The definition we have of “Apostle” is “one who was with us from the beginning” who will “bear witness to His resurrection”. (Acts 1:21-23) Since “Apostle” carries the idea of “one who is sent” there is an idea of being commissioned (Matthew 28:18-20) This are qualifications that Paul recognized himself unqualified to fill. Mary Magdalene, […]
The motive for historically changing Junia’s name to a male but weird “Junias” was because certainly this person was an Apostle. Now that there is scholarly concensus that Junias was a woman we suddenly have a problem determining whether she was an a apostle based on what is meant by “among”
Matthew 4:-11 Are you as troubled as I am that the first thing the Holy Spirit did after Jesus baptism is to lead Him into the wilderness to be tested? This seems a good place to begin a challenge to our ideas about suffering, being filled with the Spirit, and certainly about what the Gospel […]
From the years 1985 to 1990, I spent hours a day performing music in Harvard Square and in the subway stations of Boston in Cambridge. I wrote a lot of songs during that time in part so I would have new things to play. A lot of these songs I never recorded, others I never […]
Ok. I am not one to talk about Bible texts as being troublesome, but here is my exception. What is Jesus talking about in Matthew 11:11-12? He says “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been treated violently, and violent men take it by force.” How is […]
If Matthew chapters 1 and 2 are an encapsulation and re-enactment of the drama of the Old Testament, Matthew 3 begins where the Old Testament left off. John the Baptist is the promised Elijah who would warn the people before the “great and terrible day of the LORD.” (Malachi 4:5) The elements of Malachi 4 […]
Matthew 2:7-12, 19-23 The people of God arise from faith in the promises of God. God’s promises are certain. They are also tenuous, thin, fragile, and delicate. Like a thread connecting two things, the connection is a thin as it is real. As God’s promises are, so also are His People. The whole of Matthew […]
Chesterton says that most philosophies create virtue through moderation of passions. A person attempts to manage his personality by neither becoming too angry or too joyful. This calm demeanor is seen as a virtue. Christianity, Chesterton argues creates virtue through a conflict between two passions. Exodus 34:5-9 we find these blazing opposites within the person […]
Hopelessness is sticky. It is a deadend, a trap, a pit of quicksand. Hunger bears the impulse to eat. Thirst, bears the impulse to drink. Hopelessness has no such advantage. When we despair, the presence of hope makes us feel only more hopeless. We are confronted by what seems like another impossibility. The only thing […]
bikkurim, first fruits, counting of the omer, resurrection
