” Jesus (14:29, 31), and this demonstrated his basic problem (and ours). He trusted in himself more than in Jesus. Our success in following God is directly connected to the extent to which we are relying on Jesus and the empowering presence of the Spirit. The answer is in 14:28; 16:7: only when we have met the risen Lord and gained strength from him (as indeed happened to Peter [16:7a = John 21:15–17]) can we overcome our failures.

2. Jesus is the archetypal prophet. Jesus the Messiah has long been hailed as prophet, priest, and king, and indeed each is developed in depth in the New Testament (priest in Hebrews, king especially in Mark and John). In Luke’s Gospel the prophetic office of Jesus is highlighted (4:24; 7:16; 11:47–52; 13:33; 24:19; cf. Acts 3:22–23; 7:37). Jesus’s miracles show him as the typological reenactment of Elijah, and in Mark 6:15; 8:28 Jesus was regarded by the common people (with the Baptist) as the “prophet like Moses” of Deuteronomy 18:15 and the Elijianic messianic forerunner of Malachi 3:1; 4:5–6. In Mark 14:72 we see a further aspect of Jesus’s prophetic work: his ability to foretell the future with detail. In fact, this episode is often used to discount the view of “open theism” that God (and Jesus) restrict their knowledge of future events to allow total human freedom to make decisions. Jesus knows and foretells not only Peter’s denials but also that there will be three denials, and that they will take place before the rooster crows. Jesus is the quintessential prophet, who, when he wishes, can recite future events in detail.

Illustrating the Text

Willing to pay the ultimate price

Church History: In approximately AD 165 Justin Martyr and six Christian companions were arrested and brought before the urban prefect Junius Rusticus for refusing to worship the gods of Rome. As they stood before Rusticus, these Christians were given an opportunity to recant and to offer sacrifices to the gods. The consequence of disobedience would be suffering and death. But Justin and his companions responded, “Do whatever you want. We are Christians, and we do not sacrifice to idols.” Unwilling to compromise, Justin Martyr and his companions were scourged and beheaded. The history of the church is filled with the sacrifices of those who, unlike Peter and the disciples at the time of the arrest of Jesus, were willing to stand firm in their commitment to Jesus. Would you be willing to sacrifice your life and all you have for the sake of Jesus?

Unwilling to compromise

News Event: Ancient church history does not provide the only examples of courageous faith under persecution. In 2013 Saeed Abedini, thirty-two years old, was sentenced to eight years in prison in Iran for planting house churches across the country. In 2000 Saeed Abedini converted from Islam to Christianity in his home country of Iran. He became active in planting house churches, and it is estimated that he was instrumental in planting one hundred house churches with a combined membership of two thousand. Under a crackdown by the government, Abedini and his family moved to the United States in 2005. He returned many times to his home country to build an orphanage, but he was arrested during a visit in 2012 and later sentenced to eight years in prison. He has been serving his sentence in the notorious Evin Prison, known for its brutal conditions. He is being tortured, mocked, insulted, and threatened. Saeed said, “There are those who are enemies of the Living Bible and do not want to hear. They are trying to put me under such horrific pressures, that are sometimes unbearable, so that they can show me that my faith is empty and not real. . . . They are only waiting for one thing . . . for me to deny Christ.”3 But Saeed Abedini has been unwilling to deny his faith.

From failure to forgiveness

Bible: John’s Gospel records what happened to Peter after the resurrection of Jesus. Three times in the course of a powerful dialogue Jesus asks Peter a variation of this simple question: “Do you love me?” Each time Peter responds in the affirmative, to which Jesus says, “Feed my sheep.” The third time Jesus asks the question Peter feels hurt. But could it be that Jesus was letting Peter respond once for each denial? Might Jesus have been reaching out to Peter, knowing that he needed to experience the grace and forgiveness of God? Is it possible that Jesus knew that Peter not only had to experience forgiveness but also had to know that God could still use him? Could it be that Jesus knew that Peter needed to be restored? All of us will fail. The question becomes, Will you turn to Jesus, confess your sins, and allow him to restore you?

Teaching the Text by Grant R. Osborne, Baker Publishing Group, 2016

Dictionary

Direct Matches

Curse

The blessings and curses of Scripture are grounded in a worldview that understands the sovereign God to be the ultimate dispenser of each. God is the giver of blessing and ultimately the final judge who determines withdrawal or ban. He is the source of every good gift (James 1:17) and the one who gives power and strength to prosper (Deut. 8:17).

Old Testament. The sovereign God sometimes employs agents of blessing in his creation. The blessing extends to the nations through Abraham (Gen. 12:3), to Jacob through Isaac (Gen. 26 27), and to the people through the priests (Num. 6:24–26).

The theme of blessing/curse is used to structure Deut. 27–28 and Lev. 26 (cf. Josh. 8:34) in the overall covenant format of these books. Scholars have observed that the object of this format is not symmetry or logical unity but fullness. From this perspective, the blessing/curse structure functions to enforce obedience for the purpose of ensuring a relationship. The blessing of Deuteronomy also includes the benefits of prosperity, power, and fertility. The curse, on the other hand, is the lack or withdrawal of benefits associated with the relationship.

The creation narratives are marked with the theme and terminology of blessing (Gen. 1:22, 28; 2:3; cf. 5:2; 9:1). The objects of blessing in Gen. 1:22, 28 (cf. 5:2; 9:1) are the living creatures and human beings created in the image of God. As the revelation progresses, the blessing of God is particularized in the lives of Noah (Gen. 6–8), Abraham (Gen. 12–25) and his descendants, and the nation of Israel and its leadership (Gen. 26–50). In these contexts, the blessing is intended to engender offspring and to prosper recipients in material and physical ways (compare a similar NT emphasis in Acts 17:25; cf. Matt. 5:45; 6:25–33; Acts 14:17).

The blessing of God is also extended to inanimate objects that enhance and prosper one’s quality of life. The seventh day of creation is the object of blessing (Gen. 2:7; Exod. 20:11), perhaps giving it a sense of well-being and health. Objects and activities of life such as baskets and kneading troughs (Deut. 28:5), barns (Deut. 28:8), and work (Job 1:10; Ps. 90:17) are blessed.

God promises to bless those who fear him (Ps. 128:1). Blessing is designed for those who, out of a deep sense of awe of God’s character, love and trust him. The God-fearer confidently embraces God’s promises, obediently serves, and takes seriously God’s warnings. The blessings itemized in Ps. 128 are comparable to those detailed in Deut. 28 relating to productivity and fruitfulness (cf. Ps. 128:2 with Deut. 28:12; Ps. 128:3 with Deut. 28:4, 11). The Deuteronomic concept of blessing and curse is questioned when God-fearers undergo a period of suffering or experience God’s apparent absence (e.g., Joseph, Job; cf. Jesus).

New Testament. In the NT, blessings are not exclusively spiritual. God gives both food and joy (Acts 14:17) and provides the necessities of life (Matt. 6:25–33). The NT does connect blessing with Christ, and it focuses attention on the spiritual quality of the gift that originates from Christ himself and its intended benefit for spiritual individuals.

Regarding curse, the NT explains that Christ bore the curse of the law to free us from its deadening effect (Gal. 3:10–13). Revelation 22:3 anticipates a time when the curse associated with sin will be completely removed and the blessing associated with creation will prevail. “Anathema” is a transliteration of a Greek word that means “curse” (see NIV). Paul invokes it for those who pervert or reject the gospel of God’s free grace (1 Cor. 16:22; Gal. 1:8–9).

High Priest

A priest is a minister of sacred things who represents God to the people and the people to God. The OT identifies priests of Yahweh and priests of other gods and idols. The only pagan priest that the NT mentions is the priest of Zeus from Lystra who wanted to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas, whom the crowd mistook for deities (Acts 14:13). All other NT references build upon OT teaching about priests of Yahweh.

Early biblical history records clan heads offering sacrifices for their families (Gen. 12:7 8; 13:18; 22; 31:54; 46:1). Although the patriarchs performed these duties, they are never called “priests”; the only priests mentioned from this time are foreigners such as Melchizedek, the Egyptian priest of On, and Moses’ father-in-law Jethro (Gen. 14:18; 41:45, 50; 46:20; Exod. 3:1; 18:1). Whereas all Israelites could be called “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exod. 19:6), a distinctive priesthood came to light when God instructed Moses to prepare special priestly clothes for Aaron and his sons (Exod. 28). The high priest was distinguished from the others by more magnificent clothes. By failing to wear their special clothes while serving at the tabernacle, the priests would incur guilt and die (Exod. 28:43).

In NT times many priests exerted religious and civil power as leaders of the Sadducees and the Essenes. Some priests, such as Zechariah, were portrayed as righteous men (Luke 1:5–6). Others were said to have come to faith in Jesus (Acts 6:7). Supporting the role assigned by Moses, Jesus regularly required those whom he healed to show themselves to the priest. Even so, most Gospel references to priests underscore their opposition to Jesus’ ministry and the role they played in his trial and crucifixion. This opposition continued after the resurrection, as priests challenged the witness of the apostles. When Peter and John proclaimed that a crippled beggar had been healed by Jesus’ power, the priests and others jailed, interrogated, and forbade them from speaking in Jesus’ name (Acts 4:1–20). The Sanhedrin questioned Stephen about charges of blasphemy and speaking against the temple and the Mosaic law (6:11–7:1). Saul (Paul) received a letter of authority from the high priest to arrest Christians (9:1–2). Later, as a follower of Jesus, he stood trial before Ananias, who charged him before Felix (24:1), and a wider group of chief priests who charged him before Festus (25:1–3).

Hebrews uniquely highlights how the priesthood of Jesus surpassed the OT priesthood. The OT priests presented sin offerings, but their sacrifices needed to be repeated regularly, whereas Jesus, the faithful and merciful high priest, offered a sacrifice that never needed repeating and was available to everyone at all times. Jesus also surpassed the Aaronic priests because they first needed to offer sacrifices for their own sins, but he never sinned. Furthermore, since he offered the perfect sacrifice of himself, all people, not just priests, could draw near to God.

The NT develops the idea of a priesthood of all believers by taking the concept that Israel would be a kingdom of priests and transferring it to the church (1 Pet. 2:4–9; cf. Exod. 19:6). Reflecting the general biblical view of priesthood, believers offer spiritual sacrifices to God, represent God to the world by revealing his works of salvation, and represent the world to God through prayer. In the NT, the priesthood of believers is corporate; a priestly office in the church is never expressly mentioned.

Nazarene

In the first century, Nazareth was a small village in the extreme southerly part of lower Galilee, midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean Sea. It was near Gath Hepher, the birthplace of Jonah the prophet to the Gentiles (2 Kings 14:25), and Sepphoris, one of the three largest cities in the region. Not far was the Via Maris, the great highway joining Mesopotamia to Egypt and ultimately the trading network that linked India, China, central Asia, the Near East, and the Mediterranean. The community, whose population may have averaged around five hundred, subsisted from agriculture. Capital resources included almonds, pomegranates, dates, oil, and wine. (Excavations have located vaulted cells for wine and oil storage, as well as wine presses and storage jar vessels.) Nazareth appears to have been uninhabited from the eighth to the second centuries BC, until it was resettled during the reign of John Hyrcanus (134 104 BC), probably by a Davidic clan of army veterans. The claim that Jesus’ adoptive father, Joseph, was a descendant of David and a resident of Nazareth is therefore plausible (Matt. 1:20; Luke 2:4–5). Today, Nazareth is the largest Arab city in Israel.

Although Jesus’ ministry was unsuccessful in Nazareth, he and his followers were called “Nazarenes” (Mark 1:24; 10:47; John 18:5, 7; Acts 2:22; 3:6; 24:5). Descendants of Jesus’ family continued to live in the area for centuries. The epithet “Nazarene” probably was intended as a slur. Nathanael is unimpressed by Jesus’ origin in Nazareth (John 1:46). The village is not mentioned in the OT. Some even doubted its existence, until 1962, when the place name “Nazareth” was discovered on a synagogue inscription in Caesarea Maritima.

Peter

Simon Peter is the best-known and the most colorful of Jesus’ twelve disciples. The name “Peter” means “rock” in Greek. In some biblical texts, he is also called “Cephas,” which is the Aramaic word for “rock” (see esp. John 1:42). Despite the ups and downs of Peter’s spiritual life, God was able to use him as the foundational apostle for the establishment of the NT church.

Rooster

A rooster marks the passage of time in the story of Peter’s denial of Jesus in all four Gospels (Matt. 26:34, 74 75; Mark 14:30, 72; Luke 22:34, 60, 61; John 13:38; 18:27). In the story, Jesus predicts that Peter will deny him three times before the rooster crows. The event takes place in the Sanhedrin courtyard in the presence of the high priest’s servants (the high priest was one of the people trying Jesus). In Mark 13:35 Jesus warns that the coming apocalypse will take people by surprise if they are not watching during the different times of night, including “when the rooster crows.”

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.

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).

Direct Matches

Maid

The KJV translation for a young girl, an unmarried woman or virgin, or a female servant. At least five Hebrew words are used to refer to such women. Betulah refers to an unmarried virgin or a young woman who has had no sexual experience (Gen. 24:16; Job 31:1; Exod. 22:16–17). A man who forcefully lay with such a woman was expected to marry her (Deut. 22:13–19). When David was old, a virgin was found to lie at his side to keep him warm (1 Kings 1:2). Israel as a nation is identified as a young virgin (Jer. 31:4). The second term is ’amah, translated “bondwoman,” “maidservant,” “maid,” “bondmaid,” “servant,” or “female servant” (Gen. 20:17; Exod. 2:5). The third is shipkhah, which refers to a female slave who is of close kinship to her master (Gen. 29:24). The fourth is na’arah, which is translated “unmarried girl” (Esther 2:4 [NIV: “young woman”]) or “servant” (Esther 4:4 [NIV: “female attendant”]; Ruth 2:23). The fifth is ’almah, which is translated “girl” (Exod. 2:8), “virgin” (Isa. 7:14), or “maiden” (Prov. 30:19 [NIV: “young woman”]).

