Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Abbreviated Introduction to the Series Scripture is absolutely dripping with animal metaphors. Animal traits, characteristics, and appearances are attributed to God, Man, Angels, Nations, Armies. Since animals are the lowest creature in the three-tiered hierarchy, they are useful to metaphorically focus on a single aspect of God (bold like a…
Many years ago, while perusing Janice Anderson’s revised doctoral dissertation, Matthew’s Narrative Web: Over, and Over, and Over again , I was impressed by her attention to literary structures of repetition within and across Matthew’s Gospel. 1 Her research, in part, nudged me closer toward my present conviction that Matthew…
Abbreviated Introduction to the Series Scripture is absolutely dripping with animal metaphors. Animal traits, characteristics, and appearances are attributed to God, Man, Angels, Nations, Armies. Since animals are the lowest creature in the three-tiered hierarchy, they are useful to metaphorically focus on a single aspect of God (bold like a…
“Like a lily among the thorns, so is my love among the maidens… My beloved is mine and I am his; he pastures among the lilies.” Song 2:2, 16 In chapter two of the Song of Solomon, the Beloved compares his Love to a lily among thorns. The language of…
Introduction From the very beginning, angels and animals have played mediating roles between God and Man. Just as the World was made three-tiered (Heaven, Earth, Deep), so the creatures were made (Angels, Men, Animals). Before Christ came to build the permanent bridge across the chasm between God and Man, various…
Matthew 13, the third major discourse of the apostle’s gospel, is comprised almost entirely of parables. While it may seem that all the parables serve the same purpose in fulfilling the prophet Isaiah (Matthew 13:14), the parables found in verses 44–52, at the very least, function outside that purpose. This…
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Jesus’ quotations from Genesis 1-2 in Matthew 19:4-5 resemble the pattern in a number of days of creation. On some days, God spoke and made, or made something by speaking. But there are occasions when God first made something and then spoke to it. He made the dry land appear,…
Between Matthew 4 and 19, Jesus ministers in Galilee, never in Judea. As soon as He enters Judea again (19:1-2), He is attacked - just as He was when He was first in Judea, when wise men came looking for the king of the Jews. This is the first Sunday…
If we follow the traditional interpretation in taking “eunuch” in Matthew 19 as a figure for someone who has renounced family and progeny and “manhood” for the sake of the kingdom, then we can surmise that Jesus intends to refer to Himself above all as the one who has become…
In a 2005 article in JSNT, J. David Hester challenges the view that Jesus’ eunuch saying in Matthew 19:12 is an endorsement of celibacy. Part of his argument rests on an analysis of ancient conceptions of eunuchs, who were regularly feared because they confused gender distinctions. Eunuchs must be understood,…
The always-fascinating Spengler predicts the extinction of languages and peoples over the next two centuries: “Half of the world’s languages will disappear by the end of the 21st century, and up to 90% by the end of the 22nd. The majority of these are spoken by a few hundred people…
Between Matthew 4 and 19, there is no mention of Judea or the region “beyond the Jordan.” Once He hears of John’s arrest, Jesus withdraws to Galilee (4:12), and doesn’t come back until 19:1. As soon as He steps back into Judea, the Pharisees come to “test” Him. Apart from…
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