As Jesus comes to the final days of His ministry, He faces an onslaught of verbal attacks by the religious leaders. He is in the heart of their territory – Jerusalem – on the most important holy days of the year, and the sheer number of religious elite present in the city means the frequency […]
Jesus and His followers enter Jerusalem as the end of His ministry and time on earth are in sight. As He nears His death, He does and says things that clearly display His remarkable character. At the same time, He clearly exposes the hypocrisy and lack of character of those who oppose Him. On both […]
Throughout His ministry – now going on three years – Jesus has battled the expectation that He will be a political Messiah, one who fulfills all the prophecies of a triumphant ruler who will lead Israel over its enemies. The expectation stems from a misunderstanding of Old Testament prophecies about His second coming. His followers […]
Jesus and His followers come to Jericho, the last major stop before Jerusalem. The group traveling with Jesus likely grows as other pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem for Passover join them. Since Jesus knows the disciples think He’s going to declare Himself or usher in the Kingdom once they reach Jerusalem (19:11), He warns […]
In the first 30 verses of Luke 18, Jesus discusses how believers should respond to His words about the end times and impending judgment from Chapter 17. The Son of Man will come back to judge the world and call His children to glory, so His people should live accordingly. We cannot live like those […]
The wonderful thing about the book of Psalms is that it meets us where we live. It tells about good times and mountaintop experiences, but it also speaks to trials and disappointments, times that don’t make sense, times where God seems silent or absent. In a word, the Psalms talk about life – real life […]
ThemesGod’s sovereignty in all things.God works through ordinary people living ordinary lives. IntroductionJosephus says that Ruth takes place right after the death of Samson.Judges covers 1373 – 1043 BC. Ruth likely toward the end of this time as there are only three generations from Ruth to David. Chapter 11Bethlehem to Moab = 50 milesSee Deut […]
Chapter 17 is made up of several sections and it’s not entirely clear how or if the sections go together. They are separate vignettes and it’s also not clear if they occur chronologically or if Luke groups them for another purpose. If we were to assign an overall title to the chapter, it would be […]
This is the second of two lessons on Chapter 16. The message of the chapter, told in two parables and a showdown with the Pharisees, is that the disciple of Christ must use the temporary resources of this sinful world to affect eternity. The believer is a steward of what he has and knows the […]
The message of Chapter 16, told in two parables and a showdown with the Pharisees, is that the disciple of Christ must use the temporary resources of this sinful world to affect eternity. The believer is a steward of what he has and knows the rewards of this life are finite, thus it makes no […]