In the NT, several Greek words are sometimes translated as “maiden” in the KJV. Parthenos refers to a “virgin,” male or female (Matt. 1:23; Acts 21:9; Rev. 14:4). Pais generally means “a young girl,” “maiden,” or “child” (Luke 8:51, 54). Paidiskē refers to a “female slave,” “servant maid,” or “servant girl” (Mark 14:66; Luke 12:45). The word korasion refers to a “girl” or “little girl” (Matt. 9:24–25). Nymphē refers to a “young wife” or “bride” (Luke 12:53; Rev. 21:2).

Oaths

The obligations of relationships within ancient societies and between social groups were frequently reinforced by means of oaths, and the practice of oath making (by both God and people) is witnessed to in the pages of the Bible. The name of God was frequently invoked (Judg. 8:19; 2 Kings 2:2), but oaths were not to be made using the names of foreign deities (Ps. 16:4). For this reason, when an oath was broken, God’s name was profaned (Lev. 19:12). To take an oath was to ask God to witness what was promised, and it invited him to act as avenger if the promise was broken (Gen. 31:50; 1 Sam. 12:3). This made oath taking a religious act, and so oaths often were made at sanctuaries and under the supervision of cultic officials (Num. 5:11–31; Judg. 11:11; Hos. 4:15).

The words of an oath were accompanied by various gestures, such as putting a hand “under the thigh” (near the genitals?) (Gen. 24:2; 47:29) or raising the right hand to heaven (Gen. 14:22; Deut. 32:40; Rev. 10:5–6). Daniel 12:7 depicts a particularly solemn oath, involving the raising of both hands. By invoking God’s name, an oath invited God to punish the oath breaker, as in Ruth 1:17: “May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely” (for similar wording, see 1 Sam. 3:17; 14:44; 2 Sam. 3:9). Such a self-maledictory oath may have been accompanied by the gesture of a hand at the throat, signifying the death penalty for infringement. People brought a curse upon themselves if an oath was broken (e.g., Num. 5:22), either for doing what was wrong (Num. 5:22; 1 Sam. 19:6) or for not speaking the truth (e.g., Mark 14:71). Two Hebrew words are used in respect to oaths; the stronger one can actually mean a “curse.” The more common word for swearing may relate to the number seven, due to the ceremonies that could accompany oath making. For example, Abraham set aside seven ewe lambs (Gen. 21:22–31).

In the Bible, God is portrayed as binding himself by oaths, most notably his sworn promises to Abraham (Gen. 22:16–18; 50:24). This fact is used by the author of Hebrews in an argument designed to assure readers that God meant what he said when he made promises to his people (Heb. 6:13–18). The coming of Jesus fulfilled the terms of that oath (Luke 1:73). So too the Davidic covenant was supported by a divine oath (Pss. 89:35, 49; 110:4; 132:11), and this was fulfilled by the enthronement of Christ at his resurrection and ascension (Acts 2:30–33).

Jesus’ teaching on oaths (Matt. 5:33–37) does not necessarily contradict OT legislation (cf. Lev. 19:12; Num. 30:2; Deut. 23:21–23) but rather brings out the true heart of God behind the legislation. Oaths are unnecessary, Jesus said, for those who habitually tell the truth. An emphatic yes or no is all that is needed. The teaching of James 5:12 reflects what is found in Jesus’ teaching on this subject. This may not outlaw all oath taking, and certainly the apostle Paul did not understand there to be a blanket prohibition of oaths, for in his letters he is on record as making oaths (Gal. 1:20; Phil. 1:8).

Porch

In the OT, a covered area in front of the entrance to a building. “Porch” is but one translation for a Hebrew word (’elam) that can also refer to the portico of classical architecture, often featuring a colonnade. It may also indicate a vestibule, lobby, hall, or passage between the outer and inner entrances of a building. Depending upon the preference of the translator, these English words are used somewhat interchangeably (see 1 Kings 6:3; 7:6–8, 12, 19, 21; 1 Chron. 28:11; 2 Chron. 3:4; 8:12; 15:8; 29:7, 17; Ezek. 8:16; 40; 44:3; 46:2, 8; Joel 2:17). In the NT, “porch” (stoa) is used four times in certain translations as a specific reference to a portico or colonnade (John 5:2; 10:23; Acts 3:11; 5:12 [NIV: “colonnade”]). In other places, it is more generally synonymous with an entrance, gateway, or forecourt (Matt. 26:71 [pylōn]; Mark 14:68 [proaulion]).

Rooster

A rooster marks the passage of time in the story of Peter’s denial of Jesus in all four Gospels (Matt. 26:34, 74–75; Mark 14:30, 72; Luke 22:34, 60, 61; John 13:38; 18:27). In the story, Jesus predicts that Peter will deny him three times before the rooster crows. The event takes place in the Sanhedrin courtyard in the presence of the high priest’s servants (the high priest was one of the people trying Jesus). In Mark 13:35 Jesus warns that the coming apocalypse will take people by surprise if they are not watching during the different times of night, including “when the rooster crows.”

Swear

Secondary Matches

The following suggestions occured because Mark 14:66-72 is mentioned in the definition.

Handmaiden

Jesus Christ

The founder of what became known as the movement of Jesus followers or Christianity. For Christian believers, Jesus Christ embodies the personal and supernatural intervention of God in human history.

Introduction

Name. Early Christians combined the name “Jesus” with the title “Christ” (Acts 5:42; NIV: “Messiah”). The name “Jesus,” from the Hebrew Yehoshua or Yeshua, was a common male name in first-century Judaism. The title “Christ” is from the Greek christos, a translation of the Hebrew mashiakh (“anointed one, messiah”). Christians eventually were named after Jesus’ title (Acts 11:26). During the ministry of Jesus, Peter was the first disciple to recognize Jesus as the Messiah (Matt. 16:16; Mark 9:29; Luke 9:20).

Sources. From the viewpoint of Christianity, the life and ministry of Jesus constitute the turning point in human history. From a historical perspective, ample early source materials would be expected. Indeed, both Christian and non-Christian first-century and early second-century literary sources are extant, but they are few in number. In part, this low incidence is due to society’s initial resistance to the Jesus followers’ movement. The ancient Roman historian Tacitus called Christianity “a superstition,” since its beliefs did not fit with the culture’s prevailing worldview and thus were considered antisocial. Early literary sources therefore are either in-group documents or allusions in non-Christian sources.

The NT Gospels are the principal sources for the life and ministry of Jesus. They consist of Matthew, Mark, Luke (the Synoptic Gospels), and John. Most scholars adhere to the so-called Four Source Hypothesis. In this theory, Mark was written first and was used as a source by Matthew and Luke, who also used the sayings source Q (from German Quelle, meaning “source”) as well as their own individual sources M (Matthew) and L (Luke). John used additional sources.

The early church tried to put together singular accounts, so-called Gospel harmonies, of the life of Jesus. The Gospel of the Ebionites represents one such attempt based on the Synoptic Gospels. Another harmony, the Diatessaron, based on all four Gospels, was produced around AD 170 by Tatian. Additional source materials concerning the life of Christ are provided in the NT in texts such as Acts, the Pauline Epistles, the General Epistles, and the Revelation of John. Paul wrote to the Galatians, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law” (Gal. 4:4). The first narrative about Jesus by the Christian community was a passion narrative, the account of his death and resurrection. The first extant references to this tradition are found in Paul’s letters (1 Cor. 2:2; Gal. 3:1). The resurrection was recognized from the beginning as the cornerstone of the Christian faith (1 Cor. 15:13–14).

Among non-Christian sources, the earliest reference to Jesus is found in a letter written circa AD 112 by Pliny the Younger, the Roman governor of Bithynia-Pontus (Ep. 10.96). The Roman historian Tacitus mentions Christians and Jesus around AD 115 in his famous work about the history of Rome (Ann. 15.44). Another Roman historian, Suetonius, wrote around the same time concerning unrest among the Jews in Rome because of a certain “Chrestos” (Claud. 25.4). Some scholars conclude that “Chrestos” is a misspelling of “Christos,” a reference to Jesus.

The Jewish author Josephus (first century AD) mentions Jesus in a story about the Jewish high priest Ananus and James the brother of Jesus (Ant. 20.200). A controversial reference to Jesus appears in a different part of the same work, where Josephus affirms that Jesus is the Messiah and that he rose from the dead (Ant. 18.63–64). The majority of scholars consider this passage to be authentic but heavily edited by later Christian copyists. Another Jewish source, the Talmud, also mentions Jesus in several places, but these references are very late and of little historical value.

Noncanonical Gospels that mention Jesus include, for example, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of James, the Gospel of Judas Iscariot, the Gospel of the Hebrews, the Egerton Gospel, and the Gospel of Judas. Although some of these may contain an occasional authentic saying or event, for the most part they are late and unreliable.

Jesus’ Life

Birth and childhood. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke record Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem during the reign of Herod the Great (Matt. 2:1; Luke 2:4, 11). Jesus was probably born between 6 and 4 BC, shortly before Herod’s death (Matt. 2:19). Both Matthew and Luke record the miracle of a virginal conception made possible by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18; Luke 1:35). Luke mentions a census under the Syrian governor Quirinius that was responsible for Jesus’ birth taking place in Bethlehem (2:1–5). Both the census and the governorship at the time of the birth of Jesus have been questioned by scholars. Unfortunately, there is not enough extrabiblical evidence to either confirm or disprove these events, so their veracity must be determined on the basis of one’s view regarding the general reliability of the Gospel tradition.

On the eighth day after his birth, Jesus was circumcised, in keeping with the Jewish law, at which time he officially was named “Jesus” (Luke 2:21). He spent his growing years in Nazareth, in the home of his parents, Joseph and Mary (2:40). Of the NT Gospels, the Gospel of Luke contains the only brief portrayal of Jesus’ growth in strength, wisdom, and favor with God and people (2:40, 52). Luke also contains the only account of Jesus as a young boy (2:41–49).

Jesus was born in a lower socioeconomic setting. His parents offered a temple sacrifice appropriate for those who could not afford to sacrifice a sheep (Luke 2:22–24; cf. Lev. 12:8). Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father, was a carpenter or an artisan in wood, stone, or metal (Matt. 13:55). From a geographical perspective, Nazareth was not a prominent place for settling, since it lacked fertile ground. Jesus’ disciple Nathanael expressed an apparently common first-century sentiment concerning Nazareth: “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” (John 1:46).

Jesus was also born in a context of scandal. Questions of illegitimacy were surely raised, since his mother Mary was discovered to be pregnant before her marriage to Joseph. According to Matthew, only the intervention of an angel convinced Joseph not to break his betrothal (Matt. 1:18–24). Jesus’ birth took place in Bethlehem, far from his parents’ home in Nazareth. According to kinship hospitality customs, Joseph and Mary would have expected to stay with distant relatives in Bethlehem. It is likely that they were unwelcome because of Jesus’ status as an illegitimate child; thus Mary had to give birth elsewhere and place the infant Jesus in a feeding trough (Luke 2:7). A similar response was seen years later in Nazareth when Jesus was identified as “Mary’s son” (Mark 6:3) rather than through his paternal line, thereby shaming him as one who was born an illegitimate child. Jesus was likewise rejected at the end of his life as the crowds cried, “Crucify him!” (Matt. 27:22–23; Mark 15:13–14; Luke 23:21; John 19:6, 15). When Jesus was arrested, most of his followers fled (Matt. 26:56; Mark 14:50–52), and a core disciple, Peter, vehemently denied knowing him (Matt. 26:69–74; Mark 14:66–71; Luke 22:55–60; John 18:15–17, 25–27). His own siblings did not believe in him (John 7:5) and were evidently ashamed of his fate, since from the cross Jesus placed the care of his mother into the hands of “the disciple whom he loved” (19:26–27) rather than the next brother in line, as was customary.

Baptism, temptation, and start of ministry. After Jesus was baptized by the prophet John the Baptist (Luke 3:21–22), God affirmed his pleasure with him by referring to him as his Son, whom he loved (Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22). Jesus’ baptism did not launch him into fame and instant ministry success; instead, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where he was tempted for forty days (Matt. 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13). Mark stresses that the temptations immediately followed the baptism. Matthew and Luke identify three specific temptations by the devil, though their order for the last two is reversed. Both Matthew and Luke agree that Jesus was tempted to turn stones into bread, expect divine intervention after jumping off the temple portico, and receive all the world’s kingdoms for worshiping the devil. Jesus resisted all temptation, quoting Scripture in response.

Matthew and Mark record that Jesus began his ministry in Capernaum in Galilee, after the arrest of John the Baptist (Matt. 4:12–13; Mark 1:14). Luke says that Jesus started his ministry at about thirty years of age (3:23). This may be meant to indicate full maturity or perhaps correlate this age with the onset of the service of the Levites in the temple (cf. Num. 4:3). John narrates the beginning of Jesus’ ministry by focusing on the calling of the disciples and the sign performed at a wedding at Cana (1:35–2:11).

Jesus’ public ministry: chronology. Jesus’ ministry started in Galilee, probably around AD 27/28, and ended with his death around AD 30 in Jerusalem. The temple had been forty-six years in construction (generally interpreted as the temple itself and the wider temple complex) when Jesus drove out the money changers (John 2:20). According to Josephus, the rebuilding and expansion of the second temple had started in 20/19 BC, during the eighteenth year of Herod’s reign (Ant. 15.380). The ministry of John the Baptist had commenced in the fifteenth year of Tiberius (Luke 3:1–2), who had become a coregent in AD 11/12. From these dates of the start of the temple building and the correlation of the reign of Tiberius to John the Baptist’s ministry, the onset of Jesus’ ministry can probably be dated to AD 27/28.

The Gospel of John mentions three Passovers and another unnamed feast in John 5:1. The length of Jesus’ ministry thus extended over three or four Passovers, equaling about three or three and a half years. Passover, which took place on the fifteenth of Nisan, came on a Friday in AD 30 and 33. The year of Jesus’ death was therefore probably AD 30.

