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Romans

Robbing Temples

Paul writes to Jews, “You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?” (Romans 2:22b) The English translation “rob temples” makes readers think of pagan temples. There was only one Temple for Israel, so robbing more than one would indicate other temples are in view. And if the Jews wanted to…

by Mark HorneOctober 15, 2024
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Genesis

Regarding Abel’s Offering

Two offerings Humanity’s first vocation involves guarding and serving the trees that emerge from the ground (Genesis 2:15). God provides these trees to humanity for food. A serpent appears and tempts the couple to eat from a special forbidden tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Humanity…

by Scott FairbanksOctober 3, 2024
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Hermeneutics

The Trinity and Cross in Creation

At the outset of the Torah (as Christians understand it), a triune God creates the heavens and earth over the course of a seven-day week. Why? What’s the connection between the three and the seven? Could a triune God have created the world over any period of time he chose?…

by James BejonOctober 1, 2024
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Deuteronomy

Axe Heads and Parapets: Legal Edge Cases?

How relevant to the modern reader are the flying axe head of Deuteronomy 19:5 and the roof parapet of Deuteronomy 22:8? Indeed, how relevant were they to the daily lives of Israelites thirty-five hundred years ago? Suppose that accidental falls from rooftops were exceedingly uncommon in ancient Israel, or that…

by Josh JensenSeptember 24, 2024
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Political Theology

The Church Builds the World

1 For most of my life, the standing of the American church as a source of national social and political order was measured by reports from the front of the so-called “culture wars.” 2 Memory brings to mind battles over feminism and the ERA, so-called gay rights, the breakdown of…

by Gary YoungSeptember 17, 2024
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Matthew

That He would be called a Nazarene

But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel…’ And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the…

by Lyndon JostSeptember 10, 2024

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Eucharistic Meditation, April 4

It is clear that the Lord?s Supper has some kind of relationship to the death of Jesus. Jesus said at the Last Supper that the bread was His body, given for you, and the wine was His blood, poured out as the blood of the new covenant. When Paul talks…

April 4, 2004

Exhortation, April 4

This is repetitive, but here goes: Luke?s account of Jesus?Ecrucifixion ends on a note of triumph. After Jesus breathes His last breath, the Roman centurion confesses that Jesus was ?righteous?Eand begins to praise God. The crowds of people who had come out for the spectacle go home beating their breasts…

April 4, 2004

Another Chiasm in Luke 23

There is another chiastic pattern running in Luke’s account of the crucifixion. If we focus attention on the people mocking Jesus, we have this pattern: Jewish rulers (v 35) Roman soldiers (vv 36-37) Criminal (v 39) But when the second criminal addresses Jesus, things begin to reverse and unravel. Someone…

April 3, 2004

Chiasm of Luke’s Crucifixion Account

Luke’s account of the crucifixion is organized in a neatly chiastic form: A. Simon of Cyrene carries Jesus’ cross, 23:26 B. Women follow Jesus, beating their breasts, 23:27-31 C. Criminals crucified with Jesus, 23:32-33 D. Jesus forgives mockery and abuse, 23:34-38 C’. One criminal mocks Jesus, the other believes, 23:39-43…

April 3, 2004

Chiasm of Luke’s Crucifixion Account

Luke’s account of the crucifixion is organized in a neatly chiastic form: A. Simon of Cyrene carries Jesus’ cross, 23:26 B. Women follow Jesus, beating their breasts, 23:27-31 C. Criminals crucified with Jesus, 23:32-33 D. Jesus forgives mockery and abuse, 23:34-38 C’. One criminal mocks Jesus, the other believes, 23:39-43…

April 3, 2004

Sermon Outline, April 4

Luke 23:26-56 INTRODUCTION When Christians think of Jesus?Ecrucifixion, we often focus attention on the intense physical suffering that Jesus endured. There is no doubt that He was in anguish. During crucifixion, the victim would have his body torn with nails and his limbs stretched and contorted, as he slowly suffocated.…

April 3, 2004

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