You and I both know Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who mistreat us. Here, in this portion of the Sermon on the Mount, He is telling us how that looks in real life. Impossible on our own. But very possible, a done deal, when the Holy Spirit is free to ex...
John tells us that the soldiers stick a long branch of hyssop into a jug of sour wine, or the word vinegar, and so we often interpret that as a bad joke from these rough men – the prisoner thirsts, let’s give him vinegar. Actually, this was basically the Roman soldiers’ Gatorade...
Those raised in state churches like Anglican, Catholic or Lutheran churches are notorious for not being super-generous in our giving, because the state looked after us. It takes the wind of the Holy Spirit to turn us around to biblical generosity. The good news is that turning and returning ...
1. Jesus teaches us to pray, and that instantly;11. assuring us that God will give all good things to those who ask him.14. He, casting out a demon, rebukes the blasphemous Pharisees;27. and shows who are blessed;29. preaches to the people;37. and reprimands the outward show of ...
In the New Testament, Jesus calls on us to obey His commandments. And we know that there are grave consequences if we do not. Revelations tells us that! But perhaps most of all, we need to meditate on why God wants us to obey Him. God made us. And because God made us, He knows...
34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. 35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, ...
andIsrael’sliberation from foreign bondage, and Jesus had committed a small act of violence in the sacred precincts. He was dangerous, and his execution is perfectly understandable in this historical context; that is, he was executed for being what he was, an eschatological prophet. Caiaphas ...
An angel warned Joseph, according to Scripture, and he took Mary and the child to Egypt until Herod’s death. Joseph then brought the family back, and they settled in the town of Nazareth, in Galilee, located in northern Israel. Jesus’ relation to the historic town is why he is also...
Therefore, as Paul tells us in Romans: Romans 10:14-15How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?15And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it...
Or, if you want to be very literal about it, as I was growing up, “the wise men”—Scripture tells us nothing about their number, and we get three from the three gifts (and tradition provides the names: Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar). Whether it was two or three or a dozen people ...