Jesus’ ministry years may be divided broadly into his Galilean and his Judean ministries. The Synoptic Gospels describe the ministry in Galilee from various angles but converge again as Jesus enters Judea.

Galilean ministry. The early stages of Jesus’ ministry centered in and around Galilee. Jesus presented the good news and proclaimed that the kingdom of God was near. Matthew focuses on the fulfillment of prophecy (Matt. 4:13–17). Luke records Jesus’ first teaching in his hometown, Nazareth, as paradigmatic (Luke 4:16–30); the text that Jesus quoted, Isa. 61:1–2, set the stage for his calling to serve and revealed a trajectory of rejection and suffering.

All Gospels record Jesus’ gathering of disciples early in his Galilean ministry (Matt. 4:18–22; Mark 1:16–20; Luke 5:1–11; John 1:35–51). The formal call and commissioning of the Twelve who would become Jesus’ closest followers is recorded in different parts of the Gospels (Matt. 10:1–4; Mark 3:13–19; Luke 6:12–16). A key event in the early ministry is the Sermon on the Mount/Plain (Matt. 5:1–7:29; Luke 6:20–49). John focuses on Jesus’ signs and miracles, in particular in the early parts of his ministry, whereas the Synoptics focus on healings and exorcisms.

During Jesus’ Galilean ministry, onlookers struggled with his identity. However, evil spirits knew him to be of supreme authority (Mark 3:11). Jesus was criticized by outsiders and by his own family (3:21). The scribes from Jerusalem identified him as a partner of Beelzebul (3:22). Amid these situations of social conflict, Jesus told parables that couched his ministry in the context of a growing kingdom of God. This kingdom would miraculously spring from humble beginnings (4:1–32).

The Synoptics present Jesus’ early Galilean ministry as successful. No challenge or ministry need superseded Jesus’ authority or ability: he calmed a storm (Mark 4:35–39), exorcized many demons (Mark 5:1–13), raised the dead (Mark 5:35–42), fed five thousand (Mark 6:30–44), and walked on water (Mark 6:48–49).

In the later part of his ministry in Galilee, Jesus often withdrew and traveled to the north and the east. The Gospel narratives are not written with a focus on chronology. However, only brief returns to Galilee appear to have taken place prior to Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. As people followed Jesus, faith was praised and fear resolved. Jerusalem’s religious leaders traveled to Galilee, where they leveled accusations and charged Jesus’ disciples with lacking ritual purity (Mark 7:1–5). Jesus shamed the Pharisees by pointing out their dishonorable treatment of parents (7:11–13). The Pharisees challenged his legitimacy by demanding a sign (8:11). Jesus refused them signs but agreed with Peter, who confessed, “You are the Messiah” (8:29). Jesus did provide the disciples a sign: his transfiguration (9:2–8).

Jesus withdrew from Galilee to Tyre and Sidon, where a Syrophoenician woman requested healing for her daughter. Jesus replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel” (Matt. 15:24). Galileans had long resented the Syrian provincial leadership partiality that allotted governmental funds in ways that made the Jews receive mere “crumbs.” Consequently, when the woman replied, “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table,” Jesus applauded her faith (Matt. 15:27–28). Healing a deaf-mute man in the Decapolis provided another example of Jesus’ ministry in Gentile territory (Mark 7:31–37). Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ took place during Jesus’ travel to Caesarea Philippi, a well-known Gentile territory. The city was the ancient center of worship of the Hellenistic god Pan.

Judean ministry. Luke records a geographic turning point in Jesus’ ministry as he resolutely set out for Jerusalem, a direction that eventually led to his death (Luke 9:51). Luke divides the journey to Jerusalem into three phases (9:51–13:21; 13:22–17:10; 17:11–19:27). The opening verses of phase one emphasize a prophetic element of the journey. Jesus viewed his ministry in Jerusalem as his mission, and the demands on discipleship intensified as Jesus approached Jerusalem (Matt. 20:17–19, 26–28; Mark 10:38–39, 43–45; Luke 14:25–35). Luke presents the second phase of the journey toward Jerusalem with a focus on conversations regarding salvation and judgment (Luke 13:22–30). In the third and final phase of the journey, the advent of the kingdom and the final judgment are the main themes (17:20–37; 19:11–27).

Social conflicts with religious leaders increased throughout Jesus’ ministry. These conflicts led to lively challenge-riposte interactions concerning the Pharisaic schools of Shammai and Hillel (Matt. 19:1–12; Mark 10:1–12). Likewise, socioeconomic feathers were ruffled as Jesus welcomed young children, who had little value in society (Matt. 19:13–15; Mark 10:13–16; Luke 18:15–17).

Passion Week, death, and resurrection. Each of the Gospels records Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem with the crowds extending him a royal welcome (Matt. 21:4–9; Mark 11:7–10; Luke 19:35–38; John 12:12–15). Luke describes Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem as a time during which Jesus taught in the temple as Israel’s Messiah (19:45–21:38).

In Jerusalem, Jesus cleansed the temple of profiteering (Mark 11:15–17). Mark describes the religious leaders as fearing Jesus because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching, and so they “began looking for a way to kill him” (11:18). Dismayed, each segment of Jerusalem’s temple leadership inquired about Jesus’ authority (11:27–33). Jesus replied with cunning questions (12:16, 35–36), stories (12:1–12), denunciation (12:38–44), and a prediction of Jerusalem’s own destruction (13:1–31). One of Jesus’ own disciples, Judas Iscariot, provided the temple leaders the opportunity for Jesus’ arrest (14:10–11).

At the Last Supper, Jesus instituted a new Passover, defining a new covenant grounded in his sufferings (Matt. 26:17–18, 26–29; Mark 14:16–25; Luke 22:14–20). He again warned the disciples of his betrayal and arrest (Matt. 26:21–25, 31; Mark 14:27–31; Luke 22:21–23; John 13:21–30), and later he prayed for the disciples (John 17:1–26) and prayed in agony and submissiveness in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:36–42; Mark 14:32–42; Luke 22:39–42). His arrest, trial, crucifixion, death, and resurrection followed (Matt. 26:46–28:15; Mark 14:43–16:8; Luke 22:47–24:9; John 18:1–20:18). Jesus finally commissioned his disciples to continue his mission by making disciples of all the nations (Matt. 28:18–20; Acts 1:8) and ascended to heaven with the promise that he will one day return (Luke 24:50–53; Acts 1:9–11).

The Identity of Jesus Christ

Various aspects of Jesus’ identity are stressed in the four NT Gospels, depending on their target audiences. In the Gospels the witnesses to Jesus’ ministry are portrayed as constantly questioning and examining his identity (Matt. 11:2–5; 12:24; 26:63; 27:11; Mark 3:22; 8:11; 11:28; 14:61; Luke 7:18–20; 11:15; 22:67, 70; 23:39; John 7:20, 25–27; 18:37). Only beings of the spiritual realm are certain of his divinity (Mark 1:34; 3:11; Luke 4:41). At Jesus’ baptism, God referred to him as his Son, whom he loved (Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22). Likewise, when Jesus was transfigured in the presence of Peter, James, and John, a voice affirmed, “This is my Son, whom I love” (Matt. 17:5; Mark 9:7). At the moment of his death, the questioning of Jesus’ identity culminated in a confession by a Roman centurion and other guards: “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54; cf. Mark 15:39).

Miracle worker. In the first-century setting, folk healers and miracle workers were part of the fabric of society. Jesus, however, performed signs and miracles in order to demonstrate the authority of the kingdom of God over various realms: disease, illness, the spiritual world, nature, and even future events. Especially in the Gospel of John, Jesus’ signs and miracles are used to show his authority and thus his identity.

No challenge superseded Jesus’ authority. Among his ample miracles and signs, he changed water into wine (John 2:7–9), calmed a storm in the sea (Matt. 8:23–27; Mark 4:35–39; Luke 8:22–25), exorcized demons (Matt. 9:32–34; Mark 5:1–13; Luke 9:42–43), healed the sick (Mark 1:40–44), raised the dead (Matt. 9:23–25; Mark 5:35–42; Luke 7:1–16; 8:49–54; John 11:17, 38–44), performed miraculous feedings (Matt. 14:17–21; 15:34–38; Mark 6:30–44; 8:5–9; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:8–13), and walked on water (Matt. 14:25–26; Mark 6:48–49; John 6:19).

The Pharisees requested miracles as evidence of his authority (Mark 8:11–12). Jesus refused, claiming that a wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign (Matt. 12:38–39; 16:1–4). The only sign that he would give was the sign of Jonah—his death and resurrection three days later—a personal sacrifice, taking upon himself the judgment of the world (Matt. 12:39–41).

Rabbi/teacher. Jesus’ teaching style was similar to other first-century rabbis or Pharisees (Mark 9:5; 10:51; John 1:38; 3:2). What distinguished him was that he spoke with great personal authority (Matt. 5:22, 28, 32, 39, 44; Mark 1:22). Like other rabbis of his day, Jesus gathered disciples. He called these men to observe his lifestyle and to join him in his ministry of teaching, healing, and exorcism (Matt. 10:1–4; Mark 3:13–19; Luke 6:12–16).

Jesus used a variety of teaching methods. He frequently spoke in parables (Matt. 6:24; 13:24–52; 18:10–14, 23–35; 21:28–22:14; 24:32–36, 45–51; 25:14–30; Mark 4:1–34; 12:1–12; 13:28–34; Luke 8:4–18; 12:41–46; 13:18–21; 14:15–24; 15:1–16:15, 19–31; 18:1–14; 19:11–27; 20:9–19; 21:29–33), used figures of speech (John 10:9), hyperbole (Matt. 19:24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25), argumentation (Matt. 26:11), object lessons (Matt. 24:32), frequent repetition (Matt. 13:44–47; Luke 13:18–21), practical examples, and personal guidance.

Major themes in Jesus’ teaching include the kingdom of God, the cost of discipleship, internal righteousness, the end of the age, his identity, his mission, and his approaching death. In his teachings, observance of Torah was given new context and meaning because God’s kingdom had “come near” (Matt. 3:2). Jesus had come to fulfill the law (Matt. 5:17).

Jesus’ teaching ministry often took place amid social conflict. These conflicts were couched in so-called challenge-riposte interactions in which the honor status of those involved was at stake. Jesus used these interactions as teachable moments. When questioned, Jesus gave replies that reveal omniscience or intimate knowledge of God’s will, especially in the Gospel of John. In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus’ answers are both ethical and practical in nature. The Synoptics portray Jesus as challenged repeatedly with accusations of violating customs specified in the Jewish law. Jesus’ answers to such accusations often echoed the essence of 1 Sam. 15:22, “To obey is better than sacrifice,” phrased by Jesus as “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matt. 9:13; 12:7). An overall “better than” ethic was common in Jesus’ public teaching.

The Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5–7) contains a “better than” ethic in which internal obedience is better than mere outward obedience. For example, Jesus said that anger without cause is equal to murder (Matt. 5:21–22), that looking at a woman lustfully amounts to adultery (Matt. 5:28), and that instead of revenging wrongs one must reciprocate with love (Matt. 5:38–48). Jesus valued compassion above traditions and customs, even those contained within the OT law. He desired internal obedience above the letter of the law.

Jesus’ teachings found their authority in the reality of God’s imminent kingdom (Matt. 3:2; 10:7; Mark 1:15; Luke 10:9), necessitating repentance (Matt. 3:2), belief (Mark 1:15), dependence (Matt. 18:3–5; Mark 10:15), and loyalty to a new community—the family of Jesus followers (Mark 3:34; 10:29–30). Jesus urged, “Seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). Preaching with such urgency was common among prophetic teachers of the intertestamental period. Jesus, however, had his own grounds for urgency. He held that God deeply valued all humans (Matt. 10:31) and would bring judgment swiftly (Matt. 25:31–46).

Examples of a “greater good” ethic in the Synoptics include the occasions when Jesus ate with sinners (Mark 2:16–17). Jesus used an aphorism in response to accusations about his associations with sinners, saying, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). He advocated harvesting and healing on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23–28; 3:1–6), and when he was accused of breaking the law, he pointed to an OT exception (1 Sam. 21:1–6) to declare compassion appropriate for the Sabbath. Jesus also applied the “greater good” ethic in the case of divorce, since women suffered the societal stigma of adultery and commonly became outcasts following divorce (Matt. 19:8–9; Mark 10:5–9).

Jesus’ kingdom teachings were simultaneously spiritual, ethical, and eschatological in application. The teachings were aimed at internal transformation (Matt. 5:3–9; 18:3; Mark 10:15) and spurring on love (Matt. 5:44; 7:21). The Spirit of the Lord had called Jesus to bless the hurting ones as they aspired to a godly character. Jesus taught, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48), and “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). The “blessed” ones in Jesus’ teachings are poor of spirit, peace driven, mournful, and hungry for righteousness, consumed with emulating godly character.

Some scholars believe that Jesus promoted an “interim ethic” for the kingdom, intended only for a short period prior to the end of time. However, he was explicit regarding the longevity of his teachings: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matt. 24:35; Luke 16:17).

Messiah. The concept of an anointed one, a messiah, who would restore the glories of David’s kingdom and bring political stability was common in Jewish expectation. Both before and after the Babylonian captivity, many Jews longed for one who would bring peace and protection. Israel’s prophets had spoken of a coming deliverer, one who would restore David’s kingdom and reign in justice and righteousness (2 Sam. 7:11–16; Isa. 9:1–7; 11:1–16; Jer. 23:5–6; 33:15–16; Ezek. 37:25; Dan. 2:44; Mic. 5:2; Zech. 9:9). Isaiah’s description of the servant (Isa. 53) whose suffering healed the nation provided a slightly different angle of expectation in terms of a deliverer.

Jesus’ authority and popularity as a miracle worker called up messianic images in first-century Jewish minds. On several occasions hearers called him “Son of David,” hoping for the Messiah (Matt. 12:23; 21:9). Simon Peter was the first follower who confessed Jesus as the Christ, the “Messiah” (Matt. 16:16; Mark 8:29). In line with Isaiah’s model of the Suffering Servant, Jesus focused not on political ends but rather on spiritual regeneration through his own sacrificial death (Mark 10:45).

