The following is adapted from my book To the End of the Age: Christ’s Presence in the World. My thoughts are preceded by two “guiding passages” from 2 Kings 5 and Mark 1; my commentary follows these Biblical texts. LIFE IN THE CHURCH Guiding Passages 2 Kings 5:1-14 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man …
Monthly Archives: March 2017
Chapter nine of John’s Gospel tells of Jesus’ encounter with a man born blind. There are a couple main questions implicit in this reading: why is the man born blind, and what has Jesus come to do? Jesus’ disciples want to know the reason for this man’s blindness. So, they ask Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, …
The following brief guide to the Lord’s Prayer is adapted from my book The Christian Faith: An Introduction. The Lord’s Prayer The Lord’s Prayer was taught by Jesus Christ in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. Most often, the longer version from Matthew’s Gospel is used in Christian worship and private devotions. The prayer is as follows: Our Father who art in …
In chapter 4 of John’s Gospel, Jesus has left Judea to come into the region of Samaria. John 4:1-3 reads, “Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had …
In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he reminds the congregation that he delivered to them the Gospel which he had received (1 Corinthians 15:1-28). This message “of first importance” is “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,” and that he appeared to many, …
In chapter 3 of John’s Gospel, Jesus has a discussion with Nicodemus. Nicodemus is a leader in the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council in Jerusalem. The normal lectionary text for today only goes to verse 17, which I think is somewhat unfortunate, because that cuts off Jesus mid-speech and leaves an important part out of it. Verses 18 through 21 provide …
During the season of Lent, I’ll be doing a post each midweek about a topic related to the season. This week’s post is about the Ten Commandments. Deuteronomy 5:6-21 contains the Ten Commandments, known as the “Ten Words” (or Decalogue) by the Israelites. The word “Deuteronomy” itself means “second law.” This name comes from the fact that the book of Deuteronomy is …
Genesis 3 and Matthew 4 are really two halves of a whole, like the two halves of a pecan shell. In Genesis we see the opening of the shell to sin, and in Matthew we see the closing of the shell through Christ’s righteousness. If we look at Genesis, we see the fall of Adam and Eve into sin. God …
Today is Ash Wednesday which marks the beginning of the season of Lent. This is a season of repentance, and the traditional readings from Joel 2:12-19 and Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 reinforce this theme. In both texts there is a contrast between those who have a repentant faith and those who do not have faith. Thus, those who have a repentant …