Eschatological prophet. Many scholars claim that Jesus is best understood as a Jewish apocalypticist, an eschatological prophet who expected God to intervene in history, destroy the wicked, and bring in the kingdom of God. Central in this understanding are Jesus’ prophecies concerning the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem (Matt. 24:1–2, 15–22; Mark 13:1; Luke 21:5–24; John 2:19; Acts 6:14). In addition, it is noted that Jesus had twelve disciples, representative of the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:2–28; Luke 22:23–30). Certain of Jesus’ parables, those with apocalyptic images of coming judgment, present Jesus as an eschatological prophet (Matt. 24:45–25:30; Luke 12:41–46; 19:11–27).

Suffering Son of God. Jesus’ first recorded teaching in a synagogue in Nazareth was paradigmatic (Luke 4:16–21). He attributed the reading, Isa. 61:1–2, to his personal calling to serve, and in doing so he revealed a trajectory of suffering. The Gospel of Mark likewise aptly portrays Jesus as the suffering Son of God. Jesus’ own teachings incorporated his upcoming suffering (Mark 8:31; 9:12–13, 31; 10:33–34). He summarized his mission by declaring, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). His earthly career ended with a trial in Jerusalem consisting of both Roman and Jewish components (Matt. 26:57–68; 27:1–31; Mark 14:53–65; 15:1–20; Luke 22:54–23:25; John 18:19–24; 18:28–19:16). He was insulted, scourged, mocked, and crucified.

Jesus’ suffering culminated in his humiliating death by crucifixion (Matt. 27:33–50; Mark 15:22–37; Luke 23:33–46; John 19:16–30). Crucifixion was a death of unimaginable horror, bringing shame and humiliation to the victim and his family. Anyone hanging on a tree was considered cursed (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13). Thus, especially in a Jewish society, anyone associated with a crucified person bore the shame of following one who was executed as a lowly slave and left as a cursed corpse. The apostle Paul referred to this shame of the cross when he stated, “I am not ashamed of the gospel” (Rom. 1:16).

Exalted Lord. Jesus had prophesied that he would rise again (Matt. 16:21; 17:9, 23; 20:19; 27:63; Mark 8:31; 9:9, 31; 10:34; Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7, 46). The testimony of the Synoptics is that the resurrection of Jesus Christ indeed occurred on the third day, Christ having died on Friday (Mark 15:42–45; Luke 23:52–54; John 19:30–33) and risen again on Sunday (Matt. 28:1–7; Mark 16:2–7; Luke 24:1–7; John 20:1–16). The resurrected Jesus was witnessed by the women (Matt. 28:8–9), the eleven disciples (Matt. 28:16–17; Luke 24:36–43), and travelers on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:31–32). According to Paul, he appeared to as many as five hundred others (1 Cor. 15:6). He appeared in bodily form, spoke, showed his scars, and ate (Luke 24:39–43; John 20:27; Acts 1:4). After forty postresurrection days, Jesus ascended into the heavenly realm (Acts 1:9).

As much as Jesus’ death was the epitome of shame, his victory over death was his ultimate exaltation (Phil. 2:5–11). At Pentecost, Peter proclaimed that in the resurrection God fulfilled OT promises (Ps. 16:10) by raising his Son from the grave (Acts 2:30–31). Furthermore, Christ provided freedom from the law through his resurrection (Rom. 5:13–14), God’s approval of his life and work (Phil. 2:8–9), and God’s designation of him as Lord over all the earth, the living and the dead (Acts 17:30–31; Phil. 2:10; Heb. 1:3), and over all his enemies (Eph. 1:20–23).

Jesus’ exaltation commenced the beginning of forgiveness and justification (Luke 24:46–47; Acts 13:30–39; Rom. 4:25) and his intercession for the people of God (Rom. 8:34). His ascension signaled the coming of the Holy Spirit as comforter and teacher (John 14:26; Acts 2:33) and was accompanied by the promise of his return in glory (Luke 24:51), at which time he will render judgment (Matt. 19:28; 24:31; Rev. 20:11–15) and establish his eternal kingdom (1 Cor. 15:24; 2 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 11:15; 22:5).

Jesus’ Purpose and Community

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, who preaches the good news of the kingdom, urging people to repent (4:17–23). Repentance and belief allow one to enter the kingdom. The call into the kingdom is a call into a new covenant, one made in Jesus’ blood (26:28).

In the prologue to the Gospel of Mark, the narrator reveals the identity of Jesus (1:1). Jesus is presented as the one who brings good tidings of salvation (cf. Isa. 40:9; 52:7; 61:1). The centrality of the gospel, the good news (Mark 1:14–15), is evident.

Luke likewise presents the preaching of the good news as a main purpose of Jesus’ ministry (4:43). The content of this good news is the kingdom of God (4:43; 8:1; 16:16). When the disciples of John the Baptist asked Jesus if he was the one who was to come (7:20), Jesus answered, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor” (7:22). The kingdom of God, as presented in Luke, brings freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, and release for the oppressed (4:18). Jesus’ healings and exorcisms announce the coming kingdom of God already present in the ministry of Jesus (4:40–44; 6:18–20; 8:1–2; 9:2; 10:8–9).

In the Gospel of John, Jesus testifies to the good news by way of signs throughout his ministry. These signs point to Jesus’ glory, his identity, and the significance of his ministry. Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, who offers eternal and abundant life. This abundant life is lived out in community.

In the Gospel of John, the disciples of Jesus represent the community of God (17:21). The disciples did not belong to the world, but they continued to live in the world (17:14–16). 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 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. Jesus’ presence as the head of the community was replaced by the promised Spirit (John 14:16–18).

Jesus’ ministry continued in the community of Jesus’ followers, God’s family—the church. Entrance into the community was obtained by adopting the values of the kingdom, belief, and through the initiation rite of baptism (Matt. 10:37–39; 16:24–26; Mark 8:34–38; Luke 9:23–26, 57–62; John 1:12; 3:16; 10:27–29; Acts 2:38; 16:31–33; 17:30; Rom. 10:9).

The Quests for the Historical Jesus

The quest for the historical Jesus, or seeking who Jesus was from a historical perspective, is a modern phenomenon deemed necessary by scholars who claim that the NT Gospels were written long after Jesus’ death and were heavily influenced by the post-Easter understanding of the church.

The beginning of this quest is often dated to 1770, when the lecture notes of Hermann Samuel Reimarus were published posthumously. Reimarus had launched an inquiry into the identity of Jesus that rejected as inauthentic all supernatural elements in the Gospels. He concluded that the disciples invented Jesus’ miracles, prophecies, ritualistic religion, and resurrection. Reimarus’s conclusions were not widely accepted, but they set off a flurry of rationalistic research into the historical Jesus that continued throughout the nineteenth century. This became known as the “first quest” for the historical Jesus.

In 1906 German theologian Albert Schweit-zer published The Quest of the Historical Jesus (German title: Von Reimarus zu Wrede: Eine Geschichte der Leben-Jesu-Forschung), a scathing indictment of the first quest. Schweitzer’s work showed that nineteenth-century researchers re-created Jesus in their own image, transforming the historical Jesus into a modern philanthropist preaching an inoffensive message of love and brotherhood. Schweitzer’s conclusions marked the beginning of the end for this first quest. Schweitzer himself concluded that the historical Jesus was an eschatological prophet whose purposes failed during his last days in Jerusalem.

With the demise of the first quest, some NT scholars, such as Rudolf Bultmann, rejected any claim to being able to discover the historical Jesus. This trend continued until 1953, when some of Bultmann’s former students launched what has come to be known as the “new quest” for the historical Jesus (1953–c. 1970). This quest created new interest in the historical Jesus but was still dominated by the view that the portrait of Jesus in the Gospels is largely a creation of the church in a post-Easter setting.

As the rebuilding years of the post–World War II era waned and scholars started to reap academic fruit from major archaeological finds such as the DSS, research on the historical Jesus moved on to what has been called the “third quest.” This quest seeks especially to research and understand Jesus in his social and cultural setting.

Maiden

Nativity of Christ

The founder of what became known as the movement of Jesus followers or Christianity. For Christian believers, Jesus Christ embodies the personal and supernatural intervention of God in human history.

Introduction

Jesus’ Life

The Identity of Jesus Christ

Jesus’ Purpose and Community

The Quests for the Historical Jesus

Showing 1 to 50 of388 results

1. Fear - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

In the story of creation found in the Book of Genesis, we read where Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit, something which had been specifically denied them. Knowing that God is searching for them, they attempt to hide. It is a scene perhaps reminiscent of many of our childhoods when we had done something that we were not supposed to and we literally hid from our searching parents. Finally God finds them, as we know that He will, for, after all, where can we go to hide from God? God asks them why they are hiding. Do you remember the response that Adam gave: "Because, I was afraid?"

I think this very poignant story reminds us that fear is so basic to whom we are as humans, it goes all the way back to the beginning of time. To be human is to experience fear.

There seems to be no limit to our fears. In a peanuts cartoon strip Charlie Brown goes to Lucy for a nickels worth of psychiatric help. She proceeds to pinpoint his particular ‘fear'. Perhaps, she says, you have hypengyophobia, which is the fear of responsibility. Charlie Brown says no. Well, perhaps you have ailurophobia, which is the fear of cats. No. Well, maybe you have climacophobia, which is the fear of staircases. No. Exasperated, Lucy says well, maybe you have pantophobia, which is the fear of everything. Yes, says Charles, that is the one!

Sometimes we feel like we are afraid of everything. We are afraid of ourselves. We are afraid of people. We are afraid of the future. We are afraid of the past. We are afraid of life. We are afraid of death.

Every person, every Christian, must fight their own fears. Even Paul, the sturdy Christian warrior, had to do so. Paul had fallen flat on his face in Athens. He did exactly what he intended not to do, and in his own eyes he had failed. He wrote of his arrival in Corinth: "For when we came into Macedonia we had not rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings; within were fears." Paul was full of fears, just like you and me the fear of inadequacy, the fear of failing.

But perhaps the most surprising fear of many people and one that we do not like to address is the fear of God. It is the fear that God is not really on our side. It is the fear that God will put us out on a limb and leave us.

It is not a new idea. One of the great fears of the ancient people was that God would fall asleep. Can you imagine such a thing? When the prophets of Baal could not get their Gods to rain down fire on the top of Mt. Carmel, Elijah taunted them: Maybe your God is asleep, he said. On the other hand, the Jews took great comfort in the fact that the God of Israel neither slumbered nor slept.

Over and over again the message of the Bible is fear not. When Abram took his family to the Promised Land he feared that he was turning his back on everything he knew, his security for the unknown. God spoke to him: Fear not Abram, I am your shield and your reward will be great.

When the Jews stood at the Red Sea and could see Pharaoh's chariots coming on the horizon, they cried out that they would all be slaughtered. Moses said to them: Stand still, fear not, and see the salvation of the Lord.

When the angel of the Lord came to Mary and said that she would bear a child, she trembled with fear. What would become of her? Said the angel: Fear not Mary, for you have found favor with God.

Fear not! Fear Not! It is how we would like to live. How do you do it?

First, we must confront our fears.
Second, we must understand that too much doubt can sink us.
Third, we must remember that regardless of what happens, God will be with us.

2. Do You Love Me? - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

Let's begin with Simon out on his boat fishing alongside the other disciples. He is brooding, thinking deep thoughts not quite sure what to make of all that had happened. Then there is a flashback. He recalls how some months earlier he left his fishing nets at the seashore to become a follower of Jesus and how Jesus liked him and included him and changed his name from Simon to Peter (Petros, the Rock) because Jesus felt that Simon was strong, stable, and solid like a rock. But then all of a sudden, things turned sour. Jesus was arrested and Peter the Rock got scared and on that fateful night, he denied his Lord three times.

The next day, Good Friday, Jesus was nailed to a cross and Simon Peter was devastated, shattered, defeated, and broken hearted. But then came Easter and Simon Peter was at one and the same time thrilled beyond belief, excited, and gratified over Christ's resurrection and yet confused and perplexed about his own future.

Peter returns to Galilee with his friends. Several days pass and nothing has happened. Here is where our scripture of the morning, John 21, picks up. Simon Peter and his friends have been waiting there in Galilee for some time just waiting, waiting for some direction from God, but nothing has happened. Finally in typical fashion, Simon Peter gets impatient. He can't take it any more, and he says, "I'm going fishing!" Now it's as if Simon is saying, "I can't handle this any longer. This waiting is driving me up the wall. I'm worn out with the indecision, the waiting, the risk involved; and I'm going back to the old secure life, the old life of being a fisherman." The others go along with him.

They fish all night, but no luck. But then as dawn breaks, they see someone standing on shore. It's the Risen Lord, but they don't recognize him at this point. He tells them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat. They do, and they bring in a huge catch of fish: 153 large fish. John turns and says to Peter, "It is the Lord." Simon Peter excitable and impulsive dives in and swims to shore urgently. The others come in on the boat. As they come ashore they see the Risen Christ cooking breakfast for them over a charcoal fire. After he serves them breakfast, he takes Simon Peter off to the side and three times he asks him the same question: "Simon, do you love me?" "Oh yes, Lord," Simon answers. "You know that I love you." "Then, feed my sheep," the Risen Lord says to him. "Feed my sheep."

Then the story ends exactly the way it started months before with Christ saying to Simon at the seashore these words, "Follow me!" Isn't that a great story? Jam-packed with the stuff of life powerful symbols, strong emotions, and dramatic lessons. There is a very real human quality to this story. Let's sort this out with three basic human questions:

1. First, what do we see here physically?
2. Second, what do we feel here emotionally?
3. Third, what can we learn here theologically, spiritually?

3. Steps to Defeating Fear

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

The passengers were all buckled into the 747 jetliner A voice came over the speaker. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard Flight 22 for London. Our cruising altitude will be 30,000 feet. Our air speed 600 miles per hour. We will fly over Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and the tip of Ireland. Flying time will be about nine hours. As soon as we are airborne our flight attendants will be serving you breakfast. We'll take off -- just as soon as I get up the nerve.”

To be human is to fear, but fear need not immobilize or destroy us. There are steps we can take to deal with this demon. First, admit the fear. Second, name the fear. Once we give our fear a name, strangely, it loses some of its power over us. Third, seek the resources you need. It may be medical help. It may simply be a friend who cares.

4. The Fear Nots of Christmas

Illustration

Staff

The "fear nots" in the infancy narratives:

The "fear not" of salvation: "And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings...which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10,11).
The "fear not" of the humanly impossible: "Fear not, Mary:... the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:...For with God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:30, 35, 37).
The "fear not" of unanswered prayer: "Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John" (Luke 1:13).
The "fear not" of immediate obedience: "Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife. Then Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him" (Matthew 1:20,24).

5. A Chance to Wipe the Slate Clean

Illustration

Donald B. Strobe

Some years ago the London Daily Telegraph carried a letter written by an eleven-year-old boy to his mother while he was on vacation in Switzerland. He wrote this: "Dear Mom, yesterday the instructor took eight of us to the slopes to teach us to ski. I was not very good at it, so I broke a leg. Thank goodness, it wasn't mine! Love, Billy." Now, that mother had only a limited insight into what actually happened on the ski slopes of Switzerland that day. And you and I have only a limited insight into what happened on the shore of the Sea of Galilee that day. But one thing we know. Jesus asked Simon Peter "Do you love me?" three times. Why did he badger him so? Was it because Peter had denied his Lord three times and wanted to give him three opportunities to affirm his love and thus wipe the slate clean? I think that is so.

6. HOW TO COPE WITH FEAR AND ANXIETY

Illustration

John H. Krahn

In television advertising we are led to believe that the greatest catastrophe that could befall us is "ring around the collar," or bad breath. Undue emphasis upon the importance of the body and the temporal quality of life has created a mind-set which is often more concerned with the accommodations of life’s journey than its destination. Modern fear and anxiety are not directed toward the real, valid, justified fears such as an eternity without God. This is one thing truly worthy of fearful consideration. Nevertheless, many people today are more afraid of living than dying. Much of what we fear, much of what makes us anxious, is unnecessary fear. Jesus once asked, "Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing."

Now God has never promised to remove all the troubles and problems from our lives. The truly committed Christian is often in conflict with the society around him. To say to a boss that you can’t work on Sunday because you desire to worship often creates problems. To say no to a date that wants to do what God says belongs in the confines of marriage goes against the prevailing trend of our society. But God has promised even in the midst of trouble and conflict a genuine peace, a sense of assurance and security that the worldly person never knows.

To help us cope with fear and anxiety God has promised us new strength through the indwelling of his Holy Spirit ... God, not just alive, but alive in you and in me. However, many Christians continue to harbor fears and anxieties. To cope with these we must seek out God. Fear and anxiety are often the by-products of solo performances through life. Even some Christians have not learned that life is a partnership between God and man. A daily welcoming of the Spirit of God into our hearts casts out fear and enhances our partnership. With God in us, life’s burdens are more easily borne, and anxiety and fear begin to dissolve like mist before the rising sun at the start of a beautiful day.

7. The Demons of Fear

Illustration

We must remember that regardless of what happens, God will be with us. Wrote the Psalmist: "When I am afraid I put my trust in you." Well, let me ask you. Where else are you going to go? No matter the trials we face, God is still going to be the same. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

In his Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Denial of Death, Ernest Becker says that so many of the fears that we grapple with--fear of rejection, abandonment, failure, separation, and loss--are but manifestations of the one ultimate fear, and that is the fear of death. Perhaps he is right. How do we overcome that ultimate fear? Faith. It is the only antidote that will exercise the demons of fear that can haunt us.

8. The Difference between Information and Wisdom

Illustration

Allen Brehm

We live in an amazing era. We are surrounded by more information than at any other time in human history—literally at our fingertips! There is virtually no fact or information that you cannot look up on the internet. On-line encyclopedias, which were once frowned upon, have become wonderful learning tools. In fact, the internet is one giant encyclopedia! And yet we seem unable to translate all that information into making our lives more meaningful—and we all tend to struggle with the whole question of meaning in life. That's not a question you can "Google" or look up on the internet and expect to find answer in 30 seconds or less.

Part of the problem is that there is a vast difference between information and wisdom. Information is as accessible as a reliable source. If you have a readily accessible source, it's easy to get information. Wisdom, on the other hand, is something very different. Wisdom is like learning a skill, where you have to develop "muscle memory." That's what athletes and musicians strive to achieve in their practice routines. But "muscle memory" doesn't happen overnight. It must be learned and developed over time and repeated practice.

Wisdom is like that. The wisdom that translates into a meaningful way of life must be cultivated. The writers of the Hebrew Bible called it "the fear of the LORD." That's probably not your favorite phrase from the Bible, because we don't much like the whole association between religion and fear. After all, fear only goes so far as a motivation—when the one we fear isn't looking, we tend to do whatever we please. But we should not assume too quickly that "the fear of the LORD" is that kind of fear.

9. The Only Place We Have No Fear

Illustration

King Duncan

Pretend something like this happened for a moment: The angel Gabriel got back to heaven and rushed up to God and said, "I've got good news, and I've got bad news."

And God said, "Well, give me the good news first."

"The good news is," said the angel, "mission accomplished. I've visited those people you told me to visit. I told them what you told me to tell them. And it's all accomplished."

God said, "So what's the bad news?"

"The bad news," the angel said, "is that those people down there on earth are terrified of you. Every time I visited someone I had to start it off with 'fear not,' because they got so frightened that you were coming close."

God said to the angel, "That's the reason I have to carry out the plan I've made."

"You see," God said to the angel, "I need to go to earth because my people are so frightened. They are so full of fear that I've got to bring the message that they no longer need to be afraid."

The angel said, "And how are you going to do that, since they're so fearful?"

God said, "There's one place on earth that people are not afraid: that one remaining place is a little baby. My people on earth are not afraid of a baby. When a baby is born they rejoice and give thanks without fear because that's the only place left in their lives where they're not afraid. So I will go to earth. I will become a little baby, and they will receive me with no fear at all, because that's the one place my people have no fear."

God acted in the only way God could act without overwhelming us and taking away our freedom. God became a tiny babe. Christmas is an act of God. In Christmas God acted in the only way God could have acted.

10. Our Greatest Enemy

Illustration

Richard Rohr

The greatest enemy of faith is not doubt; the greatest enemy of faith is fear. Most of the world is controlled by fear, petty and big. Petty fears control people; great fears control nations. We could feed all the people in this world if we would stop building arms, but we are afraid. In the Beatitudes (Sermon on the Mount) Jesus said, "Those of you who make peace will he happy. You will be God's own." Yet even Christians are preoccupied with fear and protecting ourselves because we don't believe what Jesus said. The Sermon on the Mount is an antidote to fear. But we have never seen fear as the crucial issue, only "doubt."

11. You've Got Some Nerve

Illustration

Maxie Dunnam

The passengers were all buckled in the 747 jet liner. A voice came over the speaker:

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard Flight 22 for London. Our cruising altitude will be 30,000 feet. Our air speed 600 miles per hour. We will fly over Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and the tip of Ireland. Flying time will be about nine hours. As soon as we are air borne our flight attendants will be serving you breakfast. We'll take off…just as soon as I get up the nerve."

To be human is to fear, but fear need not immobilize or destroy us. There are steps we can take to deal with this demon. First, admit the fear. Second, name the fear. Once we give our fear a name, strangely it loses some of its power over us. Third, seek the resources you need. It may be medical help. It may simply be a friend who cares.

12. Fear of Dying

Illustration

King Duncan

Warren Buffett, a financial investment genius and the second-richest man in America, has his doubts about life beyond the grave, and it worries him. Buffett admits, "There is one thing I am scared of. I am afraid to die." His biographer Roger Lowenstein, writes: "Warren's exploits were always based on numbers, which he trusted above all else. In contrast, he did not subscribe to his family's religion. Even at a young age, he was too mathematical, and too logical, to make the leap of faith. He adopted his father's ethical underpinnings, but not his belief in an unseen divinity." And thus Warren Buffet, one of the most successful men in the world, is stricken with one terrifying fear, the fear of dying.

On a lighter note, Buffett once said, "What I want people to say when they pass my casket is, "Boy, was he old!"

Buffett is not alone in his doubt and his fear. Even though the majority of people in this country and even in the world believe in God and believe in life after the grave, there has always been a minority who finds this too great a leap of faith to take. And the natural response to such doubt is fear.

13. 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.

14. In the Eleventh Hour

Illustration

Larry Powell

Several years ago, Dr. Claude Thompson, distinguished member of the faculty at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, received the report from a team of physicians that he had only a short time to live. Each day, each moment, became precious to him. No movement was without meaning, and his words were chosen carefully. He knew he was going to die. There were some things he wanted to say to his students and colleagues, and in a heroic act of eleventh-hour witness, he addressed the seminary community. As a man on his way to a certain death, he wanted to be sure that some essential things were laid down before his departure. When the time is short, only essentials matter.

Jesus was to have only a few short hours with his disciples. He knew it. The shadow of the cross was lengthing, and in three particular portions of Mark chapter 14, we observe three familiar incidents which will forever remain in our memories as pertaining to our Lord’s last meeting with the twelve. Strangely enough, each of them touches upon loyalty.

1. 14:22-25. There was the Passover meal which Jesus dramatically transformed into a messianic banquet which we have come to know as the "Lord’s Supper." Let us assume all the symbolisms and transitions of this meal in order to hurry on to say that the meal was a call to loyalty. "Do this in rememberance of me," he said. "Continue this sacrament," he urged so that the coals of ministry would not burn low in his absence. Early Christians observed the sacrament several times daily. Today, some communions partake of the elements each Sunday, others each first Sunday of the month, and still others quarterly. The fact that the sacrament was considered as an "essential" ought to challenge us to rethink our own loyalty to it.

2. 14:29-31. Here we encounter Peter’s false loyalty, his claim that even though all others would fall away, he would remain loyal. The Scriptures betray him, for we see him later squirming uncomfortably around an unfriendly fire, praying that no one would recognize him. Three times he denied Christ after swearing absolute loyalty. When the last record shall be tallied, the essential concern will be how loyal we were to Christ.

3. 14:32-36. "Remove this cup from me," Jesus prayed in the garden; alone, broken-hearted ... knowing that all too soon the shadows would come alive with figures who would jerk him away for a final charade. But let us finish Jesus’ prayer; "Remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt." Radical loyalty, absolute obedience. In the shadow of the Cross, we see the essentials emerging. Loyalty is one. Can you name others?

15. Genius, On The Spot

Illustration

Brett Blair

Many say that the Beatles were the greatest band of all time. I won't argue that. But Band On The Run was arguably the greatest album made by either John, Paul, George and Ringo, after their breakup. One of the non-hits on the album has a great story behind it. McCartney was vacationing in Montego Bay, Jamaica where he "snuck" onto the set of the film Papillon where he met Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen. That evening Hoffman and McCartney went out to dinner. While McCartney was playing around on guitar, Hoffman wondered whether it was true, the rumors, that McCartney could write a song about anything. Hoffman pulled out a magazine and saw an article about the death of Pablo Picasso and his famous last words, "Drink to me, drink to my health. You know I can't drink anymore." He showed it to McCartney and asked him if he could write a song about it. Immediately McCartney created a demo of the song, music and lyrics, prompting Hoffman to exclaim to his wife: "…look, he's doing it… he's doing it!

If you ever get a chance to listen to the album, and don't miss the song Blue Bird if you do, it's one of the most beautiful songs you've never heard, the Picasso tune is called Picasso's Last Words. But let me say: Inspiration can come from anywhere. We just have to allow ourselves to see into things and people the uniqueness that's there. Jesus looked into Peter, as broken as he was after denying his the Lord three times, and he said Peter, "Rock," on your confession (You are the Christ the Son of the living God) I am going to build my church.

16. Never Read Any of His Books

Illustration

James W. Moore

Let me tell you a true story that happened some time ago: A young boy's father died in a car wreck when he was twelve years old. He read it in the newspaper before anyone got word to him to tell him about it. When he saw that picture of the family car smashed-up on the front page of the newspaper… and read that his dad had died in that accident, he was thrust immediately and painfully into the shocked numbness of deep grief.

Strangely, one of his very first feelings were those of guilt. He had remembered how some months before at a family picnic he was showing off with a baseball. At one point he got careless and threw wildly; it hit his dad in the hand and broke his thumb. The young boy felt horrible. He said to himself, "What a terrible son I am! I have caused my dad great pain."

It seemed that was all he could remember after his fathers death—the pain he caused his dad. Finally, the young boy went to see his pastor and told him about the deep feelings of guilt and about breaking his dad's thumb.

The young boy… well, let me tell you in the boy's own words, he said: I'll never forget how my pastor handled that. He was so great. He came around the desk with tears in his eyes. He sat down across from me and said:

"Now, Jim," that was the boy's name, "you listen to me. If your dad could come back to life for five minutes and be right here with us… and if he knew you were worried about that, what would he say to you?"

"He would tell me to quit worrying about that," Jim said.

"Well, all right," the minister said, "then you quit worrying about that right now. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir," he said… and he did.

That minister was saying: "You are forgiven. Accept the forgiveness… and make a new start with your life." The young boy did make a new start. And many years later, he served a 9,000 member church: St Luke' s in Houston. The young Boy? James W. Moore, the author of over 30 books on Christian living.

That's Easter. The Risen Lord comes back to life… and assures the disciples that they are forgiven.

· Peter had denied his Lord three times.
· Thomas had doubted.
· All the disciples had forsaken Him.

But, Christ came back, forgave them, resurrected them. He came back to share with them… He comes today, this morning, to share with you the joy, the encouragement and the forgiveness of Easter.

17. JUNK FOR JESUS

Illustration

John H. Krahn

Simon Peter was the disciple with a foot-shaped mouth. "I will never leave you no matter what the others do," Peter protested one day after the Lord told the disciples that they would all desert him. Not much later, Peter denies the Lord three times in the courtyard, swearing the third time that he never knew the man.

After his resurrection Jesus appears to some of his disciples. They have some breakfast together, then Jesus turns to Peter and says, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these others?" Peter replies, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus says to him, "Feed my lambs." A second and a third time Jesus questions Peter’s love, and Peter assures the Lord that he loves him. Jesus again commands him to feed his sheep.

Today we too hear our Lord’s voice saying to us, "Do you love me?" And he waits to hear our answer. If it is, "Yes, Lord, you know I love you," we must be willing to first hear and then act upon his command to "Feed my sheep." That is, reach out to each other and communicate God’s love through both words and actions. Anything less than a wholehearted willingness to turn our lives over to God for his use is to, in effect, offer junk for Jesus.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Christian martyr during the Second World War, says it so poignantly, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." Turn your life over to the Lord. Die to self, in order to live for God. God wants our lives, our unqualified yes. Compared to that, all else seems like junk - having some value but far from what God wants.

Respond positively to Christ today and then follow his command to, "Feed my sheep."

18. Fear and the Farmer

Illustration

John R. Steward

A farmer was being questioned by a lawyer during a trial concerning an accident on a highway. The lawyer asked the farmer, "Is it true, Mr. Jones, that when the highway patrol officer came over to you after the accident, you said, 'I feel fine'?"

Farmer Jones began to answer by saying, "Well, now, me and my cow Bessie were driving down the highway in my pickup truck when..." At this point the attorney interrupted, saying, "Please just answer my question with a yes or a no; did you say to the officer, 'I feel fine'?" Farmer Jones then tried to answer the question again. He said, "Well, now, me and my cow Bessie were driving down the highway in my pickup truck when..." The attorney stopped him again and this time asked the judge to intervene. He said, "Your honor, would you please instruct the witness to simply answer my question with a yes or a no." The judge said, "Why don't we just let him tell his story?"

So, Farmer Jones told his story. "Me and my cow Bessie were driving down the highway in my pickup truck. Bessie, of course, was in the bed of the truck. I heard a loud bang and knew that I had blown out a tire. The truck went flying off the road and landed in a ditch. I went flying out of the truck on one side of the highway and Bessie landed on the other side. When I woke up, the highway patrol officer came over to me and said that Bessie was in awful shape. He then went back over to Bessie, pulled out his gun and shot her dead. Then he came over to me and asked me how I felt and I said, " 'I feel fine, just fine.' "

Fear causes us to do things and say things that we might not do otherwise. Fear can be a powerful motivator in our lives. Too often fear is a destructive force with little redeeming value. In this scripture reading, the Apostle Paul encourages us to "let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts...." He even goes on to say that we have been called to this experience of peace in Jesus Christ. We were built and designed by God to be a people of faith, not fear. Faith in the one who redeems us will lead to peace.

Source: Parables, Etc. (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), October 1991. Used by permission.

19. Fear Not

Illustration

William R. Boyer

Our fear is a hump we have to get over, and we have to get over it before we can go very far with Jesus. To help an alcoholic or a drug addict, we must first get him or her off the stuff. That is the first step, the first lesson (if you will): to stop drinking or using. Only then does it make sense to talk about other things. Jesus knew that people, from the day they are born, are slaves to fear, just as much slaves as a drunkard is to his bottle or an addict to his needle. And, until we can stop being afraid, and trust God, nothing else works. We are simply too consumed by fear and worry and anxiety to think about anything else. For that reason Jesus spent a great deal of time telling us not to be afraid telling us directly, and acting out God's grace by feeding people who were hungry and rescuing those in trouble on the sea. God will be there when we need him. Fear not. It the first lesson in the Christian primmer, the one on which all the others build.

20. Why Are You Afraid? Have You No Faith?

Illustration

Harold H. Lentz

Faith and fear are enemies. You must choose one or the other, but you cannot have both.

Some boys were playing on a beach with a large beach ball. By accident the ball was thrown too high and, driven by the wind, landed in the water. No thought was given to it for a few minutes until one of the boys noticed it was going farther and farther from shore. One of the boys decided to retrieve the ball. After entering the water he realized that it was farther from shore than he had thought. Grabbing hold of the ball proved more difficult than he had expected, for it was riding high on the waves. Each time he sought to grip it, the ball slipped out of his hands.

About this time he noticed that he was quite a distance from shore, and realized, too, that he was getting tired. At that point some fear gripped him as he realized that he could drown. But he was a Christian and so he spoke a brief prayer, calling on God to protect him. His prayer brought him reassurance that God would help him, and his fear was replaced by confidence. Suddenly the thought occurred to him that he should swim around the ball so that each attempt to grab it would push it in toward the shore. The plan worked. In a matter of minutes he was able to step on shore with the retrieved ball. Every Christian has the choice in every situation: succumb to fear or have faith. Learning this lesson can bring peace of mind in the many turmoils we pass through in this life.

21. Evil in the Trenches

Illustration

Larry Powell

In consideration of our scripture selection, the title as listed above appears to be unreasonably over-stated. In our mind’s eye, we conceive Jesus and the disciples striding directly into a well-laid trap. The priests are hunkering low in waistdeep trenches, the scribes located strategically in reinforced bunkers, their religious peers dug in somewhere behind barbed wire barricades ... "entrenched evil." But no, it was not to be that obvious. Evil entrenches itself in many ways. We will mention here some of the more glaring entrenchments encountered by Jesus and the twelve as they entered the holy city.

1. Corruption. Dishonesty, misrepresentation, and crookedness are always evil because they are the manifestation of a lie. Corruption had carried over onto the temple steps. The money-changers were short-changing alien Jews who had come to purchase sacrificial animals for the Passover. Those who sold pigeons were receiving top dollar while peddling inferior merchandise. The temple area had been transformed into a carnival atmosphere. Not surprisingly, Jesus "began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons" (11:15).

2. Prejudice. The institutional luminaries, the priests and religious authorities, would have none of the revolutionary carpenter’s blasphemies occur in their jurisdiction if they could prevent it. Immediately, they took up their favorite ploy of setting the people against him. Moreover, in self-righteous arrogance, they accosted him with loaded questions (11:27-33). Prejudice is entrenched evil, no matter of its object.

3. Fear. The scriptures say the chief priests and scribes "feared" him. Fear causes one to imagine things and dig in at the heels, creates paranoia, and circles the wagons around defenses. Fear entrenches. Jesus encountered corruption, prejudice, and fear upon entering the holy city.

4. Brokenness. Brokenness is evil because it disintegrates and prevents wholeness. Jesus came to heal physical, spiritual, mental, and social brokenness. This had been his ministry for three turbulent years, but he had not eliminated it; Jerusalem was evidence of that.

Jesus indeed confronted "entrenched evil." As Christians, we are called apart to continue the confrontation.

22. Virtue in Anxious Times

Illustration

Paul J. Wadell

Anxiety's central message is that we cannot afford to share because we can never have enough. Put more strongly, in a culture marked by anxiety and fear, the very things we have traditionally called sins or vices (hoarding, greed, suspicion) become wise and prudent virtues. Fear, rather than love, governs our lives. But such fear is a kind of idolatry because it suggests we are giving more attention to our own security than we are giving to God. As Scott Bader-Saye warns, "the ethic of security produces a skewed moral vision. It suggests that suspicion, preemption, and accumulation are virtues insofar as they help us feel safe. But when seen from a Christian perspective, such ‘virtues' fail to be true virtues, since they do not orient us to the true good—love of God and neighbor. In fact, they turn us away from the true good, tempting us to love safety more than we love God."

The "human way out" of the despair of our age is through hospitality because a person well practiced in Christian hospitality chooses love over fear, trust over suspicion, and even risk over security.

23. Living Against Reality

Illustration

E. Stanley Jones

"I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so mad that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely these are my native air. A John Hopkins University doctor says, "We do not know why it is that worriers die sooner than the non-worriers, but that is a fact." But I, who am simple of mind, think I know; We are inwardly constructed in nerve and tissue, brain cell and soul, for faith and not for fear. God made us that way. To live by worry is to live against reality."

24. Fearful Times

Illustration

Heather Entrekin

When I was a kid, I was terrified of spiders. Even Daddy Long Legs, which I now understand are not, technically, spiders but have a very spiderly look about them, scared me to death. Once, almost literally, when one leapt out of a half bushel of peaches we had just bought by a road side stand, I leapt out of the car into the road. Fear can do that.

My sisters and brother didn't help. They enjoyed picking Daddy Long Legs up by a long leg and chasing me around the yard!

Since then, my fears have grown up a little. Now I fear things that really can hurt me like the national debt, global warming, and crime.

On top of these overwhelming world fears, each of us carries personal fears - a deadline, a pink slip, a visa bill, a doctor's appointment. We all have spiders – some fear that gets us in the gut.

These are fearful times, but then – they always have been. You would think, if ever there were a time and people who would be fearless it would be the disciples, walking and living in the very presence of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, Light of the World, 2000 years ago. But as Mark tells it, they could panic right along with the best of us.

25. Fear Is What You Make It

Illustration

King Duncan

Edmund Vance Cooke was right when he wrote:

A fear’s a ton, or a fear’s an ounce
Or a fear is what you make it,
It isn’t the fact that you have fear that counts
But only, how you take it.

26. Fear Is a Great Motivator

Illustration

King Duncan

Have you heard the story of the frog who fell into a deep rut and, try as he might, he could not get out? Mrs. Frog, standing above the rut, admonished, cajoled, beckoned, and belittled him: "Get out, come on, let's go." But Mr. Frog, down in the deep rut, said simply that he couldn't. "I've tried everything, and there is no way I can get out of this rut." So Mrs. Frog left him there and hopped on down to the pond. A few minutes later, however, Mr. Frog appeared beside her on their favorite lily pad. "I thought you said you couldn't get out," she said. He responded, "A big truck came along and I had to."

Fear is a great motivator. It is said that Jack Nicklaus, the great golfer, learned the secret of channeling fear, so that when the stakes were highest when other golfers were choking Nicklaus was at his best. Fear can be a great motivator. But fear can also be a terrible tyrant.

27. The Controlling Emotion of Fear

Illustration

Johnny Dean

Years ago H. A. Williams was one of the leading preachers and theologians of the Church of England. He titled his autobiography, Someday I'll Find You. That may seem like an unusual title for an autobiography, but if you read the book it begins to make sense.

You see, there was a period in Dr. Williams' life when he was almost totally incapacitated by phobic anxieties. He was afraid to go into the streets and marketplaces, afraid of elevators and escalators, afraid to ride on trains or buses or subways, afraid of flying -- you name it, he was afraid of it! Eventually he became so overcome with fear that he was partially paralyzed, and it was only after years of psychoanalysis and treatment that he was able to conquer his fear and go on with his life.

Fear is one of the most controlling emotions of life. Most of us don't like to think of ourselves as fearful people. We prefer to think of ourselves as strong and independent, as though we had the world by the tail and are just waiting for it to say "uncle," as if we were capable of taking on all comers. "I am strong, I am invincible," to borrow a line from one of my all-time least favorite songs. It just ain't so, folks! None of us are "invincible," male or female. Every one of us, at one time or another has felt the cold grip of fear and felt helpless to do anything about it.

28. Crossing Over

Illustration

The story is told of old Bishop Warren Chandler, after whom the school of theology at Emory University was named. As he lay on his death bed, a friend inquired as to whether or not he was afraid. "Please tell me frankly," he said, "do you fear crossing over the river of death?" "Why?" replied Chandler, "I belong to a father who owns the land on both sides of the river."

In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. That is our great salvation hope. I want you to know that God cares if you are immobilized by some fear in your life. He cares because that fear is intruding upon His destiny for you. It is perfect love that casts out fear. At the foot of the cross you can lean back into the arms of an ever loving and gracious God and echo the words of the old hymn: "God will take care of you, He will take care of you."

29. Educated Fear

Illustration

Carlos E. Wilton

There’s an old story that comes out of the U.S. Army. A certain sergeant in a parachute regiment was accompanying some trainees on a night-time jump. He found himself seated next to a Lieutenant fresh out of Jump School.

The Lieutenant looked a bit pale, and sat staring off into space. The sergeant leaned over and touched his arm. “Scared, Lieutenant?”

“No,” said the young officer, “just a bit apprehensive.”

“What’s the difference?”

The lieutenant turned to him and answered, “The difference is, I’m scared with a university education.”

Fear, in this life, is a given. There’s no getting away from it. The question is, what do we do with it? The right decision--naming our fear, and living with it--is called courage.

30. God’s Resources Are Inexhaustible

Illustration

King Duncan

John D. Rockefeller was one of the richest people who ever lived. There is probably nothing of material value in this world that John D. Rockefeller could not provide for his children. Did you know, however, that he had a daughter who became obsessed with the fear that she would die penniless? Her years were haunted with the fear that she would die destitute. Can you imagine such a thing a Rockefeller worried sick about money? Can you imagine a child of God worried sick that he or she will go to God’s well for spiritual resources in a time of need and find that well dry? God’s resources are inexhaustible. Did you know that there are even churches that never venture out to do great works for God because they fear that God may let them down? Unbelievable! Our faith is a gift from God. He gives us faith according to our needs the greater the need, the greater the faith.

31. Never Alone in the Dark

Illustration

Max Lucado

Sue Monk Kidd was pregnant with her second child. Her three-year-old son, Bob, was afraid of the dark. Sue tried everything. She tried leaving a light on in the hall and a night-light on in Bob's room. Nothing she did helped; he was still scared of the dark and would cry out in the middle of the night. One night as she held him against her to comfort him, he touched her round abdomen. Little Bob asked, "Mama, is it dark inside there where my little brother is?" He was convinced that his yet unborn sister would be a boy.

"Yes," his loving mother replied, "it is dark in there."

As Bob thought further he asked, "He doesn't even have a night-light, does he?"

"No," Sue responded, "not even a night-light."

Then Bob hugged his mother as she patted his head. Bob had one more question for this mother that night, "Do you think my brother is scared all by himself in there?"

"I don't think so," Sue explained, "because he's not really alone. He's inside of me," It was a very special moment between mother and son. Suddenly Sue had an inspiration. "And it's the same way with you." Sue explained to her son. "When it's dark and you think you're all by yourself, you really aren't. I carry you inside me too. Right here in my heart."

Sue remembers looking into her son's eyes, wondering if he understood what she meant. Having nothing else to say, Bob went back to bed and was soon asleep. That was the last time he woke up during the night scared.

32. Fear Can Make Us Miserable

Illustration

King Duncan

I remember a story about two little boys whose mother asked them to chase a chicken snake out of the henhouse. They looked everywhere for that snake, but couldn't find it. And the more they looked, the more afraid they got. Until finally, they did find it. When that happened, they fell all over themselves running out of the chicken house.

"Don't you know a chicken snake won't hurt you?" their mother asked.

"Yes, ma'am," one of the boys answered, "but there are some things that will scare you so bad you'll hurt yourself."

Most of us have been there at some time in our lives.

Fear is a terrible thing. Isn't it? All of us are afraid of something. Some of us disguise our fear better than others, but fear can make our lives miserable.

33. The Bedrock of Faith - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

Have you ever tried to make a prediction? Here are some predictions from the past. All from people who were trusted individuals:

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

Popular Mechanics magazine in 1949 made this prediction: "Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh only 1.5 tons."

There was an inventor by the name of Lee DeForest. He claimed that "While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility."

The Decca Recording Co. made a big mistake when they made this prediction: "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." That was their prediction in 1962 concerning a few lads form Liverpool. Their band was called the Beatles.

As the disciples walked out of the Temple in Jerusalem Jesus paused, looked back at the Temple and predicted, "Do you see all these great buildings. Not one stone will be left on another." To the disciples this was bedrock. Nothing could bring down these walls. "Look, teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!" they said to Jesus.

The smallest stones in the structure weighed 2 to 3 tons. Many of them weighed 50 tons. The largest existing stone, part of the Wailing Wall, is 12 meters in length and 3 meters high, and it weighs hundreds of tons! The stones were so immense that neither mortar nor any other binding material was used between the stones. Their stability was attained by the great weight of the stones. The walls towered over Jerusalem, over 400 feet in one area. Inside the four walls was 45 acres of bedrock mountain shaved flat and during Jesus' day a quarter of a million people could fit comfortably within the structure. No sports structure in America today comes close.

You can then understand the disciples' surprise. As they walked down the Kidron Valley and up Mount Olive Peter, James, and John wanted to hear more. Jesus' prediction that a structure so immense would be leveled to the ground seemed implausible. But they pressed Jesus for more information. They wanted to know when. What would be the sign that this was about to take place? In their voice was fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear that their lives were about to change forever. Jesus had not made any predictions like this one. This was different. This, they could understand.

Forty years later Jesus' prediction came true. In 70 AD the Temple was destroyed by Rome. What are we to learn from this prediction and its fulfillment?

1. The bedrock of faith is not in Temples.
2. The bedrock of faith is not in Signs.
3. The bedrock of faith is in Christ.

34. Check Fear Off Your List

Illustration

Leighton Ford

When I am conscious of the fear of failure holding me back, I go through a kind of personal checklist:

Does this fear come basically from pride, a fear that I will not live up to my own expectations or to those of others?
Do I remember that God has called me first to faithfulness, then to efficiency?
Do I trust that the Holy Spirit is working before me, with me, and through me?
Do I remember that I am called to be neither more nor less successful than Jesus Christ was?
Do I remember that God does his greatest work when I seem to be weakest? Isn't that, after all, the mystery of the cross?

35. The Power of Fear

Illustration

John R. Steward

Four centuries ago there was an incident that can serve as an example of the power of fear. It was the occasion of the last Tatar invasion of Russia in the fall of 1462. The two armies faced each other on the banks of the Oka River, which is located about 200 miles east of Moscow. For several days they had been engaged in battle. When the Tatar army would attempt to cross the Oka River, they would be beaten back by the Russians. It was the Oka River that gave the inferior Russian army any chance of surviving. After several days it began to appear that the river would be all the Russians needed to be saved from the onslaught of the Tatars. But then something happened that frightened them greatly. A cold wave developed that blew down the Ural Mountains and caused the Oka River to begin to freeze. If the river were to freeze over completely, it would mean that the Tatars would be able to cross and the Russians would be destroyed.

As the night passed the Russian soldiers were sitting by their fires discussing the problem of the freezing water. They knew full well what would happen if the enemy were able to cross on the hardened ice. With the wind growing stronger their fears evolved as well and by midnight the entire Russian army left their encampment. They did not stop until they had reached Moscow.

In the morning when the Tatars awakened they soon realized that the Russians were no longer on the other side of the river. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. This only caused the soldiers and their officers to speculate as to what might be happening. They concluded that the Russians had probably crossed the river many miles to the east and that they would now attack from the rear. Now it was the Tatars who were in a panic. In less than two hours they left their tents and were in retreat. The Tatars did not stop running until they reached the Volga River.

These two armies allowed fear, which was based in their imaginations, to lead and guide them. Too many times we function in the same way. We were built for faith and not fear. Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will empower us in all that we do. Jesus promises that he will give us his peace and then we will not need to be afraid.

Adapted by William Stidger, There Are Sermons in Stories (New York City: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press), p. 154. Used by permission.

36. When God Is at Work - Sermon Starter

Illustration

Brett Blair

They really didn't understand it. But, of course, they really had no means to. How could they possibly know that it was contagious only after long periods of very close contact? The only thing they knew about it was what it looked like and what it did to a person in the advanced stages. That they knew well. They understood how it maimed and disfigured. And that was enough for fear to take over.

I'm talking about the disease of leprosy. In a world and a time in which the disease has all but been eradicated except in small pockets, we perhaps cannot appreciate the fear that accompanied this word in the ancient world of Jesus. It was a red flag word. It brought about the same responses as the word Plague did in the 1200s, or Small Pox in the 1700s, or Aids in the 1900s. It frightened them. They felt largely helpless against it, as indeed they were.

What happens when fear takes over is people do not act, they react. And reactions to leprosy were both swift and cruel. In times not far removed form our own people would be put to death by heir own family. It seems incredible to us today, but on the edge of every large city in the ancient world huge pits were dug, and in those pits lived the lepers of the community.

And if, by some remote possibility, they did escape this hovel and venture out into the streets, they would be quickly greeted with shouts of "leper," accompanied by stones to make them keep their distance. In Jesus' day a leper by law could not get within fifty yards of a clean person. So this was the heart of the matter. Not only did these wretched poor people have to endure the trials of an incurable affliction, they also were isolated from society and kept from the community of faith. The horror of disease, a lifestyle of loneliness, isolation and hopelessness where could they find hope? The only friend a leper had was God himself. In this life they were doomed. It was walking death.

This, then, is the background of the leper we meet this morning. What can we learn from this man's tragic story?

1. The Loneliness of Leprosy
2. Our Suffering Moves God's Hand.
3. Our Lord Is Willing to Heal.

37. What's Holding You Back?

Illustration

Leighton Ford

In preparing for this book on evangelism and witness, I have talked to a lot of people, and the fear issue comes up again and again. What makes people hesitate to share their faith? Here are some of the fears that have been mentioned to me:

I am afraid I might do more harm than good.
I don't know what to say.
I may not be able to give snappy answers to tricky questions.
I may seem bigoted.
I may invade someone's privacy.
I am afraid I might fail.
I am afraid I might be a hypocrite.

Perhaps the most common fear, however, is that of being rejected. A survey was given to those attending training sessions for the Billy Graham crusade in Detroit. One question asked, "What is your greatest hindrance to witnessing?" Nine percent said they were too busy to remember to do it. Twenty-eight percent felt the lack of real information to share. None said they didn't really care. Twelve percent said their own lives were not speaking as they should. But by far the largest group were the 51 percent whose biggest problem was the fear of how the other person would react! None of us likes to be rejected, ridiculed, or regarded as an oddball.

38. Death of a Blacksnake

Illustration

Staff

I was driving along a rural road recently when the car in front of me swerved off the shoulder and came to a sudden stop. The driver jumped out of the car and ran up a small bank, grabbing a large stick with which he immediately began to flail wildly at the ground.

I stopped and rushed up to the man, certain that he had encountered some vicious threat to human life. But I was wrong.

"Why did you kill it?" I asked. "It was only a blacksnake."

"Blacksnake or rattlesnake, it makes no difference to me," the man said, still beating the now lifeless body. "I kill 'em all!"

I walked away from the man feeling very angry and a little sick. The killing of the snake was not anything unusual, and neither was the man's attitude concerning it. And yet - perhaps the very commonness of the act and the attitude behind it indicates something more than just an aversion to snakes.

The man went out of his way to kill the snake - not because it posed a danger to him, or because he especially enjoys killing snakes (I hope) - but because he was using that club in an exercise of his fears and prejudices.

In that respect he was no different than most of us. At one time or another we have all flailed wildly at those things which society, with its misguided traditions, has taught us to hate or to fear.

We have been taught that the snake is a symbol of evil, and because there are a few poisonous species we treat them all equally - equally bad.

In the same way we categorize people and allow myth and rumor to determine our relationship with those who might be "different" from us. Catholic-Protestant; Jew-Gentile; Black-White; Indian-Anglo; Northerner-Southerner; Russian-American; etc.; each mistrusts or hates the other not because there is a valid reason, but merely because of some fear or prejudice which has been passed on by a parent, teacher, or preacher.

That particular blacksnake is dead - killed by ignorance, perhaps, rather than by a particular cruelty - but dead nonetheless. His very valuable contribution to the balance of nature has ceased simply because someone thoughtlessly reacted to the stimulus of traditional fear or prejudice.

And, as blacksnakes are killed, so are humans. They are slaughtered because human beings have not yet learned to rise above traditional fears and prejudices and to live in harmony with those around us. But we had better learn soon because time may be running out. If the "meek" are really going to inherit the earth, they had better start making themselves known.

Because the violent people are becoming more numerous - and the blacksnakes fewer.

39. Call Upon The Lord

Illustration

Harold H. Lentz

Daniel Defoe in the well-known book Robinson Crusoe bases his story on the need to call upon God in time of trouble. Crusoe had long been isolated on a small island following a shipwreck. He had come to believe firmly that he was the only human being on the island. But one day as he went to the beach to get his boat he was startled to see the footprint of a man in the sand. Crusoe concluded that it was the footprint of a savage. In great fear he hurried back to his cabin. There, while lying on his bed, trembling with fear as he thought of savages, he suddenly thought of the words of scripture: "Call on me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you, and you will glorify me." This thought was of such comfort that Crusoe rose cheerfully from his bed. He exulted in the great comfort that the opportunity to pray to God for deliverance gave him. He returned to his normal daily life without fear.

40. GOD - THE STILL POINT IN A TURNING WORLD

Illustration

John H. Krahn

I believe that most of us are experiencing the crunch - the crunch of living - of doing business on the planet called Earth. The simple life has somehow eluded our grasp - even things that we could once take for granted like enough gas for our cars, sufficient oil for our homes, uninterrupted education for our children, and the prospect for a raise that would provide us a little higher standard of living - these things are no longer commonplace.

Often we are tempted to ask the question, "Where is God in this whole mess of living?" And the answer, I believe, is that God is the still point in a turning, increasingly chaotic world. God can still bring calm to chaos; he is still a source of hope in the face of despair; with him we can even snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Yes, God is the still point in a turning world.

The psalmist knew that, for the world of chaos was turning even in his day. He said it this way, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult." God is the only answer to chaos, for he is our refuge and strength. From him alone we can receive strength to go on. He is the source from which we must draw the power to overcome. There is no situation that can be deemed impossible, a lost cause, or insolvable as long as we continue to entreat the help of the Almighty. "We shall not fear," the psalmist says, even if our whole world is blowing up around us, for the Lord is still with us; he has not abandoned us.

"Be still, and know that I am God," the psalmist continues. Oil isn’t God. Cancer isn’t God. Money isn’t God. Yahweh, the God of Jacob, is God. He is still present, he has not abandoned the world. He is the author of life and love, so he doesn’t send cancer, sickness, or death. He doesn’t place greed and anger in the hearts of people; chaos and grief are not from him. He is the still point in the turning world; his love is constant - it doesn’t change.

Only the fool says in his heart there is no God. Only the fool tries to go the world alone. Martin Luther looked at all the pressures of his life one day and said, "I have so much to do today, that there will be no chance of getting it all done unless I spend at least four hours in prayer."

If your life is crowded, if grief or worry is consuming too much of your world, return to the still point and seek refuge in God. Receive renewed strength from the God of our fathers who spared not even his only Son so that we could not only have victory after death but also victory in life. Be still, and know that God is still God.

41. CENSUS TAKER

Illustration

Stephen Stewart

Exodus 30:12 - "When you take the census of the people of Israel, then shall each give a ransom for himself to the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them."

Numbers 1:1 - "Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by families, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head;"

I’m sure we all remember the great census of 1970, which our government claimed would be the most comprehensive ever undertaken in this country, and which included items of information about which we had never before been asked. Certainly, these items of information could be recognized as being very important in determining living standards, educational backgrounds, and many other facts about American citizens which the government needs to know to enable us to live "the good life."

At the lime, we also heard much about the extra time that was being put in by census takers and other employees of the Bureau of Statistics, and, cynics that most of us are, perhaps we said, with a shrug, "Well, that’s tough. So they’re collecting overtime, aren’t they!" But, still, not being averse to doing the same thing ourselves whenever possible, we were tolerant about the whole thing. Certainly, the public response to the census was gratifying. Very few actively objected, and the great majority submitted their questionnaires on time. Would you be surprised, then, to learn that, until recently, there was a strict taboo against census-taking?

Although the taking of a census - not only of people, but also of all the kinds of properties - is an ancient custom, dating back to the third millenium B.C. in Babylonia and Egypt, and, as our texts show, was not unknown in Israel, still this taboo existed.

The prevailing theory among scholars is that this taboo was imposed because the taking of a census (head-counting) is a presumptuous usurpation of God’s rights: only God knows who is to live or to die, and by assigning a military rating to a man (the original purpose of the census), this pre-knowledge of man’s fate can be somewhat assumed. So, we as often find when God is crossed, terrible consequences were thought to follow the taking of such a census. Joab tried very hard to deflect David from this undertaking, but was unsuccessful, and, as a result, the plague broke out.

To avoid this punishment, finally a new system was inaugurated: a half shekel was collected from each person. These were then counted, and thus the number of people was known. Bureaucratic maneuvering is hardly an accomplishment of the twentieth century! The system that we have today takes its name from the Roman system, in which the members of families were enumerated every five years for the purpose of determining their civil status and corresponding liabilities. But even the Romans concluded these census takings with a cleansing ceremony.

We are, of course, familiar with two very important Roman censuses: the first was the one ordered by Quirinus in 6-7 B.C., in Palestine, which aroused a revolt of the people, and, of course, the one ordered by Augustus that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, and so ushered in the Christian era.

However, after the downfall of the Roman Empire, census taking also declined. Superstition probably had a great deal to do with this. Undoubtedly the Christian Church remembered the punishment of Israel, and so, aside from two very notable endeavors - Charlemagne’s Breviary and the English Domesday Book which followed the Norman invasion - there was no systematic census taking until the mid-l7th century.

This was done in Quebec, although, as late as 1753, in the British House of Commons, the proposal that a general census be conducted was turned down because of a fear that a numbering of the people would be followed by "some great public misfortune or epidemical distemper." Great Britain did not have its first census until 1801.

No doubt there was a great deal of the unspoken objection to being placed on a list to be declared eligible for military service, or the payment of taxes, but, nevertheless, the primitive fear of the taboo is still buried deep within us, and it sometimes can surface without our tacitly acknowledging it. But - next time the census taker comes around, be cooperative! Our legal and monumental judicial and administrative system could no longer function without list after list after - ad infinitum! And the only curse that we can expect is that of increased taxes!

42. Lovejoy's Martyrdom

Illustration

Brett Blair & Paul Simon

That great American hero, editor, school teacher, and Presbyterian clergyman Elijah Lovejoy left the pulpit and returned to the press in order to be sure his words reached more people. The Civil War might have been averted and a peaceful emancipation of slaves achieved had there been more like him. After observing one lynching, Lovejoy was committed forever to fighting uncompromisingly the awful sin of slavery. Mob action was brought against him time after time; neither this nor many threats and attempts on his life deterred him. Repeated destruction of his presses did not stop him. "If by compromise is meant that I should cease from my duty, I cannot. I fear God more than I fear man. Crush me if you will, but I shall die at my post..." And he did, four days later, at the hands of another mob. Not one of the ruffians was prosecuted, indicted or punished in any way for his murder. On the contrary, some of Lovejoy's defenders were prosecuted! One of the mob assassins was later elected mayor of Alton!

So where's justice? Was his blood ever avenged? There was one young man around who heard of these events which took place 80 miles from his home. He gave a speech referencing needless mob violence. He didn't refer to Lovejoy specifically, he didn't need to, everyone knew what he was talking about, when he said:

Accounts of outrages committed by mobs form the every-day news of the times. They have pervaded the country from New England to Louisiana; [these stories of mobs] are neither peculiar to the eternal snows of the former nor the burning suns of the latter; they are not the creature of climate, neither are they confined to the slave-holding or the non-slave-holding states. Alike they [or, these mobs] spring up among the pleasure-hunting masters of Southern slaves, and the order-loving citizens of the land of steady habits. Whatever, then, their cause may be, it is common to the whole country.

So the Speaker chose to address mob rule in broader, national, context. To warn that living our lives by the whims of mobs is a recipe for national disaster. This speech was given to a local chapter of the American Lyceum Movement (which was a public education movement) in Springfield, Illinois in 1838. The speaker was 28-years-old at the time. His name was Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln was deeply moved by Lovejoy's martyrdom. And carried the memory of it, as a horrible illustration of the outcome of mob rule, into his presidency and into the emancipation of slavery that his presidency affected.

Note: the brackets in the Lincoln quote are added to help the listeners understand what the proper antecedent is.

A Source: Some of the information for this illustration gleaned from http://abelincolnhistory.com/speeches/lyceum-address.htm. There's other tidbits as well from this site that would be helpful, such as, Lincoln felt that all laws should be obeyed, even the laws of slavery, until such time that they could be changed; otherwise, societies descend into governance by mob rule.

43. Our Future Inheritance

Illustration

George Muller

The sort of clothes we wear, the kind of house we live in, or the quality of our furniture should not be the result of other people doing so or because it is customary among those with whom we associate. But whatever is done in these things in the way of self-denial or deadness to the world should result from the joy we have in God, and from the knowledge of our being His children, and from entering into our precious future inheritance. Not that I mean in the least by this to imply that we should continue to live in luxury, self-indulgence, and the like while others are in great need; but we should begin the thing in a right way. Aim after the right state of heart; begin inwardly instead of outwardly. Oh, how different if joy in God leads us to any little act of self-denial! How gladly we do it then! How much does the heart then long to be able to do more for Him who has done so much for us!

44. Fear of Wasted Life

Illustration

Ray Stedman

Years ago after a Billy Graham crusade, Ray Stedman slipped into a seat on a bus beside a young man who had gone forward in the meeting that night and given his heart to Christ. Pastor Stedman spoke to him of what his new life would mean, and mentioned that he could now be free from all fear of death. The young man turned and looked the older man in the eye and said, “I have never been much afraid of death. But I’ll tell you what I am afraid of—I’m afraid I’ll waste my life.”

Fear is deep within each of us. It manifests itself in many ways. But I think that young man spoke for you and me. No one wishes to waste his life.

45. Why Be Afraid of Death?

Illustration

Maltbie D. Babcock

Why be afraid of death,
As though your life were breath?
Death but anoints your eyes
with clay. O glad surprise.

Why should ye be forlorn?
Death only husks the corn.
Why should you fear to meet
The thresher of the wheat?

Is sleep a thing to dread?
Yet sleeping you are dead
Till you awake and rise,
Here, or beyond the skies.

Why should it be a wrench
To leave your wooden bench!
Why not, with happy shout,
Run home when school is out!

The dear ones left behind?
Oh, foolish one and blind!
A day and you will meet--
A night and you will greet.

This is the death of death
To breathe away a breath
And know the end of strife,
And taste the deathless life,

And joy without a fear,
And smile without a tear;
And work, nor care to rest,
And find the last the best.

Note: Maltbie Davenport Babcock was a noted American clergyman and writer of the 19th century. He authored the familiar hymn, This is My Father's World, among others.

46. 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.

47. Jesus’ Inaugural Adress

Illustration

Mickey Anders

Every four years the new president of the United States gives his inaugural address. In it, he articulates his program or his plan of action for his term of office. See if you recognize who these inaugural address lines are from, which president said:

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." - Abraham Lincoln, 1865.

"This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." - Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933.

"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." - John F Kennedy, 1960.

Today's Scripture is Luke's version of the opening moments of Jesus' public ministry. We might call this his inaugural sermon: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

48. Love of Enemies

Illustration

Joyce Hollyday

Sarah Corson, a founder of Servant in faith and Technology (SIFAT) in Alabama, was on a mission in the South American jungles to set up an agricultural project in a village where she and her husband had earlier started a church and built a fish hatchery. She was with seventeen young people, including two of her sons. One Thursday night, around midnight, thirty soldiers rushed toward the house where they were all staying. Sarah was paralyzed with shock as the soldiers stormed over the clearing leading to the house. She remembered with fear that earlier that day, a neighbor had overheard a conversation near the military camp in which soldiers had blamed Americans for recent resistance to a military takeover of the country. The soldiers had vowed to exterminate all Americans in the region.

Sarah Corson prepared to die. But as the soldiers approached, she found herself offering them warm words of welcome. The commander shoved his rifle against her stomach and pushed her into the house. The soldiers began pulling everything off the shelves and out of drawers. Sarah calmly explained that she and the others were there only to set up projects and teach the Bible. The commander, stating that he had never read the Bible, said, 'Maybe it is a communist book, for all I know.' Sarah asked him to let her talk about it.

While he kept his gun pointed at her and the other soldiers continued ransacking the house, Sarah opened a Spanish Bible the Sermon on the Mount. She read about Jesus' command to love one's enemies.

'That's humanly impossible!' the commander shouted.

'That's true, sir,' she answered. 'It isn't humanly possible, but with God's help it is possible.' She challenged him to let her prove it by killing her slowly: 'Cut me to pieces little by little, and you will see you cannot make me hate you. I will die praying for you because God loves you.'

The commander lowered his gun and stepped back. Then he ordered everyone in the house to march to a truck. But before they reached the truck, he turned around and led the women back to the house. He told Sarah that the women would be raped repeatedly in the jungle camp, so he could not take them there. He also told her that this was the first time he had disobeyed an order from a superior officer-and that he would pay with his life if he were found out. He said as he left, 'I could have fought any mount of guns you might have had, but there is something here I cannot understand. I cannot fight it.'

The village waited in agony for word of the men who had been taken. The local people insisted that the church service not be held on Sunday, because soldiers considered any gathering a source of political agitation. But on Saturday night, a messenger arrived with word from the commander of the attack that he would be in church on Sunday. He wanted Sarah to come and get him; if she did not, he would walk the ten miles. It sounded to Sarah like a threat. She sent a message throughout the town that night. 'We will have the service after all,' she said, 'but you are not obligated to come. In fact you may lose your life by coming. No one knows what this solider will do. Do not come when the church bell rings unless you are sure God wants you to come.'

Sarah picked up the commander and his bodyguard at the military camp. Holding their rifles they marched coldly into the church and sat down. The church was packed before the first hymn was over. The people came in fear and trembling, but they came.

It was the church custom to welcome visitors by inviting them to the platform, singing a welcome song, and waving to them. Then the congregation would line up to shake the visitors' hands, embrace them, and offer a personal greeting. Sarah decided only to offer the commander and his bodyguard the song. Stunned to be invited up front, the two soldiers stood with their guns across their backs. The people sang weakly and waved timidly. But then, the first man on the front seat came forward and put out his hand. As he bent over to hug the soldiers, Sarah overheard him saying, 'Brother, we don't like what you did to our village, but this is the house of God, and God loves you, so you are welcome here.' Every person in the church followed his example, even the women whose eyes were red from weeping for their loved ones whom the commander had taken prisoner.

The commander was incredulous. He marched to the pulpit and said, 'Never have I dreamed that I could raid a town, come back, and have that town welcome me as a brother.' Pointing to Sarah, he said, 'That sister told me Thursday night that Christians love their enemies, but I did not believe her then. You have proven it to me this morning. . . I never believed there was a God before, but what I have just felt is so strong that I will never doubt the existence of God as long as I live.'

The commander stayed for lunch with the congregation and offered money from his own pocket to parishioners who had loved ones taken away. Two weeks later, all of the men who had been taken were released from the basement cell where they had been imprisoned and some had been tortured.

Sarah Corson was overcome with gratitude to God for putting divine love in her heart for a person she could not love on her own. She remembers the last words the commander said to her: 'I have fought many battles and killed many people. It was nothing to me. It was just my job to exterminate them. But I never knew them personally. This is the first time I ever knew my enemy face to face. And I believe that if we knew each other, our guns would not be necessary.'"

Note: the full story can be found here - https://sifat.org/pdfs/Welcoming_the_Enemy.pdf

49. You Are Supposed to Love Me

Illustration

King Duncan

Frederick William I ruled Prussia in the early eighteenth century. Frederick walked the streets of Berlin unattended, and when anyone displeased him, he did not hesitate to use his walking stick to thrash them. Berliners tried to keep their distance. One time, as Frederick William was pounding down the street, a citizen spied him but too late, and his attempt to slide quietly into a doorway proved a failure.

"You," called out Frederick William, "where are you going?"

"Into the house, Your Majesty," said the citizen, trembling violently.

"Into the house?" asked the emperor. "Your house?"

"No," replied the poor man.

"Why are you entering it, then," asked Frederick.

And the poor citizen, fearing he might be accused of burglary, finally decided on the truth and said, "In order to avoid you, your majesty."

Frederick William frowned, "To avoid me? Why?"

"Because I fear you, Your Majesty."

Frederick William promptly turned purple with rage and, lifting his cudgel, pounded the other's shoulder, crying, "You are not supposed to fear me. You're supposed to love me. Love me, scum, love me!"

Is that your picture of God? Is that your understanding of the Divine? Let me give you a simple pop quiz. When something bad happens in your life, something painful, do you suspect that God is secretly punishing you? When you thank God for your blessings, do you secretly cross your fingers because you know those blessings can't last? One of these days, you suspect, God is going to get you. When you pray, do you try to bargain with God for more blessings because you figure that God is really holding something back?

50. The Wallenda Factor

Illustration

C. W. Bess

Karl Wallenda lived on top of the world. The aerialist thrilled crowds with his daring stunts on the high wire before that fateful day in 1978 when his show ended. Wallenda plunged 75 feet to his death before an audience of thousands in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

What happened? His widow explained that Karl had never been one to know fear. Self-confidence marked his style until he started worrying. Little details of safety preoccupied his mind. He checked and double-checked the tightrope to make certain that everything was secure. This was a different Karl. For the first time, instead of putting his energies into walking the wire, he concentrated on not falling. From then on Wallenda became an accident just waiting to happen. It was inevitable that he fall, or so his widow felt years after the accident.

Motivational speakers and managers now call this the Wallenda factor. Beware of being so afraid of failure that you dwell on the negatives. If so, you will succeed only in the ultimate negative, which is nothing. Life is a risk we must take. Be careful in a prudent sort of way, but don’t be paralyzed by a fear of failure. In Jesus Christ we can be positive and progress on!

Showing 1 to 50 of 388 results